New Zealand is often associated with adventure mainly because of Queenstown in the South Island that is indeed the Adventure Capital of the World. However, the North Island also has its fair share of adventures which intensifies as you travel further south making Aotearoa ideal for the adventure junkie.
We have covered our trip to New Zealand in 5 Chapters from the lens of travelling from India, experiences to include in your itinerary, adventure activities to include in your travel plan, availability of vegetarian food in New Zealand and exploring the indigenous Maori culture with takeaways for our own wellbeing.
You are reading Chapter 3.
Chapter 4: A Vegetarian’s Food Guide to New Zealand
Table of contents
3. Last Word
The Electrifying North Island - Top outdoor activities to do in North Island New Zealand
The adventure activities in New Zealand are definitely not for the faint hearted. You can start with the Sky Jump from the iconic Sky Tower in Auckland if you are an acrophiliac (someone who loves heights). You can then make your way to the countryside to wade your way through a river that flows within a cave only to spot glow worms like twinkling stars during your time inside the cave.
Is the legendary black water rafting in the Waitomo Glow Worm caves worth it?
Only about an hour away from Auckland are the Waitomo Caves, while most people would take a simple boat ride through the cave and appreciate the glow worm phenomenon for about 30 minutes and get done with it, you could choose to immerse yourself in this experience. You could opt for a three hour Black Water Rafting experience where you get dressed in a wetsuit, will be carrying your own little tube and are also given a headlight much like a miner to make your way through the pitch darkness of the cave. You will be in a group and accompanied by qualified guides who will lead the way and direct you to walk, bend and mind your head or float on the tube where the water gets deeper. You will stop at certain spots in the cave and will turn off your headlights, only to look up and see the glow worms radiating at you. Truly one of the most adventurous things that I have done! As we approached the end of our rafting tour, we could see the first glimmers of the sun’s rays into the cave waters and we welcomed it with squinted eyes and longing to get out of the cold cave waters. There was also an option to do this trip for 5 hours which included a zipline inside the cave.
What is the difference between black and white water rafting?
Another highlight of our taste of adventure in the North Island was near Rotorua at the Kaituna Cascades. This was white water river rafting at it’s best where you could raft a Grade 5 rapid which is the highest level of river difficulty that adventure seekers can attempt safely. We all had our guides who would ask us to paddle in specific directions during the rafting. There were certain ropes to be held within the raft and a seating position to be taken while riding a rapid.
What is the highest grade of white water rafting?
The Grade 5 rapid was the climax of the tour and there were three possibilities - you either have a good 90 degree landing and everyone stays put within the raft or you fall out of the raft or the raft topples and you’re trapped underneath. We were given instructions for all of the three situations and luckily for us it went well and we had a safe landing, otherwise it surely puts your swimming skills to test and non-swimmers should just declare themselves before the tour so that the guide looks out for you first if you fall out.
The Rip-Roaring South Island - Adventure Activities in South Island New Zealand
You will find thrill seekers from around the world in Queenstown, and if you take a flight here, the aerial views of Queenstown depict the mountainous and rugged terrain that sets the mood for some adrenaline rush.
Queenstown adventure activities for thrill seekers
You can park yourself at one of the hotels near the lake, we stayed at the Millennium Hotel and loved its top-drawer amenities.
Going skydiving in Queenstown New Zealand
One of the first ticks on your bucket list that you would want to accomplish is skydiving and you should go full schbang and also opt for the photo and video options if you are not planning to indulge in this very frequently. However, you should keep a few days in Queenstown and keep your itinerary fluid as a lot of these activities are weather dependent and you may face a few slot cancellations before you actually jump out of a plane on a clear day. There is also bungee jumping if you want to take the exhilaration a notch up and there is paragliding if you want to tone it down.
Must dos in Queenstown - Skyline Gondola, Luge and Shotover Jet
For beginners, you could simply enjoy aerial views of the city with the backdrop of towering mountains from the Skyline Gondola and take a Luge ride down the mountain slopes. Another must do activity for high velocity seekers is the Shotover Jet. It is a heart stopping experience as your jet boat driver literally flies you over the shallow waters navigating the way through huge boulders, intimidating canyons and rushing rapids. The jet boating trip is accentuated with all the 360 degree spins that your driver indulges you in during those 20 minutes.
Is the Franz Josef Glacier heli-hike worth it?
One of the last adventurous things you can do before you bid adieu to this adrenaline utopia is take a helicopter ride to one of the glaciers on the southern alps from Franz Josef. This is one of those sit back, relax and less teeth gritting kind of adventure experiences where you take off on a chopper and experience a snow landing on a glacier. Since we were here in January, we literally felt really hot and were sunburnt while on the glacier. We did not even wear any woollens which was mentally weird for us when you are surrounded by snow. But we recommend putting on a lot of sunscreen as very few people know that we Indians tan really bad (worse than a tropical tan) with snow around as the light refracts more. We stood on top of the glacier as if we had conquered the world, drinking in views of towering ice cliffs and huge icebergs. As our heli-hike ended and we took off from the glacier, we saw some of the most surreal panoramas of the glacial river meeting the sea forming the most dazzling deltas.
Last word
Soak in some hot tubs in the Glacier Country or book yourself a rejuvenating massage before your long flight home as your body would definitely be weary from all the twists, turns and jerks that it would have survived during the frequent surges of adrenaline. But your soul would be feeling immensely fulfilled.
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