A lakeside city in the North Island, Rotorua is considered New Zealand’s natural and cultural heartland, where the Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao people of Whakarewarewa village keep their heritage and legacy alive. Rotorua’s natural hot springs, temperamental geysers and bubbling mud baths draw travellers for their healing properties, whilst the national Māori Arts and Crafts Institute is an inviting space to learn more about this fascinating community. One hour’s drive to the north, Matamata played the role of The Shire in Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. 

Its fortunes once lay in lucrative rivers of gold, but Queenstown has reinvented herself as the country’s undisputed adventure destination. Oenophiles will find much to discover here, too: nearby are Central Otago, the world’s southernmost wine region, and Gibbston Valley, whose celebrated vintners offer tours and tastings of their pioneering local estates.