Yes, I hear it's nice there.
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Fantastic scenery. BUt don't count on the weather at all. Neither in summer nor winter you don't really ever know what exactly you'll get. Rain, sun, wind, etc...only g-d knows one day to the next.
The good news is that even when the weather is bad it's still really nice. Bad weather won't necessarilly ruin the experience. Coincidenatally I heard on the news just a few days ago that there is a tourism boom, despite the fact this summer has seen the most pathetic summer weather for years. Another good thing is that the temp is pretty mild, not too cold in winter and not too hot in summer.
Let's see, in the North Island you've got,
90 Mile Beach in the Northland,
Paihia in the Bay of Islands...very nice..been here.
Piha Beach just west of Auckland, very nice...one of my ex girlfriends used to live here, great sleepy little beach town.
From Auckland----Rangitoto Island and Waiheke Island---been to both,...very nice.
http://www.ki-wi.co.nz/hauraki_rangitoto.htm
the Coromandel peninsula (very nice area, lot's to do and see--nature hikes etc just google and you'll find lots of info),
Mount Maunganui in Tauranga (if you see the other things you could skip this one although it's very nice here too),
Waitomo caves just southwest of Te Awamutu here in the Waikato district
http://www.waitomo.co.nz/
http://www.waitomo.com/waitomo-glowworm-caves.aspx?source=adwords
I've been to waitomo and it's a nice place to see.
Raglan surf town (it's an internationally reknowned surf town, not long ago the big names came over to surf--Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, Sunny Garcia, Mark Occhilupo, etc --I'm partial to this town cause I live not too far away, and it's really awesome there, I always immediately smile when I go there)
http://www.raglan.net.nz/
http://www.raglan.org.nz/
http://www.raglan.co.nz/
http://www.raglanweather.co.nz/
IMO, Raglan is pretty cool for a second honeymoon.
Then there's Rotorua (geothermal center--really amazing but it smells, the luge, the gondola, and also a real center of Maori cultural activisties--been here, very very nice place)
http://www.skylineskyrides.co.nz/rotorua/
http://www.rotorua.co.nz/attractions.htm
Taupo town, Lake Taupo, Huka Falls and the Mountain Ruapehu (DO NOT miss this one. REALLY NICE. Aside from Raglan my favourite place so far). Mount Ruapehu has good skiing in winter.
http://www.laketauponz.com/imagegallery.cfm
Te Urewera National Park--very nice if you like
long hikes and it's very wild and pristine, be careful you don't get lost:
http://www.fourcorners.co.nz/new-zealand/urewera/
About the New Zealand bush. It's amazing. It's like nothing you've ever experienced and you'll see what I mean from the start. I can't explain it. The sounds, etc, out of this world. ( one of the reasons I like having many acres of native bush on my land---I'm very lucky)
--That's the North Island.
Then there's the South Island, quite frankly you'll probably have a lot more to see down there. But I don't know the south island as well as the north ofcourse.
BUT fly into Christchurch or Dunedan and head straight to Queenstown. Really spectacular town. Good base for planning other places to go in the south. Right in the Mountains (Southern Alps).
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Word of caution, despite the fact we have no snakes, or deadly spiders or crocs, more people die in our bush and in our lakes than in Australia. Amazing ey! Reason is usually lost hikers who haven't brought the right clothing, gotten lost. In the lakes people never seem to take care and drown.
The weather changes rapidly here, or atleast it can.
Take the right gear and know how to use it. And stick to the tracks if you go hiking. Do that, and you'll be just fine everywhere with little if any chance of getting lost.
As for security, it's a safe country, as safe as others atleast. Ofcourse nothing is guarenteed, bad things can happen everywhere. Recently a Dutch couple on vacation were kidnapped and the woman was raped in front of her husband, at gun point. They were released later.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10410342
A couple seperate female German tourists were raped too atleast one was murdered.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/3904818a10.html
Stuff happens, be careful as you would anywhere.
Generally a very safe country though.
Have fun.
