A visitor to New Zealand would have to try pretty hard to leave unsatisfied. New Zealand is naturally gorgeous and warmly welcoming, with enough tourist-friendly infrastructure to make a visit both functional and fun. In 2007 over 2 million visitors descended upon the island nation, a substantial number considering its population of permanent residents is around four million. In its eons of pre-settlement isolation New Zealand was able to develop relatively unspoiled by human contact, leading to an awesome array of unique birds (until people brought mammals), forests, sharp volcanic mountains due to shifting tectonic plates (Pacific and Indo-Australian). New Zealand’s environmentalists are concerned about
tourists overtaxing the very natural resources they come all that way to see and are developing systems to manage over-extensive tourism, such as requiring reservations for
some of the island’s most desirable tours. There’s no mystery why so many people venture to New Zealand. As Lonely Planet’s page on New Zealand proclaims, “there are few countries on this lonely planet as diverse, unspoiled and utterly,
utterly photogenic.”
New Zealand comes in two distinct halves: the North Island and the South Island:
— the North Island:
How should you best explore the North Island of New Zealand? National Geographic
suggests you drive. Take the slow road between Auckland, New Zealand’s most populous city, and Wellington, the country’s capital, and you’ll see so much: “volcanic fields, lush rain forest, ragged mountains, rolling hills of farmland, and the country’s largest lake….” Take this advice and you’ll enjoy the hot geysers of Roturua, see the Waikato region’s native kauri trees and visit the Karori Sanctuary, where you should “View rare and which you’ll encounter “endemics such as the little-spotted kiwi, tuatara, and saddleback birds.” (You should also “Shop at Zambesi…a carrier of Hema organic skin care products, a favorite of Liv Tyler.”)
— the South Island:
The UK’s Independent newspaper describes New Zealand in its travel section as “wild and wonderful.” The paper asks, “WHY SHOULD I GO TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD?” It answers, “In one word: adventure.” What kind of adventures can you have on New Zealand’s South Island? The obvious answer would be to visit Queenstown, where A J Hackett reportedly invented bungee jumping in 1986 (though the “land divers” of Vanuatu would disagree). The less than obvious answer? Jet boating!
More information:
Travelblog.org’s New Zealand page offers more tha 13,000 posts from the North Island alone | New Zealand: 100% Pure | Take a Lord of the Rings tour of New Zealand
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