New Zealand consists mostly of two large islands in the South Pacific, about a thousand miles from Australia. On the bottom edge of the ring of fire, we're got a few volcanoes and a week
without an
earthquake would make the headlines. But, lots of little ones are better than one big one...
The relative isolation kept the islands almost mammal free until around a thousand years ago (guess which species mucked that up!), so introduced mammals like the possum are a real pain - The NZ government is probably the only one that can develop a bio-genetic plaque to wipe out small furry animals and get away with it.
Usual fact stuff from the
CIA and the
BBC
Wellington is the capital, although with a population of less than 200,000 it resembles an average town with extra politics (We even, briefly, had a "Minister for Lord of the Rings". I shit you not). Built on the hills around a natural harbour, it's a bit like a small, cold San Francisco, without the bridge. Like most capitals, it seems to consist entirly of service industries and coffee houses, but it's a lot cleaner that most.
A couple of stock photos for you:
The veiw that always gets in the guidebooks
Webcam from the other direction. It's a nice day so far...
On a personal note, We emmigrated here last year from the UK, looking for a nicer place to bring up our daughter. I think we found it...
{Rescaled both photos to "100%", to restore page width to normal. - Adminnemooseus}
This message has been edited by Adminnemooseus, 05-05-2005 08:21 PM