Come Visit New Zealand!

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Aotearoa – Land Of The Long White Cloud – The native Maori name for New Zealand, two islands floating in the South Western Pacific Ocean

I come from New Zealand and although I am not a pure native Maori, I am certain I have a smidge of Maori blood in me somewhere ) I was born in a very small town called Milton which lies on the Otago plains towards the bottom of the Southern Island. The further south you go the more pronounced the ‘r’s are in their language and the further north you go the more the ‘r’s disappear. It is also true that the farther south you go the ‘whiter’ the people are and the further north you go the ‘darker’ the people are. Is this because there is a heavier Maori population in the North Island or is it because it is colder and there are less sun hours in the South? Could be both! In my 46 years I have visited probably 85% of New Zealand but I have not yet seen it all.

I hesitate to say that I have a favourite part of New Zealand because the places I have been each have specific memories for me and they are precious…..except the yukky ones……so there are places I would not visit again intentionally (parts of Auckland and Invercargill) and there are places I would visit again many times.

I grew up with camping in the summer and netball in the winter. I didn’t like rugby because that’s all the boys ever wanted to do and talkabout! (I still support the All Blacks though!!) I love a good lamb roast on Sunday with mint sauce and gravy and roasted veges and you cannot go past a good pavlova for dessert. New Zealand is a very beautiful country with many different terrains and geographical differences which is quite astounding for such a small place.

We do not have any dangerous animals in New Zealand (unless you count the phantom black panther that appears every now and then to keep the myth alive ), snakes or reptiles. The Kea is one of our largest birds and can get pretty cheeky with the window surrounds if you leave your car unattended while skiing and the Katipo is our most dangerous spider but they are very rare. We have a few pests that have defected from our neighbour, Australia, like the white tail spider but we keep them under control. New Zealand is a very safe place (for the most part) and we all know who lives next door.

It was not uncommon for me to look outside my back door and see 6-14 kids playing on the trampoline and kicking the ball around after school or in the weekend, consequently my fridge was always empty as well ) On a whole, we mostly cook for ourselves and our families every night, getting takeout or going out for a meal was a special occasion and maybe a weekly thing if you were lucky, this is true for most of New Zealand.

We have less than ten main breweries for beer in New Zealand and I am pretty sure they are all linked somehow anyway but we do have some excellent wineries. If you asked me where I would recommend a visitor to New Zealand to go I would give you the following places:

Wellington – Rated fourth in its top ten cities to visit in the world by Lonely Planet, Wellington is New Zealands political centre, home to Peter Jacksons Weta Workshop where he bought to life Lord Of The Rings, Avatar and King Kong, host to numerous artistic and high profile festivals and events each year, is a favourite hub for musicians, artists, theatrical people and dance enthusiasts and has great museums, art galleries and shopping!!

Inland Huranui in the North Canterbury District is rich with wineries, concerts, air ballooning, white water rafting and bungy jumping in the summer and in the winter the wineries are just as good with their great open fires and a relax in the hot pools of Hanmer Springs with some great food at one of the excellent restaurants afterward is a must!

Alternatively you could venture down south to the Mackenzie District and enjoy a drive through Tekapo (where you could also make use of their hot pools and go ice skating too in Winter) on your way to Queenstown for some breathtaking views and touristy stuff but if you want to get really raw then take a drive through to the Fox Glacier on your way over to the West coast and up to Nelson and Marlborough. The coast is rich with gold mining history and definately a basic lifestyle. Taking this route you will see some of the most beautiful scenery the South Island has to offer.

In the North Island my favourite places are the far North of Northland and the Coromandel. The climate is much more tropical up here. Around Rotorua and Taupo are definately worth a look too but for amazing beaches, scenery and fantastic walks the first two are my pick. New Zealand is a very diverse country and you will enjoy many different things when you visit, have fun!

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