New Zealand travel guide

Let our New Zealand travel guide help you plan your trip. As well as the two main islands - the North Island or 'Te Ika a Maui And' meaning 'the fish of Maui' and the South Island, with the original Maori name 'Te Wai Pounamu', or 'the waters of greenstone' - there are also countless smaller islands: Stewart Island, Waiheke Island, Great Barrier Island, Tokelau, Auckland, Antipodes Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Islands, Chatham Islands and Kermadec Islands. Some are quite far away, so it's worth factoring this in when planning a trip. With so many things to see and do, the key essentials are: the kiwi, the country's symbol, and a lot easier to find on the one dollar coin than in the forests where it lives, the 'weta' or 'god of ugly things' in Maori, is the world's largest insect, which can grow to the size of a mouse, Wanak's crystal clear blue pools, the fish off Goat Island, the landscapes of the Lord of the Rings, the geysers of Rotorua, Maori sculptures, the traces of the gold rush, the smoke from active volcanoes, the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers... Read more