Disappointingly for most of the world, were you to dig a tunnel through the centre of the globe, you’d only hit ocean. As 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, the odds of connecting with another bit of land are slim. New Zealand, however, overlaps with a large number of places.
Five countries and two continents, to be precise.
Within this area you’ll find a group of Antipodean “twin cities”, the opposite number on the globe.
Here are the polar pairings overlap as well as opposites.
Auckland and Andalusia
New Zealand’s City of Sails is one of the most international cities on the planet, with almost two fifths of the city having been born overseas according to the 2018 census.
However it shares a special connection with the Spanish city of Seville, located at polar opposites to Auckland. The capital of Andalusia is famous for citrus fruit and being the largest city of Moorish Spain. It has a metropolitan population of 1.5 million, almost exactly the same size as Tamaki Makaurau’s.
Auckland | 36.8509° S, 174.7645° E
Seville, Spain | 37.3891° N, 5.9845° W
Whangarei and Morocco
Across the Straits of Hercules, the Moroccan city of Tangier is the polar opposite of Whangarei in Northland.
The whitewashed buildings of the medina on the coast have a scenic outlook at the meeting of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. It was a favourite of artists from Matisse to the Moroccan New Wave It’s as far away as you can get from Northland, New Zealand but there are lot of similarities such as the coastal connections and popularity with Bohemian artists - including Northland transplant Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who designed stamps for the Moroccan post office.
Whangarei | 35.7275° S, 174.3166° E
Tangier, Morocco | 35.7595° N, 5.8340° W
Wairarapa and Madrid
The capital of Spain and New Zealand might appear to be polar opposites, both geographically and culturally. However there are a lot of shared interests with the old Imperial Capital and Miramar. It has the most cloudless days of any European capital and has a lot less wind than Wellington, though on “a good day” the weather might be comparable. It is over food that Wellingtonians and Madrileños can truly bond. Both cities share a fanatical coffee culture. Cafe con leche and a side of chocolate covered churros is a sweet staple you’ll find at any hour. Which is good, because dinner is rarely eaten before 9pm. Just as well Madrid’s restaurants have a reputation for being up all night. A Kiwi foodie’s ideal holiday.
Madrid is also home to the most successful football club of all time Real Madrid - a legacy Wellington Phoenix can only aspire to.
Of course Antipodean pairings is not an exact science. In truth Wellington is much closer to the satellites of Valladolid and Salamanca.
The metropolitan area of Madrid pops up slightly closer to Palmerston North, a city with far fewer similarities.
Wellington | 41.2924° S, 174.7787° E
Valladolid, Spain | 41.6523° N, 4.7245° W
Palmerston North | 40.3545° S, 175.6097° E
Madrid, Spain | 40.4168° N, 3.7038° W
Westport and Portugal
Aotearoa and Iberia’s west coasts are joined by a distance of 12,000km and a love for seafood. If you were to dig directly down from Westport you would pop up at Portugal’s Ponte da Barca. Literally meaning “Bridge of the Boat” the town in northern Portugal is a popular holiday destination for subtropical weather, fortified wine and peixe grelhado - small grilled fish.
One wonders what the Portuguese would make of whitebait.
Westport | 41.7546° S, 171.6060° E
Ponte da Barca, Portugal | 41.8056° N, 8.4158° W
Canterbury and Galicia
The northern Spanish region is famous as a mecca for walkers through its hilly coastal landscape, as the end of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. The most popular long-distance walking route in Europe ends at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
What is less known about el Camino is that it is almost exactly on the opposite side of the world to the central South Island of New Zealand. Christchurch is on the opposite side of the globe to the port town of Foz.
There are plenty of shared interests with their outdoorsy Antipodean twins in Canterbury
The rolling, green Galacian countryside leading to dramatic mountains in the Picos del Europa, might as well be the Southern Alps. This part of Spain is notable for preferring cider over Spanish wine.
Christchurch | 43.5320° S, 172.6306° E
Foz, Spain | 43.5695° N, 7.2580° W
Chathams’ unlikely French connection and New Zealand’s outliers
New Zealand’s unusually long footprint means that some of the farthest-flung islands overlap with a surprising number of countries.
The Chatham Islands, Aotearoa’s easternmost bastion and first place to see the sun, is on the opposite pole to Southern France and La Provence.
The Kermadec Islands, meanwhile, in the New Zealand’s northern reaches are antipodal to Algeria in North Africa.
Chatham Islands | 43.9271° S, 176.4592° W
Mende Occitane, France | 44.5176° N, 3.5019° E
Raul Island, Kermadec Islands | 29.2684° S, 177.9286° W
El Menia, Algeria | 30.5833° N, 2.8837° E
Antipodes Islands | 49.6884° S, 178.7681° E
Cherbourg, France | 49.6339° N, 1.6222° W
