By Anthony Dennis
No matter what your tastes, there's a holiday in New Zealand that's perfect for you.Credit: Alamy
New Zealand is not merely a rewarding place to visit, it genuinely ranks as one of the world’s greatest destinations and one, luckily for us, that’s right on our geographic doorstep.
It’s secure, spectacular, and frequently surprising, from the tip of one of its two main islands to the bottom of the other.
And for a country with less than half the population of Sydney and Melbourne combined, the choices are extraordinary, enticing and seemingly endless.
It’s precisely why we’ve prepared this special Traveller guide to extracting the most from a holiday to at least one destination where an anemic Australian dollar still has some strength.
THE FIRST-TIME VISITOR
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Unless you have a few weeks or more to spare, it can make sense to concentrate on one island. And the choice couldn’t be more straightforward: North or South?
If you love big cities (there’s really only one truly sizeable one and that’d Polynesian Auckland), Maori culture, geysers (that’d be Rotorua) and fine wine (head to Hawke’s Bay for its full-bodied reds), choose the North Island.
If you’re wowed by awesome alpine scenery (towering snow-capped peaks and dramatic fjords) that can rival Europe and North and South America and if you prefer quieter cities and towns (such as Christchurch, Dunedin and Nelson), then the South Island is made for you.
Oh, and the wine (pinot noir and sauvignon blanc reign supreme) right across the south, and not just in the fabled Central Otago region, is world-class.
Either way, North or South, red or white, you really won’t go wrong with either island though, both being much bigger and with longer driving distances than standard maps of them may suggest, don’t assume you’ll be able to experience everything in less than a week.
THE RETURN HOLIDAY-MAKER
Been there? Done that? Even for the most frequent New Zealand visitor the chances are there’s still much left to discover.
Few Australian visitors, for instance, venture to the northern reaches of the North Island beyond Auckland and therefore miss some of New Zealand’s finest natural and historical wonders in and around the Bay of Islands regions.
Along with spectacular seascapes, this sparsely populated part of the North Island is home to the seminal Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where you can learn all about New Zealand’s proud Maori culture, as well as Russell, one New Zealand’s most charming coastal heritage towns.
In the South Island, if you’ve experienced the stunning and extremely popular Milford Sound in the spectacular Fiordland region, consider the alternative Doubtful Sound, the fjord that Kiwis themselves tend to favour over the former.
Doubtful’s far bigger, more awe-inspiring and less trammelled than even Milford, with overnight cruises operating along its phenomenal, peak-studded 40 kilometres breadth. The process of getting there is a minor adventure in its own right as you’ll need to take a boat across a lake and then a vehicle by road over a mountain saddle.
THE FOOD AND WINE LOVER
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New Zealand has long been a respected producer of premium wine and possesses an excellent nose for wine tourism. But it’s in fine food that this country of five million souls that has made the greatest strides rivalling Australia itself.
Foodies have tended to consider the urbane capital Wellington as New Zealand’s best restaurant city, but Auckland, with its impressive, nascent, Melbourne-style laneway culture and revitalised waterfront, has also emerged as a world-class culinary powerhouse.
While better known for its skiing and snowboarding, Queenstown, with its proximity to the quality pinot noir-rich Central Otago wine region, boasts an underrated food scene.
It’s home to the acclaimed Amisfield Restaurant and Cellar Door which was named New Zealand’s 2023 restaurant of the year by the Kiwi’s respected Cuisine magazine (book a table well ahead of your visit). Take that Auckland and Wellington.
Happily for the caffeine cognoscenti from across the ditch, seriously cool cafés to match those in Australia are ubiquitous in New Zealand in both urban and regional areas. In fact, the quality of coffee in New Zealand is arguably more consistent than that of Australia though we do start to froth at the audacious Kiwi claim of having invented the flat white.
THE LUXURY LOVER
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Among New Zealand’s greatest achievements in tourism is its network of exclusive luxury lodges, justifiably famous around the world and born out of the nation’s fishing and hunting traditions.
Somewhat less preoccupied with those pursuits these days, these lodges, such as the North Island’s iconic Huka Lodge in Taupo (ironically, now operated under the Australian-originated Baillie Lodges brand), are spread across all corners of the two main islands.
They’re based on a simple credo: they must be situated in a genuinely spectacular setting (no hard ask in scenic New Zealand), offer quality food and wine and deliver typically efficient and friendly, though not overly so, Kiwo service.
It’s become a much mimicked model in Australia but, in indulgent accommodation terms, nothing anywhere quite compares to the Kiwi luxury lodge prototype, including the price-tag, albeit on an inclusive per night basis.
THE ADVENTURER
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Queenstown in the South Island has successfully styled itself as the world’s adrenalin capital, but the adventure opportunities don’t begin or end there.
For a truly remote experience head to unspoilt Stewart Island, New Zealand’s third-biggest land mass. Located below the South Island, it’s one of the remotest destinations in Australasia and among the most rewarding.
It's also an ideal place to spot New Zealand's emblematic kiwis (the rare feathered variety) in the wild and on the island's beaches at nightfall.
Although the Milford Track is New Zealand’s most famous guided walk, the Tongariro Crossing, the embodiment of the nation’s evergreen “100 per cent pure New Zealand” motto, on the North Island is even more monumental.
The traverse, which can take up to eight hours to complete, winds through dramatic World Heritage-listed alpine and volcanic scenery which includes an active crater, steam vents and mountain lakes.
Anthony Dennis, Traveller’s weekend editor, has visited New Zealand on numerous occasions and counts it as one of his favourite destinations.
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