New Zealand Travel: Top Surprising Facts
When planning your dream trip to New Zealand you’ll learn about all the best travel experiences, from daring outdoor adventures in Aoraki/ Mt. Cook National Park, to cultural immersion with the indigenous Maori people at a marae near Auckland, to touring with your taste buds through the Marlborough wine region. But whether New Zealand has been on your ultimate travel bucket list for years or you just added it, some of the following fun facts may surprise you:
1. World of Sheep - New Zealand is home to 40 Million Sheep and just about four million humans, which is the highest sheep to human ratio in the world. Sheep roam freely at some of the country’s top resorts, like the Annandale or Minaret Station.
2. Bungee Pioneers - The first-ever commercial bungee jump took place in New Zealand in 1988. The best spot for it now is world famous Nevis Bungee over the Nevis River, a major adrenaline rush for even the most adventurous thrill-seeker.
3. New Zealand is for Wine Lovers - Marlborough on the north island is the biggest region and best known for its tantalizing and flavorful sauvignon blancs. Two-thirds of the wine produced in New Zealand is white but red wine enthusiasts will find plenty to satisfy their taste buds too.
4. Golf Central - New Zealand has the most golf courses per capita in the world with more than 400, some of which are situated surrounding the most magnificent resorts, including Kauri Cliffs at Matauri Bay or The Farm at Cape Kidnappers.
5. Southern Lights - The southern hemisphere’s counterpart to the Aurora Borealis is the Aurora Australis and New Zealand is one of the best places to see this natural and fantastical light show in the sky.
6. Shrinking Mount Cook - In 1991 a large rock fall sliced a full ten meters off the top of New Zealand’s highest peak turning the summit into a knife edge ridge, which means present day climbers will never reach as high in the sky as the early mountaineers. One of those early explorers wasEmmeline Freda Du Faur, the fourth person to summit Mt. Cook, and she was faster than all of the men who preceded her.
7. The Littlest Penguin - New Zealand (as well as neighboring Australia) is home to the world’s smallest penguin species, known as Korora by the native Maori, or also just called Little Penguin. These tiny friends stand at an average of just 13 inches tall.
8. Culture Trip - For the Maori, New Zealand’s indigenous population, a typical greeting doesn’t involve a handshake or a hug but rather a Hongi, where two people press their noses and foreheads together at the same time.
Visit our main New Zealand page with more info about the mind-blowing experiences and luxurious lodgings you might find on a trip with Epic Road to this utopian corner of the world.
