The New Zealand God Zone Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dunedin

Dunedin grew rapidly in the mid 1800s due to the Otago gold rush. It became the capital of the Otago region which, at the time, was all the land south of the Waitaki River. Dunedin's largest industry is tertiary education. Tertiary students make up roughly 20% of Dunedin's population.

Answer: Lake Hauroko

Lake Haukroko is one of New Zealand's southern-most lakes and has a depth of 462m.
It is in the Fiordland National Park, 25 km northwest of the small town of Tuatapere. It is drained by the Wairaurahiri River into Foveaux Strait, the body of water lying between the South Island's south coast and Stewart Island.

Answer: Clutha River

The Clutha River is 338km long and originates at Lake Wanaka, draining into the Pacific Ocean near the town Balclutha in South Otago. It is the river with the highest volume of water and the swiftest flowing in New Zealand. In 1878 it flooded and became New Zealand's greatest known flood, sweeping the Clydevale Bridge downstream where collided with the Balclutha Road Bridge, destroying it.

Answer: It was the longest bridge in New Zealand

The Rakaia River is a braided river with many channels covering a wide area. State Highway 1 crosses near the town Rakaia. The bridge is about 1.75km long, which when constructed in 1959, made it the longest bridge in the country. The South Island Main trunk line also crosses on a separate bridge a short distance up river.

Answer: Nugent Island

Nugent Island is one of the Kermadec Islands that lie north of the North Island. It is circular and approximately 100m in diameter. It is uninhabited but is an important site for nesting sea birds.

Answer: Dunedin

Dunedin was the largest city in land area until the formation of the Auckland supercity in November 2010. It covers an area of 3,314 square kilometres. It extends to Waikouaiti in the north, Middlemarch in the west and Henley in the southwest.

Answer: True

The eruption that caused the crater to form 26,500 years ago was the largest volcanic event in the last 70,000 years. A later eruption was one of the most violent eruptions in the last 5,000 years. It correlates to the sky being red over China and Rome. In this eruption, it devastated much of the North Island.

Answer: Taieri Plains

The Taieri Plains, southwest of Dunedin, are two metres below sea level in places. As a result, this area was prone to flooding and Dunedin Airport has closed in the past due to the runway being under water. Large stop banks (levees) have been built to try and prevent the river flooding the area.

Answer: 1642

Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania and when leaving, he traveled in an easterly direction and sighted the northwest coast of the South Island. While in the area known as Golden Bay, some of his crew were killed by Maori living in the area. It was known for some time as Murderers Bay then Massacre Bay, but was changed to a more pleasant sounding name.

Answer: 2003

New Zealand reached a population of four million in the 24th of April 2003. In 2015 it is approximately four and a half million. New Zealand reached its first million in 1908.

Answer: Lake Te Anau

Most of Lake Te Anau is within Fiordland National Park. It has three fiords branching off on its western side called North Arm, Middle Arm and South Arm. It is 344 square kilometers in area. Having a depth of 417m and an altitude of 210m means the lake bed is below sea level. It is the largest lake in Australasia by fresh water volume.

Answer: Chatham Island

Chatham Island, although smaller in land area than Stewart Island, has a higher population. It is right on the International Dateline. Cape Turnagain on the North Island's east coast is 650km from Chatham Island- the shortest distance between Chatham Island and mainland New Zealand.

Answer: White Island

White Island in the Bay of Plenty as been continuously active since Captain James Cook named it in 1769. It is currently uninhabited but in 1914 a mud slide (or lahar) destroyed a few small buildings killing all ten of the sulphur workers living on the island at the time.

Answer: Pacific and Indo-Australian

The Pacific and Indo-Australian plates meet under New Zealand, forming the Southern Alps in the South Island and volcanoes in the North Island. New Zealand is on the edge of what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. Many countries around the edge of the Pacific plate experience many earthquakes and have many volcanoes. New Zealand is no different.

Answer: Mt Tasman and Mt Dampier

Mt Tasman and Mt Dampier are right beside Mt Cook. Mt Tasman is 227 meters lower than Mt Cook and 57 meters higher than Mt Dampier. The South Island has the top 18 highest peaks in the country.

Answer: Inch Clutha

Inch Clutha is about 10km long and about 3km wide. Being flat and sitting in the delta of the Clutha river makes it very flood-prone. It is a very fertile area for farming due to its rich alluvial soil.

Answer: Rhyolitic

Rhyolitic volcanoes often erupt with explosive force, ejecting large amounts of rock, ash, gas and other debris causing the area around the eruption to collapse and form large calderas. There are several examples of this type of volcano round New Zealand.

The best known is Taupo which as been widely accepted as one of the biggest eruptions that have ever been, many times more powerful than Mt St Helens and Mt Vesuvius.

Answer: Tane Mahuta - a giant kauri tree

Waipoua forest is well known for its large kauri trees. Many of these trees are hundreds of years old. One very large kauri tree is named Tane Mahuta meaning 'Lord of the forest'. It is thought that its age is somewhere between 1,250 and 2,500 years old. There have been reports of a larger kauri tree elsewhere in New Zealand but it has no access by road.

Answer: Fiordland

Ten moose were introduced into the Fiordland area in 1910 in attempt to create a moose population there. The habitat was less than ideal and no moose have been sighted since 1952. However, hair samples, an antler and other proof of moose presence would suggest there are still some in the area.

Answer: Mt Egmont (Mt Taranaki)

A radial river pattern is most common where several rivers extend from a central point in an outward direction. Most commonly, these occur on mountains. Mt Egmont is a very good example of this phenomena.