New Zealand's spectacularly beautiful landscape includes vast mountain chains, steaming volcanoes, sweeping coastlines, deeply indented fiords and lush rainforests.

Comparable in size and/or shape to Great Britain, Colorado or Japan, New Zealand has a population of only 4 million - making it one of the world's least crowded countries. It is a haven for those seeking peace, rejuvenation and relaxation as well as a playground for thrill seekers and adventurers. A temperate climate with relatively small seasonal variation makes it an ideal year-round holiday destination.

As a country settled first by Polynesians and then by people from all over the world, New Zealand has many stories to tell. Dip into our history and explore our innovative, can-do culture.

Extraordinary phenomena can be found throughout New Zealand. From the pointy absurdity of Toka Toka Peak in Northland to the South Island’s amazing fretwork of fiords, there’s plenty to keep your camera busy.

Mobile Phones - Check with your phone company before leaving home about international mobile roam facilities available in New Zealand.

Alternatively Phone Hire New Zealand and Vodafone allow visitors to hire mobile phones or SIM cards.

Laptops - You will need a RJ45 type plug to be able to connect your laptop into a computer socket in New Zealand, and an adaptor with a flat two or three-point power plug to connect to the power supply.

South Island - The South Island is sparsely populated and brimming with outdoor adventure. You may see landscapes and scenery that you have not seen before, packaged in the most beautiful and moving of environments.

Queenstown - sited on the shore of beautiful Lake Wakatipu, is surrounded by the luscious beauty of a mountain chain known as the Remarkables. The town is the focal point for a large and diverse recreational area. Queenstown is a place where you can "sit and think" or participate in various outdoor activities, some of them quite unique. The shopping is OK but limited and cultural attractions are sparse.

The Fiordland NP - is one of the wildest areas in New Zealand and one of the most beautiful (and this in a country where the comparatives are superlatives). Even if you do not want to tour Fiordlands, be sure to plan a trip to Milford Sound.

Milford Sound - We think that cruising Milford Sound (a glacial fjord/fiord) is worth the cost of the trip to New Zealand. The Sound's scenery is spectacular.

Auckland - is New Zealand's largest urban area with a population of just over a million people. It is not, however, the capital, although it was at one time, until the capital moved to Wellington. Auckland is the centre of commerce and industry, and is perhaps the most vibrant, bustling and multicultural city in New Zealand.

Rotorua - With its richness in heritage and culture and the astonishing natural beauty and diversity of the landscape, Rotorua is a major center for tourism and there is an abundance of activities ranging from spiritually fulfilling to adrenaline charged action. For the ultimate holiday experience, visit Rotorua and be swept away on a journey of discovery and wonder.

Wellington - is a vibrant, scenic, windy, cosmopolitan, diverse, eccentric, maddening and hilarious place. It has the some of the best museums, art galleries, restaurants, microbreweries, and coffee houses in the country. It is the storehouse for the nation's historic, cultural and artistic treasures. Being the first place European settlers arrived, it also boasts lots of historic streets and buildings.

Christchurch - enjoys the largest collection of Gothic architecture in the country, with Christchurch Cathedral, the Canterbury Museum, Christ's College School, and the former University of Canterbury, which now forms the bustling cultural centre of Christchurch, the Arts Centre.

Queenstown - is the New Zealand destination for international visitors. Its natural beauty changes with the seasons, the lake gleans in the summer sun, and snow clad mountains tower above the township in winter. Queenstown is a great place to visit all year round. Nestled in beside the mysterious Lake Wakatipu, in the Southern Lakes district of New Zealand, Queenstown is a cosmopolitan haven, offering a limitless adventure, southern wine and cuisine, and breathtaking alpine scenery.

New Zealand cuisine is the cuisine of New Zealand. It accepted derives from various sources, most especially British and Maori in the early days, the United States post-World War II, and Australia, New American cuisine, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and India since 1980. The best cuisine from New Zealand emphasises the quality and freshness of New Zealand produce from land and sea, which is readily available in an island nation which bases its economy on agriculture. Similar to the cuisine of Australia, the cuisine of New Zealand is now a British-based cuisine with Mediterranean and Pacific Rim influences on top as the country becomes more cosmopolitan. Dinner is the main meal of the day, when families gather and share their evening together.

In traditional Maori religion, food was noa, or non-sacred. This meant it could not come into contact with tapu (sacred land, places or objects). If it did, the tapu would be removed and the power of the place or object, and often the people associated with it, would be destroyed. High chiefs, and people engaged in tapu work such as tattooing, were tapu and were restricted in how they could deal with food; the most tapu needing to be fed by others. One story tells of a war party which had to be postponed as no non-tapu people were available to load the food supplies into the party's waka.

Since the Maori people named New Zealand ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’, climate has been of paramount importance to the people of New Zealand many of whom make their living from the land. New Zealand has mild temperatures, moderately high rainfall, and many hours of sunshine throughout most of the country. Its climate is dominated by two main geographical features the mountains and the sea.