New Zealand! You've seen it in the movies! Now, see it for yourself!
Overview
When to Go
Events
Getting There & Around
History
From the the peaks of adrenalin to the lap of luxury.
New Zealand is a country of rare seismic beauty: glacial mountains, fast-flowing rivers, deep, clear lakes, hissing geysers and boiling mud. There are also abundant native forests, long, deserted beaches and a variety of fauna, such as the kiwi, endemic to its shores.
Any number of vigorous outdoor activities - tramping (hiking), skiing, rafting and, of course, that perennial favorite, bungy jumping - await the adventurous. You can swim with dolphins, gambol with newborn lambs, whale-watch or fish for fattened trout in pristine streams and rivers.
The weather is never so miserable that there's no point in going to New Zealand: there are things to see and do all year round. The warmer months (November to April) are busiest, especially during the school holidays from December 20 to the end of January. Ski resort towns are obviously busier during the winter months. If you're traveling during peak periods (especially the Christmas season) it's best to book ahead, as much accommodation and transport fills up. It's probably more pleasant to visit either before or after this hectic period, when the weather is still warm and there aren't as many other travelers around.
Weather
New Zealand sits squarely in the 'roaring forties' latitude, which means a prevailing and continual wind blows over the country from west to east; this can range from a gentle breeze in summer to a buffeting, roof-stripping gale in winter. The North Island and South Island, because of their different geological features, have two distinct patterns of rainfall: in the South Island, the Southern Alps act as a barrier for the moisture-laden winds from the Tasman Sea, creating a wet climate to the west of the mountains and a dry climate to the east; while the North Island's rainfall is more evenly distributed without a comparable geological feature such as the Alps. Temperatures are a few degrees cooler in the South Island, and both islands receive snow in winter. Winter falls in the months of June through August and summer from December through February. It is important to remember that New Zealand's climate is maritime, rather than continental, which means the weather can change with amazing rapidity and consequence. The busy tourist season falls in the warmer months between November and April, though ski resorts, such as Queenstown, are full during winter.
Some of the noteworthy cultural events include: Summer City Program me (January to February; Wellington), which is a series of festivals around the city; Wine Marlborough Festival (2nd weekend in February; Blenheim); New Zealand Festival (February, even-numbered years only; Wellington), an entire month of national and international culture; Golden Shears Sheep-Shearing Contest (March; Masterton), a must for lovers of sheep and sweat; and Canterbury Show Week (November; Christchurch), which has agricultural exhibits, rides and local entertainment.
Getting There
The overwhelming majority of visitors arrive by air. There are seven airports that handle international flights: Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Queenstown and Wellington. A few cruise ships visit New Zealand, but there are no regular passenger ship services and working your way across the Pacific as crew on a yacht now seems a thing of the past.
Getting Around
Although New Zealand is compact and generally easy to get around, it makes good sense to fly - especially for the views over the mountains or volcanoes. A variety of discounts also make flying economical.
Air New Zealand flies widely (including smaller routes via partly owned smaller airlines), Origin Pacific flies to main centres, and even smaller regional airlines fill in the gaps. Altogether there's very thorough coverage of the country - kiwis can fly.
New Zealand also has an extensive bus network, with the main operator, InterCity (servicing both the North Island and South Island), and subsidiary Newmans, running frequent (at least once a day) services on main bus routes including a cheap fare on the main Auckland to Wellington route. An alternative is to use shuttle bus companies, which are smaller, cheaper and friendlier than the large bus companies. Some of them are designed to cater especially to foreign travellers and/or backpackers and have lots of little 'extras' that make them particularly attractive; other companies, perhaps drawing on the experiences of Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, can take you around New Zealand on 'alternative' buses, which can be an unhurried way of seeing the country.
Train routes are few, though train travel is reasonably fast and the trains modern and comfortable. Tranz Scenic no longer runs between Auckland and Wellington but still has services on the South Island from Picton to Christchurch and Christchurch to Greymouth.
Car travel (New Zealanders drive on the left) is recommended as the roads are good and well signposted and the distances short. Rentals of cars, motorcycles and campervans are popular, with a range of special deals available.
There are plenty of boat services, including the Interislander and Bluebridge ferries (operating between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island).
And finally, there's always cycling around the country. Many travellers describe New Zealand as a cyclists' paradise: it's clean, green, uncrowded and unspoiled, and there are plenty of places where you can camp or find cheap accommodation. Bicycle rental can be daily, weekly or monthly and is inexpensive.
Pre-20th-Century History
The Polynesian navigator Kupe has been credited with the discovery of New Zealand around AD 800. Legend has it his wife, Hine-te-aparangi, named it Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud. Continuous settlement of New Zealand dates from about 1200, following which a fairly steady migration of people came from Kupe's homeland of Hawaiki (Ra'iatea in modern-day French Polynesia) who, according to tradition, followed Kupe's own navigational instructions. Their culture, essentially Polynesian but developed over centuries of only limited contact with 'the home lands', was hierarchical and often sanguinary.
In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman briefly sailed along the west coast of New Zealand; any thoughts of a longer stay were thwarted when his attempt to land resulted in several of his crew being killed and eaten. In 1769, Captain James Cook circumnavigated the two main islands aboard the Endeavour . Initial contact with the Maoris also proved violent but Cook, impressed with the Maoris' bravery and spirit and recognising the potential of this newfound land, grabbed it for the British crown before setting sail for Australia.
When the British began their antipodean colonising, New Zealand was originally seen as an offshoot of Australian enterprise in whaling and sealing: in fact, from 1839 to 1841 the country was under the jurisdiction of New South Wales. However, increased European settlement soon proved problematic: a policy was urgently required regarding land deals between the settlers (Pakeha) and the Maori. In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, with the Maori ceding governorship of their country to Britain in exchange for protection and guaranteed possession of their lands. But relations between the Maori and Pakeha, although harmonious in some regions, soured in others. Causes were varied and complex, but the most common feature was disagreements about land. The Northland War of 1844-46 was followed by more fighting in other Maori strongholds of Taranaki (1860-61 and 1865-69), Waikato (1863-64) and the East Coast (1868-72). The fighting eventually died down, and though there was no formal resolution to any of the five wars, the Pakehas certainly claimed victory.
Modern History
By the late 19th century, things had temporarily calmed down. The discovery of gold had engendered much prosperity, and wide-scale sheep farming meant New Zealand became an efficient and mostly self-reliant country. Sweeping social changes - women's suffrage, social security, the encouragement of trade unions and the introduction of child care services - cemented New Zealand's reputation as a country committed to egalitarian reform.
New Zealand was given dominion status in the British Empire in 1907 and granted autonomy by Britain in 1931; independence, however, was not formally proclaimed until 1947.
From 1945, Maoris experienced both a population explosion and massive urbanisation. In 1936, Maoris were 17% urban and 83% rural. Fifty years later, these proportions had reversed. The immigration gates, which until 1960 were pretty much labelled 'whites only', widened, first to allow in Pacific Islanders for their labour, and then to allow in (East) Asians for their money. These transitions would have generated major socioeconomic change whatever happened in politics. But most New Zealanders associate the country's recent 'Big Shift' with the politics of 1984.
In 1984, NZ's third great reforming government was elected. Its antinuclear foreign policy delighted the left, and its more-market economic policy delighted the right. Middle NZ was uneasy about the antinuclear policy, which threatened NZ's ANZUS alliance with Australia and the US. But in 1985, French spies sank the antinuclear protest ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour, killing one crewman. The lukewarm American condemnation of the French act brought middle NZ in behind the antinuclear policy, which became associated with national independence. Other New Zealanders were uneasy about the economic reforms, but failed to come up with a convincing alternative. Excited NZ investors engaged in a frenzy of speculation, and suffered even more than the rest of the world from the economic crash of 1987.
Recent History
The economy remained fairly stagnant until the late 1990s, when a recovery began. In politics, a National (conservative) government replaced Labour in 1990, and introduced proportional representation in 1996. A Labour government (now technically a Labour-led coalition), led by Helen Clark, returned to office in 1999, and was re-elected in 2002 and 2005.
The early 21st century is an interesting time for NZ. Like NZ food and wine, film and literature are flowering as never before, and the new ethnic mix is creating something very special in popular music. There are continuities, however - the pub, the sports ground, the quarter-acre section, the bush, the beach and the bach - and they too are part of the reason people like to come here.