New Zealand: An Explorer's Paradise

credit: Moritz Wolf

The title itself describes the whole of New Zealand in a sentence. While, there are places like art galleries, museums and relaxations such as spas and baths which are added benefits. However, New Zealand’s true beauty lies outdoors, in its nature.

credit: flightcentre.co.uk

New Zealand or Aotearoa as it’s called in Maori culture, the original inhabitants of the island archipelago, consists mainly of the two islands vis-à-vis: The North Island and The South Island separated by a strait called the Cock strait. Although, with a mere area of 4 million square kilometers the landscape in New Zealand varies greatly. With terrains ranging from fjord like in the inlets to sandy beaches in coastal areas, to the Southern Alps mountain ranges where the temperature falls well below 0 degree celsius. It’s these amazing sceneries which has made New Zealand host to a number of Movie locations including The lord of the rings trilogy, and even Xena: Warrior Princess.

A few of the must do activities here are:

Kayaking:

Kayaking is very similar to canoeing and if you’re not familiar with this, then here’s a link for the same. Kayaking is something that can be done almost anywhere in New Zealand. However, Marlborough Sounds is one of the best place to do so.

Explore the magnificent geothermal phenomena:

New Zealand sitting on the edge of the Australian tectonic plate where it just touches the Pacific continental plate gives it something that it’s neighbourhood Australia doesn’t have, and it’s the presence of geothermal activity. New Zealand has some of the awestrucking Geysers, mud pools and huge volcanic craters, particularly in Rotorua. Experience this jaw dropping scenery where nature forces its way by hissing, bubbling and steaming from inner earth.

Heli Skiing:

Now, this one is something which needs a leap of faith. Heli skiing is like normal skiing but only the destination is reached by a helicopter instead of a traditional skiing lift. The helicopter ride alone makes up for the extra cost it takes, experiencing the alps through this ride is something on another level. Now, why Helicopter? Because the top is that hard to reach that it isn’t suitable enough to take lift upto that. This is what makes Heli Skiing so perilous. This surely isn’t an activity for the faint hearted ones. It takes true guts to Heli Ski.

These are a few of the activities that will make your New Zealand experience a truly memorable one. Now, one thing to be kept in mind is that New Zealand is located in the southern hemisphere. Hence, the seasons here are inverted. They have their summer breaks in January, which may or may not be the ideal time to go there. If you are also interested in experiencing their festivals then this is the time to visit New Zealand. However, if you want to escape all the tourist crowd (as this is also the time for locals to relax and go exploring) then avoid January.