Oceania Books

Wow, it's a steal at $6 - I paid about $20 originally. It covers quite a bit of ground, seems to be fairly current, and gives more focus to the touristy things to do (which makes sense). It was definitely the guide I most used while on the vacation but if it was 100 pages lighter I would have been grateful!

This is another guide written in the same sort of format as Lets Go and Lonely Planet. It is a lot thicker than the Lets Go version and believe me, weight and space are important when lugging the thing around a whole continent. Let's Go also has a fair bit more information than Rough Guide in fewer pages. I also don't like the paper the pages are made of in this book as it's not a nice texture, is very thin and the pages stick together when the book's been inside a hot backpack and just don't feel nice turning the pages when it's a bit humid. Rough Guide is also rather opinionated on everything from each hostel to local information booth staff friendliness. I must say I do agree with some comments but a lot I never had the same experiences. That's the thing about travelling one person can have a great experience with a tourism operator and the next not so good. It depends who else is on the tour, in the room, which staff member you get and so on. If this was a constantly updated website that encourages feedback and changed the information regularly than I would see a place for it but not in a guide book. If you follow the author's opinion you'll miss out on some great experiences and even the places he recommends you may still have a bad time at. That's just the way tourism is. I'd recommend Lets Go over this for backpacking around Australia.

As with many things Aussie, this book has an outdoorsy bent. There's far less history and social content than some other Rough Guides but that said, this book is typical Rough Guide density with encyclopedic coverage. The best thing about this book is that you're not likely to find a place in this vast country without at least a few words written about it. The chapters about particularly remote sections of the country are well done and fascinating to read. A good guide book should make you more anxious to get on with your trip. This one has that effect on me.

I'd like to see a bit more narrative about significant architecture and important institutions, and the book needs a nice new set of maps. There are few really good ones in here.

This book was a lifesaver for us on our three week vacation to Australia. The maps within it were fantastic especially on our four day drive up the coast. It was very helpful with regard to accommodation, and finding tourist information offices. We didn't leave our room without it on any day of our trip.

Stuart's work is an excellent overview of Australian history from the dreamtime to the present. He captures the major periods and events that shaped the progress of Australia towards federation and beyond, into the current malaise over national identity and the development of a unique and identifiable cultures.

Modern thought increasingly accepts the indigenous problems that were part of Australian colonisation, and Stuart probes these and other contemporary issues by drawing from both sides of the debate. He illustrates research that examines the language of overland explorers, to determine whether they were 'exploring' or 'conquering', and he comments on modern interpretations of the constitution by the high court. Readers not well versed in Australian issues may pass over these slights of hands without understanding their importance in the nature of forging an Australian history, culture and identity.

I would recommend this book as a necessary overview for any person interested in the history of the country, including potential tourists.

I have long wanted to read a general history of Austrailia, and when I read. on April 3, 1988, The Fatal Shore, by Robert Hughes, I said to myself, in my post-reading note: "I am glad I read this book, but maybe I'd've done better to read a plain history of Australia than this long account of this aspect of its beginning." I am shamed to say that it has taken over 12 years to do what I thought I should have done back then. This book goes up to 1999, and portrays very well the current dilemmas facing Australia. If you enjoy the articles in Current History, as I do, this book reminds me of those articles, except it is less bland and neutral. Ordinarily I avoid histories with designations such as "short" or "concise" figuring that I want a fuller treatment. But when one knows as little of a country as I do of Australia, I thought this a good introduction to its history.

According to the author, Australian history is 200 years of racism, sexism, oppression, dominance, exploitation. The victims are aborginal people, women, the early convicts -- and the environment. The villains, of course, are white males. When the Australian economy dips, the fault lies with the U.S., world capitalism and neoliberalism. When the Australian economy thrives, it just means Aussies can waste more money on bourgeois geegaws. The tone is humorless, unrelenting, shrill, one-sided -- a prime example of what one Australian referred to as "black armband history".

The first thing that came to mind as I trudged through Macintyre's wordy book was how could something called "concise" seem so long? This book is informative but entirely humorless, like reading an ingredient list. Macintyre seems more concerned with showcasing his vocabularity then with enticing you with the facinating history of Australia's past. There is plenty of information in this book if you can make it through to the end while maintaining consciousness. If you are about to visit Australia and you are looking for an entertaining and informative book to stimulate your enthusiasm I strongly recommend Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country. If you are looking for a strong sedative then this is the book for you.

Flenley and Bahn have created an incredibly comprehensive reconstruction of Easter Island's history. They cover the origins, flora, fauna, tides, culture, language, stone carving, etc. In fact, for a layman such as myself, the sheer volume of details is a bit overwhelming, and I frequently found myself skimming. (I really didn't want to know that much about Chilean palm tree nuts or pollen samples.)

The authors make their very plausible (and exhaustive) case that the Easter Islanders doomed themselves by invoking an ecological disaster, possibly compounded by drought, which led to starvation and internecine warfare.

The stone giants are the embodiment of some sort of archetypal figure from the human subconscious and have fascinated generations. I came away from the reading most impressed by the fact that every scientist, archaeologist, doctor, engineer, or assorted wing-nut who had seen the stones was compelled to try and figure out how they were carved or moved. The megaliths seem to cast a spell over the most sane and rational people. (I found myself telling my husband we should go there for our next vacation)

While somewhat compelling, this book was really not what I expected. I found it to be basically a reiteration of the first edition published in 1992. Have the authors nothing new to say? I would skip this book- not worth the read- there is so much wonderful material out there on Easter Island. This seemed like a waste of good time. Next!

This is an excellent, up-to date (2003), fairly easy read of an astounding place, Rapa Nui, the island in the South Pacific better known as Easter Island. This is in fact an updated edition of an earlier 1992 edition, that has been revised to incorporate new ideas and developments in research into a place which has seen quite a deal of academic interest and debate over the last few decades.

It is, as the title suggests, mostly a discussion of some of the more enigmatic and mysterious aspects of this small island at the 'edge of the world', so to speak. Discussions include how the Polynesians got there in the first place (several thousand kilometres from just about anywhere), what happened to the island's original flora and fauna, why there are now virtually no trees on the island, why and how they built and transported the enormous statues, why their culture seemingly underwent several periods of cultural implosion, and how they came to have their own system of rudimentary symbolic writing-no small thing incidentally- since it is only one of a handful of societies where a form of writing is thought to have arisen independently (although this is debated for Easter Island).

Rest assured, once one delves into the detail and human richness of the history and culture on Easter Island, (past what one hears via the grapevine or via populist travel articles), one begins to find things one did not quite expect. Put simply, it becomes a kind of mirror of the human psyche, of humans in close interaction with their primeval environment, with all its ghastliness and beauty, and their myriad inclinations towards both the tragic and the beautiful.

Take for example, the extreme feeling of isolation that a seafaring culture must have felt, of being stranded, once all the original tree species had been cut down and driven to extinction, and they couldn't make any more sea craft (something a number of environmentalists have pointed out). Imagine the keen loss of traditional values that must have been felt, once the statues were thrown down (in a probable revolution of some sort), or the desperate alternative worship of man-like birds, who could fly away into the sea and escape their lonely, now barren, isle. And what about the island's trees in the first place-there was a highly prized native palm on the island, that could be sourced to transport statues, make ropes, make sea craft, and provide an alcoholic sap amongst other things, which was driven to extinction by the islanders-whether by over-exploitation, neglect, or through an inability to adapt and change, or all of them. And there are even suggestions that is was in the making and transporting of the statues themselves which at least partially caused the islander's ultimate cultural downfall-the transport of the statues required the felling of timber, and if one of these two practices had to cease or change, it probably wasn't the felling of timber.

It is difficult to know for certain what variety of factors were responsible for the extinction of the prized trees, but no doubt isolation, neglect, and an inability to change must have been major factors. In addition, the Polynesian rat evidently had a big appetite for native palm nuts (teeth marks in nuts). Without the timber from the trees, soil erosion and degradation set in, and most importantly they couldn't make wooden boats to fish, and so they began to starve. Archaeological evidence also indicates an outbreak of warfare at about the same time as the trees became extinct. There is indeed a myriad of archaeological evidence here to delight anyone interested in the rise and fall of nations and cultures to be sure, scattered in caves, swamps, dwellings, quarries and various other places on the island.

Another interesting discovery is the preserved fossilised roots of native palm trees, which are almost identical to the modern day, very versatile Chilean species. Also of interest to me was the subtle development from religious ritual and symbolism, to depiction of the same on favourable rock outcrops, ultimately to communication of the same on wooden articles-the Rongorongo script. In short-'religious ritual' to 'writing'. Writing originating as art inspired by cultural isolation? There are suggestions here that it was the Spanish who influenced this trend towards writing, but after reading the debate here, I'm not convinced. The extreme isolation to me suggests a kind of inspired artistic innovation or expression. Readers might also be surprised to learn that the origin of the Polynesians themselves is from Taiwan in about 4000 BC-an island nation, that has frequent political troubles, and I presume also may have had, around 4000 BC??.

There are various other discussions on the geology, geography, climate, the infamous Kon Tiki expedition, genetic research into islander origins, Polynesian dispersal and seafaring, archaeological excavations (of course), agriculture, general ecology, statues and ceremonies, food issues, the western human impact from the 18th century onwards, the introduction of smallpox, western religion, slave trading from Peru in the 19th century, and revised views on issues concerning resource sustainability, and ultimate parallels with the rest of the world. It is worth mentioning here that the first edition received some criticism for failing to note differences in resource availability with continental landmasses (which have a larger degree of alternative resources, and further discoveries of eg minerals), and these issues have been incorporated in this revised edition. Comparisons are also made with two other pacific islands, although in somewhat limited detail, Mangaia and Tikopia, which experienced similar ecological and cultural crises, but apparently managed to 'see them through'. There are also a number of black and white and colour plates, and quite a few diagrams which provide good support to the discussions.

An excellent overview of a thoroughly fascinating, and always surprising place.

This is likely the most comprehensive and authoritative work available on the mysteries of Easter Island, concerning its unique culture and its famous statues. The writing here is rather dry, with only occasional glimmers of personality, though the knowledge presented is robust and is usually entirely readable for the interested layperson. The book gets off to a pretty slow start as Flenley and Bahn unnecessarily debunk the discredited theories of Thor Heyerdahl, while they seem to have a colonialist-style disdain for the memories of the present Easter Islanders. The book eventually improves, presenting a general history of the island and an overview of its isolated brand of Polynesian culture. Utilizing archeology, linguistics, botany, anthropology and other disciplines, we learn here that the Easter Island culture evolved out of a likely total isolation from their Polynesian kin (it's one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth), adapted to specific environmental challenges, and developed a highly unique society focused on building giant statues and monuments. But at some point the closed cultural and environmental system collapsed, probably with deforestation and soil erosion as the root causes, and the rich island culture broke down into mayhem and anarchy. This is a chilling lesson for humankind, though Flenley and Bahn wrap up the book with a pretty weak and predictable environmental message for the world. [~doomsdayer520~]

I bought a Tahiti guide book because I am going on my honeymoon and looking to read up on the islands that I will be visiting on that trip. This book did have some valuable information for me like good hiking trips and sights to see, tours and things of that nature, but the author's taste seems to be different from what mine would be when going on a honeymoon getaway. He never did claim it to be a honeymoon book, but Tahiti is a common destination for honeymooners so you would think that the book would include some of that type of information. When I think of my honeymoon, I don't think of staying in places that are off the beaten path in a foreign country, or in homes of families that take you in and you can stay in instead of a regular hotel (dangerous? I wouldn't do it in my own country). That may be up someone else's alley and if it is yours than this may be the book for you. I would think he were mentioning these places to stay to cover all bases for all types of budgets, but he puts them as "author favorites" and makes them seem as if they are the best on the island and it just seems a little crazy. This author is someone that this type of vacation appeals to. He focuses an awful lot on artifacts and history and those types of things to see in Tahiti, which is fine but a little excessive. He speaks of "well-heeled Americans with money to spend" with a hint of resentment when talking about the nice luxury resorts that are available to stay in or the nice restaurants. You can tell he is almost annoyed by all the tourism that has popped up, especially in Bora Bora. I would say skip this book and get the Open Road Tahiti & French Polynesia Guide, it is way better.

I bought 4 books on the French polynesian islands and this was the best by far. I love his detail, his points of interest and his enthusiasm. After reading this book I couldn't wait to go there! This will be the one book I bring with me, it has everything. Where to stay, where to eat (like what native fruit to try), customs, phrases in polynesian and french, and much more.

I just returned from a trip to Tahiti and Moorea and used this book. So my feedback is specifically for those two islands. I must say the book was very spotty in terms of the quality of recommendations and its comprehensiveness. First, many of the locations that were recommended(restaurants/sights) were hit or miss. Second, I was so frustrated with the book that I went to restaurants that were unlisted and found them to be 100 times better that the author's recommendations. Which raised serious questions, "why weren't these restaurants listed in the book?" Moorea has a very limited number of restaurants and thus no restaurant should be excluded (Note: The restaurant was not new and the owner said it had been around for many years - just in case you were wondering).

In addition, the book is not well organized when you're trying to look for things.

I suggest you find another book if you're headed to French Polynesia.

The excellent and detailed information helped me plan our stay on the Tahitian islands thoroughly. Especially the comments on the accomodation offerings were very valuable.

I picked up her book on bicycling in Spain at the library and liked it so much I bought Fried Eggs and Chopsticks and eagarly awaited the release of Kiwis Might Fly. Her books are written for the arm-chair traveler to laugh over but not emulate. Her personal experiences plus brief forays into history make a very enjoyable read.

I was given this book from a friend as a vague taster of NZ before I headed down there for a year and they seriously recommended reading it. I didnt know much about New Zealand and didnt really feel like I needed to know much about its history or landscape. But as I started reading this book I was suddenly fuelled with intregue and curiosity about the beauty of NZ and how it came to be. Based on a personal perspective of Polly Evans who decided one day that she's bored of Rainy England and feels it a good idea to ride around NZ on a 600cc on a mission to find out if the modern Kiwi bloke really is on the verge of extinction, this extremely funny book boasts educational references, drama, personal reflection and a fairly decent overview of NZ as a whole. Despite the strange theme, the book delves into personal experiences of many of the sights and attractions around NZ, clear and detailed references to the history different places and events, lots of good clean British humour and an engrosing writing style of adventure. I really enjoyed this book and found it to be inspiring and and exteremly interesting. Plus there arent many books that make me laugh out loud, and this one did, a lot! I've also used this book as a good reference to many trips out so far, handy!

This book is less about The Kiwi Man (its ostensible theme) than it is about Polly Evans and her newfound love of motorcycling. If you want a sometimes entertining overview of things to do and see in New Zealand, this isn't a bad choice, but a cursory overview is all it is. I read it in an afternoon. Deep, it's not: some of the background info sounds as if she pulled it off of a tourist brochure. And it could use a good editor (why, or why, does she get paid to write books when she doesn't know the difference between further and farther?) I got none of that Bill Bryson I-love-these guys feeling for the people of New Zealand, nor did I get that (often entertaining) sense of grumpy irritation that so many travel writers affect (though she sometmes seems to attempt it, it just comes off as mean and off-point, as with the minister's wife and the potato peeler...very odd). Come to think of it, I learned very little about New Zealand at all, other than it's very pretty, has a wide range of weather and topography, offers some nice roads for motorcycling, and is filled with mostly nice people who are happy to help tourists. I knew all of this. Oh, I did learn that it's frighteningly easy for a novice to rent an oversized motorcycle there.

Ms. Evans has to reach way too hard to incorporate her "theme" through most of the book (her attempt to tie it all together in the last pages is laughable). She occasionally tries out an overly arch tone that is intensely irritating -- I found myself skimming those parts -- and she sometimes falls into the "and then I went here and turned around and went there" style of a boring blog. Perhaps this would have been better if she'd been honest about her real subjects -- her motorcycle and herself. Presumably, the meaningless title for this book was chosen by the publishing house, as it has nothing to do with the text. Maybe there are too many chick-motorcycle-travel books for yet another, but a more honest tile for this book would have been something like _Kawasaki Kiwi: How I Got My Groove On and Learned to Fly_. After all, what really happened is that this gal had an affair with a bike. It just happened to have happened in New Zealand. The search for The Kiwi Man had sod all to do with it.

It's difficult to write travel books with a "twist" but Polly Evans has a pretty good try here in a book that has two on the go at the same time. First, a lady with no previous motorbiking experience passes her test in the UK and, only a couple of weeks later, hires a 500cc road bike to circumnavigate the whole of New Zealand. Brave or stupid, her gradual mastery of this "monster" provides an engaging backdrop to the journey and results in a series of hilarious problems. Second, she sets out not only to see the country but to discover whether the traditional Kiwi male - the pioneer who could mend a clapped out tractor with a rubber band - still exists. A quest which allows her to include some fascinating facts about New Zealand's development, takes her to places that most tourists miss, and gives her the opportunity to ruminate on the issues facing a traditionally male dominated society in the process of change.

All good stuff but the problem is that, as with many "I'm off to see the country in a few weeks" travel books, she can only scratch the surface of the place. For example, in Christchurch she takes an immediate dislike to its "faux" Englishness, with its boatered punters and its school children in 1950's uniform, without having the time or inclination to get behind why these things exist. As a result, her conclusion that the city is in some form of ridiculously nostalgic time warp completely misses the point that this need to replicate the safety & security of "home" was an integral part of the male "pioneering spirit" she is in fact seeking, and that Christchurch with its strong links to rural farming communities still embodies, more than any other of New Zealand's major cities, this particular aspect of its history and life.

Truth is that it's virtually impossible to draw objective conclusions about a country or its people without immersing yourself in it and, with only a couple of days in each place, what she in fact ends up with is a series of intriguing snapshots rather than any real answers to the question she sets herself. But, no matter, because, in the end, it's an enjoyable ramble which, on the way, provides an excellent "primer" into New Zealand's history, captures a great deal of what a tourist can expect to see when there, and includes some wonderfully entertaining incidents as you follow her round its beautiful landscapes on her huge machine.

I thought this was a good, thorough book that contained all the info you might need to know if you're considering moving to New Zealand.

I found thins book to be not at all helpfull to me in moving to New Zealand. In fact I found it to be very out of date and the back section that talks about the Kiwi people and their way of life seemed depressing to me. I found the book to be constantly stereo typeing Kiwis. Sheep, beer, rugby etc. I think that the information in this book was true 10 years ago but a lot has changed in New Zealand in that time, especially in the cities. The information in this book is all available on the internet and it is constantly updated there.

I bought this book about a year ago, just as I was beginning to think of a move to New Zealand. Well, here we are, one year later... and I'll be there in four weeks time!

This book helped me so much that I simply had to write a review of it before leaving. There are only about twenty books on my list to take with me to NZ, and this is one of them. I can't recomend it highly enough.

I've been to NZ a handfull of time now. I find this book to be right on the mark. It captures just about everything you need to know about living and working in NZ, and many thing you don't need to know... but are entertaining in their own right.

Mr. Hempshell touches on everything that a prospective migrant would want to know, with a great deal of humor as well (I love the little cartoons). I also bought books which were supposed to be about immigrating to NZ. Steer clear of these books. They tell you nothing that you can't find out for yourself on the NZ immigration web site.

If you are thinking of moving to NZ this is the book for you. Of all the books about NZ I've bought this year, this is the only one I still refer to. You'll not go wrong, trust me.

I read this book before i went on a vacation to New Zealand last year. It was fairly informative. If you have absolutely no knowledge of the country, this book will be very helpful. However books such as this one are not extremely useful, even if they were updated each year. (which this book isn't) The section about Television in New Zealand was outdated. This book makes it seem that even the best satellite service will not compare to even cable in the US. In other words, their television offerings are scarce. However, I found that to be untrue. Sky TV offers many channels and has good variety. This is just an example of how this book cannot possibly keep you informed about a rapidly changing country like New Zealand. The point is, if you really want the scoop on living in New Zealand, ask your friends who've visited for information. An even better way is to search on the internet. Go to a chatroom that has New Zealand inhabitants and ask them. They are very friendly.

A children's story. This is set on the beach of the Coorong in South Australia, for the main part, as a boy who lives in that setting interacts with the people, the environment, and comes across a pelican.

The boy forms a bond with the bird in a touching story.

This was an entertaining good children's story to learn a little bit about Australian life

This book is touching and beautifully written. It is appealing to older children and grownups.

This book is about a boy who becomes a friend with a pelican. I suggest this book to chidren over 10 years old.

As a globe-trotting Kiwi who unfortunately left their copy behind when changing continents and came on here to replace it, I can only recommend the book. I loved it and only disagreed with one minor point. Other than that, it was spot on. It pokes fun at our national foibles while highlighting some of our national strengths in a balanced and clear way. The first time I read it I alternated wry grins with sheepish smiles and outright laughs.
Good stuff.

Jo, you truly are the definition of a xenophobe. Assuming you have actually been to New Zealand, you must really have some issues if you came away with an attitude like that. Wherever you are from, at least the majority of all kiwis are broad-minded enough to realise that despite your apparent lack of intelligence and ability to make sweeping generalisations, these are probably not traits apparent in everyone from your country. Get a life.

I have enjoyed the Xenophobe's Guides to three of the peoples that I've lived among (Danes, Swedes and English), and have felt them to be insightful and humorous. Consequently I was very disappointed by the Xenophobe's Guide to the Kiwis. It was neither insightful nor humorous. I felt that the light-hearted teasing applied in the other books was largely replaced by an air of base critical negativity. It concentrated on some very odd, and utterly redundant things that I feel the XG is hardly the forum for. The Kiwi author has taken the very real Kiwi trait of self-bashing to an unfortunate extreme in the completely wrong publication.

Jo Chambers is a bitter and twisted individual, who is in great need of a holiday. Jo ¡°sweetie¡±, I suggest a wonderfully relaxing holiday in beautiful New Zealand.

I bought this book expecting it to be quite useful on our recent trip. We've just returned from 4 weeks driving throughout New Zealand, and this book was worthless. I guess it might be worth buying if you're only going to be in New Zealand for a short week and don't expect to wander far from your hotel, but if you're spending any time there -- or if you're looking for a guide that will help you explore what New Zealand really has to offer -- don't waste your money buying this guide. The places shown as "must see" are very limited, with glaring omissions, and there are a lot of better (and much less expensive) hotels and restaurants than listed. Some of the information is just plain inaccurate, and even some of the maps have errors in them. We wound up trading this guide for a dog-eared Tony Hillerman novel in one of the places we stayed, and we got the better part of the deal. If you're looking for a good guide that will give you accurate information and lots of things to choose from, it's better to spend a little more and buy Frommer's or Fodor's. If you're looking for a good map, I highly recommend the AA New Zealand Road Atlas (paperback) -- it was our bible when it came to finding our way around the country.

Whether or not I agree with its top ten list, I cross-checked it over and over in planning my upcoming trip. Compact, well-written and informative -- it may be the only guide I put in my suitcase.

This guide's major advantage is its size. The guide highlights all of the major New Zealand attractions with a terse, yet comprehensive, style. It may not have all of the information you need in New Zealand, but it will certainly help!

I am inclined to agree with reviewer Jaffe and the Editorial Reviews. As a native Kiwi I know Auckland and Fiordland well having hiked extensively in both areas.
The Auckland sections covers the well known outdoor main attractions of the region well: the islands of the Hauraki Gulf and the extensive network of regional parks, many of which are coastal and have fantastic views from the walks in them.
Fiordland is the "honey pot" for accessible wilderness hiking in New Zealand. The description of the History, National Parks, short day walks and longer multi-day treks on well formed tracks is quite good. The maps are a bit scant, but you will buy better maps when you arrive in an area. And NZ does publish a wide selection of very good maps of all our park network. For a day-by-day detailed guide to the walks you are better to buy the Lonely Planet "Tramping in New Zealand" (even us locals use it). The book index is not so good, even the Routeburn "Great walk" (the finest 3 day walk in NZ in my opinion) is not listed but you can find it on page 457 with a 1/2 page description of it. After 5 years the book is not really dated. The one new development in NZ is private walking tracks and I can recommend the Banks Peninsula Track just out of Christchurch (page 388 of the book).
So as a one volume "outdoor type" guide to NZ the book is worth buying and fills a niche not quite met by Rough Guide or Lonely Planet.
So come and visit us.

Adventuring in New Zealand turns out to be a fairly pedestrian travel guide, with little to recommend it. While claiming to be an "adventuring guide", there's little more about hiking, parks, fishing, climbing, etc. than any of the standard guidebooks. Design, illustrations, and indexing are second rate. Give this one a miss.

My partner and I found "Adventuring..." the single most useful guide for our visit to New Zealand in January 2003. I disagree with the prior negative customer review and wonder if M. Goldstein actually used this book for travel to New Zealand or was merely an armchair traveler seeking amusement.

It's true this isn't the kind of general guidebook so ably done by Lonely Planet and others. Jefferies doesn't refer the reader to specific restaurants or lodgings. What she does superbly is to introduce each region of the country with a detailed essay on its flora, fauna, terrain and history.

Her knowledge of New Zealand's parklands runs much deeper than a conventional guidebook. While not neglecting famous tourist attractions, she takes you far off the beaten path to smaller forest preserves that harbor natural treasures. The book is not a detailed trail guide, but it points you to the access points for the back country with useful general descriptions of many hikes.

Jefferies doesn't glamorize. Her descriptions of the deforestation and other environmental abuses that New Zealand has suffered might unsettle a conventional sightseer. For the environmental traveler with a serious interest in the natural history of the islands, it's just right.