Rent a Car New Zealand - Geography New Zealand

One of the remotest countries in the world, New Zealand comprises of two main islands in the South Pacific Ocean, 1600km south-east of Australia. The south island is the larger, less populated and more rugged island. In addition to the southern most Stewart Island it also governs several remote pacific islands. Altogether the two main islands are 1600kms in length.

Lying on a fault line, New Zealand’s topography is typified by volcanic action which has shaped the land and continues to rumble from time to time (Mt Ruapehu erupted violently in 1996 shutting down the entire area).

Volcanoes past and present have left their mark on the North Island. Lake Taupo, in the island’s centre, is the collapsed former crater of an enormous explosion 2000 years ago, nearby are three distinctive remains of Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe. West of Wellington is the conical Taranaki. The rolling hills of Waikato, north of Taupo is given to dairy, sheep and cultivation.

North of Auckland, Northlands is hilly and has some of the island’s prettiest coastal scenery, with fantastic bays dotted with islands.

The South island boast the most spectacular scenery, largely undeveloped and covered in sheep pasture or beech forest. The northern shore is temporate and characterised inlets, sounds and bays, popular with vacationing locals. The snow-capped southern Alps traverse the length of the Island, leaving the west coast barren and dramatic. The further south you travel the better it gets - with countless picturesque lakes among the mountains, culminating with the spectacular glacial formed Fjordland. Two accessible glaciers remain on the west coast.

The Otago peninsula and country is rural and unspoilt, while Canterbury, along the east coast (Christchurch) is prime farming land.

The islands also have a rich diversity of abundant flora, including cultivated kauri and kohekohe forests and rainforests of rimu, beech, tawa, matai and rata, not forgetting the national emblem – the fern. Much of it is alpine or sub-alpine and initiatives are under way to preserve areas with native flora.

Fauna on the other hand is limited and until the pakeha arrived, these remote islands were home to bird species only, including the now extinct dodo and giant ‘ostrich-like’ moa, but the introduction of vermin saw many of the more docile flightless varieties forced into extinction, and the proliferation of foxes and possums. There are 12 national, 20 forest, three maritime and two marine parks, plus two World Heritage Areas: Tongariro National Park in the North Island and Te Waihipouna-mu in the South Island.