New Zealand is located southeast of Australia in Oceania and consists of a group of islands. This location makes it very isolated from other countries. The isolation of New Zealand assisted in the development of a strong national identity among its people. It also greatly affected it’s travel culture which greatly favors travel to domestic locations rather than overseas. New Zealand is a nation with an enormous variety of landscape spread across its two main islands (North Island and South Island). This dramatic change in landscape from region to region was and still is what attracts tourists globally. The country in general is very mountainous, with a fifth of the North Island and two thirds of the South Island dominated by mountains. Along with mountains, the country's other main geographical feature is the sea. Much of the land in New Zealand is fairly close to the sea which means that the country is blessed with temperate climate which means it’s temperature and amount of rainfall are just perfect and they get lots of sunshine. The hottest it gets during summer is 80°F and the coldest it gets is 55°F during winter. The Maori people named the country ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’ in description of it’s climate. This kind of climate was most likely pivotal in the development of New Zealand’s outdoors outlook on recreation as well as their huge focus on sports.
Although a good portion of New Zealand enjoys this temperate climate, there are differences between the North Island and the South Island. New Zealand generally gets colder the farther south you go while the north is more subtropical. The South Island is home to massive alps which get much colder than the rest of the country and are popular for winter sports. These alps also house giant famous glaciers which are popular hiking spots. The North Island’s main feature is it’s Volcanic Plateau. It houses many active volcanoes in addition to thermal areas, which means that there are hot springs in the area. Last but not least are New Zealand’s beaches. As an island nation the country has beautiful beaches all along every one of its coasts.
Sources
http://www.newzealand.com/us/feature/new-zealand-geography-and-geology/
http://www.tourism.org.nz/climate.html
https://www.niwa.co.nz/education-and-training/schools/resources/climate/overview
http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/questions.html
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/natural-environment/page-3
http://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/new-zealand-climate-and-weather/
Although a good portion of New Zealand enjoys this temperate climate, there are differences between the North Island and the South Island. New Zealand generally gets colder the farther south you go while the north is more subtropical. The South Island is home to massive alps which get much colder than the rest of the country and are popular for winter sports. These alps also house giant famous glaciers which are popular hiking spots. The North Island’s main feature is it’s Volcanic Plateau. It houses many active volcanoes in addition to thermal areas, which means that there are hot springs in the area. Last but not least are New Zealand’s beaches. As an island nation the country has beautiful beaches all along every one of its coasts.
Sources
http://www.newzealand.com/us/feature/new-zealand-geography-and-geology/
http://www.tourism.org.nz/climate.html
https://www.niwa.co.nz/education-and-training/schools/resources/climate/overview
http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/questions.html
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/natural-environment/page-3
http://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/new-zealand-climate-and-weather/