{"currencyCode":"USD","itemData":[],"shippingId":"0979923263::,1566955491::fJ%2F%2FJAkV6GJ8jVXmYS8W%2Bz4wBIqx6Fpr%2FVHAsymqj3ZGOs%2FmvOoLGECpbezfGOA1BIfAKLTBwpsMaIF0CgNCoHwaoWfRDQ2sprWA9In93XkrEXvFhPVigQ%3D%3D","sprites":{"addToWishlist":["wl_one","wl_two","wl_three"],"addToCart":["s_addToCart","s_addBothToCart","s_add3ToCart"],"preorder":["s_preorderThis","s_preorderBoth","s_preorderAll3"]},"shippingDetails":{"xy":"sellers"},"tags":["x","y","z"],"strings":{"showDetails":"Show details","addToWishlist":["Add to Wish List","Add both to Wish List","Add all three to Wish List"],"addToCart":["Add to Cart","Add both to Cart","Add all three to Cart"],"showDetailsDefault":"Show availability and shipping details","shippingError":"An error occurred, please try again","differentSellers":"These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers.","hideDetailsDefault":"Hide availability and shipping details","priceLabel":["Price:","Price for both:","Price for all three:"],"hideDetails":"Hide details","preorder":["Pre-order this item","Pre-order both items","Pre-order all three items"]}}
Looking for the Audiobook Edition? Tell us that you'd like this title to be produced as an audiobook, and we'll alert our colleagues at Audible.com. If you are the author or rights holder, let Audible help you produce the audiobook: Learn more at ACX.com.
August 1st 2014: NOTE TO TRAVELERS....The NZ Frenzys now on Amazon are in fact the newly-updated 2013 editions, even though the Amazon descriptions do not state this fact. I've had months of troubles trying to get Amazon to update my listings, but thus far the only progress I've been able to make is to get a "2nd Edition" tacked onto the South version title. Frustrating to say the least. Regardless, the copies here for sale are the NEW editions, so go ahead and order with confidence. Sorry if I've confused you a bit, but I'm sure you will love the 40+ entries I've added-in to both new editions. Happy travels 2014!!
Now...back to the previous author-bio.... I fell in love with New Zealand after only about two weeks in the country....but I didn't fall in love with Lonely Planet's version of New Zealand. I fell in love with the New Zealand I found by buying-up an expensive stack of locally-published regional outdoor guidebooks---books about local walks, hot springs, caves, beaches etc. I fell in love because little-heralded wonders pepper every corner of New Zealand. I discovered these spots on the pages of the small local guidebooks, not the pages of Lonely Planet, Frommers, Fodors, etc etc. I was hooked...but I was also mystified that there were so few people around at these off-the-beaten-track spots. All the travelers were clustered at the touristy spots all the mainstream guidebooks direct travelers to. One month into my first NZ trip (now I've spent 7 NZ summers, over 600 days), I decided I'd try to write the off-the-beaten-track guidebook to NZ that would cover each entire island and enable first-time visitors to "discover" the New Zealand that I myself discovered in all the locally-published books. My NZ Frenzy books are really a distillation of all the "local knowledge" available on both islands, "discovered" and earned by endless digging and asking around every corner of New Zealand. Of course I haven't walked and explored every inch of New Zealand--nobody has. But, my books explore far more bits of the NZ outdoors than any other books available anywhere. My motto is "Suss it out, Boil it down, and Sum it up". I attempt to do all this by using extensive photos, so you can quickly grasp what each particular location highlights--whether beach, waterfall, hot spring...whichever. If you want to see NZ's GREAT outdoors, NZ Frenzy will get you there better than any other NZ guidebook anywhere. Whether you want to simply sight-see or desire to delve deeper and explore farther off the beaten track, my books are like having a good friend with you in your car telling you the special secrets not to miss. Read the reviews...they don't lie. My books will help you plan a much better trip, then give you plenty of options once your feet are on-the-ground in NZ and your travel plans invariably change due to weather, whim, or whatever. You're gonna have a FABULOUS NZ trip...I'll guarantee it! Cheers, Scott
My college age daughter and I just spent 2 weeks in the south island, at the end of their winter season. I had already gotten her the North Island book and was amazed by everything in it. So I bought the South Island book and spent weeks pouring over every page, the website, the pic's etc. I then mapped out his most recommended places and we set out on our journey. We hit the West Coast, including Pancake Rocks, Motekeiki Beach Walk, Franz Joseph Glacier and the unreal teal waters of Hokitaki Gorge. Then over Haast Pass and into Wanaka and Queenstown. Then the Routburne Track, Milford, Curio Bay, Mt. Cook, Lake Tekapo, Kaikora and up to the Queen Charlotte Track before catching the Ferry back to Wellington. Only Scott tells you how important the tides are at Pancake and Motekeiki (awesome seastacks), how you can see rare penguins (for free) at Curio, how cool the windswept South Coast is, how rainy it will be on the West Coast and how to prepare for sandflies, what the best trails are at Mt. Cook (wow), how you have to get to the Falls Hut if you do the Routburne, where you can catch a great alpine spa, and where the best marine life viewing spots are on the East Coast. Every spot we hit was incredible and so very different, and many were out-of-the-way, and nearly all were free of charge. In an expensive place like NZ, that was a welcome relief. Buy the book, you'll more than make your money back avoiding a catered tour that you can do yourself, only better.... Where else on this planet can you see a rainforest, glaciers, lakes with icebergs, mile high granite walls at fiordland, alpine vistas, super green rolling farmland, giant seastacks, waves bashing the coast, seals, dolphins, exotic birds, even a whale visible from the coast.
2 Comments
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
My wife and I just finished a 3 week trip around the South Island of New Zealand with Scott Cook's book close at hand the entire time. While we also had Lonely Planet and a handful of NZ tourism brochures near by, it was NZ Frenzy that we found ourselves continuously referencing. The books detailed walks, detailed driving directions and accurate description of what to expect along the way helped us get the most out of our trip. As an example, the Lonely Planet put a two-line plug in for a Seal Colony near Kaikoura on the East Coast of the island. Their description was that you could see seals there and snap some good photos before moving on to Kaikoura for some big ticket wildlife tours. NZ Frenzy eclipsed Lonely Planet's two-line description with a 3 page entry, not only telling the best way to get to the colony, but also highlighting a little-known hike only a kilometer away that allowed you access to a favorite playground for the seal colony's baby seals. When my wife and I arrived at the colony, there were tourists galore and full-sized busses parked in the small space. We chose to immediately go to the trail head and found that the 'secret' hike had been outted by the NZ Tourism Department and there were swarms of tourists there also. Even then, we took Scott's advice to ignore the cute seals likely playing in a pool near the trail head (along with all the happy-snapping tourist hordes) and hike to the end of the trail (at easy 10 minutes). Within two minutes my wife and I were alone, and just a minute after that we were face to face with a second pool of flipping, barking, dancing seal pups - an NO tourists.Read more ›
1 Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
South Island (Slight Return)....Honestly, Scott Cook is the Jimi Hendrix of New Zealand travel. I mean he goes places and does things you would never think of and then inspires you to follow him and share in his joy of the place. If you already have his 1st book on the North Island, you know what I mean. However, this latest book kicks it up a notch and adds some really cool features. Each of the sites he visited has pictures, descriptions, and exact directions. Added to that is an 'Obscur-o-meter' that graphically describes just how far off the tourist track you could go if you wanted. Next he has posted the URL for online video of these sites-so you can see it before you go. Finally, there is his own Flickr/Blog site with tons of color pictures to dream on. The book ends off with some real solid advise on finding local wildlife. One of my favorite pages was about stargazing, NZ-style. He finds the Southern Cross for you but points out that constellations you know in the US sky are actually upside down and backwards in NZ. Surely a strange situation to contemplate over a nightly beer. Once again, as in Cook's 1st book, this is foremost about natural New Zealand- the countryside. Other books will tell you all you need about the cities of New Zealand, only Cook will tell you Motukiekie Beach is awesome but you better go at low tide.
Finally, the thing I like most about Cook's book is it's unleashed enthusiasm for NZ. If someplace is good (well 1st off, it's in his book) but next he accurately portrays the 'feel' of the place as he sees it. I really appreciate that kind of journalism. With some few exceptions, the literature of New Zealand and it's beautiful country is amazingly bland. NZ Frenzy is anything but that. It is exactly what it purports to be...the map to the 'hidden wonders' and will undoubtedly make your NZ trip something very wonderful.
1 Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
