Head west to experience the Taranaki region, one of the North Island's best-kept secrets. The perfectly symmetrical Mt Taranaki (a double for Japan's Mount Fuji), located in Egmont National Park, is the optimum vantage point to take in the region's lush, rolling countryside and black-sand coastline.Prefer getting your feet wet? Taranaki's famed 'Surf Highway 45' has a dozen world-class surf breaks, interspersed with pretty beaches, quaint rural towns and mountain views.
Don't miss: New Plymouth's Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand's first contemporary art museum, is dedicated to internationally renowned modernist filmmaker and kinetic sculptor Len Lye. The Govett Brewster Gallery is to New Plymouth what the Guggenheim is to Bilbao, a visual feast both inside and out.
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Head west to experience the Taranaki region, one of the North Island's best-kept secrets. The perfectly symmetrical Mt Taranaki (a double for Japan's Mount Fuji), located in Egmont National Park, is the optimum vantage point to take in the region's lush, rolling countryside and black-sand coastline.Prefer getting your feet wet? Taranaki's famed 'Surf Highway 45' has a dozen world-class surf breaks, interspersed with pretty beaches, quaint rural towns and mountain views.
Don't miss: New Plymouth's Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand's first contemporary art museum, is dedicated to internationally renowned modernist filmmaker and kinetic sculptor Len Lye. The Govett Brewster Gallery is to New Plymouth what the Guggenheim is to Bilbao, a visual feast both inside and out.
Wellington
New Zealand's capital regularly features in lists of the world's most livable cities. Wellington is ridiculously pretty. Look out for quirky wooden homes perched on vertiginous slopes, lots of green space, mountain biking tracks, the award-winning bird sanctuary Zealandia and innumerable beaches.It's also home to Peter Jackson's film empire (look for the 'Wellywood' sign as you fly in or drive across the Miramar Peninsula) and the extremely kid-friendly Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, the country's national museum.Wellington's position at the base of the North Island, between the Tararua Ranges and Cook Strait, makes it the windiest city in the world.
Prepare to be invigorated by northwesterly gusts and do as the locals do -- wear a raincoat instead of carrying an umbrella when exploring.
Don't miss: Head to Point Howard and the majestic Massey Memorial, a white marble mausoleum to former Prime Minister William Massey and his wife Christina, hidden high above Shelly Bay on the Miramar Peninsula. Climb up through the bush to the memorial, or the gun emplacements above, for views of the distant mountains of the South Island.
Marlborough Sounds
This intricate web of sheltered waterways accounts for 20 percent of New Zealand's total coastline. The three distinct waterways, Queen Charlotte, Kenepuru and Pelorus Sounds, formed from sunken river valleys that were flooded in the last Ice Age. There are more than 50 reserves in this scenic playground pick up a kayak, fishing charter or relaxing boat ride to appreciate them fully. The Marlborough region produces nearly 80 percent of the country's wine (particularly sauvignon blanc) and there are nearly 40 wineries to choose from. Don't miss: The 70 km (44 mile) Queen Charlotte Track gives you the chance to experience the best of the area's history, scenic delights and cuisine, either on foot or by bike.
