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WHERE TO GO |
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Tourism is big business in New Zealand but even the key destinations
- Queenstown and Rotorua, for example - only seem busy and
commercialized in comparison with the low-key Kiwi norm. New Zealand
packs a lot into the limited space available and is small enough that
you can visit the main sights in a couple of weeks, but for a reasonable
look around at a less than frenetic pace, reckon on at least a month.
However long you've got, look at spreading your time between the North
and South islands: here's a quick top-to-toe summary. Obviously, the
scenery is the big draw and most people only pop into the big cities on
arrival and departure - something easily done with open-jaw air tickets
allowing you to fly into Auckland and out of Christchurch.
Certainly none of the cities ranks on an international scale, but in
recent years they have taken on more distinct and sophisticated
identities. Go-ahead Auckland is sprawled around sparkling Waitemata
Harbour, an arm of the island-studded Hauraki Gulf. From here, most
people head south, missing out on Northland , the cradle of both Maori
and pakeha colonization, which comes cloaked in wonderful sub-tropical
forest harbouring New Zealand's largest kauri trees. East of Auckland
the coast follows the isolated greenery and long, deserted, golden
beaches of the Coromandel Peninsula , before running down to the Bay of
Plenty resorts. The lands immediately south are assailed by the
ever-present sulphurous whiff of Rotorua , with its spurting geysers and
bubbling pools of mud, and the volcanic plateau centred on the
trout-filled waters of Lake Taupo and three snow-capped volcanoes. Cave
fans will want to head west of Taupo to the eerie limestone caverns of
Waitomo , where you can abseil into, or raft through, the blackness.
Further west are the moody, isolated and spectacular beaches of the
North Island's west coast. From Taupo it's just a short hop to the
delights of canoeing on the Whanganui River , a broad, emerald green
waterway banked by virtually impenetrable bush, or if you don't want to
get your feet wet, head for the almost perfect cone of Mount Taranaki ,
whose summit is accessible in just one day. East of Taupo lie the ranges
that form the North Island's backbone, and beyond them the Hawke's Bay
wine country , centred on the Art Deco city of Napier, and the
up-and-coming wine region of Martinborough. Only an hour or so away is
the capital, Wellington , the most self-contained of New Zealand's
cities, with its centre squeezed onto reclaimed harbourside land and the
suburbs slung over steep hills overlooking glistening bays. Politicians
and bureaucrats give it well-scrubbed and urbane sophistication,
enlivened by a burgeoning café society and after-dark scene.
The South Island kicks off with Nelson , a pretty and compact spot
surrounded by lovely beaches and within easy reach of the world-renowned
wineries of Marlborough. From there you've a choice of nipping around
behind the 3000-metre summits of the Southern Alps and following the
West Coast to the fabulous glaciers at Fox and Franz Josef, or sticking
to the east, passing the whale-watching territory of Kaikoura en route
to the South Island's largest centre, straight-laced Christchurch , a
city with its roots firmly in the traditions of England. From
Christchurch it's possible to head across country to the West Coast via
the famous Arthur's Pass scenic railway, or shoot southwest across the
patchwork Canterbury Plains to the foothills of the Southern Alps and
Mount Cook with its distinctive drooping-tent summit.
The flatlands of Canterbury run down, via the grand architecture of
Oamaru , to the unmistakably Scottish-influenced city of Dunedin ,
birthplace of some of the country's best rock bands and base for
exploring the teeming wildlife of the Otago Peninsula . In the middle of
the nineteenth century prospectors arrived here and rushed inland to
gold strikes throughout central Otago and around stunningly set
Queenstown , now a highly commercialized activity centre where bungy
jumping, rafting, jetboating and skiing hold sway. This is also the
tramping heartland, with the Routeburn Track linking Queenstown to the
rain-sodden fiords, lakes and mountains of Fiordland , and the
world-renowned Milford Track . The further south you travel, the more
you'll feel the bite of the Antarctic winds, which reach their peak on
New Zealand's third land mass, the tiny and isolated Stewart Island ,
covered mostly by dense coastal rainforest and famous for testing the
patience of even the most avid trampers with its almost permanently
muddy tracks.
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