Once you arrive you'll soon be weighed down with leaflets advertising just about everything in the country. Every town of any size will have an official visitor centre , signified by the green Visitor Information Network (VIN) logo. These are invariably well-stocked, staffed by helpful and knowledgeable personnel and sometimes offer some form of video or slide presentation on the area. Apart from dishing out local maps and leaflets, they'll book you into accommodation, get you on trips and activities, and book onward travel, all at no extra charge. In the more popular tourist areas, you'll also come across all manner of places presenting themselves as independent information centres , which always follow a hidden agenda, typically promoting a number of allied adventure companies. While these can be useful, it's worth remembering that their advice won't be impartial.

Other useful resources are the Department of Conservation (DOC) offices and field centres, usually sited close to wilderness areas and popular tramping tracks, and often serving as the local visitor centre as well. Again these are highly informative and well geared to trampers' needs, with local weather forecasts, intentions forms and maps.

Finally, drivers who are already members of motoring associations at home can generally make use of New Zealand's Automobile Association (AA), which provides many useful services to drivers and supports a nationwide network of offices , stocking excellent maps and providing information on accommodation.