Australia As A Tourist Destination

NEW ZEALAND: Lord of the Rings LIVE ! Drive from one postcard into another....
Fresh open air, magnificent scenery and outdoor activities are the feature attractions of New Zealand. It is not a big country but for sheer variety it is hard to beat.

New Zealand, 29 times smaller than Australia, has got everything, from sandy beaches and rugged coastlines to calm green meadows and ominously smoking volcanoes; from flat plains and placid lakes to high snow-capped mountains and bubbling hot mud pools. There are even icy glaciers that creep right down into sub-tropical rainforests.
There are cities too, but they pall beside the natural wonders.
New Zealanders are friendly, easy going and helpful. Getting around is a breeze and hitchhiking is reasonably easy. Finding places to stay is also no problem and generally won't empty your wallet too fast, although it is an idea to book ahead if you arrive somewhere in the high season (Dec/Jan). The food is fresh and there is plenty of it, even the wine is excellent. It is a great country for travellers!! There are so many superb physical features in New Zealand that you may find yourself taking the beauty of the country for granted after a while!

source: Loney Planet

Distance Chart New Zealand: North Island

Distance Chart New Zealand: South Island

distances in kms.

*AUSTRALIA* comprises an area of some 8 million square kilometers; it covers a distance of 3700 kilometres from North to South, and 4000 kilometres from East to West. Within these boundaries there is an extraordinary range of flora and fauna, a variety of climatic extremes and a host of geological wonders. Temperatures vary from an average of 30 degrees Celsius in the midsummer of the Red Centre to an average of 6 degrees in the highlands in winter.
Australia is a Wonderland - almost all of it is accessible to the exploring traveler. It is possible to drive from Melbourne in the south of the mainland to Cooktown in the Far North. The intrepid can plan a trip from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean; from the rainforest in the north to the temperate beaches of the southern coast. And for the traveler seeking peace and tranquility, there are the green pasturelands and rugged, splendidly scenic mountain areas of Tasmania, the Island State. Exploring Australia by motor vehicle provides the traveler with the chance to venture into remote areas, tropical rainforests and inland deserts, and to visit large cosmopolitan cities and tiny Outback settlements. Australia's deserts are as vast as the Sahara; it's snowfields are huge and dramatically picturesque; it's surfing beaches are among the best in the world. The entire continent is criss-crossed by a combination of bitumen highways and rough bush tracks, almost all navigable in the modern motorcar, although some require 4x4 vehicles or off-road motorcycles.	Australia (7,686.849 square kilometres) compared to Europe (213 x Holland, 22 x Germany, 59 xUK, 14 x France, 186 x Switserland)