New Zealand’s Top 20
Auckland Harbour & Hauraki Gulf
OLIVER STREWE/GETTY IMAGES ©
1 A yachty’s paradise, the island-studded Hauraki Gulf is Auckland’s aquatic playground, sheltering its harbour and east-coast bays and providing ample excuse for the City of Sails’ pleasure fleet to breeze into action. Despite the busy maritime traffic, the gulf has its own resident pods of whales and dolphins. Rangitoto Island is an icon of the city, its near-perfect volcanic cone providing the backdrop for many a tourist snapshot. Yet it’s Waiheke, with its beautiful beaches, acclaimed wineries and upmarket eateries, that is Auckland’s most popular island escape.
New Zealand’s Top 20
Urban Auckland
AMOS CHAPPLE/GETTY IMAGES ©
2 Held in the embrace of two harbours and built on the remnants of long-extinct volcanoes, Auckland isn’t your average metropolis. It’s regularly rated one of the world’s most liveable cities, and while it’s never going to challenge NYC or London in the excitement stakes, it’s blessed with good beaches, is flanked by wine regions and has a large enough population to support a thriving dining, drinking and live-music scene. Cultural festivals are celebrated with gusto in this ethnically diverse city, which has the distinction of having the world’s largest Pacific Islander population.
New Zealand’s Top 20
PETE SEAWARD/LONELY PLANET ©
3 Named the ‘coolest little capital in the world’ in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel, windy Wellington lives up to the mantle by keeping things fresh and dynamic. It’s long famed for a vibrant arts-and-music scene, fuelled by excellent espresso and more restaurants per head than New York, and now a host of craft-beer bars have elbowed in on the action. Edgy yet sociable, colourful yet often dressed in black, Wellington is big on the unexpected and unconventional. Erratic weather only adds to the excitement.
New Zealand’s Top 20
4 Turquoise waters lapping in pretty bays, dolphins frolicking at the bows of boats, pods of orcas gliding gracefully by: chances are these are the kinds of images that drew you to NZ in the first place, and these are exactly the kinds of experiences that the Bay of Islands delivers so well. Whether you’re a hardened sea dog or a confirmed landlubber, there are myriad options to tempt you out on the water to explore the 150-odd islands that dot this beautiful bay.
New Zealand’s Top 20
DAVID WALL/GETTY IMAGES ©
5 First settled by Maori with their keen nose for seafood, Kaikoura ( ; meaning ‘to eat crayfish’) is now NZ’s best spot for both consuming and communing with marine life. When it comes to ‘sea food and eat it’, crayfish is still king, but on fishing tours you can hook into other edible wonders of the unique Kaikoura deep. Whales are definitely off the menu, but you’re almost guaranteed a good gander at Moby’s mates on a whale-watching tour. There’s also the option of swimming with seals and dolphins, or spotting some of the many birds – including albatross – that soar around the shore.
New Zealand’s Top 20
DAVID WALL/GETTY IMAGES ©
6 Franz Josef (Click here) and Fox (Click here) Glaciers are remarkable for many reasons, including their rates of accumulation and descent, and their proximity to the loftiest peaks of the Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea around 10km away. Several short walks meander towards the glaciers’ fractured faces (close enough for you to feel insignificant!), or you can take a hike on the ice with Franz Josef Glacier Guides or Fox Glacier Guiding. The ultimate encounter is on a scenic flight, which often also provides grandstand views of Aoraki/Mt Cook, Westland forest and a seemingly endless ocean.
New Zealand’s Top 20
HOLGER LEUE/GETTY IMAGES ©
7 The first thing you’ll notice about Rotorua is the sulphur smell – this geothermal hot spot whiffs like old socks. But as the locals point out, volcanic by-products are what everyone is here to see: gushing geysers, bubbling mud, steaming cracks in the ground, boiling pools of mineral-rich water… Rotorua is unique: a fact exploited by some fairly commercial local businesses. But you don’t have to spend a fortune – there are plenty of affordable (and free) volcanic encounters to be had in parks, Maori villages or just along the roadside.
New Zealand’s Top 20
8 Waitomo is a must-see: an astonishing maze of subterranean caves, canyons and rivers perforating the northern King Country limestone. Black-water rafting is the big lure here (like white-water rafting but through a dark cave), plus glowworm grottoes, underground abseiling and more stalactites and stalagmites than you’ll ever see in one place again. Above ground, Waitomo township is a quaint collaboration of businesses: a craft brewery, a cafe, a holiday park and some decent B&Bs. But don’t linger in the sunlight – it’s party time downstairs!
New Zealand’s Top 20
GARETH MCCORMACK/GETTY IMAGES ©
9 At the centre of the North Island, Tongariro National Park presents an alien landscape of alpine desert punctuated by three smoking and smouldering volcanoes. This track offers the perfect taste of what the park has to offer, skirting the base of two of the mountains and providing views of craters, brightly coloured lakes and the vast Central Plateau stretching out beyond. It’s for these reasons that it’s often rated as one of the world’s best single-day wilderness walks.
New Zealand’s Top 20
Rugby
10 Rugby Union is NZ’s national game and governing preoccupation. If your timing’s good you might catch the revered national team (and reigning world champions), the All Blacks, in action. The ‘ABs’ are resident gods: mention Richie McCaw or Dan Carter in any conversation and you’ll win friends for life. Visit the New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North, watch some kids running around a suburban field on a Saturday morning, or yell along with the locals in a small-town pub as the big men collide on the big screen.
New Zealand’s Top 20
DAVID WALL PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES ©
11 Here’s nature at its most seductive: lush green hills fringed with golden sandy coves, slipping gently into warm shallows before meeting a crystal-clear cerulean sea. Abel Tasman National Park is the quintessential postcard paradise, where you can put yourself in the picture assuming an endless number of poses: tramping, kayaking, swimming or sunbathing. This sweet-as corner of NZ raises the bar and keeps it there.
New Zealand’s Top 20
TIM GRAHAM/GETTY IMAGES ©
12 NZ’s indigenous Maori culture is accessible and engaging: join in a haka (war dance); chow down at a traditional hangi (Maori feast cooked in the ground); carve a pendant from bone or pounamu (jade); learn some Maori language; or check out an authentic cultural performance with song, dance, legends, arts and crafts. Big-city and regional museums around NZ are crammed with Maori artefacts and historical items, but this is also a living culture: vibrant, potent and contemporary.
New Zealand’s Top 20
13 The Otago Peninsula is proof there’s more to the South Island’s outdoor thrills than heart-stopping alpine and lake scenery. Amid a backdrop of coastal vistas combining rugged, hidden beaches with an expansive South Pacific horizon, it’s very easy to come face to face with penguins, seals and sea lions. Beyond the rare yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho), other fascinating avian residents include the royal albatross. Otago Peninsula’s Taiaroa Head is the world’s only mainland royal albatross colony: visit in January or February for the best views of these magnificent ocean-spanning birds.
New Zealand’s Top 20
14 Beloved of NZ trampers, and now mountain bikers in winter, the four- to six-day Heaphy Track is the jewel of Kahurangi National Park, the great wilderness spanning the South Island’s northwest corner. Highlights include the mystical Gouland Downs and surreal nikau palm coast, while the townships at either end – at Golden Bay and Karamea – will bring you back down to earth with the most laid-back of landings.
New Zealand’s Top 20
ANDREW BAIN/GETTY IMAGES ©
15 Here’s your chance to balance virtue and vice, with some of NZ’s most starkly beautiful landscapes in the background. Take to two wheels to negotiate the easygoing Otago Central Rail Trail, cycling into heritage South Island towns such as Clyde and Naseby. Tuck into well-earned beers in laid-back country pubs, or linger for a classy lunch in the vineyard restaurants of Bannockburn. Other foodie diversions include Cromwell’s weekly farmers market and the summer stone-fruit harvest of the country’s best orchards.
New Zealand’s Top 20
WILL SALTER/GETTY IMAGES ©
16 New Zealand is studded with massive mountains, and you’re guaranteed of finding decent snow right through the winter season (June to October). Most of the famous slopes are on the South Island: hip Queenstown and hippie Wanaka, with iconic ski runs like Coronet Peak, the Remarkables and Treble Cone close at hand. There are also dedicated snowboarding and cross-country (Nordic) snow parks here. And on the North Island, Mt Ruapehu offers the chance to ski down a volcano.
New Zealand’s Top 20
17 Fingers crossed you’ll be lucky enough to see Milford Sound on a clear, sunny day. That’s definitely when the world-beating collage of waterfalls, verdant cliffs and peaks, and dark cobalt waters is at its best. More likely though is the classic Fiordland combination of mist and drizzle, with the iconic profile of Mitre Peak revealed slowly through shimmering sheets of precipitation. Either way, keep your eyes peeled for seals and dolphins, especially if you’re exploring NZ’s most famous fiord by kayak.
New Zealand’s Top 20
DAVID WALL/GETTY IMAGES ©
18 Queenstown may be renowned as the birthplace of bungy jumping, but there’s more to NZ’s adventure hub than leaping off a bridge attached to a giant rubber band. Against the scenic backdrop of the Remarkables mountain range, travellers can spend days skiing, hiking or mountain biking, before dining in cosmopolitan restaurants or partying in some of NZ’s best bars. Next-day options include hang gliding, kayaking or river rafting, or sleepier detours to Arrowtown or Glenorchy.
New Zealand’s Top 20
TranzAlpine Railway
19 One of the world’s most scenic train journeys, the TranzAlpine cuts clear across the country from the Pacific Ocean to the Tasman Sea in less than five hours. Yes, there’s a dirty great mountain range in the way – that’s where the scenic part comes in. Leaving the Canterbury Plains, a cavalcade of tunnels and viaducts takes you up through the Southern Alps to Arthur’s Pass, where the 8.5km Otira tunnel burrows right through the bedrock of NZ’s alpine spine. Then it’s all downhill (but only literally) to sleepy Greymouth.
New Zealand’s Top 20
DAVID WALL/GETTY IMAGES ©
20 Infused with Gallic ambience, French-themed Akaroa bends languidly around one of the prettiest harbours on Banks Peninsula. Sleek dolphins and plump penguins inhabit clear waters perfect for sailing and exploring. Elsewhere on the peninsula, the spidery Summit Rd prescribes the rim of an ancient volcano while winding roads descend to hidden bays and coves. Spend your days tramping and kayaking amid the improbable landscape and seascape, while relaxing at night in chic bistros or cosy B&B accommodation.