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Church of the Good Shepherd, South Island
Photograph by Thomas Young, My Shot
An old stone church sits among the placid grasses of New Zealand's South Island, a land known for its wide expanses of untouched land and vast farming outlets.
Aotearoa, or "the long white cloud," was the first name given to New Zealand when the Maoris arrived on its inlet shores centuries before European explorers sailed through the Pacific waters. Within the compact island nation there are alps to rival Switzerland’s, plains more fruitful than England’s, streams and rivers as laden with fish as Scotland’s, fiords reminiscent of Norway’s, and beaches as alluring as California’s.
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Franz Josef Glacier, South Island
Photograph by David McLain
Hikers negotiate a crevasse on Franz Josef Glacier on South Island. This highly accessible river of ice begins in the peaks of the Southern Alps, but flows some 8,000 vertical feet (2,400 vertical meters) into the lush rain forest of New Zealand's Westlands National Park.
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Cathedral Square, Christchurch
Photograph by Jose Fuste Raga/Photo Library
New meets old in Cathedral Square, center of Christchurch. The largest city on South Island, Christchurch has been called "the most English city outside England."
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Tram, Christchurch
Photograph by Claver Carroll/Photo Library
A tram shuttles visitors through the heart of Christchurch. At its founding in 1850, poet Denis Glover called the city's site “the most miasmal part of the Canterbury Plains,” beset with bog, fog, and mud. English customs, willow trees, and Gothic architecture now flavor the city.
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Mount Cook
Photograph by Edward Weglarz, My Shot
Muscular mountains and chasms “frightful to behold” impressed Captain James Cook, who in 1773 became the first European to explore this region. Brawny peaks still embrace lakes in terrain as daunting as it is remote.
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Geothermal Park, Rotorua
Photograph by Rachael Gordon, My Shot
Steaming sulfur waters, geysers, and pools of boiling mud have lured sightseers to Rotorua for well more than a century. Local Maori have used the water to heal hunting wounds.
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Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve
Photograph by Brian J. Skerry
Undisturbed species like Sandager’s wrasse attract sport divers from around the globe to Poor Knights reserve. Though off-limits to commercial fishing since 1981, the island reserve suffered pressure from recreational fishing until 1998, when full protection was conferred.
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Fiordland National Park
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Flourishing greenery beckons hikers and explorers to tread the many famous paths of Fiordland. Trails lush with ferns and mosses evoke author J. R. R. Tolkien’s mythical forests, where “shadows lay by night and day, and dark things silent crept beneath.”
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Fiordland National Park
Photograph by Brian J. Skerry
Webs of cascading water, veils of cloud, and stands of silver beech lend mystery to secluded Fiordland, New Zealand's largest national park. Precipitation here tops 21 feet (6.4 meters) a year, making it one of the wettest places on Earth.
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Doubtful Sound
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Gliding with uncanny grace, bottlenose dolphins pass the scalloped shadow of a mountain peak in Fiordland, New Zealand’s largest national park. Fiordland’s dolphins may spend their entire lives in a single fiord—denizens of an isolated world as dramatic above water as it is below.
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Abel Tasman National Park
Photograph by Matthieu Colin/Getty Images
The pristine beaches, intriguing rock formations, and turquoise waters of Abel Tasman National Park entice more than 150,000 visitors each year. The smallest of New Zealand’s national parks, Abel Tasman’s 55,672 acres (22,530 hectares) include the famed Abel Tasman Coast Track.
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Royal Albatrosses
Photograph by Frans Lanting
Like teenagers at a mall, young southern royal albatrosses socialize on New Zealand’s Campbell Island. After big males show off, females take their turn, displaying long, slender wings. These birds won’t begin breeding for three to nine more years, but time spent “hanging out” is crucial to selecting a mate—for life.
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Auckland
Photograph by Dean Treml/AFP/Getty Images
The morning sun rises on the Auckland city skyline and a cluster of boats moored in the inner harbor. Auckland, on North Island, is the largest city in the country.
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Maori Greeting
Photograph by Frans Lemmens/Getty Images
Maoris say hello by pressing their noses together in a greeting called hongi. In Maori mythology, New Zealand's South Island is the canoe from which a mighty ancestor, Maui, hauled the fish-shaped North Island out of the sea.
