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.
National Geographic have a number of good satellite and political maps of New Zealand included in their MapMachine section.
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 .
Rental Car Village, 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.
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 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.
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).
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.
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!
Lonely Planet produce the definitive guidebooks 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.
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.