New Zealand consists of two large islands, North Island and South Island, plus several smaller ones of which Stewart Island is the largest and often referred to as 'our third island'. To the north and east lies the Pacific Ocean and between ourselves and Australia lies the Tasman Sea. North Island is volcanically active with a central plateau. The climate is oceanic temperate. Given the small land mass relative to the expanse of ocean around New Zealand, the seasonal variations are smaller than continental North America or mainland Europe.
North Island has a warm mild climate, almost sub-tropical in the extreme north.
New Zealand has a population of around 3.65 million. The Maori first arrived on these shores just over a 1000 years ago at the close of the last millennium. Today, the Maori have adopted western lifestyles but have actively been encouraged to keep alive their culture, language and art. People from China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, etc have also settled in New Zealand making for a diverse population mix. For millions of years New Zealand has been isolated and unique birds, animals and plants have developed here.