New Zealand… Rocks!
Posted by Hans Ericsson | Under Destination Spotlight Monday Nov 10, 2008As you may know, I love to travel. As my job consists of mainly learning and writing about new and exciting destinations, I always get great ideas for new places to visit. One place I am interested in visiting as soon as I can is New Zealand. It’s not even that far, with the average flight time from California being a mere 12 hours. Okay, maybe it is kind of a long flight, but it’s so worth it.
New Zealand has a lot to offer. It’s about as large as Great Britain but has a population of around 4 million, which means it’s a great place relax and see the country at your own pace. Getting around is easy with a car rental in New Zealand, as the roads are efficient and fun to navigate, whether its on the coast, or in the mountains. If you want to travel from the North Island to the South Island (or vice versa) it’s easy, and many people do this daily.
Fans of delicious food won’t be disappointed. The country’s cuisine style is influenced from Europe, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Polynesia, Japan and Vietnam. More traditional New Zealand food consists of lamb, pork, venison, salmon, crayfish, bluff oysters, mussels and scallops just to name a few. There are also more than 900 Asian restaurants throughout New Zealand. This food of course goes great with the wine of New Zealand, which has recently enjoyed success on a global level.
If you like outdoor adventure, you will be overwhelmed with the massive amount of activity available! Some activities that are popular here include hiking, climbing, biking, swimming (dolphins optional), sky diving, and hang gliding, just to name a few. You don’t have to be into extreme sports to take advantage of the landscape however. The country boasts miles of coastline and inland lakes for world class fishing, as well as some very impressive challenging golf courses.
As far as activities and events in New Zealand, you won’t have trouble finding nightlife with the amount of clubs in larger cities like Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland. In December alone the White Water Rafting Festival, The Festival of Lights, and several mountain bike races are already scheduled. Whatever your interests, you are sure to find people with similar tastes here. If you’re lucky you may be able to catch a Flight of the Conchords performance.
Ever been to New Zealand? If so, leave a comment with some travel tips!
Hans, could you please explain the origin of New Zealands name? Many people actually believe there is a lesser known ancester to this land known as ‘Zealand’.
According to Wikipedia…
“The name New Zealand originated with Dutch cartographers, who called the islands Nova Zeelandia, after the Dutch province of Zeeland. No one is certain exactly who first coined the term, but it first appeared in 1645 and may have been the choice of cartographer Johan Blaeu.”
That would be my main reason for going to New Zealand. The Chinese food. I dont care about the beautiful landscapes or the people. I want Chinese food!!!
Fascinating! The Dutch voyagers are a glorious testament to the praiseworthiness of colonialism!
The Arc de Triomf is an archway structure in Barcelona, Spain. It was built for the 1888 Universal exhibition. I should do research before I try to prove people wrong. Sorry Kat!