What are some of the most famous historic sights in New Zealand?

Question

Historic sights and monuments. I always hear about Zorbing and "extreme sports", but what are some nice places of historic interest?

Answer 1

The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a collection of Maori art. Other sights include a maritime museum and the 1,076-ft (328-m) Sky Tower. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, based in Auckland, won the America's Cup in 1995 and successfully defended in 2000, but lost in 2003. In the area of the city are many extinct volcano cones, including Mt. Eden (within the city) and Rangitoto (offshore).Enjoy!

Answer 2

Near Dunedin you will find the Royal Albatross colony, the southern most colony in the world where you don't have to be a mountain goat and tramper to see them.

On the way visit the most southern Castle in the world, or take a Taieri Train trip on a line over a century old with some breath taking scenery where on one side you can feel as if you can touch the rock face and out the other side feel as if a  sudden lurch will send you falling into the

gorge below.

Answer 3

katherine mansfields house=wellington

lanarch castle=dunedin

the pink and white terraces (RIP)

baldwin st (steepest st in the world)=dunedin

one tree hill (minus the tree)

christchurch cathedral

dunedin railway station-tairei gorge

Answer 4

As NZ is a fairly new country (only about 200yrs old) there aren't huge amounts of historical sites. Waitangi has a historical site, it is where maori chiefs signed a treaty with the queen and is now a celebrated holiday in NZ. Napier on the North Islands east coast suffered a huge earthquake in the 1920s so the town was rebuilt in Art Deco style i love it! NZ has a lot of natural wonders to make up for the lack of historical ones, Check out rotorua and the geysers (you'll get used to the smell), Milford sound, Franz Josef Glacier and the west coast of the south island is amazing.

Answer 5

The historic town of Akaroa, which was originally established by the French, is about 1 1/2 hours from Christchurch and is a lovely little town and very interesting to visit.  There's a fair amount of history in the town - a small museum, a French cemetery, a big war memorial and a lot of lovely buildings.  Christchurch itself is sometimes called "the most English city outside England"; it has a big Anglican cathedral at the centre of the city, the Arts Centre which was the university but is now a cultural precinct, and the museum, plus the gondola which is on the Port Hills and has a lot of information about the formation of Banks Peninsula.

Answer 6

To say that NZ doesn't have much history is very offensive to me as a Maori woman.

Our history is rich, unique and evolving.

If you go to the North Island and travel north of Auckland you should visit Pahia, Waitangi and then travel north again to see our Tane Mahuta - the Lord of the Forest.

http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/trackan...

You should also check out a game of professional netball or rugby union to see how the games are played.

I come from the Bay of Plenty which is a beautiful coastal region of New Zealand. We have a number of wonderful wineries I recommend the feijoa (pineapple guava) wines of Celestial Wines and the White Goose:

http://www.celestialwines.co.nz/

http://www.totaltravel.co.nz/travel/nort...

I have been to Rotorua a number of times and it is a good place to learn about the Maori people. There are alot of hot springs that you can visit in Rotorua and the Bay of Plenty and it is said that the warm water can heal a number of ailments. There are tours in Rotorua where you can go fishing and cook your fish in the hot sand.

http://www.polynesianspa.co.nz/Polynesia...

http://www.awakerisprings.co.nz/Awakeri_...

The South Island is also beautiful and I recommend spending time at Akaroa, Hamner Springs, Kaikoura, Picton and Nelson.

Christchurch is okay but in my view it is just a stepping stone.

Answer 7

You can check more destinations about New Zealand at http://newzealand.mvmtravel.com/tours/se...

Answer 8

Kerikeri, near the top of the North Island, has some of the earliest european history in New Zealand. Its a tiny town with some buildings going back to 1820.

Queenstown is known for extreme sports, but its also really beautiful, surrounded by huge mountains and next to Lake Wakatipu. It has great hotels and restaurants and bars near the waterfront.

Christchurch is nice. Has old neo-gothic archichecture like the Christchurch Cathedral, the Canterbury Museum, Christs College, the old Canterbury University - now called The Arts Centre. Right next to these buildings is Hagley Park.

Rotorua has lots of maori history, and is mostly made up of maori people. There are hot springs, geysers, boiling pools of mud, hot rivers.

Theres lots of nice beach towns on both islands.

Lots of good vineyads in areas like Marlborugh Valley, Waipara, Cantral Otago, Hawkes Bay, Gisbourne, Waiheke Island...

Akaroa was an early french settlement on Bank Peninsula.

The town of Napier was destroyed in the 1931 earthquke. Subsequently the town was rebuilt in the Art Deco style or architecture.

Treaty House in Waitangi, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the British and the Maori cheifs.

New Zealand doesnt have much history.... yet

Answer 9

Kowhitirangi on the West Coast where Stan Graham went on the rampage in 1941.  There's a Stan Graham section in Hokitika museum, about 20 km away.  For a long time the exhibits were in a back room.  It wasn't until the 1980s that they put them on display.