>> Travel in the shoulder seasons – summer is overrated and crowded and winter is much too cold and wet. In spring: September, October, November, and autumn: March, April, May, you won’t have to book too far in advance – or at all – and it’ll give your trip a little spontaneity that a trip in NZ needs.
>>Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand and a climber’s paradise. Even those that don’t climb visit Mount Cook in droves.
>>Queenstown, New Zealand, sits on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, and its location on the edge of the Southern Alps make it a prime location to set off for adventure sports (paragliding, skiing, snowboarding, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, and bungee jumping to name a few).
>>This bubbling pool is the result of volcanic activity. Tour the area and you will discover steaming holes in the ground, bubbling mud, and imposing rock formations. You can see why the geothermal activity in the area caused it to be named the Devil’s Bath.
>>Orakei Korako is another geotermal area that is also known as “The Hidden Valley.” Obvioulsy forces from the center of the earth are currently at work here, though I didn’t see any Orcs crawl out of the bog!
>>Nugget Point is another headland jutting out into the ocean. These rocky beaches are an excellent place to see wildlife like fur seals, pied shags, sooty shearwaters, yellow-eyed penguins, and spoonbills (yes, I had to google what most of those were). The yellow-eyed penguins are the best! landscapes in New Zealand
