What to know about traveling in New Zealand – Part 3

What to know about a New Zealand Holiday.

Interested in traveling to this country at the bottom of the world?

If you’re keen to find the best value for your travel dollar, discover some of the best tips to enjoying your experience in NZ.

Wilderness

If you’re keen to get the most enjoyable experience from your visit down-under, then forget about the pastoral scenery of the Kiwi landscape or the idyllic existence of the alternative life styler in the Coromandel. Don’t bother exploring the pristine waters of Fjiordland or the majestic alps stretching the length of the South island (the longest alpine range in the world, according to some sources). Leave the gorgeous mountains, found smack in the centre of the North Island, to the aerial photographers as they wing their way through azure skies aboard flimsy aircraft.

Stay out of the dense, dripping forests, where the term ‘wilderness’ was surely invented for this land. It’s frighteningly easy to get lost even for the experienced. Unless, of course, you’re a deer hunter seeking that elusive twelve-pointer heard of in the last ‘Roar’ and simply can’t help yourself. Forget too, the natural hot springs that can be found from one end of the country.

Many are primitive, although others do have resort-style facilities. Some even have an entire city built around them. That’s “RotoVegas”, the colloquial term for the most pungent city in the world (Rotorua-for those who need to know its proper name). The stink is noticeable for a radius of 30 kilometers in any direction and that’s on a good day. It’s all bursting up from the ground as though the earth just farted.

Thrill

Avoid the rugged coastline where the seas can sweep the unwary fisherman off the rocks or drag the imprudent swimmer away in the undertow of a hidden rip. Oh and don’t mention dancing with the Grim Reaper, attached by the legs to a giant rubber-band on that death defying thrill; the Bungee jump, pioneered by arguably the World’s Extreme-Sports Originator, A.J.Hackett. No, never let the the wind whistle past your face as you plummet head first, at rocket speed, off the edge of a bridge.

Ignore the relatively tame glow-worm caves also found nationwide, for the crush of tourists likely to be found at the main sites. As for black water rafting, once again, anyone can pay to enjoy a hair-raising thrill (underneath the obligatory crash helmet). Here the unwitting can be seen gliding and sliding through underground tunnels, which