Past

The original inhabitants of New Zealand were the Maori. It is estimated that these Polynesians arrived in several migration 'waves' in New Zealand about 1000 years ago. On a voyage of discovery, Dutch navigator Abel Tasman sailed up the West Coast of New Zealand in 1642, but did not stay long after his only attempt at landing on New Zealand's shores was repelled by the Maori. New Zealand was not rediscovered by Europeans until 1769 when the British naval captain, James Cook, and his crew, became the first Europeans to lay claim to New Zealand.

It was not until 1840 that any formal agreement was signed between the Maori people of New Zealand and the European settlers. This agreement, known as the Treaty of Waitangi, is New Zealand's founding document. The signing of the Treaty between over 500 Maori Chiefs and representatives of the British Crown, is commemorated annually on February 6 as New Zealand's national day - Waitangi Day.

New Zealand became a self-governing British colony in 1856 and then a Dominion in 1907. It took until 1947 however before New Zealand became fully independent.

Climate and Geography

New Zealand is located in the southern Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,600 kilometres (995 miles) south-east of Australia. New Zealand is comprised of two main islands (the North and South Islands) and several smaller islands of which the combined total land area is 270,534 sq. kms (104,454 sq. mls - approximately 36 times less than the US). It is similar in size to Colorado and somewhere in between the size of Japan and the United Kingdom.

New Zealand’s geography includes spectacular landscapes incorporating the vast mountain chain of the Southern Alps (larger than the French, Austrian and Swiss Alps combined), the volcano region of the North Island, fiords, glaciers, lakes, rainforests and extensive grassy plains.

Highest point: Mount Cook (3,754 m or 12313 ft)
Deepest lake: Lake Hauroko (462 m 1515 ft)
Largest lake: Lake Taupo (606 km or 234 miles)
Longest river: Waikato River (425 km or 264 miles long)
Largest glacier: Tasman Glacier (29 km or 18 miles long)
Deepest cave: Nettlebed, Mount Arthur (889 m or 2916 ft)
Length of coastline: 15,811 km (9824 miles)
 

New Zealand experiences summer from December – February and winter from June – August. The climate is temperate with little extreme. Any huge variations in temperature can be accounted for by the combination of the mountainous geography and prevailing westerly winds.

Source: Statistics New Zealand, New Zealand In Profile 1998

Government

New Zealand is an independent state of the Commonwealth. The Queen is represented in New Zealand by the Governor General, Her Excellency Right Honorable Dame Silvia Cartwright. The democratic government operates under the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) Parliamentary system of 120 seats (of which 67 Members of Parliament are from geographic areas and 53 from political parties). The Government is led by coalition partners - the Labour Party and United Future. The Prime Minister of New Zealand is the Right Honorable Helen Clark.

Leisure & Tourism

New Zealanders are heavily involved in outdoors activities. Our national image and the lifestyles of the population have been largely shaped by our involvement in a wide variety of sports and leisure activities. It is often said that sports and leisure are the predominant focus of the New Zealand cultural identity, for example, New Zealand’s involvement in international rugby.

Tourism generated over $5.9 billion in foreign exchange for the year ended September 2002 and attracted more than 2 million international visitors in the year ended November 2002. New Zealand is a popular holiday destination for visitors from Australia, North America, the United Kingdom and Japan.

Primary Production

Agriculture and horticulture, forestry, fisheries, energy and minerals are the primary natural resources of New Zealand. The most valuable of these product groups, providing a high proportion of New Zealand’s export earnings is agriculture and horticulture which incorporates the production of sheepmeat, beef, wool, dairy produce and hides, deer, goats and cereal products. In fact, agricultural products total more than 50% of all New Zealand exports.

Industry & Business

While New Zealand’s primary manufacturing industries are the food processing industry (meat and dairy etc) and the engineering sector, New Zealand has an increasingly strong competitive advantage in food processing technology, telecommunications, plastics, textiles, plantation forest products, electronics, climbing equipment and apparel. In recent years there has also been a far greater interest in the production of specialised lifestyle products such as yachts.

Economy

New Zealand's economy is heavily dependent on overseas trade. Traditionally a large proportion of New Zealand's exports, (mainly agricultural products), went to the United Kingdom. But over the past 25 years
our trading partners have become more diverse, to include a more dominant Asia.

New Zealand has developed its agriculture and manufacturing industries to suit the needs of niche markets. Dairy and meat exports still make a large contribution to New Zealand's economy. However, industries such as forestry, horticulture, fishing, manufacturing and tourism have become increasingly significant.

Australia is now our number one merchandise export market, accounting for 18% of the value of New Zealand's exports in 2001. The United States has increased its share to become our second largest export market (15%), followed by Japan (13%) and in fourth place the United Kingdom (5%).

The value of merchandise exports to all countries has increased by 141% between 1998 and 2001. Exports to many Asian countries have increased at a faster rate - for example the value of exports to Korea over this period has increased 358% to a total value of $1.4 million in 2001.

For the year ended September 2002, the merchandise exports value is $31,676 million, a decrease of 3.7 % from the previous September year. Gross Domestic Product for the year ended March 2001 totalled $112, 316 million.

The New Zealand currency is the New Zealand dollar. One dollar is equal to 100 cents (50c, 20c, 10c, 5c).

All statistics have been sourced from the latest Statistics New Zealand National Census (2001), www.statsnz.govt.nz.

Business Hours

Shopping: Monday to Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm
Late nights Thursday or Friday to 9.00pm
Saturday 10.00am - 4.00pm (most shops)
Sunday 11.00am - 3.00pm (most shops)

There is a trend for longer hours than mentioned above

Post Office: Monday to Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm
Saturday 9.00am – 12 noon (some only)

Convenience stores: or 'dairies' are generally open 7.00am – 10.00pm seven days a week.

Service stations: or petrol stations are usually open 24 hours.

Taxes & Tipping

GST (Goods and Services Tax) of 12.5% is applied to the cost of all goods and services and is generally included in all prices.

GST cannot be claimed back from purchases, however it is not included in duty free prices or where the goods are posted by a retailer to an international visitor's home address. GST is not included in international airfares purchased in New Zealand.

Gratuities (tips) are not expected, but if a visitor wishes to leave a tip for outstanding service, it is certainly appreciated. Service charges are not added to hotel or restaurant accounts.

Emergency Services

In emergencies, dial 111 for police, fire or ambulance services.

Electricity & Water

New Zealand’s AC electricity supply operates at 230/240 volts (50 hertz), the same as Australia. Most hotels and motels also provide 110 volt, 20 watt, AC sockets for electric razors. An adaptor is necessary to operate all other electrical equipment.

Tap (faucet) water in New Zealand is fresh, treated and safe to drink. City water is both chlorinated and fluoridated. To prevent any problems when travelling in the back-country (tramping, camping etc.), ensure water is boiled or treated before drinking.

Transport & Communication

Air New Zealand is one of the world’s most advanced international airlines. Both Air New Zealand, Qantas New Zealand and Freedom Air operate in the domestic commercial air travel industry. Tranz Rail provide all commercial train transportation throughout the country and also operate the Cook Strait ferry service (Interislander). The approximate cost per day for Car Rental of a mid-sized car is NZ$80-NZ$110, with competitive rates negotiable for longer hires. New Zealanders drive on the left-hand side of the road.

New Zealand has a fully developed communications infrastructure and the use of the Internet as a means of communication is very popular.

Mobile telephones can be used and are available for hire on arrival in New Zealand, (outlets are available at international airports). Mobile phones from another country need to have an international roam facility covering New Zealand to work in New Zealand.

Telephone Codes

New Zealand Country Code: 64

Area Codes:
Northland & Auckland: 09
Waikato & Bay of Plenty: 07
Gisborne; Hawke’s Bay; Taranaki & Wairarapa: 06
Wellington: 04
South Island (all areas): 03

Public Holidays 2003

New Year’s Day: Wednesday 1 January
New Year’s Public Holiday: Thursday 2 January
Waitangi Day: Thursday 6 February
Good Friday: Friday 18 April
Easter Monday: Monday 21 April
ANZAC Day: Friday 25 April
Queen’s Birthday (observed): Monday 2 June
Labour Day: Monday 27 October
Christmas Day: Thursday 25 December
Boxing Day: Friday 26 December

Interesting Facts

For a country of 3.85 million people, New Zealand has not done too badly! Here are just a few examples:

• New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote (1893).
• It was probably a New Zealander, Richard William Pearse who took the world’s first flight -nearly two years before the Wright Brothers in the United States (this however cannot be proved). On 31 March 1902 Pearse managed to fly his home-made aircraft 91 metres in a field near Timaru.
• There are more golf courses in New Zealand per capita of population, than any other country in the world (over 400 golf courses for 3.7 million people).
• Auckland has the largest number of boats per head of population than any other city in the world.
• William Hamilton, a Canterbury farmer, developed and perfected the propellerless jet boat based on the principle of water jet propulsion. Following this, Hamilton went on to invent the hay-lift, an advanced air compressor, an advanced air conditioner, a machine to smooth ice on skating ponds; the water sprinkler and also contributed to the improvements of hydro-power.
• A New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary, was the first person to climb Mount Everest (with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953).
• Baron Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealander, was the first person in the world to split the atom (in 1919). Rutherford also succeeded in transmitting and detecting ‘wireless waves’ a year before Marconi, but left this work to pursue researching radioactivity and the structure of the atom at Trinity College in Cambridge, England. Rutherford was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work
• New Zealand is the first country in the world to see each new day.
• Curio Bay in Southland is one of the world’s most extensive and least disturbed examples of a petrified forest, (the forest is approximately 180 million years old).
• New Zealand was the first country in the world to have a government department for tourism. In 1901 the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts was created.
• Wellington has more cafes and restaurants per capita than New York.
• New Zealand is the birthplace of the meringue dessert known as the ‘Pavlova’, named after the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova.
• The old Government Building in Wellington is the largest wooden structure in the southern hemisphere (8200 square metres).
• The vineyards of Central Otago, New Zealand, are the southern most vineyards in the world (45° South).
• Nelson was the first city in the world to formalise the eight-hour working day.
• New Zealand won the first ever Rugby World Cup in 1987. The New Zealand Women’s Rugby Team won the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 1998.
• Tongariro National Park was the fourth national park to be established in the world and the first in New Zealand, in 1887. (Yellowstone National Park in the United States was the first in 1872.)
• The Hector’s Dolphin (the world’s smallest marine dolphin), and the world’s rarest sea lion, the Hooker’s sea lion, are only found in New Zealand waters.
• New Zealand is home to the world’s only flightless parrot, the Kakapo, as well as the Kea - the only alpine parrot in the world.
• The oldest living genus of reptile is the native New Zealand Tuatara. Tuataras have a life expectancy of 300 years. It is estimated that Tuataras can be traced back 190 million years to the Mesozoic era.
• A New Zealander invented the tear back velcro-strip, the pop-lid on a self sealing paint tin, the child-proof pill bottle and the crinkle in your hairpins so that they don’t fall out!
• A New Zealand archbishop’s son invented the totaliser machine used for racing and sports betting.
• Waikoropupu Springs near Nelson are reputedly the clearest fresh water springs in the world, with an outflow of approximately 2,160 million litres of water every 24 hours.
• Frying Pan Lake near Rotorua, is the world’s largest hot water spring reaching a temperature of 200°C at it’s deepest point.

New Zealand Regions