Auckland - The City of Sales. New Zealand's largest city situated on the Waitemata Harbour. (Maori for sparkling waters). Auckland is the comercial centre but the capital is Wellington at the bottom of the North Island. Wellington - the capital of New Zealand since 1865 it is separated from the South Island by the 20 mile stretch of water known as the Cook Strait. Not the comercial capital but certainly the cultural capital of New Zealand. It is home to the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the Symphony Orchestra, National Opera and dance and drama schools along with numerous high quality restaurants and cafes. Continuing to grow it has recently added the National Museum and the Westpac Trust Stadium which draws large crouds of dedicated sports lovers to Wellington. Christchurch - the Garden City - is the South Island's largest metropolis and thought by many to be the most English city outside England. While in Christchurch visit The Antarctic Centre. See the little blue penguins and get blasted in a simulated snow storm with temperatures of down to -8 c. The Canterbury Region is full of interesting things for the travelor to see, from the rich agricultural flatlands to the mighty Southern Alps. The Bay of Plenty is becoming one of New Zealand's most popular destinations. It is one of the country's most diverse regions with extraordinary landscapes, attractions and possibilities. Tauranga is a port city which attracts surfers, rafters, yachties, kayakers fishermen and jet boaters just to name a few. To the south of Tauranga is one of New Zealand's most famous cities, Rotorua. The thermal attractions in Rotorua and it's surrounding regions are like a magnet to foreign travellers. Literaly see the thermal wonders in action as you walk along the streets with mud boiling and steam pulsating from the cracks around you. Dunedin is in the south-east corner of the south island in the Ontago Peninsula created millions of years earlier by massive volcanic eruptions and tetonic upheavals. Travellers from around the world are drawn to this region which resembles Scotland. Dunedin is the fourth largest city and the second largest on the south island after Christchurch. Originally settled by settled by presbeterian breakaways from Scotland so it is no wonder the town resembles and is named after Edinburgh in Scotland.
Whitianga is the main settlement in Mercury bay, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand. Situated 208kms from Auckland and 93kms from Thames.
Most of the 4 million New Zealanders are of British origin. About 15% claim descent from the indigenous Maori population, which is of Polynesian origin. Nearly 75% of the people, including a large majority of Maori, live on the North Island. In addition, 231,800 Pacific Islanders live in New Zealand. During the late 1870s, natural increase permanently replaced immigration as the chief contributor to population growth and accounted for more than 75% of population growth in the 20th century. Nearly 85% of New Zealand's population lives in urban areas (with almost one-third in Auckland alone), where the service and manufacturing industries are growing rapidly. New Zealanders colloquially refer to themselves as "Kiwis," after the country's native bird.
Cities: Capital--Wellington. Other cities--Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton.
Terrain: Highly varied, from snowcapped mountains to lowland plains.
Climate: Temperate to subtropical.