Interactive data tools, live trackers and animated explainers for New Zealand. Every tool below is built from official sources or peer-reviewed data and updates on the cadence the data deserves. Pick a category — live monitors of NZ in motion right now, animated stories that play through, browseable interactive maps, periodic data dashboards, or personal-use tools and calculators.
These all update automatically. Open them and watch.
New Zealand Right Now
Our flagship live dashboard of NZ in motion. Every aircraft in NZ airspace, live state-highway closures and events, the national grid load, and the renewable share of whatever is flowing through the wires right now.
Live New Zealand Earthquake Map
Interactive map showing recent earthquakes across New Zealand. Filter by magnitude. See depth, location, and time for every quake.
Live Severe Weather Warnings
Current severe weather warnings, watches, and advisories for New Zealand. Updates hourly from MetService’s official alert feed.
NZ Tide Pulse
The whole country’s tide as one map. 27 ports rising and falling in real time, plus the strong tidal currents through Cook Strait, French Pass, the Kaipara and Manukau bars, and Foveaux Strait. Watch the tidal wave move around New Zealand.
NZ Grid Live
76 stations across NZ’s transmission network with live load colours, the HVDC inter-island link animated by direction and power, and live wholesale prices for every node. The whole grid breathing in front of you.
NZ Volcano Watch
Current alert level, recent earthquakes within 30km, and live weather for each of New Zealand’s 12 active volcanoes. Click any volcano for the full picture.
Auckland Moves — Trains & Ferries
Live position of every train and ferry in Auckland, animated across the city’s network. Click any vehicle for its route, line colour and scheduled-vs-actual time. Updated every thirty seconds from the Auckland Transport feed.
Auckland Airspace
Every aircraft in the skies above Auckland right now, plotted with altitude, speed, heading and origin/destination where broadcast. Inbound, outbound, transit. Updated every thirty seconds from the global ADS-B network.
NZ Bird Map
Every bird sighting uploaded to iNaturalist from NZ, plotted on a live map. Filter for iconic natives (tūī, kererū, kiwi, kākā). Click a pin for the photo, species and observer.
Snapper Fishing Conditions
Live snapper conditions for six Auckland, Coromandel and Northland spots, plus a Hauraki Gulf heatmap zoomed to 5 km cells with tide, SST, wind, light and moon factors. 7-day forecast, tap any area for the factor breakdown.
Press play, watch a self-contained piece unfold. Each runs about 90 seconds to two-and-a-half minutes.
The Cosmic Zoom
A continuous 130-second pull-back from your house out to the edge of the observable universe. 26 orders of magnitude — metres to billions of light-years — crossing Earth, the Solar System, our galaxy, the Local Group, and the cosmic web of large-scale structure.
Kuaka — the godwit migration
A 95-second animated globe of the bar-tailed godwit’s Alaska-to-NZ non-stop flight. Eleven thousand kilometres without rest, ridden on the trailing edge of typhoons. The longest non-stop flight of any bird, and one of the most extraordinary feats in nature.
How tides actually work
A six-act 130-second explainer that builds the correct mental model. The Moon’s two bulges. Earth rotating underneath them. Why the schoolbook prediction of half-metre tides is wrong everywhere. Amphidromic systems. NZ caught between two of them. And what happens inside a single harbour mouth.
Earthquake Propagation
Watch P-waves and S-waves spread across NZ from major historical earthquakes — Kaikōura 2016, Christchurch 2011, Darfield 2010 — plus a 24-hour aftershock replay. See exactly how the ground shook, when, and where.
NZ Lightning — storm replay
Replay three of NZ’s biggest recorded lightning storms — Coromandel 2018, Canterbury 2017, Northland 2022. Strike positions are stylised because the live commercial feed is paid; the architecture is ready to switch to live data the day a free feed appears.
Curated map explorers. Toggle layers, click a marker for the full story.
NZ Conservation Areas Explorer
Five toggleable layers on one map — national parks, marine reserves, predator-free sanctuaries, dark sky reserves, and Ramsar wetlands. 90+ sites in total. Toggle layers to filter to whatever you care about; below-map sections explain every site in full.
NZ National Parks Explorer
All 13 of New Zealand’s national parks, plus Te Urewera. Click any park for highlights, difficulty rating, best season, and a focused boundary map. Chronological timeline below tracking 135 years of park creation, from Tongariro in 1887 through Rakiura in 2002.
NZ Marine Reserves Explorer
All 43 of New Zealand’s gazetted marine reserves on one map plus the sites proposed under Sea Change. Click any reserve for boundary detail, area, history, and where measured, an animated biomass-ratio gauge from peer-reviewed studies.
NZ Great Walks Explorer
All 11 Great Walks on one map — routes, crowding badges (jam-packed Routeburn through genuinely-empty Heaphy), booking realities, and family-friendliness. Three-era timeline below covers the 1993 launch through community-managed Hump Ridge in 2024.
NZ Hot Springs & Pools Explorer
25 NZ hot pools and thermal sites — from commercial complexes (Hanmer, Polynesian Spa, Tekapo) through wilderness tramps (Welcome Flat) to free DIY beach pools (Hot Water Beach). Filter by category. Each lists temperature, current pricing and the heritage story.
NZ Ski Fields Explorer
All 26 NZ ski fields on one map — commercial resorts, club fields, the southern hemisphere’s only indoor slope (Snowplanet), reduced operations under climate pressure (Manganui), and the closed (Snow Park). Click any for lifts, season length, family-friendliness and the era it was built in. Four-era chronological timeline below.
NZ Lighthouses Explorer
22 of NZ’s lighthouses, operating and heritage. Pencarrow (1859, NZ’s first, with the country’s first woman keeper Mary Bennett) through to Cape Reinga (1941). Tower height, focal height, accessibility and the founding story. Chronological timeline below.
NZ Wine Regions & Wineries
12 wine regions plus 57 standout wineries — from Mission Estate (NZ’s oldest, 1851) and the original Marlborough Sauv plantings (1973) to Stonyridge, Felton Road and Ata Rangi. Region overviews cover climate, varieties and tourism character; per-winery cards include cellar-door notes.
NZ Golf Courses Explorer
254 golf courses across NZ — the 19 world-rated and destination championship courses (Tara Iti, Te Arai, Cape Kidnappers, Jacks Point and others) shown with gold-star markers and visually distinguished from the curated regional and member clubs. Designer, founding year, public-access status and signature features for every course.
NZ Heritage Pā Sites Explorer
16 publicly accessible heritage pā sites with iwi-approved interpretation — from Auckland’s volcanic cones (Maungawhau, Maungakiekie) through NZ Wars battle sites (Ruapekapeka, Gate Pā) to early Polynesian settlement archaeology at Wairau Bar. Includes respectful-visiting guidance.
NZ Treaty Settlements Explorer
33 of the most significant Treaty of Waitangi settlements mapped — from foundational Waikato-Tainui (1995) and Ngāi Tahu (1998) through legal-personhood breakthroughs (Te Urewera, Whanganui River, Mt Taranaki) to in-progress (Ngāpuhi, Hauraki collective). Financial quantum, cultural redress and historical grievance for each.
NZ Military, Intelligence & Defence Sites
21 military, intelligence and defence sites mapped across NZ — the active NZDF bases (Devonport, Linton, Burnham, Whenuapai, Ohakea, Waiouru), the Five Eyes signals-intelligence stations (Waihopai radomes, Tangimoana), the US Air Force’s Operation Deep Freeze Antarctic logistics hub at Christchurch, and the heritage coastal forts and decommissioned bases. Toggle layers by service or category. Public-information sources only.
How Aotearoa Connects
Every submarine cable, fibre footprint, and cell tower that keeps New Zealand online — mapped from the Radio Frequency Register, the Commerce Commission’s Specified Fibre Areas, and PeeringDB. Scroll-driven chapters fly between layers; toggle population density to see why the towers cluster where they do.
New Zealand’s vanishing forest
A thousand years of forest cover, region by region — from the 85% native blanket of 1000 AD, through the Polynesian fire era that turned the eastern South Island to grassland, to the European bush-burn era that cleared the North Island lowlands, to today’s stable 24.5%. Scroll-driven choropleth with era captions; longform piece on the tradeoffs of where the balance sits now.
How New Zealand stopped killing itself on the roads
Annual road deaths from the 1921 baseline through the 1973 peak of 843 to today’s ~290. Layered with the vehicle fleet, key safety reforms (compulsory seatbelts, BAC limits, GDL, breath testing), and a panel of modern breakdowns by age, region and alcohol involvement.
Why New Zealand has 47 million fewer sheep than it used to
Annual livestock by species from 1971 to 2024 — sheep, dairy cattle, beef cattle, deer, goats and pigs. The 1982 peak of 70.3 million sheep, the 1984 subsidy abolition, the cashmere goat bubble of the late 1980s, the dairy conversion through the 1990s, the 2000 deer peak, the 2014 dairy peak. Five sheep per person now, down from 22.
How big is New Zealand’s public service, and how big has it ever been
Public service headcount from 1913 to 2025, plotted against the country’s population. The First Labour government build-up, the 1986 pre-reform peak of 72,151, the State Sector Act halving, the 2000 trough of 30,004, the 2017–2024 Ardern expansion, and the 2025 contraction under the coalition. Department breakouts for the modern era.
When New Zealanders have children, and how that has changed
Age-specific fertility rates 1962 to 2025. The 1962 baby-boom peak with 20-24 dominating, the post-pill collapse, the rise of motherhood in the 30s, and the 2024 record low total fertility rate of 1.56. Animated bars show how the peak childbearing age band crept from the early twenties to the early thirties.
What New Zealand is taking, and what we are taking more of
National wastewater drug consumption 2018 to 2025 — methamphetamine, MDMA and cocaine, measured in milligrams per day per 1,000 people. The 2024 methamphetamine surge, the parabolic rise of cocaine through 2024 and 2025, and how MDMA quietly stayed flat. Context on cannabis and prevalence from the NZ Health Survey.
STI rates by health district
Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, infectious syphilis and genital warts mapped to New Zealand’s 20 health districts for 2024. Rates per 100,000 people, with national age distribution and 2020-2024 trends. Sourced from the PHF Science Supplementary Annual Surveillance Report.
Updated on the cadence the underlying data deserves — daily, weekly, monthly, after each official release.
New Zealand’s Fuel Situation
What you’re paying at the pump, how every cent of a litre is split between fuel cost, tax and margin, NZ’s 90-day strategic reserves, and the tankers currently tracking to our seven fuel ports. Plus the full story of why Aotearoa imports every drop.
NZ Economy Now
Live NZ dollar exchange rates and live wholesale electricity prices, plus a pulse of the OCR, inflation, wages, rent, fuel, and a take-home pay calculator with 2026 tax brackets.
New Zealand Electricity Dashboard
Daily generation mix by fuel type, 24-month renewable share trend, and 30-day wholesale price tracker comparing Auckland and the South Island.
New Zealand Fuel Prices
Weekly national average pump prices for regular petrol, premium 95, and diesel. Five-year trend chart plus a breakdown of what makes up each litre.
Official Cash Rate Tracker
Current Reserve Bank OCR, every change since 2020, and the next scheduled review. Step chart shows the full tightening and easing cycles.
Building Consents by Region
Interactive map of new dwelling consents across New Zealand’s 16 regions. Select any region to see its 24-month trend and year-on-year comparison.
The years it takes to buy a home
How many years of median household income it takes to buy a median-priced home across 18 New Zealand cities, from 2001 to today. Scroll through 25 years of the affordability story — the 2003-07 boom, the GFC pause, Auckland breaking away, the 2021 peak, and where things sit now.
SNA1 Snapper Allocation Explorer
Interactive charts of the SNA1 Total Allowable Catch, commercial vs recreational split, and the rebuilt stock biomass. Built for reference during MPI review cycles. Updates when new plenary data is published.
New Zealand Climate Change
How much has New Zealand warmed? Annual temperature anomaly since 1910, warmest and coldest years, and sea level rise at major stations.
Personal-use tools. Pick your location, your budget, or your situation and get a specific answer.
NZ Gardener’s Planting Calendar
What to sow, plant and harvest in your New Zealand garden this month. Pick your region and get instant advice — plus a reverse lookup for timing any specific plant, from tomatoes to pōhutukawa.
NZ Beach Dashboard
Is it a good day at the beach? Pick one of 55+ popular NZ swimming spots and get an overall swim score plus water temp, wave height, UV burn-time, wind and 3-day forecast.
New Zealand Stargazing Forecast
Which nights this week are best for stargazing from your location? Scores cloud cover, moon brightness, and active meteor showers. Shows tonight’s planets, ISS passes, and darkness window.
EV vs Petrol Savings Calculator
How much would you save switching from petrol to electric? Calculator uses current MBIE fuel prices. Adjust weekly kilometres, car efficiency, and home charging rate.
NZ Election Sidekick
Live countdown to the 2026 general election, plus the 2023 result, current Parliament makeup, coalition breakdown and election-year timeline. Flips to live results on the night.
Which Party Should You Vote For?
A 30-question quiz across the policies that actually divide New Zealand’s parliamentary parties — Labour, National, Green, ACT, Te Pāti Māori, NZ First and TOP. Five minutes, no sign-in, no data saved. Get a single party recommendation based on your answers.
Alpine Fault Earthquake Probability
Live tracker of the Alpine Fault rupture probability. Years since 1717, current probability by timeframe, and rupture history timeline.
Why these tools exist
Government agencies, research institutes and citizen-science projects in New Zealand publish a wealth of data — earthquakes, electricity, fuel prices, construction, interest rates, climate, weather, tides, marine life, transit, aviation. Most of it sits in spreadsheets, PDF reports, or arcane web interfaces that are hard to read and harder to compare over time. The tools on this page take that same data and present it the way it should be seen — as interactive visualisations that update automatically when new data is published, or as animated explainers that walk you through how something actually works.
Every tool here is built from open, publicly available data. No paywalls, no sign-ins, no artificial limits. Just the numbers, presented clearly, refreshed on the cadence they deserve. The earthquake map updates every 60 seconds because that is the pace of the underlying GeoNet feed. The electricity dashboard updates daily because that is the pace of the Electricity Authority’s nodal dispatch data. The fuel price tracker updates weekly because that is when MBIE publishes new numbers.
How they are built
Each dashboard pulls data directly from the relevant source. Scheduled jobs on the Newswire server fetch the latest figures, process them into a compact format, and update the page automatically. Readers never need to refresh or reload — when new data is available, it is already here.
Where data sources are available in real time, the tools use them live. Where data is published on a slower cadence, we show the latest complete day, week, month, or year, clearly labelled. The dashboards never claim to be more current than the data supports.
More to come
This page is designed to grow. New tools will appear here as they are built. If there is a specific dataset you would like to see turned into a dashboard, we would be glad to hear about it. The criteria are simple: the data must be publicly available from a reliable source, and the tool must actually be useful to people who live in or care about New Zealand.
Why this matters
Independent local journalism in New Zealand is under pressure. Subscription paywalls are becoming more common, advertising revenue is declining, and smaller publications have closed their doors. Part of the Newswire approach is to make the data that underpins good journalism freely available to everyone, in a form that does not require a subscription, an account, or a university degree in statistics to interpret.
These tools are free to use, free to share, and free to link to. Feel free to embed them in articles, bookmark them for future reference, or send the link to anyone who needs it.