New Zealand (National Geographic Traveler), by Peter Turner

You would think that after all this time reading and reviewing books by the National Geographic that I would learn not to be disappointed by them, but I found this book disappointing. This is not to say that the book is without value–the book does have at least some modest value. The photography is stunning, thanks to photographer Colin Monteath as well as the fact that he is photographing a particularly lovely place in New Zealand. That lone makes this book at least worth looking at. Likewise, the book gives a fair amount of travel ideas in its excursion ideas and in its fondness for promoting what it views as authentic experiences. Most readers, I imagine, are likely going to be willing to find most of the authentic experiences discussed here as things that they would like to do. I am unsure of whether it is a positive or negative thing that the authors present so many activity ideas that are somewhat expensive but then also provide ways that travelers on the cheap can get at least some of the same experience in a vastly less expensive way, but the author does that a lot, and it is worth noting as a tendency of his.

Yet despite the good that can be said about this book, there is something disappointing about the book nonetheless. Most of my complaints, personally, are that this book fails my expectations of what a travel book is supposed to do, and that is to equip someone with the knowledge to travel well. This book is long on excursions and sites but it is remarkably short on things like lodging and eating. I must admit that while I do love to see things when I travel, it is absolutely essential to have an idea of what places are best to stay in and what sort of food is available. Perhaps in the contemporary age, books are less suitable at conveying this information than up-to-date websites such as the ones that I use for my own booking, but I still come to a book like this with such an expectation, and the author does not provide a great deal of insight into how it is that he stayed and ate during the course of his trip, without which he could not sustain himself for all of the adventures he appears to have enjoyed in New Zealand. It must be freely admitted that New Zealand is a place for adventure, and somewhat dauntingly, many of the adventures seem to require someone be reasonably fit and do a lot of hiking or bicycling or something else of that nature, which I must admit I find a bit concerning.

This book, in terms of its contents, is a bit more than 300 pages long. It begins with short segments on traveling with eyes open as well as charting one’s trip. After that the book begins with a brief discussion of New Zealand’s history and culture. Most of the rest of the book is then discussed in a regional fashion. The opening section covers Auckland, the nation’s biggest city, with discussions of walking through the city and traveling around it. The section on the Northland provides a discussion of the area of the Bay of Islands, the Far North, and Kauri Coast. The section on Central North Island covers Waikato, the Coromandel Peninsula, the Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, the Central Plateau around Taupo, the Eats Coast, as well as Taranaki & Whanganui. This is followed by a section on Wellingotn and the South, around the capital. The author then moves to the area of Malborough & Nelson, the gateway to the South Island. After this comes a section on Christchurch & its surrounding region of Canterbury. After this comes a discussion of the mining towns and glaciers of the West Coast. This is followed by a discussion of the Otago region around Dunedin with more walking tours. The next section of the book discusses Fiordland and the Southland with its walks and drives and trips to Stewart Island to the south. Throughout these sections there are various features. The book ends with a travelwise section on hotels & restaurants, shopping, entertainment, and other activities as well as an index and credits.