New Zealand Travel Guide

Passports, visas and documentation

All visitors, apart from Australian citizens, require an electronic travel authority or a visa in advance of travel to enter or transit New Zealand. Citizens of the Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue are New Zealand citizens. However, due to differing immigration laws, citizens of these countries need to present their passport when entering and leaving New Zealand. These countries also have their own separate visa policies; see their respective articles for details if you plan to visit them.

The currency used in New Zealand is the New Zealand dollar, denoted by the symbol "$" or "NZ$" (ISO code: NZD). It is divided into 100 cents. In this guide, the "$" symbol denotes New Zealand dollars unless otherwise indicated.

By coach

Coaches (long-distance buses) are a relatively cheap and environmentally friendly way to get around New Zealand. Services are usually only once a day, even between major towns. Most roads in New Zealand are quite narrow and winding (when compared to the highways of the USA), and travelling a long distance in a coach can be a safe and relaxing way to travel compared with driving yourself. Booking in advance can get you great bargains on some lines.

English is the primary language of New Zealand, spoken by 96–98% of the population. English is a de facto official language, alongside two other de jure official languages: Māori (te reo Māori), the language of the indigenous Māori people, and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), the language of the deaf community.

The main emergency number in New Zealand is 111, and can be used to contact ambulance, the fire service, police, the coastguard, and rescue services. 112 works from mobile phones; 911 and 999 may work, but do not rely on them. You can call *555 from mobiles to report non-emergency traffic incidents. You can call 105 for non-emergency police, e.g. to report a theft or burglary (from overseas, you can call to reach 105), or you can report it online at 105.police.govt.nz.

New Zealand has very high levels of ultraviolet radiation, around 40% more intense than you will find in the Mediterranean during summer, and consequently has high rates of skin cancer. Sun hats, sunglasses and sunscreen are highly recommended.

Telephone

, also serving as a tourist attraction]] New Zealand has a well developed and ubiquitous telephone system. The country's legacy phone company, Spark, claimed in 2009 to have about 4,000 payphones in NZ which can be easily identified by their yellow and blue colours, but these numbers are now diminishing. All of them accept major credit cards and a variety of phonecards available from retailers. You may have to look hard for a payphone that accepts coins.

Social behaviour

New Zealanders are generally warm and sociable, but will hold strangers at a distance.

Dress

New Zealanders generally dress 'smart casual', with a prevalence of wearing black or dark clothing. You will see people in suits on weekdays only in the cities.

New Zealand observes a combination of national holidays, regional anniversary days, and a widespread end-of-year shutdown. When a public holiday falls on a weekend, it is typically "Mondayised" (observed on the following Monday).