Looking at New Zealand 35 million and 20 million years ago on that globe (search for one of our cities like Auckland or Christchurch) is really illuminating when compared to its current shape, most of the South Island is to the west of the North Island, as the plate boundary between the Indian and Pacific plate runs through the South Island, and the eastern side has been moving south-west for millennia to form the current shape of the land, and our Southern Alps.