Accommodation too is cheap and varied. And the culinary promise of venison, fresh seafood, sublime ice cream and award-winning wines should more than whet the appetite. Environment New Zealand is situated in the South Pacific Ocean, 1600km south-east of Australia. Curiously, native fauna is limited, with the only indigenous mammal being the bat. Bird life, however, has thrived.
Temperatures are a few degrees cooler in the South Island, and both islands receive snow in winter.
Winter falls in the months of June through August and summer from December through to February. The busy tourist season falls in the warmer months between November and April, though ski resorts, such as Queenstown, are full during winter. Ski resort towns are obviously busier during the winter months. It's probably more pleasant to visit either before or after this hectic period, when the weather is still warm and there aren't as many other travellers around. It's possible to travel quite economically in New Zealand.