We make our home in a beautiful little valley in the Far North of New Zealand's North Island. Nuclear-free New Zealand is a wonderful place to live--a land of friendly people and beautiful countryside, stunning beaches and harbours, beautiful native forests, and gorgeous lowland and alpine environments.   This page will tell you a good deal about New Zealand and will provide some links in case you want more information. Perhaps you already know all you want about New Zealand but would like to learn more about the "Winterless North".        Seasons in New Zealand occur opposite to the northern hemisphere, with January and February the warmest months and July the coldest. The climate is temperate -- national averages range from 8o C (46o F)  in July to 17o C  (63o F) in January -- but summer temperatures occasionally reach the low 30s (high 80s F) in many inland and eastern regions.

New Zealand overall has a temperate maritime climate; summer in the Far North is sub-tropical, while winter in the far south can be almost Antarctic. Because the country consists of long, narrow islands lying along a mainly north-south axis and is not close to any large land mass, the temperature varies little year round, and seasonal variations are not extremely marked. At the same time, the weather is changeable and in many places can change several times in the course of a day. The average rainfall varies widely - from less than 400 mm (16 inches) in Central Otago (in the central southern part of the Soiuth Island) to over 11,000 mm (more than 400 inches) in the Southern Alps (near and parallel to the West Coast of the South Island). For most of the North Island and much of the northern South Island the driest season is summer. Many tropical fruits grow well in the Far North. We have routinely eaten passionfruit, guavas (both yellow and "strawberry"), feijoas, & tamarillos from our own garden(s). We have pineapple plants and about a dozen banana plants growing well (and producing delicious bananas) as well as macadamias, avacados, cherimoyas (custard apple), and several different varieties of citrus.          Because the winters are mild, spring growth starts to appear at the end of July--even earlier in the North. In most of the country, autumn weather carries over into winter. The coldest winters and hottest summers are both found in inland parts of the South Island.. Snow is mainly confined to the mountains and hills in winter, even on the South Island--but snow is unknown in the Far North. Average daily sunshine hours range from seven or eight in summer to four or five in winter. Most of the country has about 2000 sunshine hours each year, but in the Far North the figure is higher, usually up to 2400 or more. Here are some climate figures:

The Land

            New Zealand is a group of three large and many small Islands, stretching north-south for 1600 km (1000 mi). The North Island is 115,000 square km (45000 sq mi) in area; the South Island is 151,000 square km (59000 sq mi). The North Island and the South Island are separated by Cook Strait. The third and much smaller island, Stewart Island, is 1700 square km (660 sq mi) in area and lies south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. The country's total area is about the same as the British Isles, about the size of the US state of Nevada. Because the coast is indented by many inlets and bays, the coastline totals 10,000 km (6,250 mi) in length. It is a narrow country and no inland location is further than 110 km (70 mi) from the ocean in a direct line. Mountain ranges run along much of the length of the country, formed by the collision of the Pacific and Indian-Australian continental plates. This position on the " Pacific ring of fire" also accounts for the widespread geo-thermal activity which is found throughout most of the country; few areas are without at least one natural hot spring, and the geo-thermal activity of the central North Island (Rotorua, Taupo and surrounding districts) is world famous. Although some active volcanoes still exist, most are dormant. Earthquakes occur, about as often as in California, but stringent engineering standards ensure that buildings remain safe in all but the most extreme quakes . Much of New Zealand is mountainous or at least hilly. There are 200 named peaks of more than 2400 m (8000 ft) , the highest being Aoraki (Mount Cook). The Southern Alps contain 360 glaciers. The mountains of the Far North, on the other hand, have a tropical appearance, cloaked in shades of green year-round.

             The Waikato River is New Zealand's longest at 425 km (265 mi); it flows from the largest of the country's many lakes, Lake Taupo, which lies in an immense volcanic crater in the centre of the North Island. In Fiordland, far south on the western side of the South Island, the glaciers have formed fiords reminiscent of Norway. In the Far North, immense sand dunes stretch for miles (or kilometres, if you like) along the western coast, punctuated by (sometimes immense but often fairly shallow) harbours.

WILDLIFE: There is virtually no dangerous wildlife in New Zealand: no snakes, and only one very rare poisonous spider, found only in one small region and almost never deadly. The country also has no native mammals, apart from a couple of fairly rare bats. Virtually all the warm-blooded native wildlife consists of birds, several of them flightless. The kiwi, New Zealand's avian emblem, is the most famous, but many of the others are equally charming. The tui (glossy blue- or green- black with white tufts at the throat, and unusually large for a nectar-eater) delights those who see or hear one. The bold little fantail is a charmer, as is the visually unobtrusive grey warbler. The call of the morepork (a nocturnal bird that looks mid-way between an owl and a hawk) is one of the night's pleasantest sounds. One non-native bird, the (Australian) Eastern Rosella is so gorgeously colourful and charmingly playful (although very shy) that it must be considered a positive addition to NZ's wildlife--fortunately, rosellas abound in our little valley. So, to do paradise shelducks, pukekos (a native relative of the domestic chicken), kingfishers, white-faced herons, yellowheads (a native bird sort of mid-way between a sparrow and a large budgie), native swallows--and a substantial population of feral turkeys.

NATIONAL PARKS:

New Zealand's first national park (and the world's fourth), Tongariro National Park, containing the volcanic peaks Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngauruhoe, lies just south of Lake Taupo in the middle of the North Island. The park was given to the nation in 1886 by Te Heuheu Horonuku, the paramount chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa people, who wanted the sacred mountains protected in perpetuity. There are now twelve national parks in New Zealand, supplemented by twenty forest parks with a less protected status, and nearly 4000 reserves of various sizes. They contain spectacular scenery, rare and endangered species, and archeological sites, and serve as conservation and recreation areas. There are also three maritime parks and two World Heritage sites, one of which is Tongariro National Park. All native trees are evergreens, and include giant conifers such as the kauri, rimu and totara and several species of beech. About three-quarters of the native flowering plants are unique to New Zealand; sub-alpine species in particular are of interest to botanists. Large native flax (used by Maori to make traditional clothing and baskets), toetoe (a pampas grass), and mangroves in the north are common roadside sights. So are the beautiful coastal pohutukawa trees, found throughout the lowlands of the Far North . These are known as the New Zealand Christmas tree because their red flowers appear abundantly in December. The giant lily known as the ‘cabbage tree’, the nikau palm, and the tree fern or ponga are other distinctive and common plants. In spring and early summer, kowhai and rata brighten the bush with yellow and red flowers. A total of 112 native tree species grow in New Zealand.

             Most of the European settlers who arrived in New Zealand between 1840 and 1900 were English or Scottish, with a substantial leavening of Irish and some Welsh, and these are still the predominant influences in the ancestry of New Zealanders - as any broad listing of surnames quickly demonstrates.  However, there have been a large number of Dutch immigrants (including some very dear friends of ours), and other European countries are also well represented, many through refugees leaving Europe after the Second World War.   Maoris remain the largest minority, but the Polynesian immigration from Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands and other South Pacific Islands threatens to change that. Auckland has a larger Polynesian population than any other city in the world.  All races and both sexes are equal before the law. [New Zealand was the first nation to give women the vote.] Over the last 10 year there has been significant increases in immigration from many parts of the world.  The Chinese population is now over 3%.  The Indian community is also growing quickly and constitutes more 2%.  The population is actively multi-cultural and is very accepting of other nationalities, races, and cultures.  

The Maori - The Indigenous People
          New Zealand's indigenous people, the Maori, arrived from the central Pacific Ocean in ocean-going canoes less than a thousand years ago. They called the place Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud, and quickly adapted to the cooler climate and spread throughout the country. Here they developed a culture quite distinct from the rest of the Pacific, since the long distances and treacherous ocean conditions discouraged return voyages. The Maori style of art is unique, based on the koru or opening fern frond motif. This is used in weaving (where geometric patters are also important), wood-carving, the carving of pounamu (nephrite jade), and formerly and again increasingly in elaborate tattoos which in earlier times conveyed the essential identity of the wearer. Warriors were tattooed full-face, while women's tattoos extended only to the chin; other parts of the body might also be marked, particularly the buttocks on men.

New Zealand Society
           Socially and politically, New Zealand has a justified reputation as a progressive nation. As mentioned above, women in New Zealand were the first in the world to gain the vote. Also, New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy is widely respected. Through the '90s, and as in so many other English-speaking countries, the government was dominated by a much less progressive (indeed, blatantly reactionary) outlook. The people of New Zealand continued to tolerate the loss of their social rights and protections for nearly a decade. Whether the current government will restore humanitarian concerns to the halls of paliament remains to be seen. In 1994, the country moved to institute a form of proportional representation for elections of members of parliament. Although there are many political parties, five parties have dominated political activity in parliament in recent years: Labour (conservative), the Alliance (progressive), the Greens (environmentally responsible and generally progressive), National (reactionary), and ACT (reactonary and racist). The previous government (elected in late November 1999) consisted of a so-called Centre-Left (more centre than left) minority coalition of Labour and the Alliance with support from the Green Party. As far as we know, this is the first time that a Green Party has held the balance of power in any nation in the Southern Hemishpere.

           In 2001, the main figure in the Alliance abandoned his principles and his party and formed a new, one man, party. His actions effectively destroyed the Alliance's chances in the impending election, and they ended up with no representatives in the current Parliament. At the same time, Labour gained in populatity, enabling it to establish a minority government with the support of the Alliance defector and another minor party.

           An election is coming this month (November 2008), so the above could change substantially.

If you've read this far, you know a lot more about New Zealand than most people--perhaps more than most New Zealanders! If you'd like to know more, come visit again. This page is constantly under construction. Soon there will be more maps, some pictures, and more links to other sources of information. For example, here's a link to click if you would like to know more about Northland.

Another useful link for information about New Zealand is this one, hosted by the NZ government.

Want to email us? Click here: or here TechnoHelp.

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Here are some links to sites where you can find more information about New Zealand:

• New Zealand government site
• New Zealand Local Governments
• Smokefree New Zealand
• Weeds in New Zealand
• New Zealand Education Gazette