Introduction
Although much of the country has a rough terrain, transport in New Zealand is well developed and fairly advanced. Students are however advised to go for early bookings in order to avoid last minute rush. In New Zealand the three modes of transport viz. air, land and water have a fairly thorough service. The main airlines like the Air New Zealand, Qantas, and Origin Pacific have regular services and fly to different destinations throughout the country. Scheduled bus services are also available across the country. There is InterCity Coachline that connects 1100 cities in the country. The bus network is excellent and covers almost all the major destinations in New Zealand. Discount facilities are also available. Train services are fairly advanced. The cities of Auckland-Wellington, Christchurch-Picton, Christchurch-Greymouth are connected by different services. Trains services are fast and fares are comparatively cheaper. Services on the main routes are however limited.
Traveling from outside one arrives probably at one of the four major airports – Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, or Queenstown. From airports, taxi services, both private and shuttle are available to the destinations in the city.
New Zealand has a clean and healthy environment and therefore transport by cycling is also favored.
List of major airlines
Air New Zealand National – Air New Zealand has national services to a number of domestic destinations in the country. The national services connect the cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Air New Zealand International – Air New Zealand flies to and from multiple destinations in North America, UK, Europe, Australia, and South Pacific Islands.
Qantas – Qantas operates both national and international services in New Zealand. The carrier has its domestic services to Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. It has its international services to and from North America, UK, Europe, Australia, and South Pacific Islands.
Origin Pacific Airways - Origin Pacific Airways is a domestic carrier with services to Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Tauranga, Napier, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown within the country.
Freedom Air – Freedom Air operates services to and from Australia.
Air Pacific – Air Pacific is an international carrier with services to Australia, USA, Canada, Tahiti, Honolulu, Japan, Western Somoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuata.
Traveling by Train to New Zealand
TranzScenic is the operating agency for long distance trains in the country. Train services in the country are cheap and frequent and cover almost every part of the country. However, a number of train services have been withdrawn recently. At present there are no train services from Christchurch to Dunedin or Invercargil on the South Island. There are no trains to Gisbourne, Napier or Rotorua on the North Island. Discounts are available to students.
Auckland and Wellington have metropolitan train services. However, these services are available to a limited number of destinations within the cities. Wellington and Christchurch also have tram and cable car facilities.
Local Transport in New Zealand
New Zealand has a fairly advanced transportation system and is reliable and cheap. The most common form of local transport is public buses and taxis. Almost all the cities in the country have public bus facilities. Travel in public buses costs around NZ$1 to NZ$1.50 per sector. Some places have bus and shuttle services to different towns.
Taxis are also an important way for local travel and are cheap and readily available. Travel by taxis usually costs NZ$2 to NZ$3 for every kilometer of intra-city travel.
As mentioned above, Auckland and Wellington have metropolitan train services but such services are available to a limited number of destinations within the cities. The cities of Wellington and Christchurch also have tram and cable car facilities.
|
|
|
