New Zealand Vacations Topics

South Island

Image by NASA

It is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island.

Coordinates: WGS84 43° 59′ 0″ S, 170° 27′ 0″ E

The South Island is often called "The Mainland". Today this expression is used humorously, although still with pride by "Mainlanders", since while it is a somewhat larger landmass than the North Island. only about a quarter of New Zealand's four million inhabitants live in the South Island. However, in the early stages of European settlement of the country, the South Island was pre-eminent, with the majority of the European population and wealth focused there due to gold rushes. It was not until the early 20th century that the North Island population overtook the South, with 56% of the population living in the North in 1911.

The South Island with an area of 151,215 km² (58,093 square miles) is the largest land mass of New Zealand, it contains about one quarter of the New Zealand population and is the world's 12th-largest island. It is divided along its length by the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Aoraki/Mount Cook at 3754 metres (12,316 ft). There are eighteen peaks of more than 3000 metres (9800 ft) in the South Island. The east side of the island is home to the Canterbury Plains while the West Coast is famous for its rough coastlines.

• Islands of New Zealand

Major Regions of South Island New Zealand NZ:
Tasman • Marlborough •  Nelson • West Coast • Canterbury • Otago • Southland

The first Europeans known to reach the South Island were the crew of Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who arrived in his ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen. Tasman anchored in Golden Bay, at the northern end of the island, (he named it Murderers Bay) in December 1642 and sailed northward to Tonga following a clash with local Maori. Tasman sketched sections of the two main islands' west coasts. Tasman called them Staten Landt, after the States-General of the Netherlands, and that name appeared on his first maps of the country. Dutch cartographers changed the name to Nova Zeelandia in Latin, from Nieuw Zeeland, after the Dutch province of Zeeland. It was subsequently Anglicised as New Zealand by British naval captain James Cook of HM Bark Endeavour who visited the islands more than 100 years after Tasman during (1769 -1770).

In the early 18th century, Ngai Tahu a Maori tribe who originated on the east coast of the North Island began migrating to the northern part of the South Island. There they and Kati Mamoe fought Ngai Tara and Rangitane in the Wairau Valley. Ngati Mamoe then ceded the east coast regions north of the Clarence River to Ngai Tahu. Ngai Tahu continued to push south, conquering Kaikoura. By the 1730s, Ngai Tahu had settled in Canterbury, including Banks Peninsula. From there they spread further south and into the West Coast.

Population:
Compared to the more populated and multi-ethnic North Island, the South Island has a smaller, more homogeneous resident population of 1,017,300. At the 2001 Census, over 91 percent of people in the South Island said they belong to the European ethnic group, compared with 80.1 percent for all of New Zealand.

Stock Exchanges:
Due to the Gold Rush of the 1870s, the South Island had regional stock exchanges in Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill – all of which were affiliated in the Stock Exchange Association of New Zealand. However, in 1974 these regional exchanges were amalgamated to form one national stock exchange, the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZSE). On 30 May, 2003, New Zealand Stock Exchange Limited formally changed its name to New Zealand Exchange Limited, trading as NZX.

Tourism:
The main tourism destinations in the South Island are:

Nelson and Tasman District
Marlborough
West Coast
Kaikoura
Hanmer Springs
Christchurch and Canterbury
Dunedin
Southland Region and Stewart Island / Rakiura
Queenstown, Wanaka and Central Otago
Fiordland
Milford Sound

Ski areas and resorts:
This is a list of ski areas and resorts in the South Island where the public can pay to ski.

Nelson Lakes:
Rainbow
Mount Robert

Canterbury:
Fox Peak (club skifield)
Hanmer Springs Ski Area (club skifield)
Mount Lyford
Mount Potts (heliskiing and snowcatting only)
Mount Hutt
Mount Dobson
Ohau
Porter Heights
Round Hill
Tasman Glacier (Heliski)
Temple Basin (club skifield)
Craigieburn Range
Broken River (club skifield)
Craigieburn Valley (club skifield)
Mount Cheeseman (club skifield)
Mount Olympus (club skifield)

Otago:
Coronet Peak
Invincible Snowfields (helicopter access only)
The Remarkables
Around Wanaka
Cardrona Alpine Resort
Treble Cone
Snow Park
Snow Farm (cross-country skiing only)

National Parks:
Abel Tasman National Park
Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park
Fiordland National Park
Kahurangi National Park
Mount Aspiring National Park
Nelson Lakes National Park
Paparoa National Park
Rakiura National Park
Westland National Park

Other Native Reserves and Parks:
Hakatere Conservation Park

The South Island is separated from the North Island by Cook Strait, 24 km wide at its narrowest point, but requiring a 70 km ferry trip to cross.

Ports and harbours:
Container ports: Lyttelton (Christchurch), Port Chalmers (Dunedin)
Other ports: Nelson, Picton, Westport, Greymouth, Timaru, Bluff.
Harbours: Akaroa, Otago Harbour, Half Moon Bay (Stewart Island/Rakiura), Milford Sound.
Freshwater: Queenstown and Kingston (Lake Wakatipu), Te Anau and Manapouri (Lake Manapouri)

Geographic Features and Destinations of note:

The Arts:

• New Zealand
• New Zealand map
• Flag
• North Island
• Ninety Mile Beach
• South Island
• Image of South Island NZ

Also see:
• Accommodations
• Activities and Things to Do
• Snow Skiing
• Tours

• History of New Zealand
• Sports in New Zealand
• Islands of New Zealand
• Cook Islands

• Explore New Zealand's Diverse Culture

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "South Island ".