As you lie on a grassy windswept knoll above the lighthouse, the vast seascape of moving water is mesmerizing. A maelstrom of boiling 10 metre high waves is sweeping in from the Tasman Sea, directly opposed by a matching set rising out of the Pacific Ocean.
Cruise among 150 sun-drenched islands, on a silvery smooth sea. Follow a pod of bottlenose dolphins circling in the beautiful Bay of Islands. When the shout goes out, plunge into the inviting sea to dive and frolic with these playful creatures.
Imagine a 'day walk' that will take you into a vast amphitheatre surrounded by 2000 metre high snow-capped peaks on the Main Divide of the Southern Alps.
Stroll along Tennyson Street, Napier, and your wandering eye will catch lightning flashes, sunbursts, zigzags, rising orbs and other weird geometric designs.
Glorious days of sun, sea, wildlife, tramping and kayaking can be enjoyed in the Abel Tasman National Park. These are some of the fondest memories travellers take home with them after a visit to the smallest, yet most popular park in the country.
New Zealand's green and friendly isles, situated in the vast South Pacific Ocean, are ranked among the world's most popular holiday destinations.
The country’s Pacific Rim cuisine is based on its abundance of wonderful fresh produce. Tender lamb, beef, pork, venison, succulent green-lipped mussels, Bluff oysters, crayfish (lobster), paua (abalone), whitebait, scallops, salmon, deep-sea fish and, of course, kiwifruit.
New Zealand offers a great variety of shopping experiences for visitors from overseas. With currency conversions invariably favouring the overseas visitor, a New Zealand shopping spree is a ‘must do’ activity. Shops are usually open from 9 am to 5.30 pm with late shopping available on Thursday.
New Zealand has embraced the World Wide Web with a zeal and enthusiasm. Cyber cafes are widely distributed throughout the country to enable visitors to keep in touch with friends and relatives back home. Many hostels and backpackers have Internet rooms or booths, which are usually available.
New Zealand’s swift-flowing rivers dissect steep, broken country making them ideal for generating cheap hydro power. The vast amount of energy contained in major river systems like the Waikato and the Clutha has been tapped through a series of hydro dams. The stored water is converted.
