New Zealand Tourist Guide - International visitors

New Zealand

New Zealand - Tourist — The People
Today, New Zealanders are largely sophisticated and highly educated urban dwellers. Members of a unique and vibrant multicultural society, New Zealanders are embracing 21st century technology and culture in record numbers. But New Zealanders also have a background of quiet but rugged individualism, self-reliance, and a genius for invention — qualities still evident in the population today.
Unique in the World
New Zealand has a diverse population — but with some uniting features that make it unique in the world. Our relatively isolated South Pacific location and rugged landscapes still makes many New Zealanders quiet and independent, yet resourceful and self-reliant, with a famous ‘Kiwi ingenuity’.
New Zealand — An Exciting Blend of Cultural Influences
The arts in New Zealand reflect an exciting blend of cultural influences including Maori and Pacific Island, as well as European and Asian. From haka to hip-hop, fashion to filmmaking, New Zealand artists are making their mark at home and around the world.
Artland New Zealand
Whether you’re interested in Maori carving or abstract painting, you’ll find lots of art in New Zealand. Traditional Maori arts such as carving and weaving are alive and well. You’ll find excellent examples in museums, shops, and on marae (meeting grounds) throughout the country.
Early Painters
New Zealand has a fine tradition of painting. C.F. Goldie (1870—1947) and Gottfried Lindauer (1839—1926) were two early artists who painted portraits of Maori subjects. Frances Hodgkins (1869—1947) is one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed and influential painters. She was associated with a number of avant-garde British movements including Neo Romanticism.

The Spoken Word
English is the common and everyday language of New Zealand. New Zealand is a multi-cultural society and you may hear many other languages spoken, including Maori, which is also an official language of New Zealand. New Zealand dollar (NZ$)

Currency
New Zealand's unit of currency is the New Zealand dollar (NZ$). Coins have values of 10, 20 and 50 cents, $1 and $2; notes have values of $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. There is no restriction on the amount of foreign currency that can be brought in or taken out of New Zealand. However, every person who carries more than NZ$10,000 in cash in or out of New Zealand is required to complete a Border Cash Report.
Foreign currency can easily be exchanged at banks, some hotels and Bureau de Change kiosks, which are found at international airports and most city centres. All major credit cards can be used in New Zealand. Travellers Cheques are accepted at hotels, banks and some stores.
Exchange Rates
You can calculate the value of your currency in NZ Dollars using the newzealand.com currency converter on this page. The rate you are offered in your home country is likely to differ slightly.
Banking
Banks are open from 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday.
Automated Teller Machines (ATM) are widely available at banks, along main shopping streets and in malls.
International credit cards and ATM cards will work as long as they have a four-digit PIN encoded. Check with your bank before leaving home.
Telling the Time
New Zealand is one of the first places in the world to see the new day, 12 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). In summer New Zealand uses ‘daylight saving’, with clocks put forward one hour to GMT+13. Daylight saving begins on the first Sunday in October and ends on the third Sunday of the following March, when clocks are put back to GMT+12.

Visitor Information
Self drive visitors in New Zealand are faced with a wide range of tourism options and places to visit. To help visitors with these many choices, the New Zealand i-SITE Visitor Centres have been established. Each centre is identified by the distinctive i-SITE logo.
i-SITE Visitor Centres are the officially recognised provider of reliable New Zealand information, with centres in over 80 locations throughout New Zealand. Accreditation to the network ensures that staff are knowledgeable and provide objective, quality information. Services offered include:
• Information and bookings for accommodation, transport (air, road, rail and ferry), attractions and activities
• Itinerary planning and advice
• Gifts, souvenirs, stamps and phone cards
• Restaurant information
• Local events and entertainment
• Maps and guide books New Zealand Sex

International visitors can call into centres at Auckland and Christchurch international airports to pick up a directory of
i-SITE Visitor Centre locations throughout New Zealand.
New Zealand Tourism Awards - recognising and rewarding excellence.
The New Zealand Tourism Award winners represent some of the most unique, quality tourism experiences available. Look out for the koru of the Tourism Awards winners logo. It is our assurance that you will receive the best product, experience or service New Zealand has to offer.

Sightseeing
A tourist's dream, New Zealand is full to the brim with places to visit and sights to see. Start at Cape Reinga in the far north where two oceans collide. Head south through all the nooks and crannies the North Island has to offer – caves in Waitomo, the beautiful Lake Taupo, the monolith that is Mt Ruapehu – these only scratch the surface of the sights that can be seen, before ending up in the self-styled arts capital, Wellington.
Jump on the Cook Strait ferry for a trip to the South Island. Take in the hot, dry climate of Marlborough before heading over the Southern Alps to the rugged West Coast. Head south and take a journey through to the sounds of Fiordland, the Southern Lakes and onto Stewart Island in the deep south with its crystal-clear waters and scenic walking tracks. One visit to these islands will want you coming back for more. New Zealand

Scuba Diving in New Zealand
Scuba diving in New Zealand offers something for everyone. New Zealand has literally hundreds of scuba diving sites with over 15,000 km of coast line and numerous lakes and rivers. Many of these sites are world class. Coastal waters teem with colourful, fascinating sea life and the usually clear waters make for excellent viewing. The country abounds with sub-tropical reefs, wrecks, clear water springs and alpine fiords. If you are looking for a rich variety of scuba diving experiences then it's time you visited New Zealand.
New Zealand waters are among the few virgin wonders left in diving today. The wealth and density of marine life is exhilarating.
Lying exactly halfway between the equator and the South Pole, the water and weather in New Zealand are both temperate - benign even. Below, there's a crazy mixed-up muddled-up marine life world where coral reef crinoids exist with forests of kelp, and volcanic rock formations are covered with hard corals and seafans. One of the most unique New Zealand dive sites is the crystal-clear waters of the Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve. With its incredible range of fish, including many tropical species, it was considered by the late Jacques Cousteau to be one of the world's top diving locations.
But there is more to scuba diving in New Zealand than just the Poor Knights. Among the other great diving areas are the sheltered Bay of Islands, the dramatic fiords of Fiordland, and Stewart Island with its breathtaking kelp forests and huge paua (abalone). Many easily accessible wrecks off the New Zealand coast also provide special diving opportunities, as do the great variety of fresh water dives.
Our sister company, Global Dive, is a PADI Resort member and trains PADI, TDI and SDI courses in New Zealand. Why not learn to dive or advance your skills while you are in New Zealand, then make the most of our exciting New Zealand dive sites. Sailing in New Zealand

Sailing in New Zealand
With over 15,000km of coastline, New Zealand's pristine coastal waters promise a blissful holiday for those who seek time-out on the water. And what better place to sail but the former home of the Americas Cup! Come and discover our beautiful country from a unique offshore perspective – the island-studded bays, tranquil and secluded inlets, and the meandering drowned valleys of the sounds and fiords in the South Island.
The maritime reserves of the Bay of Islands, Hauraki Gulf and Marlborough Sounds are among the best areas for a holiday afloat. Auckland well deserves it’s title of the "City of Sails", with the world's largest number of boats per head of population.
The most popular sailing locations in New Zealand are the Bay of Islands and Auckland on the North Island, and the Marlborough Sounds on the upper South Island New Zealand Markets

Nestled deep in the South Pacific, New Zealand offers a modern, sophisticated urban lifestyle combined with a natural, rural unspoiled heritage which sets it apart from most other countries. We have a stable political environment and have always led the world in many areas of social policy, scientific achievements and sporting triumphs. For a nation of just under four million people, New Zealand produces an extraordinary number of achievers in many areas, particularly in scientific, sporting and artistic fields. New Zealand Markets

Markets in Wellington are an extremely popular way of shopping, with markets attracting bargain hunters from throughout Wellington and nearby areas of New Zealand's North Island. In particular, the Wellington Market and the Sunday Flea Market, both in central Wellington, are two of the most popular markets in Wellington, regularly attracting many thousands of visitors from around Wellington.

Wellington's markets are full of character and often include street performers and an exciting, friendly and bustling market atmosphere. Markets in Wellington offer a good selection of market goods, such as impressive local arts and crafts, fresh fruit and vegetables, clothing, antiques and souvenirs, and markets in Wellington have long been an integral part of Wellington's local life.

The goods at Wellington markets do not usually have fixed prices and so some friendly market haggling often results in reduced prices. Here are some of the most popular markets in the Wellington area, definitely worth visiting during your stay in Wellington.

Deep in the Southern Ocean, situated in the temperate latitudes between 35 and 50 degrees south, New Zealand is part of a weather cycle in which warm, low pressure air from the equator meets cold, high-pressure air from the South Pole. This is known as the Roaring Forties, westerly winds which have constant and high speeds. Consequently New Zealand feels the full force of the Roaring Forties and the swells that are forced to march up out of the deep. But that's not all, New Zealand can pick up swell from just about anywhere. Waves can be generated from the south, the east, the west and the north. This is why New Zealand has so many diverse surf spots, spread over the coastline of the two islands. Conditions vary and there are wave sizes to keep any surfer happy. It is no wonder that we are passionate about surfing, our 6,000 kms of exposed coastline offers some of the most consistent and crowd free surfing in the southern hemisphere. The variety of surf breaks is simply awesome - from clean barrels rolling onto pure white sand beaches on the east coast, to gnarly freight train sets pounding rugged west coast beaches. Check out our ‘supertubes’ with one kilometre long joy rides at Ahipara and the consistently perfect peelers at our hottest surf spot, Raglan. Experience giant steamrollers and Malibu-style wave sets at Murderer’s Bay in Dunedin, as well as velvet-smooth tunnels at Gisborne. Our beaches can be surfed all year round. The North Island has very warm temperatures in summer (December-March) and wet suits are not usually needed. The South Island waters are colder and generally call for some neoprene protection. The long insular shape of the country means that you can quickly move across from one coast to the other. So wherever you are in the country there’s bound to be a good break nearby. A glance at the local weather map will tell you which coast has the right swell.

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