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New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand's awesome landscapes, lush forests, amazing wildlife and pleasant climate make it a haven for many outdoor activities and a great place to unwind. If you're driven by adventure, New Zealand makes it easy to get off the beaten track to traverse the remarkable landscapes that New Zealand has to offer. New Zealand is a southern paradise of wildlife, waterfalls, forests and beaches, many of which have been awarded World Heritage status.

See all vacations available for this destination »




Ninety Mile Beach, Waipoua Forest, South Island Mountain

New Zealand. A third of Ontario's size, but with scenery to rival all Canada, and friendly locals eager to show you the best country in the world (they might be right!). With our rental car, guidebook, and Automobile Association road maps, we left Auckland to explore the country. A couple of fifty-something tourists, pretending we were thirty years younger, laughing our way across the country, with the navigator calling, “Watch the curb!”, as the driver learns to drive on the other side of the road.

We walked the sands of Ninety Mile Beach, felt puny amongst the monster kauri trees in Waipoua Forest, and relished fish & chips from Paihia's national champion takeout. With a toitoi frond waving out the window, we drove into the time warp of Napier's art-deco architecture, and ate hokey-pokey ice cream (delectable). We matched magnificent South Island Mountain and glacier scenery with local Marlborough wines and ocean fresh fish. In spectacular Milford Sound we were drowned in rain one day, (but ate crayfish to compensate), and sparkled in sunshine the next. Now home again, our photographs, native wood bowl, and paua jewelry mementos keep whispering for us to return.

Submitted by:
Rob P., Peterborough


Penguins

While touring New Zealand with friends last year, we all wanted to see the penguins so abundant in that land in their natural habitat, but always seemed to be too far away from the coast at dusk when they normally return to their nests from the ocean.

One day, travelling along the coast road to Invercargill we saw some tourists gathered on rocks jutting out into the ocean. Curiosity getting the better of us, we parked the SUV, and then climbed, slipped and slid over the beautiful and wet, fossilized rocks near the ocean's edge until we arrived at the object of everyone's interest. And there it was, one, solitary, yellow-eyed penguin, the world's rarest, proudly standing alone guarding its own and others nests. Lucky for us, it was one that had been injured and treated by the local wild-life authorities before being released back into the wild, and as yet was unready to enter into the water. Later on our trip among many highlights, we saw wallabies, kangaroos, snakes and spiders, all in the wild and The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. But nothing could match this magical moment for any of us.

Submitted by:
Derek S., Ajax


New Zealand comprises two main islands and a number of smaller islands and is located east of mainland Australia. With a total land area of 268,680 square kilometres, New Zealand is slightly larger than the United Kingdom. New Zealand has extensive marine resources, covering over four million square kilometres and an abundance of biological diversity. Its awe-inspiring landscapes have also made it a popular destination for Hollywood, with films such as The Lord of the Rings and The Last Samurai filmed on its southern island.

New Zealand has a largely temperate climate, though the far north does experience subtropical weather during summer and inland alpine areas of the South Island can be as cold as -10°C in winter. Most of the country lies close to the coast, which means mild temperatures, moderate rainfall and abundant sunshine. Due to its geographical location in the southern hemisphere, January and February are the warmest months of the year, while July is the coldest.

Capital City: Wellington

Currency: New Zealand Dollars - Order Online

Language(s) Spoken: English


Families in New Zealand primarily take their vacations in mid-December to the end of January, so it can make sense to travel around the busy season. New Zealand offers sun and ski vacations so there are opportunities year round.



  • Auckland
  • Kaikoura
  • Akaroa and Banks Peninsula
  • Bay of Islands
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