Natural features
Cape Reinga (Te Rerenga Wairua)
Northland
The northern tip of the North Island, where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean in a line of clashing waves off the point.
Natural features in New Zealand
Natural features
Cathedral Cove (Mautohe)
Whitianga, Waikato
A huge natural rock arch joining two white-sand beaches on the Coromandel Peninsula, in the Te Whanganui-A-Hei Marine Reserve, with a tall rock pinna…
Natural features
Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Christchurch, Canterbury
Founded in 1863 and set in a loop of the Avon River, beside Hagley Park, these are some of the finest gardens in New Zealand.
Natural features
Doubtful Sound
Southland
A remote, quiet fiord in Fiordland, three times longer than Milford Sound, reached by boat across Lake Manapōuri and a bus over Wilmot Pass.
Natural features
Hokitika Gorge
Hokitika, West Coast
A granite gorge where the Hokitika River runs a startling milky turquoise, coloured by fine 'glacial flour' ground from the mountains.
Natural features
Hot Water Beach, Coromandel
Whitianga, Waikato
At this beach on the east coast of the Coromandel, hot water from underground springs bubbles up through the sand.
Natural features
Huka Falls, Taupō
Taupo, Waikato
The Waikato River, New Zealand's longest, squeezes from about 100 m wide into a narrow rocky chasm just 15 m wide, then thunders over an 11 m drop in…
Natural features
Kaikōura whale watching
Canterbury
A deep undersea canyon close to the coast brings sperm whales year-round, plus dusky dolphins, fur seals and albatrosses.
Natural features
Kapiti Island Nature Reserve
Paraparaumu, Wellington
One of New Zealand's oldest and most important nature reserves, 5 km off the coast near Paraparaumu.
Natural features
Lake Matheson
West Coast
A small, dark lake near Fox Glacier, famous for its mirror reflections of Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman.
Natural features
Lake Rotoiti and Kerr Bay, St Arnaud
Tasman
A glacial lake in Nelson Lakes National Park, surrounded by beech forest and mountains, with the village of St Arnaud on its northern shore.
Natural features
Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd
Canterbury
A turquoise glacial lake with a small stone church on its shore, beautiful at night under the stars of the Dark Sky Reserve, and covered in lupins in…
Natural features
Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes
West Coast
Strange layered limestone stacks at Dolomite Point that look like piles of pancakes, formed over 30 million years from layers of limestone and soft m…
Natural features
Te Waikoropupū Springs
Takaka, Tasman
The largest freshwater springs in New Zealand, and among the clearest water ever measured, with visibility of over 60 m.
Natural features
Waitomo Glowworm Caves
Otorohanga, Waikato
Limestone caves where thousands of glow worms light up the cave roof like a starry sky.
Natural features
Wharariki Beach
Tasman
One of New Zealand's most spectacular beaches, near Cape Farewell at the north-western tip of the South Island.
Natural features
Zealandia Ecosanctuary, Wellington
Wellington
The world's first fully fenced urban ecosanctuary: 225 hectares of forest valley in the suburb of Karori, surrounded by a predator-proof fence, just …
Natural features
Cable Bay, Nelson
Nelson
A remote-feeling beach on a narrow bank of boulders, with Tasman Bay on one side and an estuary on the other.
Natural features
Farewell Spit Visitor Centre and Café
Tasman
The gateway to Farewell Spit, at Puponga near the northern tip of the South Island.
Natural features
Franz Josef Glacier (Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere)
West Coast
One of the few glaciers in the world that descends almost into temperate rainforest.
Natural features
Ninety Mile Beach (Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē)
Northland
A long, straight surf beach on the west coast of the Far North, which is actually about 88 km (55 miles) long.
Natural features
Otago Peninsula albatrosses and Larnach Castle
Portobello, Otago
The Royal Albatross Centre at Taiaroa Head is the only mainland breeding colony of royal albatrosses in the world.
Natural features
Spa Park hot stream (Otumuheke), Taupō
Taupo, Waikato
A natural hot stream that flows down into the cold Waikato River in Spa Thermal Park, just outside Taupō town.
Natural features
Te Paki Giant Sand Dunes
Northland
Huge golden sand dunes, some more than 100 m high, near the top of the North Island, where you can climb up and sandboard down at speed.
Natural features
Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland
Bay of Plenty
A colourful geothermal area with the orange-rimmed Champagne Pool, the lime-green Devil's Bath, and the Lady Knox Geyser, which is set off each morni…
Natural features
Wellington's south coast and bays drive
Wellington
Wellington has one of the world's great natural harbours, and a drive (or bike ride) around the bays and the wild south coast shows it off.
Natural features
Whangamatā Beach
Whangamata, Waikato
A long white-sand surf beach and relaxed seaside town on the eastern Coromandel, one of the friendly little surfing towns dotted up the coast.
Natural features
Fox Glacier
West Coast
A glacier descending from the Southern Alps into rainforest.
Natural features
Petone Beach
Petone, Wellington
A long sandy beach at the top of Wellington Harbour, in the Hutt Valley suburb of Petone, with views across the water to the city.
Natural features
That Wānaka Tree
Wanaka, Otago
A lone crack willow growing in the shallow water at the edge of Lake Wānaka, which has become one of the most photographed trees in the world, agains…