Down Under Travel (NZ) Ltd
Nau Mai Haere Mai Ki Aotearoa
(A warm welcome to New Zealand - Land of the Long White Cloud)
We have put together for you the Traveler an Itinerary that we truly believe will provide the ultimate journey in these remarkable Islands.
Probably nowhere else on earth is to be found such a diversity of stunning scenery, ecological splendor and vibrant culture that New Zealand encapsulates in two Islands. (We are roughly the same size as Italy and some 10,000 square miles larger than Great Britain, but with only 4 million people we are seriously under populated!)
The words that most people use after visiting New Zealand are: Stunningly beautiful, untouched and unspoilt. (and friendly!)
Obviously we at Down Under Travel are a little biased, after all - Ko Aotearoa Te Kainga - we call New Zealand Home.
But we believe that these words truly reflect the beauty and the spirit of this land.
From spectacular untouched coastline, some 18,000 km of it, and beautiful beaches to the most Active composite Volcanic field on earth...
From the great massif of the Southern Alps, larger in total area than the French, Italian and Swiss Alps combined, permanently snow and ice capped, littered with glaciers and icefalls and in many places rising directly and dramatically from Te Moana (the ocean)...
To a profusion of tumbling snow fed rivers and huge lakes, many crystal clear, others of a breathtaking turquoise hue, coloured by the glacial waters that feed them...
From an ancient and unique temperate forest featuring the largest rainforest trees in the world. An ecosystem that traces its ancestry back over 200 million years...
To endemic Fauna such as our flightless birds the Kiwi, the Takahe and the Kakapo. Our Tuatara the worlds oldest living genus of reptile along with the some sixty species of lizard gecko and skink that form the largest variety of such animals in the temperate world. This combined with frogs and snails unlike frogs and snails anywhere else on the planet and our prolific marine mammal and ocean going bird life, prompted the noted American Ecologist Jared Diamond to state, 'New Zealand is as close as we will get to the opportunity to study life on another planet'. (albeit without any snakes or poisonous reptiles!)...
From Ata Whenua (shadow land), encompassing the entire South Western corner of the South Island and comprising the worlds fourth largest National Park... 'Te Wahi Pounamu' 'the place of Greenstone'
A pristine wilderness in which the dominant features are fifteen glacially carved Fiords, the dramatic forested valleys that lead into them and after heavy rain a multitude of waterfalls tumbling thousands of feet from sheer mountain faces - a spectacle that is unparalleled anywhere on earth.
Created by giant rivers of ice which swept off the main divide of the Alps during a succession of Ice Ages this massive glaciation along with volcanic mayhem and huge tectonic uplift are the major natural forces that created the magnificent scenic splendour that is Aotearoa...
From this to the beautiful rolling downs and plains country, of such green and of such serenity you can barely imagine, and from which is produced the world's greatest export of dairy product and sheep meat and the world's second largest export of wool...
To an indigenous culture, that of the Maori, a culture that is widely recognized as the pre-eminent culture of the Pacific and to a safe, modern, clean and friendly country with great infrastructure and sensational Food and Wine.
Our Pacific Rim cuisine is focused on freshness and our New World Wines, particularly our Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough and our Pinot Noir from Otago are winning international acclaim.
This then is Aotearoa - New Zealand.
A land of rare beauty, magnificent scenery and a remarkable culture.
A land where time stood still.
Journey with us, Down Under Travel and we guarantee to show you all the wonders of this stunning land in a way that no one else will. Let us show you the true spirit of the worlds most beautiful country...
Aotearoa - New Zealand.
