Five Facts About New Zealand

1. Where in the world is New Zealand anyway? Okay. This might help. New Zealand is about 6,500 miles southwest of California. Situated in the South Pacific Ocean, New Zealand is half way between the Equator and the South Pole and about 1,350 miles east of Australia.
2. It takes about 13 ½ hours to fly from Los Angeles, CA to Auckland, NZ. When the plane traveling to New Zealand crosses the International Date Line, an imaginary line drawn through the Pacific Ocean where the calendar day begins, 24 hours are added to the current time. Even though New Zealand bound travelers gain an entire day when they cross the IDL, they loose it on the return trip.
3. Gisborne, NZ, just over 300 miles west of the International Date Line is the first major city in the world to see the sun rise on a new day. I know, you probably thought it was Sydney, Australia since that’s where we see the big New Year’s Eve fireworks.
4. New Zealand is made up of two bigger islands (North Island and South Island) and hundreds of smaller islands. Seventy five percent of the country’s population lives on the North Island.
5. Wellington, NZ on the southern tip of the North island is the southernmost capital city on the earth. Remember this for Final Jeopardy.