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This series of galleries deals with our one (and as at the time of typing only) trip to New Zealand in July of 2017. For those from out of the area, New Zealand is a nation made up of two principal islands – the North Island and the South Island – sitting in the south Pacific Ocean about 2,000 km (call it 1,250 miles) to the east of Australia. It is in a fairly southerly location, ranging from about 34° 32' south at the northern tip of the North Island (Sydney by comparison is around 33° 51' south) to about 46° 37' south in the township of Bluff at the foot of the South Island.
(There is a moderate sized (1,748 km²) island called Stewart Island about 30km off the south coast of the South Island, but it doesn't really stand out on many maps.) Again for comparison, Hobart Tasmania is 42° 52' south, so NZ really does stick out into the chiller side of the world.
Since the easternmost point sits east of 178°, less than two degrees from the International Date Line, NZ is one of the first countries to welcome the new year.
The total area of the country is 268,021 km², so, depending where you're from it's:
- A bit larger than the Australian state of Victoria;
- A bit larger than the whole of the UK;
- 89% of the size of Italia;
- A bit smaller than Colorado.
The North Island's area is 113,729 km² (population just under 4 million), with the South Island being 150,437 km² with a population of a bit over 1.2 million. The larger cities are on the North Island, causing the disparity.
(Wait, those two area numbers don't add up to the total you've given! Yes, I said there are two MAIN islands. There ARE others as well.)
The South Island has a reputation for having some of the more attractive scenery, partly due to the Southern Alps mountain range that runs down its centre.
The most important stat for us is that it's about 3 hours flying time from Sydney... but since you're travelling east against the sun's rotation and are crossing a couple of timezones, your arrival time will be about "5 hours" after departure. Leave after a very early breakfast, and you'll arrive in time for a lateish lunch.
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