Census Population:  3,660,364
New Zealand Day is celebrated on February 6
in the name of Waitangi Day
(Waitangi is where the NZ Treaty was signed
between the Maori and European on Feb 6th 1840)
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New Zealand lies deep in the Pacific Ocean approximately
1600 km south east of Australia, it's nearest neighbor.
It comprises of three main islands,
North, South and Stewart.
It is similar in size to Japan or England.
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Being in the temperate zone the climate is coastal
maritime to alpine,mild and equable with abundant
sunshine, high rainfall and few extremes of
heat and cold.
 Geographically, it is a land of extremes;
fertile coastal plains, glaciated high mountain ranges,
deep sinuous fiords surrounded by ancient forests,
 and volcanic plateaux complete with geysers,
 boiling mud pools and thermal springs.
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New Zealand has been isolated for so long it's forests
hand many of its birds have become unique.
 Native trees and vegetation are found in habitat
varying from forest to wetlands and alpine slopes to
coastal dunes.  Because of the absence of predators in
the early period of  isolation, the colorful native birds
 contain a high number of flightless species; notable
 among these are the kiwi, kakapo and the extinct moa.
 The tuatara, a lizard-like reptile peculiar to the land is
a prehistoric relic pre-dating the dinosaur.
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One third of this land is managed by the Department of
Conservations areas of wilderness, in the form of a
National Maritime Parks and Reserves, to preserve
 species for future generations and provide and safeguard
 natural areas for tramping and recreation.
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Today New Zealand is primarily an agricultural country
with an increasing area of orchards and vineyards
 of international reputation.
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The story of settlement in New Zealand
begins in the great voyages of early Maori.
On reaching these shores they named it
  Aotearoa, "the Land of the Long White Cloud".
 The first european discovery by Abel Tasman in
 the early 17th century was followed by Captain James
Cook who circumnavigated the land in 1769 and
outlined the new shape on the maps of the Pacific,
inspiring progressive new European settlement.

 Maori customs, language and history including the
ancient myths and legends of their ancestors,
continue to influence New Zealand life today.

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This is a map showing the entirety of
.New Zealand
Click on the map to view a full sized version of it

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 Lake Matheson, near Wanaka in the South Island....one of the
beautiful sites to be seen in New Zealand.
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New Zealand's endlessly varied geographical wonders,
     its unique native flora and curious, singular fauna are
     boundless sources of wonder. In a country only about the
     size of Colorado, the landscape offers a kaleidoscope of
     changing land forms. Within the space of one or two days, it's
     possible to view long sandy beaches, snowcapped volcanoes,
     deep fiords, sparkling rivers, jagged mountain ranges, steaming
     geothermal pools, subtropical rain forests, jewel-like lakes, dry
     high country basins covered in seas of waving tussocks and
     picturesque lowland farms.

 Like Nowhere Else
     Separated from the super-continent Gondwanaland 70 million years
     ago and surrounded by the vast barrier of the Pacific Ocean,
    New Zealand's islands evolved for millions of years as one huge,
    isolated botanical garden, allowing many ancient plants and
  animals to  survive  and evolve in ways unlike anywhere
    else on earth. The characteristic New Zealand native forest is a
    temperate, evergreen podocarp (rimu, kahikatea, totara and matai)
    forest with giant tree ferns and vines very closely resembling a
tropical rainforest.
     The second largest trees in the world, the giant kauri can be found in
     small forest pockets in Northland and on the Coromandel Peninsula.
     In spite of 1,200 years of human land clearing, about a quarter of the
country still remains forested.
These magnificent forest sanctuaries are filled with extraordinary
varieties of trees, ferns and other flora,
 84 percent of which can be found nowhere else in the world.
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What we are best known for:
Our Sheep!!

Ahhhhhhhh.....there you go.......what colour would you like?

And I'll bet you thought we dyed our wool!!!!!
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New Zealand Tradition:

The Poi dance performed by a group  of Wahine (Maori Women)

Facial expressions used during a haka by Tane (Maori Men)

A traditional Maori caver at work
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Click on the name of a place of interest to you below to
find out more about that area

North Island:

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.South Island:

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You can e-mail us at: thenevs@ihug.co.nz