North Island

A yachtie’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 provides the backdrop for many a tourist snapshot. With beautiful beaches, acclaimed wineries and upmarket eateries, Waiheke is Auckland’s most popular island escape.

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 with some recent regeneration projects, its star is in the ascendant. Auckland is also blessed with good beaches, flanked by wine regions, and it 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 world’s largest Pacific Islander population.

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 (similar to 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 conglomeration 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.

The first thing you’ll notice about Rotorua is the smell of sulphur, meaning this geothermal hot spot is a tad whiffy. But volcanic activity is what everyone comes to see, with gushing geysers, bubbling mud, steaming cracks in the ground, and boiling pools of mineral-rich water. Rotorua is definitely unique, a fact eagerly exploited by some commercially savvy 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 and Māori villages, or just along the roadside.

Turquoise waters lapping in pretty bays, dolphins frolicking at the bows of boats, pods of orcas gliding gracefully by – the chances are these are the kinds of images that drew you to New Zealand 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.

At the centre of the North Island, Tongariro National Park presents an alien landscape of alpine desert punctuated by three smoking and smouldering volcanoes. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing offers the perfect taste of what the park has to offer, skirting the bases 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.

Rugby union is NZ’s national game and governing preoccupation. If your timing’s good, you might catch the revered national team (and reigning back-to-back world champions), the All Blacks, in action. The 'ABs' are resident gods: drop any of their names into a 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.

One of the coolest little capitals in the world, windy Wellington lives up to the hype by keeping things hip, diverse and rootsy. It's long famed for a vibrant arts and music scene, fuelled by excellent espresso and more restaurants per head than New York…but a host of craft-beer bars have now 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 zest to the experience.

New Zealand’s indigenous Māori culture is both accessible and engaging: join in a haka (war dance), chow down at a traditional hāngi (Māori feast cooked in the ground), carve a pendant from bone or pounamu (jade), learn some Māori language, or check out an authentic cultural performance with songs, dancing, legends, arts and crafts. Big-city and regional museums around the North Island are crammed with Māori artefacts and historical items, but Rotorua is perhaps the easiest place for travellers to engage with the living culture.

Welcome to ‘The Big Taro’, where around 195,000 residents of Polynesian descent make Auckland the capital of the South Pacific. The influence of Pacific Islanders from Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue, Fiji, Tokelau and Tuvalu is evident throughout Auckland. On the sports field, the city’s professional teams showcase the best of Polynesian power, especially the NZ Warriors rugby league team. Immerse yourself in Pacific Island culture at the weekly Otara Market, or time your visit for March’s annual Pasifika Festival.

A beautiful finger of land that combines sweeping beaches, quirky and idiosyncratic coastal landscapes, and rugged bush-clad mountains, the Coromandel Peninsula is the perfect relaxing escape from the energy and verve of Auckland. The area’s hippie and alternative-lifestyle roots linger, with organic farms and various spiritual retreats. Well-marked, and sometimes challenging, trails criss-cross the peninsula’s mountainous spine. Other options for active adventure include sea kayaking around Cathedral Cove, followed by a DIY natural spa pool at nearby Hot Water Beach.

Geologically active NZ is known as the ‘Shaky Isles’ for good reason. In 1931 a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the North Island’s east coast, nearly flattening the cities of Napier and Hastings. Reconstruction embraced the architectural fashions of the day, and now the twin cities are a showcase of art deco and Spanish mission design. Unlike the famous deco skyscrapers of Chicago or New York, this is architecture on a human scale – mainly houses and low-rise commercial buildings. Visit during February’s art-deco weekend for the complete 1930s experience.

Wine has been crafted in the Hawke’s Bay region since 1851, with dozens of vineyards now joining famous longstanding local wineries such as Mission Estate and Church Road. The emphasis is on excellent Bordeaux-style reds and chardonnay, and many wineries also incorporate good vineyard restaurants. Farmers markets, craft breweries and other gourmet and artisan producers make it a magnet for foodie travellers, and smart lodge and B&B accommodation caters to them while taking advantage of gorgeous rural and coastal locations.

Get right off the beaten track in NZ’s easternmost region, a twisting and turning coastal procession of isolated bays and coves, many punctuated during summer with the crimson blooms of the pohutukawa tree. Nowhere else in NZ is everyday Māori culture and society quite so evident, with quiet villages and marae (Māori meeting places) tucked into sleepy bays. Several East Cape tour operations are run by members of the local Ngāti Porou iwi (tribe), providing the opportunity for authentic and heartfelt interaction with travellers.

After frantic jetboating or river rafting in other parts of the North Island, slow right down with a canoe or kayak trip down the history-rich Whanganui River in the gloriously isolated Whanganui National Park. Snaking 329km from its source on Mt Tongariro to the Tasman Sea, it’s the country’s longest navigable river, tracking carefully through brooding native bush scattered with the remains of historical villages and trading stops. If you’re more keen on a driving holiday, the spidery Whanganui River Rd is equally spectacular.