Endless glaciers, snow-capped peaks, paradisiacal beaches and bird-strewn mirror lakes; The untouched nature of the South Island awaits you! Our top 3:
1. Fiordland National Park
The dramatic natural landscape of New Zealand's largest National Park consists of fourteen blindingly beautiful fjords that surround the southwestern corner of the South Island. Ancient rainforest clings to jagged mountains, waterfalls plunge into immeasurable sea inlets and lakes and granite peaks glisten. Cascades clatter on all sides incessantly as the abundant sweet rainfall finds its way to the salty sea. 'Sound of Silence' Doubtful Sound is the second-longest and demost land cut in New Zealand. In this unspoiled serene wilderness you will sail between grey and green rocks, magnificent waterfalls, dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, fur seals and penguins.
Fiordlands' most spectacular attraction is Milford Sound,where towering cliffs rise perpendicularly from pools of inky blue water and steep waterfalls plunge 1,000 metres into the depths. Kayak your way through the park in silence, take a night-by-night cruise, and explore the extraordinary underwater world - the black coral, 11-legged starfish and delicate anemones - while diving or from the underwater observatory at Harrison Cove.
2. Abel Tasman National Park
Inviting sandy beaches separate the flood line from the forest edge. Crystal clear streams meander through mossy valleys to the sea. Granite and marble formations surround headland that are shrouded in native forest. Sounds of Tues and Maori bell honey birds fill the forest. In the sea, cormorants, gannets and little blue penguins dive for food. On the edge of Tonga Island, fur seals lounge on the rocks. Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand's smallest National Park, is a coastal paradise where hikes and boat trips alternate with a sun-drenched beach retreat.
3. Mount Cook National Park
Named after new Zealand's highest and three-peak mountain, which in Maori is very aptly named 'Aoraki' - the mountain that takes in the clouds - is a fairytale beautiful nature reserve with nothing but mighty snow-adorned mountains and azure lakes. There are hundreds of species of flowers and plants and rare birds such as the New Zealand falcon, the paradise duck and the kea.
Take a Zodiac tour of mirror-smooth Lake Tasman amid floating ice floes and glacier walls, hike through Hooker Valley as the lupines bloom, glide silently above the flanks of Mount Cook, and watch stars in one of the darkest places on Earth. Where the world can't find you...
