Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari
Waikato & the Coromandel Peninsula
A community trust has erected 47km of pest-proof fencing around the triple peaks of Maungatautari (797m) to create the impressive Sanctuary Mountain…
Must-see attractions in North Island
Gisborne
High on a hill overlooking Gisborne, Titirangi was once a pā (fortified village). Reach it via Queens Dr, or on the steep track from the revamped Puhi Kai…
Taupo & the Ruapehu Region
For some peaceful moments away from the mountains, consider a walk to this bush-smothered lake, the centrepiece of the Lake Rotokura Ecological Reserve,…
Tauranga
Surrounded by mature trees and lovely gardens, Tauranga's original mission station incorporates the Bay of Plenty's earliest buildings, along with one of…
The Wairarapa
Standing like giant organ pipes, these 'hoodoos' were formed by rain washing silt and sand away, exposing the underlying bedrock. It's an eerie landscape,…
Puhi Kai Iti Cook Landing Site
Gisborne
At the foot of Titirangi Reserve is the spot where Captain Cook first landed in NZ in 1769, and where nine Māori were killed by Cook's crew. In 2019, a $5…
Waikato & the Coromandel Peninsula
Due to copyright, all the movie sets around NZ were dismantled after the filming of The Lord of the Rings, but Hobbiton’s owners negotiated to keep their…
Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Aquarium
Auckland
In this topsy-turvy aquarium sharks and stingrays swim over and around you in transparent tunnels that were once stormwater tanks. You can also enter the…
Taupo
Two kilometres off SH5, this gorge was a spectacular part of the Waikato River until a hydroelectric dam was plonked across the waterway, shutting off the…
Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre
The Wairarapa
About 30km north of Masterton, this 10-sq-km centre is one of NZ's most successful wildlife and captive breeding centres. The scenic two-hour Te Arapiki o…
The Far North
This civic and community centre features a cinema, a theatre, a tourist information centre, a gallery and the Te Ahu Heritage exhibits of the Far North…
Gisborne
An arboreal paradise, Eastwoodhill Arboretum is the largest collection of northern-hemisphere trees and shrubs in the southern hemisphere. It's…
Taupo
This geothermal area sprang to life when hydroelectric tinkering around the power station in 1958 caused water levels to fall. The pressure shifted,…
Rotorua
The natural springs here are home to wild trout and eels, which you can peer at through an underwater viewer, and plenty of animals, including tuatara (a…
Bay of Islands
Set in verdant farmland 18km (20 minutes) southwest of Kerikeri, this pretty little cottage holds several claims to fame. It's NZ's second-oldest house …
Bay of Islands
Built in 1842 to house the Catholic mission’s printing press, this rammed-earth building is the mission's last remaining building in the western Pacific,…
Waikato & the Coromandel Peninsula
Ruakuri Cave has an impressive 15m-high spiral staircase, bypassing a Māori burial site at the cave entrance. Tours lead through 1.6km of the 7.5km system…
Taupo & the Ruapehu Region
Northeast of Ruapehu, Mt Ngauruhoe (2287m) is the national park's youngest volcano and the most classically perfect in its conical shape. Its first…
Auckland
Parents bring their children to this picturesque park for the popular playground. It’s a pleasant picnic spot and a good place to get acquainted with…
Viaduct Harbour & Wynyard Quarter
This museum traces NZ’s seafaring history, from Māori voyaging canoes to the America’s Cup. Recreations include a tilting 19th-century steerage-class…
Bay of Islands
Just up the hill from Kerikeri Mission Station is a marked historical walk that leads to the site of Hongi Hika's pā (fortress) and village. Little…
Parnell & Newmarket
Covering about 80 hectares, this green swath contains the Auckland Museum, sports fields, interesting sculpture, formal gardens, wild corners and the…
The Wairarapa
Get a few puffs into your lungs on the 250-step climb to the base of this candy-striped lighthouse (1897). It's a beaut view from up here, if the wind isn…
Hamilton
Bush-covered walkways run along both sides of the river and provide the city’s green belt. Jogging paths continue to the boardwalk circling Lake Rotoroa,…
North Auckland
Squeezed between the Waiwera and Puhoi Rivers, the exquisite 134-hectare Wenderholm Regional Park has a diverse ecology, abundant bird life, beaches and…
Auckland Region
As well as providing information on the 250km of trails within Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, this impressive centre features Māori carvings and…
Taupo & the Ruapehu Region
At the southern end of the town, in a large, almost-Stalinist concrete castle, is the National Army Museum. Proclaimed as ‘history without the boring bits…
North Island
Waikanae's main visitor lure, Ngā Manu is a 15-hectare bird sanctuary dotted with picnic areas, bushwalks, aviaries and a nocturnal house with kiwi, owls…
Bay of Plenty
This fascinating aviation museum, beside the airport, is filled with predominantly military aircraft. You can scramble through the living quarters of the…
City Centre & Britomart
Auckland's most recent installation of public art is this replica 'state house' – a form of public housing popular in NZ in the 1930s and 1940s – erected…
Pukeahu National War Memorial Park
Wellington
It seems strangely fitting that NZ's National War Memorial should be a musical instrument and contain as its centrepiece not a statue of a soldier, but of…
Palmerston North
Te Manawa merges a museum and art gallery into one experience, with vast collections joining the dots between art, science and history. The museum has a…
Hamilton
One of Hamilton’s more unusual public artworks is a life-sized statue of Rocky Horror Picture Show writer Richard O’Brien, aka Riff Raff, the time-warping…
Waikato & the Coromandel Peninsula
The big-three Waitomo Caves are all operated by the same company, based at the spectacular Waitomo Caves Visitor Centre (near the Glowworm Cave). Various…
Gisborne
Gisborne is already well endowed with statues, but this one commemorating the hugely popular Footrot Flats cartoons by Gisborne local, the late Murray…
The Far North
Kauri forests covered this area for 100,000 years, leaving ancient logs and the much-prized gum (used for making varnish and linoleum) buried beneath…
Bay of Islands
The characterful St Paul's was constructed of Kawakawa stone in 1925, and stands on the site of the original mission church, a simple raupo (bulrush) hut…
North Island
One of the last relatively unchanged areas of dunes and wetlands along the Kāpiti Coast, this undulating 650-hectare park offers swimming, walking,…
Whanganui
Across City Bridge from downtown Whanganui, this elevator was built with grand visions for Durie Hill’s residential future. Beyond an entrance lined with…
New Plymouth
At 156m, this craggy, steep-sided hill is almost as tall as New Plymouth's old power-station chimney down at the port (198m). Paritutu translates as …
