Bridge to Nowhere: stunning walking in the Whanganui National Park

Take a detour back in time to Denniston, a near-deserted mining town on a bleak, windswept 600-metre plateau, home to the infamous 45-degree Denniston Incline.

Lake Matheson is a photographer’s dream, where the waters reflect a near-perfect image of snow-capped Aoraki Mount Cook.

Drive the length of the South Island, skirting the West Coast and traversing through the Southern Alps, and experience bountiful roadtripping at its very best.

Milford Sound is the best-known and most accessible of all the fiords in Fiordland National Park.

If you want to take in Fiordland’s wilderness, vastness and beauty without being drenched in that seemingly perpetual rain, take the Piopiotahi Highway.

The Southern Scenic Route is a drive of unparalleled beauty and an almost contradictory mix of dense woodlands and wild, open southern coast.

In Invercargill, you can try your hand at operating seriously heavy machinery, with no special licence required. 

South of the southernmost tip of the South Island you’ll find Rakiura Stewart Island. 

Breathe in the fresh woody air of Whakarewarewa Forest as you explore the biking, walking or horse-riding trails or traverse the canopy of these mighty Californian coastal redwood trees.

Feel the raw energy and explosive power of the largest geyser in the southern hemisphere at Te Whakarewarewa, a living thermal Māori village.