Seventy five percent of New Zealand's surface consists of mountains and hills. New Zealand is situated on two techtonic plates, the Australian Indian plate and the Pacific Plate. In the North Island one plate is slipping under the other, this causes one major mountain range that stretches from the East Cape and extends south to Wellington. This process also causes the intense volcanic activity that the North Island is famous for. In the South Island the process is different as the two plates are smashing into each other, (the same process that created the Himilaya's) and this has given New Zealand its most spectacular natural feature the Southern Alps.
The Southern Alps, is 650-kilometre's long and rises abruptly along the west coast of the South Island and only reaches the east coast at Kaikoura. The highest peak in this chain is Mt Cook, which measures 3,684 meters (12,283 feet). Sir Edmund Hillary gained his mountaineering experience on Mt Cook, before becoming the first man to climb the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest. New Zealand also contains some deeply indented fiords along the south west coastline, and give the country some of its most spectacular scenery.
The North Island's highest peak is Mt Ruapehu which is 2,797 metres or 9,175 feet high. This mountain is a volcano, and erupted as recently as 1995 and 1996. Mt Ruapehu is also the location for the best skiing in the North Island. Most of New Zealand's ski fields are located in the South Island however.
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