LAND & PEOPLE

GEOGRAPHICAL SNAPSHOT

New Zealand is situated approximately 994 miles (1,600 km) off the southeast coast of Australia, across the Tasman Sea. Its landmass is slightly bigger than that of the UK — approximately 103,738 square miles (268,680 sq. km), while its population is just over four and half million compared to the UK's sixty-three million. Put another way, in New Zealand there are only sixteen people to the square kilometer, whereas in the UK there are well over 260 (2013).

Although the two main islands, the North and the South, are well known, the country is in fact an archipelago with over 700 offshore islands, most of which are very small and within about 31 miles (50 km) of the coast. The North and the South Islands are long and narrow, stretching from latitude 34° degrees to 47° south. Thus the maximum distance to the sea from any one point is never more than about 80 miles (130 km), and it is the mighty Pacific Ocean that laps the shores of the 10,000–11,000 miles (15,000–18,000 km) of coastline. Due south of the mainland, as the South Island is often called by New Zealanders, is Stewart Island, or Rakiura, which is about 648 square miles (1,680 sq. km) in area. Around 500 miles (850 km) to the east are the Chatham Islands, which, lying just west of the International Date Line, are the first to see the sun rise, and to greet the New Year.

New Zealand's landscape is diverse — from green, gently rolling, sheep-scattered hills in the North Island to dramatic, snowcapped, rocky mountains and lakes in the South. The two main islands are only about 12 miles (20 km) apart, but early visitors felt they were visiting two different countries. Much of the "winterless" far north's hill country is farmed, although there is a lot of forest cover in the higher areas, which rise to nearly 5,600 feet (1,700 meters).

In the center of the island, surrounding Lake Taupo, are a number of volcanoes that have been active for over a million years, while nearby, to the east, are the mud pools and geysers of Rotorua, one of New Zealand's foremost attractions.

The South Island is vast, bigger and chillier than the North, and is divided lengthways by the Southern Alps, the highest point of which is Mount Cook at 12,313 feet (3,753 meters). Lush rain forests lie to the west, and to the east, where rivers flow from the mountains, lie the extensive farmlands of the Canterbury Plains, which seem to stretch forever. To the south are a number of icy, unbelievably turquoise lakes. This picture-book color is a natural phenomenon caused by the incessant friction of ice and water, which grind the pieces of rock into "rock flour," the tiny floating particles of which help to reflect light. Different again is Stewart Island, which, unlike the North and South Islands, is mostly covered in lush native vegetation on its gentle, rolling hills.

Most of New Zealand's coastline is rocky, but it has a number of bays and harbors around which New Zealanders and visitors love to sail, particularly on the safer eastern waters around the Bay of Islands, where the many islands form a natural protection against the ocean.

Volcanoes and Earthquakes

Not without justification is New Zealand referred to as "the shaky isles." An average year will see thousands of quakes, but only about two hundred will be felt. Volcanic activity occurs mostly in the north, although ancient craters follow a line through the country to islands in the sub-Antarctic nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away.

It must not be forgotten that New Zealand, which was once part of the massive continent Gondwana and separated from Australia around eighty million years ago, is located on the edge of tectonic plates, known as the Pacific "rim of fire." Volcanic activity has given the country its geological history of rising and collapsing mountains, landslides, and the formation of lakes. The Southern Alps, for instance, arose as a result of two huge plates on the Alpine fault meeting and sliding past each other. Most volcanic activity in New Zealand, in the last 1.6 million years, has occurred in the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ). The zone extends from White Island to Ruapehu. On a world scale it is an extremely active area and includes three frequently erupting cone volcanoes (Ruapehu, Tongariro/Ngauruhoe, White Island), and two of the most productive calderas in the world: Okataina and Taupo.

Mount Ruapehu, has been erupting regularly since 1969. The 1996 eruption produced over seven million tons of ash, which could be seen by satellite and affected visibility so badly that air traffic was disrupted.

White Island's volcano, which lies 30 miles (nearly 50 km) off the Bay of Plenty on the eastern side of the North Island, is still active and has an alert level of 1, indicating that it is always steaming; a plume of white smoke issuing from its peak can be seen from the coast. Visitors to the island don hard hats and masks and can view the sulfur works, long abandoned.

Such activity, of course, raises the ugly threat of tsunamis — a word that became familiar to the rest of the world after the tragic Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 in Southeast Asia, but one that is well understood in this region. New Zealand suffers very large earthquakes every few hundred years, and it is thought that in the fifteenth century a tsunami over 33 feet (10 meters) in height devastated many Maori coastal settlements. In September 2010 a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit the Canterbury region in the South Island. Six months later a resulting aftershock badly destroyed Christchurch, the island's largest city, killing 185 people.

CLIMATE

"Long on mud and rain" is the perception of New Zealand's climate, and this is not altogether inaccurate. Auckland is estimated to have twice as much rain as London, but also twice as much sun! With seasons reversed from most of the rest of the world, New Zealand's summer is a good time for northern hemisphere dwellers to visit, during their winter. February is usually considered the most stable month for warm weather.

New Zealand lies approximately halfway between Antarctica and the Tropics — "roaring forties" territory, that is often the bearer of winds and stormy seas. The west coast suffers much worse weather than the east, and is less populated as a consequence. The country's climate is officially "cool to temperate," but this leaves out a great deal in between. It is subject to a lot of high and low fronts, and to say the weather is unpredictable is putting it mildly. There is a saying in Auckland, "If you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes." Temperatures rarely exceed 86°F (30°C), and fall below freezing only in the higher, inland areas and in severe winters in the south, when gales can be forceful, although they also bring the snow to the ski fields. Summer temperatures are between 70 and 75°F (21–24°C) in Auckland, and two or three degrees lower in Queenstown and...