Ferry from Great Barrier Island to New Zealand

About New Zealand

New Zealand is a small country, similar in size to Great Britain or Japan. With a population of only four million people it’s gloriously un-crowded and many areas are sparsely settled.

Consisting of two main islands - imaginatively named North Island and South Island and many smaller islands in the South Pacific Ocean, the archipelago lies roughly 1,000 miles south east of Australia.

New Zealand has a temperate climate. Winters are fairly cold in the south of the South Island but mild in the north of the North Island.

Known by some as "The Shaky Isles" because of frequent seismic activity, lying on the margin of the two colliding tectonic plates (the Pacific and Indo-Australian), earthquakes are common, particularly in the south west of the South Island and in the central North Island. As a result, the North Island's scenery is marked by several active and dormant volcanic cones.

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. The Windy City is built on the foreshore of Wellington Harbour and ringed by mountains, providing the scenic home of many of New Zealand's national arts and cultural attractions.