New Zealand Web Sites

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A number of useful Web sites on New Zealand that we have found which you may find useful. They range from sources of maps to follow our travels to details of the treaty of Waitangi. They are the sites on our "favorites" lists we go back to and those provided by the locals for doing everything from finding a telephone number to booking a train. There are brief comments on each site we have visited and those in bold have been visited and checked recently.

Multimap have an excellent web site where, in the world area, you can just enter a town and country and get a fully zoomable map. You may not find every tiny village or campsite we mention but it is a good start.
National Geographic have a number of good satellite and political maps of New Zealand included in their MapMachine section. See if the still have a zoomable Atlas Map of New Zealand
Charterlink, the yacht charter firm we have used have a site at which also has useful maps of the sailing areas we have talked about .
Thomlinson, the campervan firm we use has a site which includes pictures of the "Thrifty" and contact points.
Canoe Safaris hire canoes and organise trips and training on the Whanganui River.
Yellow Pages and White Pages for any contact information
The Department of Conservation (DOC) has a useful but slow site. If you follow through from their site map you can also find all sorts of interesting background including the interactions with the Maori.
The Historic Places Trust of New Zealand has a site showing not only there own properties but has links to much useful background. You can visit all their properties free if you are a member of the UK National Trust and their members have reciprocal membership to many Trusts round the world.
New Zealand Museums OnLine - searchable by collection, region or name. Very comprehensive coverage including the small interesting local collections - well worth a look when planning a trip.
New Zealand National Maritime Museum in Auckland - has a great deal of historical and other information. it is also worth visiting Larry Robbins home page - he is the CEO of the museum and his site has a complete list of Maritime Museums in New Zealand.
Te Papa Love it or hate it - you can not sit on the fence about the brand new National Museum at Wellington.
New Zealand National Archives - The Keepers of the Public Record and the Memory of Government.
The Treaty of Waitangi is "the Founding Document of the Nation of New Zealand". Well worth a few minutes looking at this page.
New Zealand in History - a first class personal site by an expat Kiwi which covers a wide range of NZ history, Maori Culture and Heritage - puts some of the professional sites below to shame.
Maori Organisations of New Zealand A site with Information on all matters Maori including a virtual whare.
Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga - A useful starting point for finding information.
New Zealand History A rather staid government sponsored reference site which has some interesting offshootssuch as the following site.
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography - a useful set of 3049 biographies from the five volumes of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography with 2000 images, and a criplingly slow presentation of historical events and trends from the excellent New Zealand Historical Atlas (1997).
Ministry of Maori Development Te Puni Kokiri - not much additional information to the other .govt sites - here for completeness.
New Zealand Fish and Game - The government site to find out about fishing and hunting, licensing arrangements etc.
Wine Institute of New Zealand Official home of the country's wine and grape industry. Provides a listing of styles, regions and wineries, along with news and industry statistics.
TiZ Wine Features information about wine-producing regions, reviews, tastings, new release listings, news, and events. A very comprehensive site which will get you to almost any winery or tasting note you want.
Otago Goldfields Park and Heritage Trails has a lot of information and links but sadly few good pictures of the old days.
New Zealand Geology and Volcanos - Official site of the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences with a wealth of information, including Volcanic Activity.
NZBirds.Com has coverage of all New Zealand Birds with beautiful drawings and audio of their songs.
Art Deco Trust - information and a picture gallery covering Napier's Art Deco architecture. This will make you add Napier to your itinery!
The Catlins - we saw interesting pages from this site printed in a Backpackers.
Tourism New Zealand - The official NZ "Tourist Board" now renamed.
Lonely Planet produce the definitive guidebook which include New Zealand. There is a lot of useful background for the economic tourist on their site and even some suggested backgrounding reading which is much in accord with our own views. Their guide is one of the few we have felt worthwhile purchasing.
Kiwifruits in London keep over 1500 imported books in stock and will order others. Visit or they can be found at 7 Royal Opera Arcade, London SW1y 4UY (behind New Zealand House in the Haymarket), tel +44 207 930 4587
The Advanced Book Exchange is a good place to locate New Zealand second-hand books. It is very comprehensive international network of bookshops and one can usually arrange for delivery to the UK. It also allows us to get an indication of the "going rate" for books we are looking for.

Copyright © Peter and Pauline Curtis
Most recent addition: 28^th December, 2006
Bold links last checked: 28^th December, 2006