Updated 22 Feb 2011
| The Southern Half |
| A (not quite) Complete Travel Guide To New Zealand |
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The Ultimate Workbook For Self Drive Travellers
Welcome to New Zealand . . . where your God set the colour and the contrast and man hasn't fiddled with the dials.
This travel guide is the kind of information everyone needs to make the best of their holiday - where to stay, where to eat, what to see. Yes, all that. But much more. It is aimed primarily at self-drive travellers and they need to know much more.
If you are running low on fuel it's real handy to be able to check out how far you are from the nearest gas station. And what about if you have problems? Many people today are travelling in vehicles of their own and may not have a breakdown service as a back-up. So here's information on repair shops and vehicle recovery services.
The problem is how to deliver this information in a logical way - and I have decided to serve it up as the road rolls under you. That is, the information is given kilometre by kilometre for each of the state highways.
The purpose of this guide is to give you all the information you could possibly want to enjoy your visit to this amazing destination.
It is a work in progress. And so far it has been seven years in the making. It is far from complete (see side bar), but if you are touring NZ you may find it useful.
For ease of navigation I have divided the country into four regions:
New Zealand's largest city . . . a cosmopolitan mix of peoples from around the world, set astride two stunning harbours
The Top Half of the North Island
With the Bay of Islands, Rotorua and Waitomo Caves it has some of the iconic New Zealand tourist attractions in its compass.
The Southern Half of the North Island
A region of huge contrasts - from the dramatic mountains of Tongariro and Egmont National Parks to the gentle beauty of the eastern vineyard country. Rolling hill country farmland to the bustling commercial and political capital, Wellington.
The Main Event. The Big Show. Beautiful and all as the North Island is, the South Island is stunning, dramatic, awe-inspiring . . . and just plain drop-dead gorgeous
A Guide For Self Drive Travellers
This is a compilation of information I've been collecting over the past 30 years.
Eventually I hope to have it finished in a such a form that I can actually charge for it . . . and thus recoup a small portion of the cost in time and expense that it has absorbed so far.
In the meantime, take it for what it is: A half finished and partially accurate gazetteer. I figured that even partial information is better than no information.
Please, dear reader, excuse it's inaccuracies. To keep it absolutely up to date would require driving every road at least once every three months, so fast does the tourist landscape change. But it's free! (You gets what you pays for, right?). The inaccuracies are, however, only of a minor nature.
Much detail is missing from many of the roads - it's a hugely time-consuming job researching all this stuff. That time has to be scrounged from the demands of business and family life.
You can help!! Please let me know about its faults and failings. Let me know where things have changed. Email me at drm@visitnz.co.nz.
The Southern Half