A one stop NZ information shop (purenz.com)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	purenz.com
Date:	24/05/02 (226 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of information, Easy to navigate

Disadvantages: None

"New Zealand is 1,600 km long and 450 km wide at its widest part. Covering an area of approximately 270,500 sq km (all islands combined) it is roughly the size of Japan, the British Isles or California - large enough to contain a huge variety of scenic attractions, and small enough so you can get to see most of them." *

So, how on earth do you find out what you need to know about New Zealand so that you prepared are at least in part for your arrival? Well the answer is here, at PureNZ.com.

Upon arriving at the home page, you are greeted with a nice graphic of some New Zealand landscape, plus a selection of what the site has to offer from it's various sections.

Depending on your level of familiarity with New Zealand, you choose which section you wish to navigate from a clear navigation bar across the top of the screen. The eight top-level categories on offer are: About NZ, Getting to NZ, Destinations, Sights and Activities, Accommodation, Transport, Journals and Souvenirs.

When I first discovered this site, I found it difficult to find the information I wanted. However that was because (as usual) I threw myself into the site, looking for a specific piece of information and didn't give much thought about what I should be doing. After aimlessly surfing the site for a while though, the site structure fell into place, and armed with a better understanding of the site, finding the information I required was second nature, and I was amazed at just how much information this website was able to give.

As you select one of the top-level categories, a second navigation bar appears below the main one for navigating around your chosen category.

~~ About NZ
This category contains information which is relevant to both islands of New Zealand, but which doesn't really come under Tourist Information. Here you would find such information as climate, the history of New Zealand and the culture. The informati
on is quite interesting, although not strictly necessary for travellers, and there is also an excellent, if short, Macromedia Flash presentation which deals with the role of New Zealand in the Lord of the Rings series of movies, narrated by Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, and a Kiwi). You need the Flash 5 plugin (free from www.macromedia.com if you don't already have it), and is split into 6 chapters, each of which download as necessary and are approximately 500kb each.

~~ Getting to NZ
From leaving your house to arriving at your destination within New Zealand, this category solves all your problems and provides you with all the information you could possibly need. Information is relevant to a country you choose (from a drop down menu), and deals with such things as flight durations, frequently asked questions ("Are there any poisionous animals?", "When is the best time to visit NZ?" etc.). One very useful feature is detailed information on how to get from any of the main airports in NZ to the nearest town/city center. The website provides plenty of information on bus/taxi fares, journey times etc. There is no reason for you not to be 100% prepared for your arrival in New Zealand.

~~ Destinations
You are presented with a map of New Zealand, split into six areas. From this map, you can either investigate each of the six areas, or go straight into one of the 28 regions in New Zealand. The page for each of the six main area gives a brief overview of that area with information such as climate, physical geography and an example of some of the things you might want to consider doing while there.

If you then click on one of the smaller regions, you are taken to a page, from which, you can find the area's information centres, a list of activities that the region caters for, some suggestions for places to visit for scenery and the almost obligatory key information for that region.

~~ Sights and Act
ivities
For those of you who have already booked your flights, and have a rough idea of where you'll be staying, this is the section for you. This section is in three main parts: scenic highlights, activities and events calendar. The main difference between this and the previous section is that rather than plan your trip by region, you can plan your trip by activities, or the type of scenery you wish to view.

As with the rest of this site, the section is broken down into smaller sections and you'll never be in any doubt of where to get your information from. The events calendar is a great idea, broken down into a monthly basis, and lists all the big events (jazz festivals, sporting events, cultural events etc.) happening in New Zealand during that period.

~~ Accommodation
Al the information you could possibly need about accommodation in New Zealand, covering everything from backpackers hostels and B&Bs to luxury hotels and resorts. Some things are rated according to the QualMark 5 star system, which is explained in this section as well, giving you detailed information on the quality of accommodation and facilities offered at various places.

There are also good details for contacting each place listed in the web site, and where appropriate, you could be given phone numbers, fax number, email addresses and even web site addresses over and above the normal postal address.

~~Transport
As the accommodation section above, this section is split into different types of transport - cycling, cars, ferry etc. Again, information is given about each firm, and how to contact them. As well as that, you can use the site's travel calculator to determine approximate journey times and distances if you happen to be cycling or driving (although the site only gives driving times). There is more detailed information about driving in this category, plus links to other site for any further details you may require.

~~ Journ
als
This section is particularly interesting. As the name might suggest, this is a section dedicated to pieces of writing from some writers, although it doesn't seem as if they accept pieces from "normal" people, which is a pity. There are currently six writers who contribute pieces to the site, and there are about sixteen or so "journals" regarding various areas of New Zealand and activities and sights that they have encountered and enjoyed.

The journals themselves are well written (as you'd expect, and in keeping with the standard of the rest of the site) and provide further information from a user's point of view rather than an "official review". These add so much more to what is an already outstanding tourism information site.

~~ Souvenirs
This doesn't really give any specific information as such, but contains little things like e-cards, wallpapers and screensavers for you to enjoy or send to someone else.

What can I say? Certainly you won't need to visit any other site for information on New Zealand, although PureNZ does offer plenty of links to other sites regarding things like companies offering activities, public transport websites and websites even more dedicated to individual areas throughout New Zealand (if that's possible!). There is so much more to the site, and I hope I have given you a taste of what the site offers and how it is laid out.

Navigation is quite easy, although perhaps initially, finding the specific information you require is not that straightforward (at least, that was the case for me). However, once you are familiar with the way the site works, you'll be browsing through it in no time at all. Despite the graphical content, the site pages still load quite quickly.

Certainly in my quest for information on New Zealand, I haven't come across a web site that is anywhere near as comprehensive as this one. The amount of thought th
at has gone into making this site easy to use, and presenting the information in a clear manner is astounding. Thoroughly recommended and a must for anyone who is interested in travelling to New Zealand.

* Quote taken from PureNZ web site.

Summary: