Adrienne Rewi - Frommers New Zealand (Frommers Complete)

New Zealand

6th Edition

by Adrienne Rewi

Published by:

Wiley Publishing, Inc.

111 River St.

Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

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ISBN 978-0-470-49733-3

Editor: Hilary Achauer with Jennifer Reilly

Production Editor: Lindsay Conner

Cartographer: Andy Dolan

Photo Editor: Richard Fox

Production by Wiley Indianapolis Composition Services

Front cover photo: Maori statue in Picton Braden Gunem / AGE Fotostock, Inc.

Back cover photo: Panoramic view of the Milford Sound iStockphoto / Dean Turner

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5 4 3 2 1

List of Maps

North Island at a Glance

South Island at a Glance

New Zealand 1- and 2-Week
Itineraries

Other Suggested New Zealand
Itineraries

Greater Auckland

Central Auckland Link

Central Auckland

Devonport

Waiheke Island

Northland

Waikato & Bay of Plenty

Rotorua & Environs

Greater Rotorua

Lake Taupo Region

Gisborne & Hawkes Bay

Taranaki & the River Region

Wellington

Marlborough, Nelson &
Beyond

Central Nelson

Christchurch

West Coast

Lake Wanaka

Central Queenstown

Te Anau & Fiordland

Dunedin

Southland

Note About Maps

This guide contains dozens of maps of varying sizes and complexity. If you find it hard to read a map on your device, use the zoom function to enlarge. You can also download and/or printout PDFs of all of the maps in this guide. Go to www.frommers.com/go/ebookmaps and click on the title of your guide.

How to Contact Us

In researching this book, we discovered many wonderful placeshotels, restaurants, shops, and more. Were sure youll find others. Please tell us about them, so we can share the information with your fellow travelers in upcoming editions. If you were disappointed with a recommendation, wed love to know that, too. Please write to:

Frommers New Zealand, 6th Edition
Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

An Additional Note

Please be advised that travel information is subject to change at any timeand this is especially true of prices. We therefore suggest that you write or call ahead for confirmation when making your travel plans. The authors, editors, and publisher cannot be held responsible for the experiences of readers while traveling. Your safety is important to us, however, so we encourage you to stay alert and be aware of your surroundings. Keep a close eye on cameras, purses, and wallets, all favorite targets of thieves and pickpockets.

About the Author

Photojournalist Adrienne Rewis passion for words and writing has taken her throughout Asia and into almost every writing genre and every subject. When not organizing her next overseas trip, taking photographs, or writing her next book, she is based in Christchurch writing for numerous New Zealand and international magazines. She is the author of five editions of the bestselling travel guide Frommers New Zealand and has published three other non-fiction titles and assorted short stories. She is a contributor to the Frommers publication Dream Vacations.

Frommers Star Ratings, Icons & Abbreviations

Every hotel, restaurant, and attraction listing in this guide has been ranked for quality, value, service, amenities, and special features using a star-rating system. In country, state, and regional guides, we also rate towns and regions to help you narrow down your choices and budget your time accordingly. Hotels and restaurants are rated on a scale of zero (recommended) to three stars (exceptional). Attractions, shopping, nightlife, towns, and regions are rated according to the following scale: zero stars (recommended), one star (highly recommended), two stars (very highly recommended), and three stars (must-see).

In addition to the star-rating system, we also use seven feature icons that point you to the great deals, in-the-know advice, and unique experiences that separate travelers from tourists. Throughout the book, look for:

Special findsthose places only insiders know about

Fun factsdetails that make travelers more informed and their trips more fun

Best bets for kids, and advice for the whole family

Special momentsthose experiences that memories are made of

Places or experiences not worth your time or money

Insider tipsgreat ways to save time and money

Great valueswhere to get the best deals

The following abbreviations are used for credit cards:
AE American Express
DISC Discover
V Visa
DC Diners Club
MC MasterCard

Travel Resources at Frommers.com

Frommers travel resources dont end with this guide. Frommers website, www.frommers.com, has travel information on more than 4,000 destinations. We update features regularly, giving you access to the most current trip-planning information and the best airfare, lodging, and car-rental bargains. You can also listen to podcasts, connect with other Frommers.com members through our active-reader forums, share your travel photos, read blogs from guidebook editors and fellow travelers, and much more.

Chapter 1: The Best of New Zealand

Back in 1979, New Zealand cartoonist and satirist Tom Scott, writing in NZ Listener magazine, had this to say about New Zealand: Terrible tragedy in the South Seas. Three million people trapped alive.

The big news in 2003 was that we hit the four million population mark, and more than half of that increase was due to immigration. (By 2009, that number climbed to 4.3 million.) Given that we have around 44 million sheep, one New Zealander still equates to a whole lot of fresh lamb. Look beyond the farm gate, though, and youll find weve caught up with the rest of the world. We may bob about at the bottom of the Southern Hemisphere, but it would be unfair to consider the country a backwater.