New Zealand’s South Island, Te Waipounamu, is renowned for its dense forests, snow-capped mountains and vast plains. We think it’s the best of New Zealand.
QUEENSTOWN
Home to everything from exhilarating activities to luxury retreats, Queenstown is your all-access pass to the best of New Zealand.
From Queenstown, you are within striking distance of the most dramatic and varied landscapes you’ll find just about anywhere on the planet. We think it’s the perfect place to start or finish any New Zealand adventure, with several world-class luxury lodge and accomodation options available.
Equally stunning in summer as it is in winter, Queenstown has grown from a picturesque escape into New Zealand’s resort town and Adventure Capital; home to the highest bungy in the country as well as a number of international celebrities and businesspeople.
Bordered by the Southern Alps on one side and the shores of Lake Wakatipu on the other, together let’s plan an adventure that you’ll never forget.
MILFORD SOUND & FIORDLAND
Discover the magic that makes this place the “eighth wonder of the world.”
Milford Sound is one of the top attractions of New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park. Its extraordinary beauty and remoteness captivates visitors the world over, and Rudyard Kipling dubbed this place the “eighth wonder of the world”.
Found in the southwest of New Zealand’s South Island, Milford Sound and Fiordland is also home to three of New Zealand’s Great Walks; the Routebourn, Kepler and Milford Tracks. The Milford track is world-renowned, and all three provide ample opportunity to bask in the beauty of New Zealand’s wilderness.
Fiordland National Park boasts the towering Mitre Peak, plus rainforests and waterfalls such as Stirling and Bowen falls. The fiord is also home to fur seal colonies, penguins and dolphins. Boat cruises are a popular way to explore, and we also offer private helicopter experiences that provide incomparable views away from the crowds.
WEST COAST
Explore New Zealand’s wild West Coast, our final frontier
In New Zealand, the ‘West Coast’ generally refers to the narrow strip of land between the South Island’s Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea. It is the longest region in New Zealand; stretching from cold and snowy Haast to the sunny forests of Kahurangi. It’s most well-known destinations are the Fox and the Franz Josef glaciers.
With a population of only 31,000 people, the West Coast retains the feeling of a pioneer frontier. It’s a wild place known for rivers and rainforests; glaciers and geological treasures. Legends and stories from the past cling to every feature of the landscape.
Māori were first to discover the West Coast, seeking sacred pounamu (nephrite jade or greenstone). Gold fever in the 1860s brought Europeans, many of whom stayed on to start farming, forestry and businesses.
Nowadays, locals are known as ‘coasters’; a term synonymous with friendliness and hospitality. Isolated from the rest of New Zealand by the Southern Alps, coasters have developed a distinctive culture of their own. Their pioneering values of self-reliance and loyalty are as strong today as they were 100 years ago.
The West Coast is a great place to go for a truly remote wilderness experience. Be sure to include it in your itinerary for a diverse mix of landscapes and activities.
AORAKI MOUNT COOK
For a true alpine experience, discover New Zealand’s highest mountains and largest glaciers in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park.
Mount Cook is known equally throughout the world for its alpine beauty and harsh remoteness. At the foot of the mountain sits the village of Mount Cook National Park – an unforgettable haven in one of the most unforgiving parts of New Zealand. On every side, the Southern Alps scrape the sky. And even in summer, weather can change in the blink of an eye.
The Mountain is full of adventure, nature and mind-blowing beauty. Even if you visit this place once, the beauty of this place remain with you; calling you back again and again.
In 1949 New Zealand’s most famous mountaineer, Sir Edmund Hillary, along with Harry Ayres, made the first ascent up the challenging south ridge on the south peak. They also completed the grand traverse. On May 29, 2003, a bronze statue of Sir Edmund Hillary was unveiled outside The Hermitage, Mt Cook, looking out to the mountains he used to climb.
