Get your bearings
New Zealand’s two beach-fringed islands lie 2,000km south-east of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean. The
North Island’s cone-shaped mountains and huge
Lake Taupo were sculpted by volcanic activity, and bubbling hot mud bursts from geysers at
Rotorua. Across Cook Strait from New Zealand’s windy capital
Wellington, the
South Island is spiked by the mighty
Southern Alps and glaciers are on the move on the west coast’s rugged
Fiordland. You’ll see magical glades of filigree-leaved tree ferns right across New Zealand, while forests of giant kauri trees reach for the sky in the North Island and ancient beech forests fill the South.
Outdoors activities
New Zealand’s adrenalin capital is
Queenstown, the home of heart-in-your-mouth activities like bungee jumping. In the North Island, dive shipwrecks near
Whangarei and surf the breaks off
Gisborne. America’s Cup yachts tie up in
Auckland harbour, and sea kayakers ride waves in the sun-filled
Bay of Plenty and translucent
Marlborough Sound. Vertical ski fields dot the South Island from
Mount Hutt to Queenstown’s
Remarkables and there’s family skiing at
Cardrona. Hiking is called tramping in New Zealand, and whether you tackle an urban stroll around the Art Deco city of
Napier or one of the country’s nine multi-day Great Walks, one of the best ways to see New Zealand is on foot.
Family fun
Launch into family holidays in New Zealand from
Auckland’s Sky Tower for the highest views in the Southern Hemisphere. Ride a paddle steamer across
Lake Rotorua and hold your nose when
Pohutu Geyser spits sulphuric steam into the air. Kids will enjoy spotting the elusive and flightless kiwi at the wildlife centre in
Mount Bruce, and get hands and minds into action with interactive displays at
Wellington’s national museum. Catch a ferry across Cook Strait to seek out
The Lord of the Rings landscapes at
Wanaka and
Queenstown.
Pacific Rim cuisine
New Zealand’s cuisine blends Pacific, Asian and European flavours, paired with celebrated sauvignon blanc and pinot noir wines from
Central Otago and
Marlborough. Chefs clamour for South Island venison and lamb from the
Canterbury Plains, and sought-after oysters from
Nelson and legendary green-lipped mussels from
Marlborough appear on menus across the country. In
Auckland, the restaurant capital, there’s special-occasion dining in sophisticated New Zealand hotels, while
Wellington sets the standard for coffee culture.
Multicultural New Zealand
Get the lowdown on war canoes, feather cloaks and other items of Maori culture at the
Auckland Museum. For a nose-to-nose greeting, head to the
Tamaki Maori Village at Rotorua on the North Island for Maori myths and songs. Hear Maori spoken at intricately carved
marae meeting houses on the
East Cape, and watch rugby teams start play with a tongue-poking
haka war chant. European and Maori art and history come together in Wellington at
Te Papa, New Zealand’s acclaimed national museum.
