General Information on New Zealand

BUSINESS HOURS

Banks are open 9:00am to 4:30pm - but this can vary slightly. Businesses, shops and offices are generally open Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm. Most shops are open Saturday morning and in popular visitor towns ( eg Rotorua, Queenstown ) they are open 7 days. Late night for shopping is either Thursday or Friday.

CREDIT CARDS

Automatic teller machines are widely available including EFTPOS or Electronic Funds Transfer - Point of Sale. You can buy goods with your card and a PIN number and/or obtain cash. Many Atm's will accept Cirrus cards.
All international credit cards are accepted in NZ including VISA, America Express, Mastercard and Bankcard. Diners cards are accepted in larger places only. Travellers cheques can be changed in banks, hotels and some stores.
There is no restriction on the amount of foreign currency which may be brought into or taken from New Zealand.

TRANSPORT

Petrol is about $0.90 per litre although a recent price war has seen prices in major areas drop, insurance on a small car is about $200 per year, registration is another $175 per year. There are lots of cheap Japanese used imports over here, so you can get a good car for as little as $4 000, and a cheap car for less than $1 000. Repairs can be the biggest cost - especially parts for late model cars and some Japanese imports, so getting something reliable is a good idea. The import tarrifs on all imported cars was removed in May 1998 so new cars have also dropped considerably in price.

CONSUMER GOODS

Most import duties have been abolished, and instead we have a flat 12.5% goods and services tax - GST. Beware of some advertised prices which exclude this. Most shops and restaurants quote prices including GST. This means that imported goods (electrical appliances, clothing etc.) are pretty reasonably priced.

WATER SUPPLY

Most New Zealand cities and towns have good public water. Water is safe to drink out of the tap. The water in Christchurch is totally untreated and is supposed to be the purist domestic water supply in the world. In Dunedin the Speights factory has opened up its natural spring and has an outside tap so the public can get water for free.

In bush walking areas giardia has been found in some North Island streams although it is not widely spread. Check your local Department of Conservation office for advice.

NEW ZEALAND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

	1998	1999
New Year's Day	Thursday, January 1	Friday, January 1
Day after New Year's Day	Friday, January 2	Monday, January 4
Waitangi Day	Friday, February 6	Saturday, February 6
Good Friday	Friday, April 10	Friday, April 2
Easter Monday	Monday, April 13	Monday, April 5
Anzac Day	Saturday, April 25	Sunday, April 25
Queens Birthday	Monday, June 1	Monday, June 7
Labour Day	Monday, October 26	Monday, October 25
Christmas Day	Friday, December 25	Saturday, December 25
Boxing Day	Monday, December 28	Sunday, December 26
Public Holidays		Mon/Tue, Dec 27&28

NEW ZEALAND - IMPORTANT DATES

	1998	1999
Valentine's Day	Saturday, February 14	Sunday, February 14
Daylight Savings Ends	Sunday, March 15	Sunday, March 21
Mother's Day	Sunday, May 10	Sunday, May 9
Father's Day	Sunday, September 6	Sunday, September 5
Daylight Savings Begins	Sunday, October 4	Sunday, October 3

EXCHANGE RATES - 29 August 1998

$NZ1 is worth

United States	49.06	Germany	0.88
Britain	30.06	Hong Kong	3.79
Australia	83.66	Singapore	85.76
Canada	75.03	Japan	69.85
Fiji	1.02	Malaysia	2.05
France	2.95	Netherlands	.99
Fr Polynesia	53.53	South Africa	3.09

TIPPING

Tipping is not expected in New Zealand, but is not unwelcome. Employed people don't depend on tips for their income and service charges are not [usually] added to hotel and restaurant bills. Tip for service if you think it is deserved, but don't be surprised by the response.

ELECTRICITY

The normal electricity supply is 230 volts 50 hertz alternating current (AC).

Most hotels will have shaver plugs suitable for all international appliances of low power rating, and which will supply 110 and 230 volts. These plugs may be for shavers only. If in doubt, ask.

TV INFO

NZ runs on PAL G on UHF. Standard 50 hertz field rate, 25 hertz frame rate. We also use NICAM for stereo tv, rather than one of the various analogue systems.

TELEPHONE

Telecom NZ is the major supplier of residential phone lines, Saturn being a new comer that offers local lines in the Wellington area. The Telecom white and yellow pages are available online at: http://www.whitepages.co.nz and http://www.yellowpages.co.nz. Clear Communications and Saturn competes with Telecom on toll call market, business lines and the Internet.

The cellular network is an analogue/digital hybrid system. Bell South NZ is the only supplier of GSM Digital cellphone within NZ.

Most NZ telephone systems can handle DTMF tone dialling. NZ pulse dialing is the reverse of most countries. Wall plugs are similar to British Telecom style. Uses BT 600 plug (not RJ-11) Connector pins area pins 2 and 5 of the BT 600 plug (RJ-11 is 3 & 4).

COMMUNICATIONS

COMMUNICATIONS

Telephone Country Code	64
National Directory	018
International Directory	0172
National Tolls	010
International Tolls	0170
Telex Access Code	791

MISCELLANEOUS CODES

Air Craft Registration PreFix	ZK
Yatch Registration PreFix	KZ
X.25 Country Code	05301
Ham Radio Prefix	ZL

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