New Zealand comes with a reputation as a unique land with magnificent, raw scenery: craggy coastlines, sweeping beaches, primeval forests, snow-capped alpine mountains, bubbling volcanic pools, fast-flowing rivers and glacier-fed lakes, all beneath a brilliant blue sky. Even Kiwis themselves - named after the endearing, if decidedly odd, flightless bird that has become the national emblem - seem to be filled with

astonishment at the stupendous vistas of what they like to think of as "God's zone", God's own country. 'In fact New Zealand is a country of rare beauty featuring, glacial mountains, fast-flowing rivers, deep, clear lakes, and long, deserted beaches.

All of this provides a canvas for boundless diversions, from strolls along windswept beaches and multi-day tramps over alpine passes to the adrenalin-charged adventure activities of buggy jumping and white-water rafting; in fact, some visitors take on New Zealand as a kind of large-scale assault course, aiming to tackle as many adventures as possible in the time available. The one-time albatross of isolation - even Australia is fifteen hundred kilometres away - has become a boon, bolstering New Zealand's clean, green image, which is, in truth, more an accident of geography than the result of past government policy.

Population: 4,040,000
Area: 268,670 sq km, 103,733 sq miles