-	Geography and geology

New Zealand's Geography and geology, the scenery here is fantastic. You'll see a stunning variety of landforms - spectacular alpine glaciers, huge mountain ranges,sub tropical rain forests, prestine beaches and rolling green farmland.

New Zealand is uniquely located at the convergence of three tectonic plates which results in earthquake activity in many parts of both the North and South Islands and a volcanic zone that runs roughly up through the middle of the North Island. There are literally thousands of ancient volcanoes throughout the country. Most are extinct. Maori tribes were particularly fond of building their fortifications ("pa's") on these ancient mounds in earlier days. The most notable active volcanoes are White Island, near Tauranga in the Bay Plenty, and Mt. Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park. Ruapehu was the site of spectacular belching activity as recent as 1995.

North Island (113,729 sq km) is mainly rolling hill country, much of which is farmed. A series of narrow ranges (Kaimai, Tararua, Ruahine and Kaimanawa) form a roughly north-east belt of higher country that rises up to 1,700 m. Much of the surviving forest cover is found here and in other mountainous areas. In the central North Island, volcanoes, that have been active over the past million years, jut up thousands of metres near Lake Taupō. This is the country’s largest lake, formed by water filling a volcanic crater. Nearby, Rotorua’s mud pools boil and geysers erupt.

The South Island of New Zealand measuring 150'437 km², is the larger then the North Island and is often referred to as "the mainland". Located between latitudes 41°- 47°south, and runs almost parallel to longitude 170°east, separating the southeast Pacific Ocean from the Tasman Sea.

The South Island is divided by the Southern Alps, which are part of the San Andreas fault line. The Southern Alps traverse most of the length of the south Island and rise over 3,000 m in places, with Mount Cook the highest point of the country at 3754 m, situated in South Canterbury. To the west of the alps lie The West Coast rainforests. To the east are the farmlands of the Canterbury and Otago Plains, formed by rivers flowing east from the mountains. In the south, a series of large lakes formed in depressions that were scoured out by huge glaciers, during the last ice age, and the more recent hydro-electric power lakes created by man.