About the Book: Active travelers trust National Geographic to deliver what they want in a guidebook: expert advice, insider tips, and the cultural feel of each destination not easily found online. These guides are pitch-perfect for today's experiential travel enthusiasts who want an authentic, enriching immersion.
From the heart of Auckland and Christchurch to the lakes around Queenstown; from the fjords of Milford Sound to towering Mt. Cook on the South Island; and from the beautiful Bay of Islands to the bubbling sulfur springs of Rotorua in the North, this guide gives you every tool you need to plan a trip to this unique land on the other side of the world. Australian native and frequent Kiwi visitor Peter Turner escorts you through the incredibly varied land - and cityscapes that are today's New Zealand. Starting with a detailed introduction to the country's history, food, land, and culture, the book explores every corner of New Zealand, starting with Auckland, the bustling cosmopolitan jewel in the North. Turner takes readers down the islands to such magical places as Kiakoura, where you can swim with wild dolphins; stately Wellington, the proud and lively capital; Westland National Park, with its incredible gleaming glaciers; and charming Christchurch, whose gardens and parks give it a distinctly British feel. Special sidebars describe such topics as the Maori, the national obsession of Rugby, and the many adventure activities (like bungee jumping, which originated outside Queenstown) that people often associate with the country.
Experiential sidebars abound, including one on how to live and work on an organic farm, one on the hidden corners of the country where you can spot a real Kiwi bird, and another on places to learn to surf. The book also features guided drives and hikes through some of the land's most spectacular natural scenery. Whether you're checking out the subterranean glowworms at Waitomo Caves or trekking along the famous Milford Track, this guide has everything you need for a memorable trip.
About the Author: Drawn by family ties and a love of New Zealand's natural splendor, Peter Turner has been a regular visitor to the Land of the Long White Cloud for more than two decades, traveling the length and breadth of the country numerous times on writing assignments. Australian by birth, journalist by trade, and wanderer by nature, he has worked as an editor, publisher, and journalist in Australia and for newspapers in Indonesia, Thailand, and Brunei. As a travel writer and photographer specializing in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, he has contributed to newspapers and magazines worldwide and to more than 20 guidebooks.
About the Photographer: Based in Christchurch, New Zealand, Colin Monteath is a freelance photographer, writer, and mountaineer who has traveled widely in the polar and high mountain regions of the world. In 1983, he started Hedgehog House New Zealand, a photographic library that specializes in polar, mountain, natural history, and travel imagery. Colin has spent 28 seasons in Antarctica and has taken part in 20 Himalayan expeditions. His assignment have taken him to numerous countries and to nearly every continent, and his pictures and stories have appeared in National Geographic, Time, New Zealand Geographic, and many other publications around the world.
My Review: This is a travel guide that should be able to fulfill all your needs for information on what to do, how to do, where to go, where to eat, where to sleep, etc... when you are visiting New Zealand. The author did a magnificent job putting together this excellent travel guide.
The book is structured in twelve chapters, going from an overview on how to visit, going from North to South, length travels and covering different cities and regions, like Auckland and Around, Northland, Central North Island, Wellington and the South, Marlborough and Nelson, Christchurch and Canterbury, West Coast, Otago, Fiordland and Southland. Each chapter has dozens of beautiful pictures, maps, as well as top tips, best places to eat, best places to drink and best places to shop, costs for attractions, etc.
I have never been to New Zealand, and this guide was an excellent way of awakening my desire to go there. It is full of magnificent photos and so rich in detail that I felt that I had already visited most of the places. Definitely I will include New Zealand in my plans for future travels.
This is an outstanding result for the effort from this author and photos are amazing. This is a must have book for those who are serious about planing their trips and also for those who want to remember details on previous travels, while wishing they can return to New Zealand some day in the future.
Amazon.com was kind enough to provide this book for me through their Vine Program for reviewing and I was not requested to provide a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own.
If you read this review, fell free to leave a comment!
Amazon.com was kind enough to provide this book for me through their Vine Program for reviewing and I was not requested to provide a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own.
If you read this review, fell free to leave a comment!
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