New Zealand is said to be one of the world’s most beautiful countries, and if you look at some of the photos on the internet, you’ll quickly learn why. Mighty volcanoes reflected in the crystal-clear water of the lakes, the bright Milky Way, and hills of vivid green. These are just some of the natural wonders that can be found in this far corner of the world. In this article, we’ll list 7 reasons why you should visit New Zealand.
Whether you’re an experienced hiker who finds pleasure in climbing the highest mountains or just a nature walker who simply enjoys taking long walks, you can always find something to your liking in New Zealand. The country caters even to those who like to travel on two wheels – it’s laced with mountain and biking trails. In any case, you’ll be constantly surrounded by stunning views (and the gazes of thousands of sheep peacefully chewing their lunch).
New Zealand is strewn with billowing clouds of vapour and hot springs. The latter are often smelly pools of bubbling mud, but some of them are also natural pools where you can warm yourself up. The largest geothermally active area is located in the North Island near Rotorua. Though the overpowering smell of rotten eggs can sometimes be quite off-putting, the nature itself is fantastic, so you should definitely visit at least one of the geothermal parks when in New Zealand.
There are so many adrenaline pumping activities, you can hardly find them anywhere else in one place. You can go on a rafting trip down the world’s highest (commercially rafted) waterfall or cave tubing through the caves on inflatable tubes. Walking along the edge of the famous SkyTower (or jumping off the said skyscraper) will surely get your heart pumping.
Then there’s skydiving (jumping from a plane), zorbing (rolling downhill inside a transparent orb), zip-lining (a drop down a zip wire), canopy tours (zip lines among trees) as well as canyoning, kayaking, diving, and skiing from a volcano... There are almost endless options to choose from.
What comes to your mind when you hear the word road trip? Winding roads, perhaps, twisting through stunning landscape? Or fun adventures and the feeling of infinite freedom? A road trip around New Zealand will be exactly that! Your own transport offers you freedom to explore all those sparsely populated places that abound here. There’s a reason a road trip around New Zealand is thought to be one of the world’s most beautiful road trips.
Who hasn’t heard of the Lord of the Rings series and the Hobbit? But did you know that it is New Zealand that is the home of the hobbits? Well, we’re not sure they actually live there. But you can definitely take a walk among their houses in a place that served as the movie set for the scenes that took place in Shire, and you can also visit the Weta studios that specialises in masks and special effects.
An that’s not all. Filming took place in numerous other unique locations across New Zealand – the Putangirua Pinnacles rock formations (the Paths of the Dead in the third Lord of the Rings film), the Kaitoke Regional Park (the location of Rivendell, the Lord of the Rings), and Mount Cook (the Hobbit) – these are just a few examples! True fans can therefore add all the filming locations to their bucket list when planning their New Zealand trip.
Fireflies are usually the better-known bugs with their glowing tails, but New Zealand is home to worms that glow brightly in dark. Actually, they’re not true worms but larvae of a mosquito-like fly. And here’s an interesting fact about these glow-worms: one of the components required for bioluminescence is an enzyme called luciferase and glow-worms use the light to attract cave flies, which they then feast on. How convenient, those are some wicked worms! They’re usually stuck to the walls of caves or river gorges and in the dark their light creates a feeling as if you were somewhere in space! The most famous place to see glow-worms is the Waitomo Cave and its surroundings.
Not the one with the juicy green core, the two-legged one with a long beak. These adorable wingless little balls of fluff live only in New Zealand and New Zealanders have a great deal of pride of the bird. Kiwis are nocturnal and come out at night when they burrow looking for food, and, with a bit of luck, can also be spotted in nature.
But if you’ve run out of luck, you can always see them by visiting various wildlife centres whose aim is also the conservation of animal species. One of these centres (located in Pukaha) is home to an extremely rare white kiwi that’s undoubtedly one of the cutest animals in the world.
These are just a few of the reasons why you should visit New Zealand, and if you haven’t started packing yet, you should at least quickly write down the country’s name and add it to your bucket list; you won’t regret it.
If you want to find out more, visit our blog for more articles about New Zealand.
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