See All of New Zealand’s Wilderness in 18 Days, Because You Can

Geysers, hobbit holes and sea lions — oh my

October 25, 2017 9:00 am

Five-flaggers, doomsday preppers, tech titans in search of a bug-out space: Welcome to New Zealand. Now may we present the best way to tour your new home: With this guided experience through “all 14” of the country’s natural landscapes, and all within a tidy 18 days. You have the rest of your life, clearly, to get to know the country; this is just to get you started. 

The two-week-plus tour starts in Auckland before moving on to Rotorua, for a taste of Maori culture and the surrounding “geothermal wonderland, [with] volcanic crater lakes, spouting geysers, bubbling mud pools and hissing fumaroles.” (OK, so that already sounds pretty good.) The trip continues to Tongariro National Park and then on to Motueka and Abel Tasman National Park. Basically, it’s all jaw-droppingly gorgeous — especially if you get good weather. You’ll travel onward to Fiordland National Park and famous Milford Sound, the exit point for the three-day Milford Track, one of the country’s classic hikes. (It looks like Norway mixed with California.) You’re still not done! You’ll continue heading down the South Island until you’ll have penguins and sea lions in your sights. If you haven’t picked out a spot for your armageddon compound, you’re not doing it right. 

Unsurprisingly, all these glories won’t come cheap: Expect to pay around $4,200. But we’re betting that for wow-per-dollar, it’s gonna come out to be a pretty good deal. 

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