Bridge to Nowhere: stunning walking in the Whanganui National Park

The Whakarewarewa Forest, aka ‘The Redwoods,’ is 5500 hectares of magnificent native and exotic trees on the outskirts of Rotorua City.  

While now closed to vehicles, the Manawatū Gorge is busy with birdlife, bikers and people enjoying the native bush. 

Walk or bike between Queen Charlotte and Keneperu sounds in this slice of paradise. 

The sand is a colour you simply have never seen before. The water is so blue it doesn’t actually look real.

Slow down and enjoy the ancient rituals of a tea ceremony at Zealong Tea Estate in Waikato. 

Witness thousands of litres of water squeezing and surging through a 15-metre rocky gorge into heart-stirring rapids and a waterfall you'll be hard-pressed not to photograph.

A historic lighthouse on a rocky peninsula surrounded by the wild Pacific Ocean: it doesn’t get much more iconic than Nugget Point.

The drive to the start of the Roby Roy Glacier Track is almost as energy-sapping as the walk to the top of the glacier. But it's worth it to experience one of the region’s most stunning walks.

It has the signature surf, the scorching iron sand, but some of the main highlights at Te Henga are the vantage points to be had from the clifftop walkway. 

Reckon on a kākā landing on your shoulder or a weka scurrying over your feet, all to the calls of kākāriki, bellbird, robin, and saddleback.