Lonely Planet New Zealand [Paperback]

Paul Smitz (Author), Martin Robinson (Author), Nina Rousseau (Author), Richard Watkins (Author), James Belich (Author), Julie Biuso (Author), Russell Brown (Author), Vaughan Yarwood (Author), David Millar (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lonely Planet New Zealand | Publication Date: September 2004

Providing information for travelling in New Zealand for every budget, this title offers guides to all its outdoor activities, its flora and fauna, sights, public transport, history and culture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lonely Planet guides are a must-pack” --Toronto Star, February 2006
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 724 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 12 edition (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740597664
• ISBN-13: 978-1740597661
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,098,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

124 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't travel to NZ without Lonely Planet as your guide!, October 6, 2004

By 

A. R. Snyder "Pluperfect" (Syracuse, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet New Zealand (Paperback)

If you're going to New Zealand - and want to enjoy the country to the fullest - DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT THE LONELY PLANET GUIDE! I embarked on a 6-week long trip with 'Lonely Planet New Zealand' and fate as my only guides. I was impressed to the max! The only other guide I needed was a road atlas I picked up at the airport in Auckland (and since I was touring some of the Lord of the Rings film locations, Ian Brodie's lovely 'Lord of the Rings: Location Guidebook'). I do recommend renting a vehicle - as someone under 25 years old, Budget was a good bet for rental. Just remember, "Left, left left." It's a cinch! With the US dollar exchange rate favorable, we cheaply rented a top notch 4WD SUV for the entire time based on the recommendation of this book. I love the Lonely Planet series for the sheer fact that it gives you pointers on fantastic locations that may be slightly off the beaten path while at the same time informing you of the best of the best in those tourist meccas. It's a lovely balance. My only regret is that 6-weeks is far too short a time to see everything there is to see in New Zealand!
The top 5 places you shouldn't miss on the North and South Islands:

North Island
1) Take the short ferry ride from Auckland to Rangitoto Island and hike to the summit - otherwordly!
2) Do a touristy bus tour to Cape Reinga out of Paihia - on the bus to Cape Reinga you'll get to: learn a lot about the Maori culture, hug a Kauri tree, stop and surf down sand dunes, wonder in awe at the northern most point of the North Island where untouched white beaches are visible as the Tasman and Pacific Ocean meet and clash (an amazing scene), and to top it all off you'll cruise down 90-mile beach as waves lap the wheels of the bus (yeah, the beach is actually a registered roadway).
3) Drive around the gorgeous Coromandel Peninsula - leave the Thames area just before sunrise and the landscape will just take your breath away! You will come to understand the meaning of Aotearoa/New Zealand: land of the long white cloud.
4) Wander the volcantic parks of Rotorua - Wai-ti-pau was a highlight! Don't forget to sign-up for a traditional Maori concert and haka at the Tamaki Maori Village for a cool cultural experience!
5) Cruise Cuba Street in Wellington for food and shops, and don't forget to visit Te Papa - the national museum of Wellington.

South Island
1) Plan a kayaking trip out of Motueka: the Tonga Island wildlife option is cool - we saw wild Orca and New Zealand Fur Seals up close and personal and then lunched on a secluded beach reached only by kayak!
2) Take a helicopter ride up to Fox Glacier and do an afternoon hike - see where semi-tropical rainforest meets glacier meets the Tasman Sea.
3) Go white water rafting on the Shotover River in Queenstown (be sure you get an option with the Oxenbridge Tunnel)! Then go jet boating, then bungy jumping, you name, it they do it there! Don't miss Deer Park Heights either - say hello to the free roaming buffalo for me!
4) Head to the beautiful city of Kaikoura for whale watching and a dolphin swim.
5) If you love wildlife - head to Dunedin and take a tour out to the Otago Peninsula (you'll see albatross, fur seals, sea lions, yellow-eyed penguins and a variety of bird life up close and personal - by up close I mean walking on the beach less than 10 feet away from a Hooker Seal Lion twice your size). While in Dunedin, visit Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world, and don't miss the Cadbury Factory! It's well worth the admission price!

There is so much more to see and do that I haven't listed - and this guide helped me find it all and point me in the right direction every step of the way. The only thing the guide failed to mention was the abundance of rainbows in this enchanted country - I don't know about you, but where I come from rainbows are a special once in a great while occurance. In New Zealand you see them on a daily basis. I guarantee that with the help of this guide you will leave New Zealand with enough fantastic memories to last a lifetime. Kia ora.

70 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fairly good, but not the best, January 28, 2005

By 

Matt Ebiner (Covina, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet New Zealand (Paperback)

I have used over 50 Lonely Planet guidebooks since 1988, and I still usually take one with me wherever I travel. However, I found the New Zealand book (Sept, 2004 edition) to be a large step below Rough Guide New Zealand. LP has improved its graphics through the years, and the Highlights map and photo section are excellent. The city maps are also the best of any guidebook, and the layout is well-organized and easy to follow.

The major shortcoming is the brevity of descriptions in comparison to Rough Guide. During a 1500-mile road trip I was constantly referring to RG & LP as my wife drove, so in effect I was constantly comparing the two books' descriptions for the southern half of South Island. There was absolutely no question which guidebook did a better job....Rough Guide. We would have missed several places if we had relied on Lonely Planet alone, and I felt like we gained much more insight about places from RG.

Lonely Planet NZ is about 300 pages shorter than Rough Guide NZ, so it is a little easier to carry if you have only one guidebook. Personally, I think Rough Guide New Zealand and DK New Zealand are the best pair of guidebooks to travel with in NZ. Add Lonely Planet Tramping in New Zealand (a very impressive LP work) if you're keen on hiking.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get Lonely Planet and Nz Frenzy, October 18, 2009

By 

Jen Tilly "A Lover of Life" (In the sunshine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet New Zealand (Country Guide) (Paperback)

We just got back from weeks in New Zealand! God it was great when the sun was shining, but the South was a bit wet. Anyhow, we bought a Lonely Planet, were given a Rough Guide, and when we got to Auckland we bought an Nz Frenzy. We liked Lonely planet more than Rough Guide, but they both cover almost exactly the same stuff, and neither gives enough details about trails and directions to beaches and waterfalls. The Nz Frenzy book was definitely our favorite to get us to cool spots on the North Island, but it only covers the North and there is no South one, so that was disappointing. Overall we agree that you should get a Lonely Planet for all the traveler essentials, but definitely get an Nz Frenzy if you have your own car/van on the North. Also you'll need a good map because it's just too hard to use all the little maps in Lonely Planet. Hope you find Kerosene creek and Tongaporutu on the North and Kaikoura's cute seals on the South. Cheers!!