Living in New Zealand

New Zealand is a wonderful place to live and study. It is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It offers an array of tourist attractions covering action adventure, snow covered mountains, geothermal pools and geysers, beautiful beaches, green pastures, and much, much more. You will have the opportunity to meet new friends and see some of the natural beauty of New Zealand. You can take advantage of your holiday breaks to stay with a New Zealand family and experience the Kiwi way of life.

Cities

The capital of New Zealand is Wellington (population 400,000), situated at the southern tip of the North Island. It is two (2) hours’ drive from Wellington to Longburn. Other major cities and towns are: Auckland (population 1,000,000) which is a one hour flight from Palmerston North, Hamilton (population 120,000), Christchurch (population 400,000) and Dunedin (population 110,000). Palmerston North city (population 75,000) is ten minutes’ drive from Longburn.
Climate: Because New Zealand is situated in the southern hemisphere, its seasons are the reverse of those in the northern hemisphere. The climate varies from sub-tropical in the far north to much milder, cooler temperatures as you travel south. Winters are not extreme, but the winter temperature at Longburn can reach 0^oC.  Summer averages around 22⁰C.

Size and Population

New Zealand has a population of just over 4,000,000. Geographically it is similar in size to the United Kingdom or Japan. It is primarily a European culture which also includes historical cultural elements from the Maori and Pacific Island heritages, and now from its rapidly growing multicultural Asian communities.