Web Week

People in different parts of the country have different size appetites for using the web.

Nielsen//NetRatings says people in the Wellington region make 40 per cent more use of New Zealand sites than their proportion of population. Perhaps that has something to do with the Wellington City Council's early enthusiasm for the internet, which has evolved into CityLink, a commercial broadband network provider (www.citylink.co.nz).

Aucklanders are also disproportionately big users of the New Zealand web, surfing running 23 per cent ahead of the region's population size. The Auckland City Council can't claim quite the same internet credentials as the capital, but its site (www.aucklandcity.govt.nz) attracts plenty of visitors. From July to September last year, it was ranked top local government site by Hitwise New Zealand.

Every region other than Wellington and Auckland spends less time online than its population implies it might. Why the West Coast is next most active online after Auckland might be related to the region's isolation - and famously wet weather. A preoccupation with rainfall can be detected on the West Coast Regional Council website, whose home page (www.wcrc.govt.nz) has a link to river level information.

At the other end of the weather spectrum - and the least interested region in browsing the web - is Gisborne. Its population is about a third as active at surfing the New Zealand web as Wellington's. With activities like diving with sharks on offer, Gisborne people are clearly too preoccupied by outdoor pursuits to bother with the virtual world. Destination Gisborne lists plenty of other activities on its website (www.destinationgisborne.co.nz).