New Zealand is a country in the south Pacific ocean that’s made up of two main islands (the North and South Island) and other smaller islands. The countries nearest to New Zealand are other Pacific island nations, such as New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga, which are located to the north of New Zealand. To the west of New Zealand, across the Tasman Sea, is Australia. The
National language of New Zealand is English, with Maori also spoken by the indigenous Maori tribes. The
National currency is the New Zealand Dollar, whilst the capital is Wellington.
Due to its location quite far from Australia and thousands of miles away from Europe, New Zealand was one of the last major landmasses to be discovered by humans. Evidence suggests that the land was first settled on in the 13th century. In 1769 British explorer James Cook set about mapping the entire coastline of the two main islands and after this New Zealand was increasingly visited by Europeans who were interested in trading with the islands.
One of the biggest attractions on the islands is that of sport. New Zealanders love their sport, with rugby union being the biggest spectator sport. One of the best sights in rugby union is the New Zealand
National team doing their traditional pre-match dance, The Haka. Outside of that there’s also soccer, cricket and tennis, which are all very popular. In particular soccer, which has become very popular in the late 20th and early 21st century due to the
National team’s success on the
National stage.
The weather in New Zealand is mainly warm to mild, with quite a lot of rain in the winter months of May to September. Temperatures hit a height of around 24C in February, which is the hottest month in New Zealand, after that point it drops down as winter starts. In Wellington especially the precipitation levels are high in June and July.
Car hire in New Zealand is easy when you use AnyCarHire.com. We compare local companies like
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