New Zealand (Country Guide) (Paperback)

by Charles Rawlings-Way et (Author), al. (Author)
Key Phrases: naked bus, kapiti coast, kiwi house, Getting There, South Island, North Island (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Discover New Zealand

Glimpse Mitre Peak through the mist on majestic Milford Sound
Hold your nose and dip your toes in a Rotorua thermal pool
Shelter from windy Wellington with the arts crowd in a low-lit lounge bar
Enjoy a hangi - but stop short of getting a moko - on a Maori cultural tour

In This Guide:

Food & Drink chapter by Lauraine Jacobs, editor of award-winning Cuisine magazine
You asked, we listened - more budget accommodation
Content updated daily - visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler insights

Product Details

• Paperback: 765 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 14 edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741048168
• ISBN-13: 978-1741048162
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,674 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You'll need more than one NZ guidebook..., May 25, 2009

By	Scott Cook "Guidebook Author" (Hood River Oregon) - See all my reviews

Let me start by saying that I've written my own guidebook to New Zealand's North Island. I wrote it because when I first travelled to NZ in early '06 I couldn't find the sort of guidebook that I wanted to get--one detailing NZ's non-commercialized wonders--the killer FREE stuff! The book inexplicably didn't exist, so I began to work on my own. And now, after four (NZ) summers spent exclusively on the North Island, camping in a campervan and "working" and "researching", I've published my guide NZ Frenzy.


So, those are my credentials to lend credence to this review of Lonely Planet's New Zealand Guide.
Where Lonely Planet excels is at examining and reviewing and lending insight into the places and activities and attractions that have been commercialized. LP knows cities, hotels, motels, backpackers, tours, restaurants, and museums. LP knows tourist attractions, jet boats, bungees, sky-dives, zorbs, helicopter flights, ferries. LP knows tour bus companies, resorts, amusement parks, and wildlife centers. LP knows hours of operation, prices, websites, and phone numbers.
Lonely Planet is filled with info snippets about each town and what to expect from it--whether touristy or rural, or "don't bother". LP details the history of each town and region and gives you a general sort of "flavor" for each part of NZ. Lonely Planet excels at this sort of info!
In essence, if you are traveling to NZ for the first time, I would definitely encourage you to get an LP or one of its bretheren (or an older copy). You'll DEFINITELY benefit from all of LP's maps and Auckland info and all the reviews of all the commercialized "tourist" attractions.

Choosing which of the mainstream (LP-like) guidebooks is not any easy choice--I've looked at them all and own quite a few and I still can't tell you which one is "best"--they all vary and have their strong points. But you should DEFINITELY get at least one, even if you consider yourself a total seat-of-the-pants traveler (I've met SO many NZ travelers without any guidebooks, typically people on a round-the-world "Big Trip", and I feel that they just cheat themselves because all the "free" info they get from the I-sites (info sites) is often crap, and they end up at the touristy spots because they get no "free" info about anything that's not commercailized). Believe me, when you get to NZ you'll soon realize that EVERY commercial attraction or activity will be bombarding you with info and brochures...what you won't find info about is FREE places--the natural spots without admission prices or "hours of operation"...the "Real" NZ.

My major gripe with LP and RG and DK is that they don't pay their authors enough and give them enough time to actually visit the uncommercialized beaches, forests, hikes, natural hot springs, mtn tops, caves, swimming holes, etc etc. They all expect their authors to spend their time in the towns and cities detailing the commercialized offerings at each locale--the restaurants, hotels, tours, etc...because this info is what these books are about--the "commercialized". Almost all the info about hikes and such in LP is just parroting NZ's Dept of Conservation info. It's easy to tell that the authors have not actually walked to the peak nor swam in the river.

BUT, isn't this what you're going to New Zealand for?? To actually see uncommercialized and untouched nature? Aren't you imagining untouched beaches, jungly fern forests, sweeping mountain vistas, glaciers descending to the sea, hot spring Shangri-las, crystal clear pools at the bases of charging waterfalls, beaches where hot water bubbles thru the sand, coves fit to be cathedrals...places where there are no lines of tour buses...places where it's just you and unfettered nature??

This is where LP lacks, as do the others. Buy an LP for the extensize commercialized info, but don't think LP/RG/DK will guide you off the beaten path. They won't. They are the beaten path.
I learned over and over that just because LP/RG doesn't talk about the huge "hidden" waterfalls, hot springs, swimming coves, etc...doesn't mean that they don't exist. The country is FULL of "hidden" spots, most of which are completely overlooked by the major guidebooks. Their authors have no time (or possibly motivation) to find the sweet free spots. I have. I've found them. They exist, they're AMAZING. Don't get an LP and think that just because they haven't told you about any cool natural places between towns A and B, that there are no cool spots at all--it's just that their authors probably haven't found them in their hurry to get to the next town and get to reviewing the restaurants and hotels and such.

There are natural WONDERS everywhere in NZ if you know which "hidden" side road to go down to find the unsigned and un-advertised hot spring/swimming hole/hiking trail/waterfall/non-tourist beach. Most of this is not in LP though. LP gets the cities right and does a fantastic job at giving you the "flavor" of the area, but the details about awesome free natual places are lacking.

To summarize, get an LP or its like. You're spending alot of $$ to get to NZ, and for such a small country, it is as packed with cool stuff to see as anywhere else on the planet. You'll want LP's info to help you make decisions. It will make your trip better. But, if you're heading to New Zealand to immerse yourself in nature and to see uncommercialized nature at its finest, then you should also look for a guide to the natuarl spots, the free spots...the places that there are no brochures for...the places that will make your jaw drop, your eyes boggle, your heart sing...places SO BEAUTIFUL and natural and free and untouched that you'll just gape and go "whoa!!"
You're going to love New Zealand. Get an LP, but don't expect it to highlight the very places that you'll remember most. LP is good at NZ's infrastructure but less good at NZ's "whoas" and "ahhhhhs".

Scott Cook, author of "NZ Frenzy".

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great overview and accurate reviews, December 18, 2008

By	B. Jones ""travel addict"" (San Francisco, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While driving our campervan around New Zealand, we referred to this as "the bible." Restaurant reviews were accurate, and when the LP designated something as "worth seeing" it typically was. We took the book's advice often and strayed as far as possible from the typical routes taken by other drivers. The only downfall of the LP was its lack of easily accessible street maps. So, if you're planning on doing lots of driving, I would recommend getting a road atlas as well...this'll save you a lot of time flipping from page to page and map to map. Enjoy your travels!

4.0 out of 5 stars Good compromise between level of detail and portability, February 13, 2009

By	Evelien Snel (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

After one week in New Zealand I realized a travel guide was essential to get the best benefits from our journey. So I picked this book in a bookshop in Masterton. It was difficult to pick one, because there were several guides to choose from.
I did not regret my choice! From that day on, I carried it along with me wherever I went and I was always able to find useful information in it. It helped us to find interesting sights and accomodations we would certainly have missed without it.
We did not find any inaccuracy in the factual information. Recomendations are not facts, they are a matter of taste, but most of the time we found things that were listed as "Our pick" at least "pretty good indeed", even though our personal pick might be different.
My only regret is I did not buy the book BEFORE we started our trip. If I had done that, it might have saved me some problems I encountered in the first week, when I did not have it yet.
Now that I have returned home, I know it will be a great help in writing the blog postings about our journey.