New Zealand comprises two major land masses: North Island and South Island.
One of the country’s most famous attractions -- Rotorua, with its thermal geysers, hot springs, and glimpses of authentic Maori culture -- is inland of the Bay of Plenty on North Island.
At Mt Cook national park on South Island, you can view, and ski on, the Tasman Glacier. Other glaciers you can ski on on Mt Cook include Murchison, Mannering, and the popular Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers on the west coast.
Larger than the UK
North Island is 115,000 square kilometres, South Island 151,000. Together with its other smaller islands, New Zealand has a land mass of 268,000 square kilometres, making it larger than the United Kingdom although smaller than Japan.
New Zealand is a Commonwealth country in its own right and stands on equal footing, shoulder to shoulder, with Australia and other countries of the world.
Together, the two southern hemisphere nations of Australia and New Zealand fought with the British in World War I, and the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) is very much part of the history, folklore and traditions of the two countries.
Holiday packages
With many reasonably cheap holiday packages running into five days or so, the lure is that you can explore highlights of a North Island tour within that time, and can spend about the same time going around the South Island.
From these you can then plan more specific New Zealand travel for the next time you visit.
A promise of wonders
From the Bay of Islands in the north to the fiords in the south, New Zealand offers a variety of attractions hard to come by in a single country.
There are the historic urban centres as well -- Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin and many others -- which offer glimpses into the country’s past while forging ineluctably into the future.
It is variety which spices New Zealand travel, and the promise of wonders ahead is a strong spur to planning and taking that trip.
Next page > Map of New Zealand > Page 1, 2, 3
