Introduction
Craving a getaway chock-full of wildlife? Try an adventure cruise to New Zealand and the Subantarctic Islands. This biodiverse cluster of islands, which is growing in popularity among scientists from Washington, D.C., to Australia, often features seals, whales, and petrels along the seacoast. You’ll encounter different species of great albatross, prions, penguins, shearwaters, and the world’s rarest sea lion.

What’s most attractive about New Zealand travel, though, are some of the southernmost forests in the world. Gnarled rata trees covered by mosses and entangled in forests give places like the Auckland Islands a fantasyland look right out of J. R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

Make your dreams of exploration and natural history come true. Cruise to New Zealand. See the Subantarctic Islands, known as National Nature Reserves and the country’s third World Heritage Area.

Small-vessel cruises give you the chance to view wildlife, fjords, glaciers, massive cliffs, and abundant nesting sites for several species of penguins, all while enjoying the great comforts of a 10-200 passenger cruise ship. Visit breeding sites of southern albatrosses, rockhopper penguins, yellow-eyed penguins, and erect-crested penguins. Leave tourist crowds behind and venture to the little-known Subantarctic. Farther along, on the coastlines, gaze in awe as 18-foot, four-and-a-half ton southern elephant seals haul themselves out of the water and gather on icy banks.

Journey to the unspoiled end of the globe—join us on a cruise to New Zealand and the Subantarctic Islands.
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Natural History
Four seal species frequent the Subantarctic archipelago; one is endemic, one is found around New Zealand and Australia, and the other two range the Southern Ocean. The Marine Mammals Protection Act of 1978 protects all seals in New Zealand. The New Zealand (or Hooker’s) sea lion sports external ears and hind flippers that rotate forward, enabling them to “walk” on all fours. They propel themselves through the water with powerful front flippers. The New Zealand sea lion remains one of the rarest sea lions in the world and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists it as a threatened species. Roughly 15,000 New Zealand sea lions live in a triangle between the southern tip of South Island, Campbell Island, and Macquarie Island.

New Zealand fur seals populate the New Zealand mainland, offshore islands, and parts of Australia. Thick, heavy, dark coats of fur cover the under portions of their bodies and insulate them from the numbingly cold water. These coats attracted sealers at the end of the 18th century. Sealers hunted the fur seals for their pelts and for oils produced from the animals’ thick blubber. Back before the arrival of European seal hunters, the aboriginal Maori took fur seals for their skins, meat, and bones.

Male southern elephant seals grow to 18 feet and weigh over four and a half tons. They are the largest of all pinnipeds (four-limbed mammals with fin-like feet). They feed on squid and other sea life. These huge creatures swim in colonies throughout the Subantarctic. In New Zealand, breeding colonies congregate on Campbell and Antipodes islands. They move through the oceans as top predators. Scientists believe that trends found in their populations may be indicators of larger patterns within the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Most awe-inspiring about these massive mammals is their ability to dive: scientists have recorded southern elephant seals swimming in search of prey more than 1,200 meters (3,600 feet) below the surface.

The little-known leopard seal breeds at sea and does not form shoreline colonies. They do, however, frequent New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands. Normally they swim farther south into Antarctica. Their gray, sleek heads distinguish them from other seals. Sharp teeth line their powerful jaws. Catch a glimpse of these ferocious 10- to12-foot seals, which feed on fish, penguins, and even other seals.

Grasslands cover most of the islands, but even these grasses and flowers make up a delicate balance of life on these geographically separate islands of mostly volcanic rock.

Several kinds of shorebirds gather along the rugged coasts. Watch albatrosses, shearwaters, prions, storm petrels, and diving petrels. In the Subantarctic, mollyhawks, southern skuas, and New Zealand falcons capture the eyes of keen birders. Penguins, the most popular symbol of the Far South, include yellow-eyed penguins, erect-crested penguins, king and royal penguins, rockhoppers, and others. Penguins can’t fly; rather, they use their wings to swim, hunting for seafood.

Whales in New Zealand’s waters include humpback, fin, sei, southern right, blue, minke, pilot, sperm (especially around Kaikoura), and beaked whales. The blue whale, the largest animal on Earth, exceeds 100 feet in length and weighs over 150 tons. Just as exciting to watch are dusky dolphins and spectacled porpoise as they swim and dive in graceful arcs throughout the oceans around the islands. Enjoy New Zealand’s diverse marine life, from starfish to great white sharks.

For more information on the natural history of New Zealand, see book selections below.
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History
Abel Janszoon Tasman, a Dutch sea captain, caught sight of New Zealand in 1642. He sailed two tall ships along the coast and then sent men in rowboats ashore. Maori warriors in canoes quickly attacked the two small rowboats. Some of Tasman’s men died; the others retreated back to the sailboats. Tasman made no more attempts to set foot on the island. The Dutch, however, took the liberty of giving the islands a name. They called the place Niew Zeeland, named after a province back home in the Netherlands.

Europeans left the land of the Maori alone for more than a hundred years. Then, in 1769, the British naval captain, James Cook, landed on the North Island. The charismatic Cook befriended the Maori and was able to explore both the North and the South Islands.

The Maori kept no recorded history. Documents about early life in New Zealand date back no further than Cook’s initial voyage. During the late 1770s and 80s, ships full of explorers from England, Spain, France, and other countries landed on the islands. By the 1790s, sealers and whalers from as far away as America and Europe as well as Australia sailed out to the coastal waters around New Zealand. Whalers and sealers dominated the waters and hunted many species to near extinction. Traders also arrived around this time. They came to purchase kauai timber, flax, and the occasional wood carving from the Maori. These hunters and traders—many of them shady characters from the penal colony of Sydney, Australia—became the first settlers of modern day New Zealand. The clergy arrived in the form of missionary settlers in 1814. The Maori took little interest in the church of the pakeha.

New Zealand formed no government and remained lawless and wild until 1840. Under this state of anarchy, the Maori suffered terribly. The introduction of firearms by the settlers increased both tribal warfare and dependency on trade for ammunition. Disease wracked the Maori tribes more vehemently than their own wars. War and sickness cut the Maori population nearly in half.

In 1840, a group of Maori chiefs and William Hobson of the British Royal Navy signed the Treaty of Waitangi. The treaty arranged for protection of Maori property rights in exchange for control over New Zealand. Many of the Maori did not understand this at the time. The treaty required the Maori to accept Queen Victoria as their ruler. Hobson then assumed the position of governor of New Zealand. Soon after, he declared the region a colony of Britain.

As the colony grew and grew, the notion of equal rights gained momentum. In 1893, New Zealand became the first government in the world to give women the right to vote. This move set New Zealand on a path to a long tradition of equal rights for all people. To further build its national identity, New Zealand convinced Britain to allow it to become a self-governing nation within the British Empire. By 1935, New Zealanders voted the Labour Party into power. The Labour Party increased social improvements and created minimum price programs to guarantee farms fair prices for their products. Social security took shape. The country advanced.

Today, New Zealand minimizes pollution, poverty, inner-city overcrowding, and racial conflicts better than many other nations. New Zealand strives to help more Maori achieve leadership positions in business, industry, and government. They also value environmental conservation, especially on the Subantarctic Islands, which became a World Heritage site in 1998. A major exporter of dairy and meat products, New Zealand seeks to open new markets so it can maintain its high standard of living.

For more information on the history of New Zealand, see book selections below.
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Culture
New Zealand’s indigenous people, the Maori, live throughout both the North and the South Islands. They call New Zealand “Aotearoa,” (pronounced ay oh tay ah ROH ah) the Land of the Long White Cloud. Traditional Maori culture was focused on the land, on which they grew potatoes and other crops, snared birds, They also fished and collected native green clams and other seafood. Maori warriors battled other tribes. They tattooed their faces and bodies with elaborate designs of swirls and lines, and often wore feathered earrings. Tribes of Maori lived on hilltops inside fortified villages. Intricately carved wooden gateways opened into their compounds.

The Maori were the first people to live in New Zealand. They arrived centuries ago in wooden boats, crossing the ocean from the Polynesian Islands northeast of New Zealand. Europeans, mostly British, landed in New Zealand around 1642, and started to settle the islands in the 1700s.

In 1840, the Maori signed the Treaty of Waitangi. The treaty gave the Maori rights to New Zealand’s natural resources and to farming, hunting, and fishing. In exchange, the Maori granted the British sovereignty over Aotearoa. In the ensuing decades, the treaty roused many a debate between the Maori and the pakeha (pronounced PAH keh hah), the Maori word for all non-Maori people. The two groups wildly hashed out property rights. The Maori turned the discussions into a major political issue. In response to their cases, the New Zealand government of the 1990s offered the Maori cash and land settlements.

As the Maori lost tribal land, they moved to cities and tried to adapt. Over the last decade or so, the government has re-evaluated the situation. The government established the Waitangi Tribunal to judge the claims of Maori members who felt that they were shortchanged. Almost overnight, it seemed, 150 cases piled up before the tribunal. The first case involved a member of the Te Ati Awa tribe from Taranaki who had tried to halt the construction of an oil drilling operation. Oil development, he believed, would pollute the Taranaki reefs. He pointed out that the reefs belonged not to the New Zealand government, but to the Maori. He felt that the Treaty of Waitangi should protect the reef against oil pollution. The tribunal agreed.

In general, New Zealanders live in an atmosphere of common trust. Their way of life combines British customs and their own brand of the English language (spoken with a slightly nasal accent) with Polynesian heritage and an easy-going informality. New Zealanders honor equal rights. Although most New Zealanders are descendants of British settlers, the national identity rolls together British and Polynesian heritage, which gives the Maori a national voice. Today, somewhere in the neighborhood of 325,000 Maori live in New Zealand. Beyond their roots, New Zealanders have earned the reputation of eating more meat (especially lamb) and butter than any other group of people. Sweet potatoes, known locally as “kumaras,” often accompany lamb dishes. New Zealanders, like the British, enjoy tea, beer, and wine with (and without) meals.

For more information on New Zealand culture, see book selections below.
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Dos and Don'ts
New Zealand Travel Tips:

Don’t expect to go ashore alone. Naturalists take you to the wonders of New Zealand’s archipelago, the endemic plants, the hidden coves, and the unusual wildlife.

Prepare yourself for severe and changeable weather as well as uneven terrain. Bring foul weather gear to cover you from head to toe and plenty of clothes to layer on when the wind blows and peel back when the sun shines.

Do wear sturdy footgear.

New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands’ diverse topography contains some of the Far South’s best scenery. To best enjoy wildlife, tote powerful binoculars.

Do follow the rules outlined by your guides and ship captain.

Don’t feed or touch any wild animals; New Zealand’s islands are not petting zoos.

Respect scientists and their research. The accumulation of scientific data instigates more systematic means of wildlife protection and adds crucial clues to understanding the world’s climate. Don’t interfere with scientific equipment.

Do be careful. Maintain a safe distance from all wildlife on land and at sea.
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Weather
The warmer months, November to April are busiest. It's great to visit either before or after this hectic period, when the weather is still warm.
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Best Time to Go
The weather is never so miserable that there's no point in going to New Zealand: there are things to see and do all year round.
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Temperature Range
November to April: 60 F to 90 F
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Books
Adventures in Nature New Zealand, by Sally McKinney
Guide Book
This guide focuses on adventure and eco-travel - and includes activities like boating, caving, rafting, kayaking, whale watching, biking, hiking, rock climbing, and wildlife excursions. It also gives background on the area's history (both natural and cultural), the native plants and animals, and basic travel information, such as hotels, restaurants, and shopping.

The Bone People, by Keri Hulme
Literature
Set in the harsh environment of the South Island beaches of New Zealand, this masterful story brings together three singular people in a trinity that reflects their country's varied heritage. Winner of the 1985 Booker-McConnell prize for fiction.

The Birth of New Zealand : A Nation's Heritage, by Warren Jacobs, John Wilson
History
A complete history of New Zealand.

Rough Guide New Zealand (1998), by Laura Harper, Tony Mudd, Paul Whitfield
Guide Book
One of the best overall travel book for the country. As with others in its series, this Rough Guide gives a thorough description of all the cultural and recreational aspects that a first time or a seasoned traveler should know.

Adventures in Nature New Zealand, by Sally McKinney
Guide Book
This guide focuses on adventure and eco-travel - and includes activities like boating, caving, rafting, kayaking, whale watching, biking, hiking, rock climbing, and wildlife excursions. It also gives background on the area's history (both natural and cultural), the native plants and animals, and basic travel information, such as hotels, restaurants, and shopping.

Lonely Planet New Zealand (9th Ed), by Peter Turner, Jeff Williams, Nancy Keller
Guide Book
This practical guide will introduce you to the spectacular natural wonders, rich Maori culture and friendly people of New Zealand. If you're after adventure, get ready for an adrenalin rush - from climbing mighty Mt Cook to kayaking an underground river or rap jumping from an Auckland skyscraper.

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