Attractions of New Zealand

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Sky tower of Auckland

This is a radio and observation tower which is part of a casino that is opened 24 hours a day. This casino is called the Skycity Auckland Casino. The Sky tower reaches an incredible height of an incredible 328 meters. Up in the tower you can visit a bar and a restaurant, which is ideally visited in the evening for a dazzling view on the sunset. The ride up costs you $3 with a super fast lift that takes you up in no time. The tower attracts over 600,000 tourists per year! On the observation deck you can find the SkyJump, which is a bungy jump from the deck. The tower was built in 1997, and serves as a radio transmitter as well.

Fox Glacier

This glacier is located at the Westland national park on the west coast of the south island. The advantage of this glacier is that it is one of the most accessible glaciers in the world, ideal for hiking trips. The route which is often followed is from Fox Glacier village to Weheka. This glacier attracts over 1000 tourists a day. Since 1985, this glacier has been advancing at a pace of a meter per day!
Fox Glacier was named after Sir William Fox in 1872. Fox was prime minister at the time.

Northland forest

This is one of the more beautiful forests New Zealand has to offer. It is a forest in a tempered climate. Here you can find some of the tallest trees in the world. The Kauri tree (evergreen), the tree which mainly grows in this forest, can grow as tall as 51 meter en has a diameter of 14 meters. Unfortunately, most of these forests have been destroyed by lumberjacking, but fortunately, on the north island there still remain some.

General info

Because New Zealand is so isolated, it inhabits a unique and diverse flora. About 10 to 15 % of New Zealand is still covered with the original flora, most of it consists of national parks. These parks are certainly worthwhile visiting. The best known plant is the Pohutakawa, which grows beautiful flowers in December. There's not much left of the original faun New Zealand has to offer because of the introduction of goats and pigs and so on. The only original mammal is the bat. There are still some birds, but they are nearly extinct. On the coastal lines you can find dolphins, whales, sharks, tuna and snappers, to name a few fish.

Tourism to New Zealand is mainly oriented upon the beautiful nature New Zealand has to offer. There are a lot of companies which organize hiking trips.

Some events which you can visit:

- Golden Shears Sheep-Shearing Contest:

This festival takes place in Masterton in March

-Marlborough food and Wine Festival: second week of February in Blenheim

- Summer City programme: Takes place from January until February and takes place in Wellington. Some festivals are organized around the city.

There are a lot of activities that can be done in New Zealand. Rafting, for instance, can be done in the rivers Wairoa, Rangitaki and Tongariro on the North island. Other exciting activities are bungee jumping, canyoning, parapenting and jet boating.

New Zealand is rated second best by lonely planet, with its beautiful scenery and tons of attractions. It was the scene for all three of the lord of the rings movies as well, so fans of lord of the rings should certainly visit some of the scenes.