New Zealand basics:
Shopping
New Zealand blends Maori and European heritages to create a totally unique culture. You will be spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting souvenirs of your trip.
We have recommended the wool products already, and ever popular is anything with the silver fern pattern on it, one of the symbols of New Zealand, All Black gear, and anything from pauau shell, a colorful shellfish that is also yummy to eat, usually made up into fritters.
Other favorites to take back are carvings of natural materials, and unusual jewelry made from shells, and the fabulous and now carefully restricted native jade, in both green and black, carved in fabulous designs like swirls and spirals, each with its own unique meaning.
If you shop at the Jade Factory, which has many outlets thoughout the country, you can’t go too far wrong, and they often have special sales and closeouts on certain lines. They can also give you information on the various Maori patterns you see, which mean protection, luck, and so on.

Wining and Dining
The food is incredibly fresh, and seafood is a must. As of course is lamb if you like it. The wine industry is booming, having grown to about 4 times what it was in the past 20 years or so and showing no sign of slowing down. The New Zealand people enjoy the best things in life, and appreciate them to. Prices range from inexpensive to a small fortune, depending on what you eat and where. Cities are obviously  more pricey.
One thing you must have is their hot chocolate, often served with unusual marshmallows. Since I don’t drink coffee, and herbals teas are in a bit of short supply in their equivalent of starbucks, I think I had cocoa in every single place I visited, and each one was better than then next!
Don’t forget to have the New Zealand green mussels-I got a dozen shelled in a little plastic tub ready to eat for less than $3NZ-gorgeous! Supermarkets are good value for all your food needs at the backpackers, for breakfast and lunch, especially if you want to take a packed lunch. If you want a hot one, well, there does not seem to be any such thing as bad fish and chips in New Zealand. The fish is amazing, with so many choices, make a pooint of trying everything. Oh, and the oysters and clams, yum!
Accommodation
As I said, I stayed in backpackers, in order to have more cash for lots of other things, and really, you can’t go too far wrong. People of all ages, included lively octagenarians, stay in them, so my fears about being too old because not a student any more were put to rest.
They all have laundry facilities, full kitchens, and while they might be a bit more run down and dirty in cities, you will be spending so little time in your room it does not really matter.
Everyone is every friendly and helpful, and it is a great way to meet people if you are travelling on your own.
For more fancy hotel accommodation, check with the tourist board, or book online.
Getting around
In the cities, the public transportation is plentiful and cheap. You can usually get an all day pass and Auckland has a great loop bus that comes every five minutes and you can go round and round seeing all the sites and hop off when you need to.
http://www.totaltravel.co.nz/travel/north-island/auckland/auckland/transport/buses/city-circuit
has a map and timetables.
For longer journeys, there are a variety of coach and tour companies, and many of them cooperate with the Intercity line. As I said, the flexipass which starts with a certain number of hours, which you can add on to, is ideal. Everyone in every tourist board is exceptionally helpful, so you should have no trouble getting around on your trip of a lifetime, New Zealand.