Five New Zealand Landscapes: Wharariki Beach to Tongariro

New Zealand packs a whole continent’s worth of scenery into two main islands. In a single trip you can walk to a wild beach of sea arches and fur seals, cruise a fiord beneath 1,692-metre Mitre Peak, stand beside a steaming orange-rimmed hot spring, drift through a cave lit by glowworms and cross a volcanic plateau past emerald lakes. Here are five landscapes, from the top of the South Island to the heart of the North.

Wharariki Beach, South Island

Wharariki Beach lies in Tasman District on the Tasman Sea, just west of Cape Farewell, the northernmost point of the South Island. There is no road to the sand: a 20-minute walking track leads from the end of Wharariki Road through the dunes, about 4 km from the small village of Pūponga. Offshore stand the Archway Islands, four rock islands from the beach edge to about 250 metres out, so photogenic that one view became the default Windows 10 lock screen. At low tide, fur seal pups play in the pools in front of the easternmost island. The flat land behind the dunes leaves the beach very exposed, so expect wind.

Milford Sound / Piopiotahi, Fiordland

At the other end of the South Island, Milford Sound / Piopiotahi runs about 15 km inland from the Tasman Sea, inside Fiordland National Park and the Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Area. Its Māori name refers to the now-extinct piopio bird. Mitre Peak rises 1,692 metres straight out of the water, and Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls are the two permanent waterfalls. With a mean of 6,412 mm of rain a year, it is the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand. Rudyard Kipling called it the eighth wonder of the world. The road from Te Anau is 121 km long and passes through the 1.2 km Homer Tunnel.

Champagne Pool at Wai-O-Tapu, North Island

Champagne Pool is the star of Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, about 30 km southeast of Rotorua. The crater formed in a hydrothermal eruption about 900 years ago and measures roughly 65 metres across and 62 metres deep. Its water stays at around 73–75 °C, and a constant stream of carbon dioxide bubbles gives the pool its name. The vivid orange rim is coloured by orpiment and stibnite, sulphide minerals containing arsenic and antimony. Enjoy it from the boardwalks: this is a natural hot spring to admire, not to touch.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves

In the King Country, about an hour south of Hamilton, the Waitomo Glowworm Caves glow with the blue-green light of Arachnocampa luminosa, a fungus gnat found only in New Zealand, whose larvae shine to lure insects into sticky threads. Tane Tinorau and Fred Mace explored the cave by raft and candlelight in December 1887. The Waitomo Glowworm Caves tour passes through the Cathedral, a chamber about 40 metres long and 13 metres high with acoustics loved by choirs, and ends with a silent boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto, the guide pulling the boat along an overhead wire. Before the pandemic about half a million people visited every year.

Tongariro National Park and the Alpine Crossing

Tongariro is New Zealand’s oldest national park. On 23 September 1887 Te Heuheu Tūkino IV (Horonuku) conveyed the sacred peaks to the Crown on condition that they be protected, and the park was declared in October that year. It became a World Heritage Site in 1990 for its natural features and gained dual status in 1993 for its Māori cultural values. Its volcanoes are Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu.

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is the classic way to see it: 19.4 km and about seven hours of walking, climbing to 1,886 metres at Red Crater before dropping past the Emerald Lakes, coloured by dissolved volcanic minerals. Ngauruhoe’s summit is now off-limits at the request of local iwi. Check the mountain forecast before you set off: the route is fully exposed and the weather can turn quickly.

For more on the park, read our Tongariro National Park article. If the South Island is calling, see Antony Harrison’s year of South Island scenes.

Related reading

• Blanket Bay: A Lakeside Retreat near Glenorchy
• Tongariro National Park: Volcanoes, Māori Heritage and Changing Seasons
• Johan Lolos’s New Zealand Campervan Photo Journey
• Baldwin Street, Dunedin: Understanding the Famous Steep Slope
• Waitomo Caves: Glowworms, Limestone and the People Behind the Tours
• Nugget Point/Tokata: Lighthouse Views and the Catlins Coast
• Hobbiton near Matamata: Film Design and the Visitor Experience
• Alison Turner’s New Zealand Vanscapes: Landscapes Through a Passenger Window

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