New Zealand Accommodation - About NZ

Location: New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere, lying between 34 and 46 degrees of latitude south in the Pacific Ocean. This puts us at about the same distance from the equator as Spain or California. Our nearest large neighbour is Australia which is 1500Km (930 miles) to the west. 2200Km / 1350miles to the south, across the Southern Ocean, lies the frozen desert continent of Antarctica.

Time: We lie just west of the International Date Line and will be among the first into the new millennium. Our time in 12-13 hours ahead of Western Europe and 18-21 ahead of continental USA.

Geography: New Zealand consists of two large islands, North Island and South Island, plus several smaller ones of which Stewart Island is the largest and often referred to as 'our third island'. North and South Islands are separated by the 32km / 20mile wide Cook Strait. To the north and east lies the Pacific Ocean and between ourselves and Australia lies the Tasman Sea. The total land area is 270,535 sq Km / 104,453 sq miles, about the size of Italy, the United Kingdom or the US state of Colorado. North Island is volcanically active with a central plateau. South Island has the high snow covered mountain peaks and glaciers of the Southern Alps, a range running almost 500Km / 300miles along the Island.

Weather: New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere, which of course means mid summer is at Christmas time while mid winter is June/July. The climate is oceanic temperate. Given the small land mass relative to the expanse of ocean around New Zealand, the seasonal variations are smaller than continental North America or mainland Europe. North Island has a warm mild climate, almost sub-tropical in the extreme north. Auckland average summer temperature (January) is about 21C / 70F and winter is 11C / 52F . Annual rainfall in North Island is around 125-150cm / 50-60ins , the west receiving slightly more rain than the east. South island is colder, Dunedin has average summer temperatures of about 15C / 59F and winter 6C / 43F. The contrast in rainfall across South Island is much greater due to the Southern Alps and varies from 300cm / 120ins on the west coast to 65cm / 25ins on the Canterbury Plains and Christchurch.  

People: New Zealand has a population of around 3.65 million. People from a wide range of European countries have arrived since Captain James Cook to make up 75% of the population while Maori make up about 10%. The Maori first arrived on these shores just over a 1000 years ago at the close of the last millennium. Today, the Maori have adopted western lifestyles but have actively been encouraged to keep alive their culture, language and art. Other ethnic groups have arrived from Polynesia (Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands) with Auckland now being the Polynesia capital of the South Pacific. People from China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, etc have also settled in New Zealand making for a diverse population mix.

Wildlife: For millions of years New Zealand has been isolated and unique birds, animals and plants have developed here. Best known are our flightless birds such as the Kiwi. Because there were no ground based enemies for ancient birds many lost there ability to fly with the passage of time. Lizards, frogs, and bats are the only indigenous land animals in New Zealand. Dogs (kiri) and rats were introduced by the Maori, and red and fallow deer, trout, salmon, Australian opossum, rabbits, and domestic animals have been introduced over the last 150 years by European settlers. There are now strict regulations with very heavy penalties against the importing of plants, fruit and animals unless approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to protect the New Zealand environment.
 

New Zealand Accommodation Guide © 2003