The release of the latest New Zealand editions of 'Lonely Planet' and 'Rough Guides' give a feel for just how good they are likely to be when it comes to places we don't know.
The New Zealand guide is important to Lonely Planet. It is second in popularity only to their Australian guide. The Economist magazine recently rated it as one of the 10 best-selling travel books of the past year. So it's hardly a surprise that a lot of effort has been put
into this latest version.
Like all the new editions it has a lot more scene-setting material for the first-time visitor, including maps, a selection of beautifully photographed highlights, a range of possible itineraries and useful basic information. It's a good idea and seems to work well.
Then there are essays on our history, by historian James Belich; our culture, by media commentator Russell Brown; and the remarkable development of New Zealand cuisine, by food writer Julie Biuso.
There's even an extraordinary article by Green MP Nandor Tanczos telling the world how ungreen New Zealand really is and advising travellers to do their bit by constantly asking for directions to the nearest recycling centre, expressing surprise at the amount of water used and demanding organic food at every restaurant. Sounds like the recipe for a very entertaining holiday!
Still, even if it's all a bit cloyingly politically correct for my taste, most of it is the sort of background I like to get about a country I'm visiting for the first time. So let's get down to the basic travel information.
The book starts where most visitors start, Auckland, which is helpful because I know about Auckland. I reckon there's pretty much everything you would like to know to get the best out of the city.
And there's not too much to disagree with in the suggested highlights: Auckland Museum, Ewelme Cottage (hmmm, maybe), Parnell, Maritime Museum, sailing on the Waitemata, a ferry trip to Devonport, Kelly Tarlton's, maybe a visit to Rangitoto, Waiheke or Tiritiri Matangi (definitely, I'd say), dinner at one of the Viaduct Harbour restaurants, canyoning in the Waitakeres and surfing on the West Coast.
There is good advice on transport, where to stay, where to eat and what to do. I was impressed.
But, of course, there is life outside Auckland, so I also asked long-time Christchurch resident Canon David Morell to provide a southern perspective.
His sharp eye picked up a few mistakes, such as a reference to the election of a new federal parliament - due, no doubt, to the fact that an Australian is the co-ordinating author of this guide - but overall he, too, enjoyed the book.
Indeed, David paid Lonely Planet the ultimate compliment of deciding to buy a copy after seeing what it had to offer.
Finally, I road-tested the guide by taking it on a trip to Fiordland. It was helpful on arrival in Queenstown by suggesting the Super Shuttle as a good way to get to our accommodation, but lost ground by failing to even mention the hotel we were staying in.
There was plenty of useful information about Queenstown - including good tips on where to eat - Milford Sound, Te Anau, Manapouri and Doubtful Sound, but to my disappointment there was nothing about the extraordinary history of places such as Dusky Sound and Preservation Inlet, which was where we were going.
Still, there's only so much you can fit into a single volume and this guide is certainly packed with information about everywhere from Stewart Island to Cape Reinga.
Overall, I thought the New Zealand guide was well-aimed, very accurate and extremely useful. It is definitely a good advertisement for the quality of Lonely Planet's 117 other country guides.
And, if you get a few visitors from abroad or travel round the country a bit yourself, the New Zealand guide would be a valuable acquisition.
*****
"Rough Guides are taking over from Lonely Planet as the tourist's best friend,'' says a quote from New Zealand teen magazine Jetmag on the cover of the latest Rough Guide to New Zealand.
Not, in my opinion, if the two companies' new guides to New Zealand are anything to go by. I had only just finished my review of Lonely Planet's New Zealand when the new Rough Guide turned up and made a comparison inevitable.
