North island vs South island - Pro's & cons

[Haydinho]

I have been in NZ a long time and i have moved around a bit. Although i do not claim to be an expert, i know this place pretty well..

Here is my take on it:

The North island:

Renowned for its beaches and warmer climate. It also has far less native forest and bush land compared with the south as almost all of it has been burnt off since European settlement.
Almost 3.5 million people reside in the North island, around 75% of New Zealand's total population.
Home to Auckland the "Supercity" - population almost 1.4 million and growing.
Home to Wellywood (Wellington), New Zealand's capital city, political center, film-making hot spot and soon to be second most populous urban area of New Zealand.
Much stronger Maori culture is found in the North island and also far more of the Maori population compared with the South island.
Far higher immigration count than the South island, mainly in the greater Auckland area.
Higher ethnic diversity, again mainly in the greater Auckland area.
More people, more jobs, more cars, more traffic, higher crime and depending where you buy, you will pay more for a decent house.

The South island ... the "Mainland":

Far more dramatic and eye catching scenery .. snow covered mountains, glaciers, fiords and varying climate throughout its own regions - best of all it still has large areas of native forest and bush land. Because of this tourism is a strong part of the South islands economy.
It is colder than the North island, but also is home to Nelson/Blenheim and its high sunshine per year count (they bounce back and forward).
The South Island has a smaller resident population of just over 1 million, around one quarter of the New Zealand population - it is also the largest land mass of New Zealand.
More than 90 percent of people in the South Island are said to be in the European ethnic group. It is also not as multi-ethnic as the north island.
Major center for electricity generation, producing over 40% of New Zealand's total electricity generation - this is mainly from Hydro-dams (95+%), but there are also wind farms.
Lower crime rates, cheaper housing, close to no traffic congestion. Some would argue an easier life style.
Home to Christchurch, the second biggest city in NZ, although that may change with ongoing earthquake exodus.
Queenstown - no further comment needed.
Penguin's, Kia's, Kiwi's etc etc still live here and can actually be found in the wild!
It is also common knowledge that South islanders are not as soft as North islanders

[Sam B]

Penguins (little blue), keas and kiwis can all be found in the wild in the North Island too.

[nickydwuk]

Thanks for all your replies - especially haydinho. I'd forgotten about North island being more humid. I think OH thought with more rain fall the scenery would be greener but as you all have said - NI is more populated with less greenery due to the increased population. We loved SI and will possibly settle near Chch again but will visit NI and see. Who knows - we can still relocate if we want to.

[Haydinho]

Penguins (little blue), keas and kiwis can all be found in the wild in the North Island too.

Sorry Sam B, i should have been clearer, i meant that there are a greater range of species that are easier to view in the wild.

Blue, yellow-eyed, and Fiordland crested penguins can be relatively easily viewed at various sites around the South and Stewart Islands. In the North Island, blue penguins are the only species that can be viewed.

The north has the North Island Brown, Little Spotted kiwi while the South island has Great Spotted, Okarito Brown, Haast Tokoeka and Southern Tokoeka kiwi.

There are no wild Kea found in the North island, they are found only in or near the mountains of the South Island. They live in high-altitude beech forest and open sub-alpine herb-fields, up into snow country.Fossil findings suggest they Kea once lived in the North island but at a period when the two islands were joint (many many many years ago, well before humans arrived).



Sorry for the confusion

[JandM]

What a fabulous photo! Did you take it? And what is it?

[Haydinho]

Haha, well although I am a keen photographer I cant take claim to this stunning shot.

The above image is of a Kea, the world's only alpine parrot. They are highly intelligent and often troublesome for unwary tourists.
If you wish for more information on the Kea try wikipedia.com.

[JandM]

I know about keas - roughly - but I'd not seen one from underneath, to know about all that wonderful colour.

[nickydwuk]

We saw a kea up close when we visited Arthurs Pass

[JandM]

I'm jealous - we went there last year about this time, but didn't see any keas. (I wonder what the evolutionary advantage is to being really flamboyant if viewed from below?!)

[edw123]

I saw one wandering about at Fox Glacier the other week. Just walked amongst the crowd, reminded me of the pigeons in London.

I only lived int he N Island for a couple of months. It definitely has more jobs, and facilities, but the S Island is much, much prettier - some of the scenery is staggering.

I drove from Auckland to Wellington in the N Island, and although there's some lovely scenery as you get south, the drive from ChCh to Queenstown or ChCh to Greymouth, etc.etc. is astonishing. No coincidence most tourists go South....