Areas
The North Island of New Zealand may be nearly 30% smaller than its southern neighbour, but it's still home to three out of four Kiwis; a ratio that is growing every year, especially in Auckland, the country’s de facto economic capital. But despite having a population of more than three million, no-one’s ever going to call the North Island crowded. After all, it is the fourteenth largest island on the planet, and once you leave the million-plus sprawl of Auckland, no other North Island city has a population which comes close. Even Wellington, the nation's capital, barely tops the 400,000 mark. Auckland is the country’s most cosmopolitan and exciting city. It’s the country’s essential business hub and the preferred destination for international shows and performers. And after working hard, Aucklanders love to take to the water or head to the beach and make the most of their maritime home on two harbours. At the opposite end of the island, formerly dowdy Wellington has been reborn with an innovative and arty spin. Some of the country’s best bars and restaurants play host to locals fresh from the latest gallery opening or CD release party, and Peter Jackson’s success with The Lord of the Rings trilogy has earned the city the nickname, ‘Wellywood’.
More tourists head to the spectacular lakes and alpine landscapes of the South Island, but the North Island’s other very livable provincial cities frame diverse regions with distinctive appeal for visitors. In Hawke’s Bay, Napier and Hastings are the gateways to the region’s winemaking diversity. Just further north-east, Gisborne is a relaxed surfing town, and along the broad expanse of the Bay of Plenty, Tauranga is a ‘let's move there’ favourite for newcomers to New Zealand. Near the centre of the island, Rotorua, and to a lesser degree Taupo, are unashamed tourist hubs trading on their proximity to the incredible volcanic landscapes of the Central Plateau and Tongariro National Park. Along with the stunning coastal scenery of the Bay of Islands in the north, it's the region of the North Island which most people choose to visit.
The South Island was known to the Maori as Te Wai Pounamu, which refers to the presence in its cold southern waterways of the highly prized greenstone. It was the first part of New Zealand encountered by Europeans, sighted in December 1642 by the Dutch navigator, Abel Tasman. It was left to the Englishman, James Cook, in 1769 to prove that what Tasman had discovered was in fact the largest in a group of islands. Cook gave the South Island its present, rather prosaic, name.
For the first part of New Zealand’s history, the South Island was, thanks to sealing and whaling, the nation’s economic powerhouse. The major ‘gold rushes’ from 1861 turned the trickle of immigration to a torrent and enriched many of the South Island’s principal towns. If the 19th century was a boom time for the South Island, the twentieth century was a period of stagnation. Today, the South Island’s population is a sparse 900,000 – it’s the most immediately conspicuous feature of the South Island’s human geography, and one of the principal reasons most ‘Mainlanders’ give for living there.
But if the South Island is noted for anything in particular, it’s for the range and spectacular beauty of its physical geography.
It’s often said by foreign visitors that scenery exactly like every part of the South Island can be found elsewhere in the world, but nowhere else in the world can so many and varied natural attractions be seen in so small an area. You can appreciate the dramatic truth of this most effectively by taking a scenic flight, or by tramping through it and experiencing those contrasts at first-hand.
At its northern extremity, it features the drowned river valley system of the Marlborough Sounds, with their maze of sheltered waterways flanked, for the most part, by bush and inaccessible by road.
Arising just south of Nelson, the Southern Alps determine the character of much of the rest of the South Island. As their alternative name, the Main Divide, suggests, they delimit two starkly different landscapes. To the east, sheltered by the Alps from the prevailing westerlies, lie the arid plains of Marlborough, sustaining the largest and most prestigious wine-growing region in New Zealand.
Beyond the Alps, the West Coast is a very different proposition. It hosts several records for sustained rainfall, and most visitors will find it easy to believe.
South Westland comprises some of the most scenic landforms in the world, and is a UNESCO World Heritage area.
It’s the most sparsely populated region in New Zealand, and the deserted and scenic south coast is a rewarding destination for those seeking a refuge from crowds and commercialism. Taking this notion to extremes involves travelling across Foveaux Strait to the third of New Zealand’s main islands, Stewart Island, where birds that are endangered elsewhere in the country practically outnumber the people.
The special character of some areas – notably Golden Bay, Nelson and Central Otago – has sparked a sharp rise in property prices nationwide, and caused a mild panic among New Zealanders who fear they are becoming tenants in the most desirable parts of their own country. As for the rest, primary industry is still its backbone, and even its largest city, Christchurch, retains the flavour of the rural service town from which it grew. Change is overtaking the Mainland, but like the pace of life, it’s doing it slowly.
More tourists head to the spectacular lakes and alpine landscapes of the South Island, but the North Island’s other very livable provincial cities frame diverse regions with distinctive appeal for visitors. In Hawke’s Bay, Napier and Hastings are the gateways to the region’s winemaking diversity. Just further north-east, Gisborne is a relaxed surfing town, and along the broad expanse of the Bay of Plenty, Tauranga is a ‘let's move there’ favourite for newcomers to New Zealand. Near the centre of the island, Rotorua, and to a lesser degree Taupo, are unashamed tourist hubs trading on their proximity to the incredible volcanic landscapes of the Central Plateau and Tongariro National Park. Along with the stunning coastal scenery of the Bay of Islands in the north, it's the region of the North Island which most people choose to visit.
The South Island was known to the Maori as Te Wai Pounamu, which refers to the presence in its cold southern waterways of the highly prized greenstone. It was the first part of New Zealand encountered by Europeans, sighted in December 1642 by the Dutch navigator, Abel Tasman. It was left to the Englishman, James Cook, in 1769 to prove that what Tasman had discovered was in fact the largest in a group of islands. Cook gave the South Island its present, rather prosaic, name.
For the first part of New Zealand’s history, the South Island was, thanks to sealing and whaling, the nation’s economic powerhouse. The major ‘gold rushes’ from 1861 turned the trickle of immigration to a torrent and enriched many of the South Island’s principal towns. If the 19th century was a boom time for the South Island, the twentieth century was a period of stagnation. Today, the South Island’s population is a sparse 900,000 – it’s the most immediately conspicuous feature of the South Island’s human geography, and one of the principal reasons most ‘Mainlanders’ give for living there.
But if the South Island is noted for anything in particular, it’s for the range and spectacular beauty of its physical geography.
It’s often said by foreign visitors that scenery exactly like every part of the South Island can be found elsewhere in the world, but nowhere else in the world can so many and varied natural attractions be seen in so small an area. You can appreciate the dramatic truth of this most effectively by taking a scenic flight, or by tramping through it and experiencing those contrasts at first-hand.
At its northern extremity, it features the drowned river valley system of the Marlborough Sounds, with their maze of sheltered waterways flanked, for the most part, by bush and inaccessible by road.
Arising just south of Nelson, the Southern Alps determine the character of much of the rest of the South Island. As their alternative name, the Main Divide, suggests, they delimit two starkly different landscapes. To the east, sheltered by the Alps from the prevailing westerlies, lie the arid plains of Marlborough, sustaining the largest and most prestigious wine-growing region in New Zealand.
Beyond the Alps, the West Coast is a very different proposition. It hosts several records for sustained rainfall, and most visitors will find it easy to believe.
South Westland comprises some of the most scenic landforms in the world, and is a UNESCO World Heritage area.
It’s the most sparsely populated region in New Zealand, and the deserted and scenic south coast is a rewarding destination for those seeking a refuge from crowds and commercialism. Taking this notion to extremes involves travelling across Foveaux Strait to the third of New Zealand’s main islands, Stewart Island, where birds that are endangered elsewhere in the country practically outnumber the people.
The special character of some areas – notably Golden Bay, Nelson and Central Otago – has sparked a sharp rise in property prices nationwide, and caused a mild panic among New Zealanders who fear they are becoming tenants in the most desirable parts of their own country. As for the rest, primary industry is still its backbone, and even its largest city, Christchurch, retains the flavour of the rural service town from which it grew. Change is overtaking the Mainland, but like the pace of life, it’s doing it slowly.
