Hard New Zealand places word search
From Cape Reinga to Invercargill by way of Palmerston North, Hokitika and Ōamaru: twenty-eight places in an eighteen by eighteen grid, backwards and diagonal included. A long road trip on paper.
- Auckland
- Blenheim
- Canterbury
- Cape Reinga
- Christchurch
- Coromandel
- Dunedin
- Gisborne
- Greymouth
- Hamilton
- Hokitika
- Invercargill
- Kaikōura
- Napier
- Nelson
- New Plymouth
- Northland
- Ōamaru
- Otago
- Palmerston North
- Queenstown
- Rotorua
- Taupō
- Tauranga
- Waikato
- Wellington
- Whanganui
- Whangārei
This is the same puzzle as on the printable sheet. Every word you find turns green and is crossed off the list.
Make your own versionPlaces in Aotearoa, extra hard
Name
| A | N | B | P | E | G | R | E | Y | M | O | U | T | H | O | E | G | I |
| O | R | U | L | A | S | L | R | O | A | U | C | K | L | A | N | D | A |
| N | A | R | O | E | L | R | E | W | T | N | A | P | I | E | R | K | N |
| W | G | A | E | G | N | M | S | D | I | Y | E | U | L | E | I | F | C |
| O | N | M | T | I | Y | H | E | I | N | O | P | U | A | T | M | N | H |
| T | I | A | I | I | N | V | E | R | C | A | R | G | I | L | L | O | R |
| S | E | O | U | P | N | O | N | I | S | D | M | K | T | A | I | R | I |
| N | R | M | N | H | K | A | A | W | M | T | O | O | I | F | W | T | S |
| E | E | L | A | T | W | W | G | E | P | H | O | E | R | Y | I | H | T |
| E | P | S | G | U | O | I | N | L | I | K | R | N | R | O | E | L | C |
| U | A | O | N | O | T | F | A | L | L | A | A | U | N | E | C | A | H |
| Q | C | G | A | M | A | M | R | I | G | T | B | I | L | O | E | N | U |
| M | N | A | H | Y | K | T | U | N | C | R | I | F | K | X | R | D | R |
| K | E | T | W | L | I | P | A | G | E | N | E | L | S | O | N | T | C |
| E | O | O | D | P | A | H | T | T | D | N | I | D | E | N | U | D | H |
| A | T | H | A | W | W | F | N | O | T | L | I | M | A | H | N | R | D |
| K | T | P | R | E | N | A | E | N | R | O | B | S | I | G | F | H | A |
| A | R | O | O | N | C | I | T | R | O | T | O | R | U | A | M | O | A |
Find these words
- Auckland
- Blenheim
- Canterbury
- Cape Reinga
- Christchurch
- Coromandel
- Dunedin
- Gisborne
- Greymouth
- Hamilton
- Hokitika
- Invercargill
- Kaikōura
- Napier
- Nelson
- New Plymouth
- Northland
- Ōamaru
- Otago
- Palmerston North
- Queenstown
- Rotorua
- Taupō
- Tauranga
- Waikato
- Wellington
- Whanganui
- Whangārei
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Places in Aotearoa, extra hard
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About this word search
Some of these places carry their history in their streets. Ōamaru is known for its white limestone buildings, Napier was rebuilt in Art Deco style after the 1931 earthquake, and Hokitika and Greymouth grew in the West Coast gold rush of the 1860s. New Plymouth sits beneath Taranaki, and Palmerston North lies on the Manawatū plains.
The grid is eighteen by eighteen and words run in all eight directions, backwards included. Palmerston North is the longest with fifteen letters, then Christchurch and Invercargill with twelve. Otago and Taupō have only five. North appears in Palmerston North and Northland, and Whanganui and Whangārei both start with WHANGA, so check the ending. Macrons drop out, so Ōamaru is OAMARU. Look for the Q in Queenstown, the Y in Greymouth and New Plymouth, and the K in Hokitika, Kaikōura and Waikato.
Play a quiz with the sheet: for every place found, name one thing it is known for, from the whales of Kaikōura to the wine of Blenheim. Places nobody can say anything about go on the list for the next holiday.
Ways to use this word search
In the classroom
Print it as a task for early finishers, or to open a lesson on this topic. With the QR code on the sheet, students check their own answers.
At home and on the go
Pack a few printed sheets for the car, the ferry or the bach. A pen is all you need, no screen required.
Play together
Print the sheet twice and race each other. Whoever finds all the words first wins. Or play it online and see who is fastest.
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