Discover the Real New Zealand
The Natural Phenomena

Wow! Have you ever been somewhere that was so beautiful it just took your breath away? Discover the Real New Zealand and reward your senses over and over again! The power of beauty will awaken your soul.

It took thousands of years to create. Discover the Real New Zealand as you explore moving ice or Glaciers, an Erupting Volcano or Geothermal Activity created by the volcanoes. You will visit Mountains that Sunk into the Sea creating spectular Fiords.

New Zealand is part of Zealandia which is a submerged land mass that broke away from the supercontinent Gondwana. With the only visible part being the islands that separated from this submerged continent from Australia 85 million years ago. Results of two massive plates meeting and sliding past each other on the Alpine Fault created the Southern Alps.

Grinding Glaciers Create Fantasy of Ice Thousands of years of moving ice gouged out these glaciers that are fed by snow. The stormy winds from the latitudes known as the roaring forties can dump up to 20 metres of fresh snow every year in the upper glaciers. The western side of the Southern Alps can get even greater volumes.

New Zealand’s South Island has an inventory of 3,155 glaciers with an area of at least one hectare or 2.5acres. One sixth of these glaciers cover more than 10 hectares. You can discover the real New Zealand at these glaciers:

  Fox Glacier
  Franz Josef Glacier
  Hooker Glacier
  Mueller Glacier
  Murchison Glacier
  Tasman Glacier
  Volta Glacier

The Pacific and the Indo-Australian are the two tectonic plates that New Zealand sits straddled over. Due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” there is history of mountain building, earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Experience an Active Volcano
You can visit White Island in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand’s only active volcano. The most violent and largest volcanoes are not cone-shaped mountains, but basin-shaped volcanic depressions known as calderas. Created by repeated catastrophic eruptions during the last 1.6 million years, some calderas are now occupied by lakes, such as at Taupô and Rotorua.

Auckland is built on a volcanic field and scattered through the city are dozens of volcanic cones. The oldest, Maungataketake, is about 50,000 years old, while the most recent volcano is Rangitoto Island.

One could say that all this activity has some disadvantages. This subterranean activity created spectacular geothermal areas and natural relaxing hot springs.

Most of New Zealand’s geothermal areas, such as Rotorua and Waimangu, lie within the calderas. Deep molten magma provides the heat that keeps the geysers, hot springs and mud pools bubbling.

Geothermal Activity in Rotorua
Known as the “Sulpher City”, it is the center of geothermal activity. Ok so you know that you arrived when you smell that distinctive scent of sulpher. The geysers are steaming and hissing. You can watch the scalding water from deep within the earth’s crust being hurled into the air 100 feet. Imagine watching bubbling mud and crater lakes that are constantly being refilled with hot water. The multi-colored palette from white to turquoise is painted by the rich mineral deposits. Soothe your body and soul with a massage under thermal water. Relax in the pools of natural hot mineral water and wrap yourself in mud. Experience for yourself the Natural Spa of the South Pacific.

You can experience more geothermal activity in other areas of New Zealand. Carved By Magnificent Glaciers
A fiord is defined as a u-shaped glacier carved valley which has been flooded by the sea. Each finger or coastal inlet is named a sound, but collectively known as fiords.
Fiordland is part of the Southwest World Heritage area and one of the largest national parks in the world. This dramatic land of rivers, lakes and forest was carved thousands of years ago as glaciers melted into the rivers and ground valleys out of granite mountains.
Today, water still dominates the landscape as abundant rainfall feeds spectacular waterfalls. The rivers and lakes contain unique and endangered flora and fauna.

Are you ready to Discover the Real New Zealand for yourself?

Return to New Zealand Holidays Home
Return to New Zealand Geography
Return to Discover The Real New Zealand