Country Info
- Wellington
- Capital
- New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
- Currency
- 3,864,129
- Population
- NZ
- Country Code
New Zealand Slideshow
Travel Blogs from New Zealand
Evil smells!
This is a top pick! ... nose against his friend's, as opposed to our more formal hand shake. He seemed genuinely interested in where I was from and why I chose New Zealand, and so far this has been the case with most of the Kiwis I have encountered on my travels. Sweet as! ...
From Raglan to Rotorua
This is a top pick! After my stay at raglan, I got back on the Stray bus and headed off to Hahei, which is in The Coromandel peninsula on the East coast of the North Island. We stopped at Waitomo along the way, this place is famous for its glow worm caves, I opted out of ...
Beautiful Birdsong...
This is a top pick! ... coastal route being just as impressive as the Great Ocean Road in my opinion. We arrived at Birdsong, one of my favourite backpackers in New Zealand, at about 6pm. It is a spotless place full of character, and I get on really well with Neil, the owner. ...
The Tale of the Mandarin Man and the Pukenui Pig
This is a top pick! ... and removed the bastard window from the door before it could fall and smash inside the door. Phew...no break. Luckily New Zealand is warm and our new vehicle with no driver window was comfy for the rest of the amazing drive. We ...
Grounded...
This is a top pick! We had a bit of adventure on Saturday night with a mouse in our van (both of us being afraid of mice) - hopefully he won't be back! In fairness to Paul he put his fears aside and took things apart trying to see if he could shift him. He said he took ...
The big game
This is a top pick! ... of fans tried to pack onto the free buses into town. It was reminiscent of a scene from a rock concert as everyone surged forward when a new bus opened its doors! By some miracle, all 6 of us managed to get on the same bus and after 30 minutes of drunken ...
Just Landed
This is a top pick! ... day will nearly have it's own entry (have to build up those dots on the map) As you know we left Australia on Friday for New Zealand. The flight into New Zealand was unbelievable! There were so many mountain ranges, rivers and we even flew over Fox ...
Barry Town day Two
This is a top pick! I had signed up for a day of knife making. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the drivers on the bus had all said that it was one of the best activities on the tour and it sounded like something I would really enjoy. There were only five people including ...
...life is but a dream
This is a top pick! ... a bit hectic. so, we were happy to hop on a bus out of there today, and now we are in wellington, the capital of new zealand. (it's also a city that is sitting on four major fault lines... they have frequent earthquakes here and all of the buildings are ...
To the North Island - first stop Tongariro N.P
This is a top pick! ... made to complete the Tongariro Crossing the following day. This one day hike, ranked as one of the best hikes in New Zealand, would take us 18km up Mount Tongariro (another of the active volcanoes), past Mount Ngarahoe, over past the volcanic ...
Whale Watching in Kaikoura
This is a top pick! Another day and with it brought the anticipation of seeing whales! Now as we are well and truly running out of diverse descriptive words to emphasise what we are seeing...... we are just going to list a whole load here and you can assign them yourself; ...
Why Wee in the sea in Waipu.
This is a top pick! ... dives straight in, his head bobbing back up every now and again between jumping under huge waves. You can take the boy out of New Zealand... When Claire tells Monica that Jo isn't a strong swimmer and that we've never been in a sea this unruly, she rolls ...
Going West
This is a top pick! A long tiring day. 7 hours of driving, relatively breezy, winding roads, and little in the way of townships. From Springs Junction at our overnight stop (which we didn't see what looked like until morning after turning up at 10pm) we continued west along ...
The end of the road in Paihia
This is a top pick! ... , but hey that's life1 Then new year, I missed it in NZ, I fell asleep after working from 8am - 10.30pm. But I did hear new years in London the following after noon. The noise in the house was getting too much for me again so I started house hunting ...
Dunedin
This is a top pick! We arrived in Dunedin and booked into our hostel, it sounded really posh from the description as it was also a hotel, but I can safely say that this was the worst place I have stayed in. The hotel definitely stopped at the door of the backpacker part. ...
And Then There Was One
This is a top pick! ... the entire world without flying. The feeling that if I don't finish it now I never will hangs heavy on my shoulders. Trouble is, New Zealand doesn't exactly encourage saving money. Not only do they have a flat tax rate of 20%, with no benefit for low ...
Auckland and the Northlands
This is a top pick! Our final week in NZ was soon upon us, so the decision was made to spend that time in Auckland and exploring the Northlands (the area north of Auckland right up to Cape Reinga, the most northerly point in NZ). First stop Auckland and a fun packed ...
Weather for Ducks
This is a top pick! ... forest and ended up walking over 2 km away from the water fall, before finally deciding to turn around. Huka Falls is where New Zealand's largest river, the Waikato is slammed into a narrow chasm and then makes a spectacular 10m drop into a surging pool ...
...not quite as windy!
This is a top pick! ... is a surprise from the normal and also much different from the last time I was here. Quiet night tonight as had a bit of dinner with Frazzi and a new Danish guy from our hostel room then had some beers. Off to Napier tomorrow morning. Miss you all! ...
Mozzies!
This is a top pick! ... really wanted to see it, so we arranged to go and see The World's Fastest Indian. This movie has been really popular in New Zealand as it's about a guy from Invercargill ("arsehole of the world") who achieves his dream and sets a new land speed record. ...
for the love of Buddha... what am i doing...
This is a top pick! ... incoherently due to lack of sleep and lack of decent food. (fish and chips, pad thai, vegemite sandwiches and a plethora of other new zealand foods which make no claim of having anything to do with nutrition...) you will pleased to know (as I am) ...
Our journey really begins
This is a top pick! Wow.. is all we can say so far about New Zealand! This is such a beautiful country, and the only way to see it properly is to get in a van and travel, so we are very lucky and happy that we decided to travel this way. After leaving Peel Forest, we ...
Stargazing at Mt John Observatory
This is a top pick! ... nebula and the Jupiter with its rings and moons. The evening was a different experience to most that are received in New Zealand and for a country so revered in it’s exhilarating adventures; something with a bit of intelligence was much ...
The story continues
This is a top pick! Esther and I had paid for two nights at centrabays and then we would start work and move into the staff quarters. We spent the first two days relaxing in the spa pool and looking for jobs. It became a little dishearting going everywhere and being told ...
Running from the Warden
This is a top pick! ... gem. I was a little worried about how we had left the van as we have been alerted to a mini epidemic of van thefts throughout New Zealand. Our van shows scars (in the left door lock) of an attempt at least of someone trying to break in. Kate’s ...
Not-so-windy Wellington!
This is a top pick! ... to the Te Papo Museum with the girls, although we all split up once we got inside. This place is known as the 'Museum of New Zealand' and it is such a huge place that dominates the waterfront. The great thing about it is that it is interactive, and my ...
Oh, Aotearua...
This is a top pick! ... see half of the movie screen), we landed to a sporadically rainy and windy day in Aotearoa (that's the Maori name for New Zealand... we're doing our research!). We have been slightly surprised all day by how much American influence has seeped into this ...
The Abel Tasam National Park
This is a top pick! I don't known what it is about buses but it seems that every time I get on one I fall asleep. It almost seems rude; I miss all of the stunning scenery, which really annoys me. This is what happened again on the way to Marahau. Marahau is on the edge of ...
Taupo - Near Death Experience
This is a top pick! We left Rotorua at about 11am, we stopped a few times along the way and arrived at lake Taupo early afternoon and it was beautiful. One of the activities you can do in Taupo is a tamden sky dive. There had been a lot of discussion on the bus about this ...
Raglan
This is a top pick! ... , I was quite surprised as it had landed right in the path of the spot light. I asked Sam (a real lumberjack or even an arborist) if he new what it was and he told us that it was a Morpork owl and to see one this close was kind of special. The owl stayed ...