Destinations

New Zealand

The mountainous west coast of the South Island (photo: Natasha von Geldern)

New Zealand's beautiful and dramatic landscapes have long attracted tourists and played host to a range of adrenalin-fuelled activities. It has featured in many recent films including the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong and the Chronicles of Narnia.

Capital – Wellington
Major cities – Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown
Places of interest – Rotorua, Tongariro National Park, Fjordland
Time Zone – GMT +12
Language – English and Maori. To learn the basics of Maori visit Korero Maori
New Zealand currency - New Zealand uses the New Zealand Dollar. 1NZD is worth around 39 pence. For up-to-date exchange rates see: www.xe.com/ucc.

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Travel blog: New Zealand's magic northland
Magic bus offers all sort of connections to your basic ticket and one of the most interesting connections for me was the so called Total Northland add-on for NZ$170 (£68).More...
Waiheke island wedding in New Zealand
When our London friends invited us to attend their wedding in New Zealand it was the perfect excuse to visit a country that has long been on our dream travel wish list. It was too good an opportunity to pass up so we booked straight away. More...
Travel blog: Art deco Napier to the Bay of Islands
After Wellington I travelled swiftly up to Auckland with an overnight stop in Napier.More...
Travel blog: Crossing Cook Strait into Wellington
The Magic Bus ticket I purchased covered the Christchurch and Kaikoura regions twice before a drop-off in Picton, where I boarded a ferry to the North Island of New Zealand. More...
Travel blog: New Zealand's Mackenzie Country and Lake Tekapo
Once again I got up early (when was getting on the Magic Bus not early the little voice in my head says...) to leave lovely Dunedin with its very steep hilly streets behind. More...
Wine touring in New Zealand's Marlborough
Enjoying the local cuisine is an important part of any holiday and New Zealand is blessed with an abundance of delicious fresh produce, seafood and of course great conditions for growing and creating good wine.More...
Travel blog: The Kiwi Edinburgh and a special wildlife tour
Queenstown is the place where the Magic Bus driver actually says "do not book yourself back on the bus" because experience shows that most people stay longer than they intended to. More...
Travel blog: Wanaka to Queenstown - adventure capital of New Zealand
I took a breather in Wanaka and kind-of felt like I should have stayed longer, as the region is unbelievably peaceful and beautiful. Plus the hostel I stayed at was owned by Austrians and I got the first good night's sleep I'd had in a while. More...
Travel blog: Franz Josef Glacier and the Haast region
From Greymouth it is a fairly long and winding road along the very beautiful west coast of New Zealand to reach the tiny village of Franz Josef.More...
Travel blog: Nelson and Abel Tasman national park
From Kaikoura it was not very far to Picton where we stopped for a quick lunch break to pick up some fellow backpackers who had just finished exploring the North Island of New Zealand before we moved on to lovely Nelson.More...