Getting around New Zealand
Refer to previous post for links to maps, as well as the Automobile Association links below. Online street maps of all cities and towns can be found
here - includes street lookup facility and directions for getting from A to B.
Travel by car/motorhome
New Zealand is a relatively small country and so road travel isnt too tiring. However for those not used to it, driving on the left hand side of the road may be a challenge! The
road rules are fairly standard and speed limits generally well signposted (in km/h of course). I would watch out for the
give way rule and no left turn on red in particular.
There are lots of speed cameras on main and secondary roads.
A word of warning. Dont expect to be able to drive the same kind of distances you may manage in a day back home. The only motorways in New Zealand are very near the main cities. Most roads including state highways are one lane in each direction, no median strip. The state highways usually have passing lanes at frequent intervals, however lesser roads usually will not. New Zealand is generally hilly, and roads arent as heavily engineered here as some other places. This means hill sections and mountain passes can be quite windy and slow.
The state of the highways (major roadworks and closures) can be found on the
AA roadwatch. For the road to Milford Sound (prone to avalanches at times of the year) there is also
a separate website for road conditions.
In times of heavy rain, watch for floods and surface flooding, and if in mountain areas also rockfalls and slips. Snow is relatively rare in New Zealand and so even small snowfalls can be enough to close roads. All mountain passes on the main highways that are liable to snow have snow clearing equipment and so may reopen fairly quickly after snow stops falling. However, very rare snow at lower levels (in the South Island) may cause prolonged disruption as these areas are not equipped to handle snow.
In some areas high cross-winds may also be a problem at times (particularly for motorhomes). These are generally well signposted.
Please visit
the official road code and the
Automobile Association website for more driver information. For AA's driving distances and times,
click here then on the link bottom right (sorry no direct link any more).
Some selected road signs that may not have obvious meanings
one lane bridge, please give way and with right of way signs
speed limits - limited speed zone means open road limit (100km/h) or less when conditions require it
While train track crossings are fairly rare, please note many are uncontrolled (no barriers) and some have no warning lights & bells. Please take care.
Travel by bus and train
There is a good bus network including many tour buses connecting main tourist attractions. New Zealand has a very limited train network with few passenger services. Ferries connect the North and South Island between Wellington and Picton (and also some local services in Auckland, Marlborough Sounds, Abel Tasman and Invercargill to Stewart Island).
Interislander has the most frequent services across Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton with 3-5 sailings each way a day - taking vehicles and passengers, journey time is about 3.5 hours (vehicles must turn up 1 hour before sailing, foot passengers 30 minutes).
Blue Bridge also operate up to 4 sailings each way a day. Be warned that due to the "wind tunnel effect" in Cook Strait, seas are often rough - take sea sickness tablets if you are prone.
On the main tracks, passenger rail services operate by
TranzScenic between Auckland and Wellington (daytime
Overlander is under review and may close and includes the famous Raurimu Spiral), Christchurch and Greymouth (TranzAlpine rated one of the top train journeys in the world), Christchurch and Picton (TranzCoastal). There are also a small number of local and steam trains on some lines (eg Kingston Flyer south of Queenstown, Weka Pass, Tieri Gorge). Local commuter trains serve Auckland and Wellington (including Manawatu and Wairarapa).
Travel by plane
Flying around is also an option in most places. The main domestic airlines are
Air New Zealand (and subsidiaries) and
Jetstar. There are also a number of tourist airlines (eg connecting Queenstown and Milford Sound) and commuter airlines - these offer very localised service, usually in very small aircraft.
Air New Zealand has the most extensive network. Hubs are in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Airports served by Air New Zealand include
KAT Kaitaia (to AKL)
KKI Kerikeri (to AKL)
WRE Whangarei (to AKL, WLG)
AKL Auckland (to KAT, KKI, WRE, HLZ, TRG, WHK, ROT, TUO, GIS, NPE, NPL, WAG, PMR, WLG, BHE, NSN, CHC, ZQN, DUD)
HLZ Hamilton (to AKL, PMR, WLG, NSN, CHC)
TRG Tauranga (to AKL, WLG, CHC)
WHK Whakatane (to AKL)
ROT Rotorua (to AKL, WLG, CHC)
TUO Taupo (to AKL, WLG)
GIS Gisborne (to AKL, WLG)
NPE Napier/Hastings (to AKL, WLG, CHC)
NPL New Plymouth (to AKL, WLG, CHC)
WAG Wanganui (to AKL)
PMR Palmerston North (to AKL, WLG, NSN, CHC)
WLG Wellington (to WRE, AKL, HLZ, TRG, ROT, TUO, GIS, NPE, NPL, PMR, BHE, NSN, WSZ, CHC, TIU, DUD, ZQN, IVC)
BHE Blenheim (to AKL, WLG, CHC)
NSN Nelson (to AKL, HLZ, PMR, WLG, CHC)
WSZ Westport (to WLG)
HKK Hokitika (to CHC)
CHC Christchurch (to AKL, HLZ, TRG, ROT, NPE, NPL, PMR, WLG, BHE, NSN, HKK, DUD, ZQN, IVC)
TIU Timaru (to WLG)
DUD Dunedin (to AKL, WLG, CHC)
ZQN Queenstown (to AKL, WLG, CHC)
IVC Invercargill (to WLG, CHC)
Jetstar has a limited network. Airports served by Jetstar include
AKL Auckland (to WLG, CHC, ZQN, DUD)
WLG Wellington (to AKL, CHC)
CHC Christchurch (to AKL, WLG, ZQN)
ZQN Queenstown (to AKL, CHC)
DUD Dunedin (to AKL)
For local transportation see the sections for the relevant city or region.
Taxis in New Zealand
All cities and main towns have at least one taxi operator. The larger cities have several. Taxis can be called by phone (may incur an extra charge), picked up at designated stands, or hailed on any street (look out for their light to be showing on the roof sign, which means available) - stick out your arm and catch the drivers eye.
Most taxis charge flag-fall (fixed $), an amount per kilometer (in increments) and an amount per minute waiting time (eg stuck in traffic). Charges are usually higher in the evening/night.
Airport information
See dedicated
Auckland (AKL) airport thread.
Information on arrivals, departures, shopping and transport at New Zealand airports. Includes links to external websites of airlines and airports.
Paying your way (currency)
New Zealand has its own currency the NZD $, worth about 10% less than the Australian $. The value of the currency can be quite volatile with 50% appreciation or depreciation relative to major currencies possible over a period of a couple of years.
We have notes for $100, $50, $20, $10 and $5 showing famous New Zealanders and wildlife. Notes are plastic (complete with clear see-through section), with each denomination of different size and colour to the rest which makes it easy to distinguish. We have coins for $2, $1, 50 cents, 20 cents and 10 cents. Watch out for old 50 cent (very large), 20 cent (large), 10 cent (silver) and 5 cent pieces - these are no longer valid. Unlike Australia the $2 coin is larger than the $1 coin. $2 and $1 coins are gold, 50 cent and 20 cent silver and 10 cent bronze.
Prices are marked in $ and cents, and by law must include Goods and Services Tax (GST) - a flat 15% - or else clearly marked excluding GST. Duty free is exempt from GST outbound, and inbound goods will only be charged GST if brought into New Zealand for commercial purposes or over personal allowances. Note that it is legal to charge amounts to 1 cent (eg $4.99) but anything paid for in cash will have the total bill rounded to 10 cents. It is up to the retailer whether rounding is up, down or nearest. Purchases by electronic means do not need to have the charge rounded.
GST cannot be recovered on purchases made in New Zealand. However, if you purchase goods and arrange with the retailer to ship overseas then they are deemed exempt from GST. Only some shops will provide this service but ask if you are interested in this.
The following payment methods are common in New Zealand. Cash, credit card (mastercard and visa are very widely accepted, amex and diners are generally accepted but not everywhere), debit card, cheque (on New Zealand bank account). Travellers cheques generally are not accepted - they need to be changed at a foreign exchange bureaux or bank.
New Zealand has a wide network of automatic teller machines (ATMs) - most of which link to international card using Maestro, Cirrus or Plus. Major cities will have ATMs on every block in the city centre. Smaller towns may only have one or two ATMs and the most remote areas may not have any ATMs. ATMs accept only 4 digit pins, and please do not count on letters on the keypad (although many have them).
Some ATMs allow Australian dollars to be withdrawn.
Debit cards are used so much that many New Zealanders carry little or no cash. We have a system called EFT-POS (electronic funds transfer at point of sale) which is available almost everywhere (certainly all tourist attractions, most accommodation places, transport operators, restaurants). EFT-POS operates by either PIN or signing, and can be used by debit and credit cards. At many, but not all, places cash can be withdrawn by EFT-POS at the time of purchase. Retailers are not required to offer this service and some may not offer it or may limit the amount to say $50 or $100.
A tip - New Zealand cash and travellers cheques tend to have a high spread when purchasing or cashing in excess overseas, presumably due to low volumes. Try to cash in before leaving New Zealand, or at an international gateway to New Zealand (Australia, South Pacific, Singapore).
Phones
For emergencies call 111 (a free call from any phone in New Zealand). An operator will ask which service is required - police (includes traffic), ambulance or fire. These services also have non-emergency phone numbers, refer to the
phone book for details.
The international dial code for New Zealand is 64. All landline phone numbers are 7 digits with 1 digit area code for non-local phone calls (dial 0 first if ringing another toll area within New Zealand). Calls from within New Zealand (from landlines only) are free to numbers that start with 0800 (Telecom), 0508 (Telstra Clear) and (need to check if there are any others.) Calls to these numbers from mobile phones may be charged (depending on call plan) and calls to overseas free phone numbers (eg 1800 in the US) are charged at international rates.
Online phone books are
white pages (residential & commercial by location and name) and
yellow pages (commercial by location and type of business).
New Zealand has three providers of mobile phone network (plus a number of retailers who provide branded service). Telecom Mobile has CDMA and also analog network, and Vodafone GSM network. Vodafone provides rental handsets and SIMs at all international airports. Mobile coverage is good in the cities, towns and along major roads. However, the hilly/mountainous terrain means some areas have poor or no signal. Here are maps of cellular coverage for
Telecom CDMA, and
Vodafone . Wireless hotspots are listed
here.
Cities and main towns have pay phones on the street (and also in hotels etc). Most (all?) now require pre-paid card (available from any diary, supermarket or service station) or credit card - coin operated phones are being phased out.
Accident and medical care
For medical emergencies ring 111 and ask for ambulance.
We hope your visit to New Zealand will be accident-free. But if you are injured here, you may need the help of
Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). In New Zealand you can’t sue anyone for personal injury, if you are injured. Instead, ACC helps pay for your care - and that means paying towards the costs of your treatment (within New Zealand only), helping in your recovery and, in some cases, compensation for lost pay (if you have earned income and paid tax in New Zealand).
In New Zealand a prescription is required for most medicines. Any chemist will be able to tell you if a prescription is needed or not. If you need a prescription then will need to visit a general practitioner (GP). These are listed in the
phone book. Foreign visitors are not entitled to government subsidy - expect a simple doctor visit to cost around $50 in regular hours, more after hours or if call out (eg to your hotel). Prescription costs vary but expect $10-20 for most items. Cities and large towns all have emergency clinics including after hours pharmacy. Smaller towns have a doctor rostered on after hours - phoning any doctor after hours should get a recorded message of the nearest after hours GP or clinic.
Miscellaneous information and tips
Official New Zealand Tourism Board website
Automobile Association website - has useful driver information as well as extensive travel information & accommodation listings
Library of links to trip reports for New Zealand (also Australia and South Pacific).
New Zealand's
time zone is GMT+12 (12h45 for Chatham Islands), with Daylight Savings Time (1 hour ahead) from October to March.
New Zealand's English language is full of sayings and is called kiwi slang. Some examples are found
here,
here and
here.
Maori is an official language of New Zealand (along with English). Many Maori words are also used in everyday speech, and there are many placenames in Maori. Maori pronunciation can seem a bit daunting with many vowels and the "wh" and "ng" letters. To help, here is a
Maori pronunciation guide.
New Zealand government portal - has lots of information and links for visitors as well as residents.
In New Zealand tipping is not expected (in service areas wages are much higher than US for example). Any tip for extra good service will certainly be appreciated (max $5 for wait staff, porters etc; round up for taxi; etc).
New Zealand uses the metric system. So speed limits are in km/h (100km/h = 60 mph), distances are in km (50km = 30 miles), weights are in kilograms and grams, liquids are in litres, etc.
New Zealand doesnt have many poisonous or dangerous animals, although some may dispute that after encountering the sandfly on South Island's west coast (hint get some repellent at supermarkets or chemists). There are no snakes. Keas can be a nuisance in the high country (they're very clever native parrots) - one ad for motor insurance showed them taking apart a car over a weekend, a slight exaggeration.
Kiwiana
Kiwi foods (fish and chips, burgers with beetroot, mince pie, tomato sauce, pavolva)
The national sport is rugby, with the main national team called the All Blacks. At the start of each test they perform a
haka.