Home to most of the country's population, the North Island blends bustling cities with volcanic peaks, subtropical forests, and world-class dive sites. Offshore, the Poor Knights Islands are considered some of the best diving, their walls and arches filled with rays, sharks, and shoals of fish in nutrient-rich waters. Inland, geysers and hot springs remind visitors of the island's volcanic heart. The North Island's energy is shaped by Māori communities and their traditional connection to mother Earth.
Whangaruru is a bay where Māori heritage lives in full force. The waters here are now becoming known for their ocean gardens—places where shellfish, fish, and seaweed are carefully gathered and managed in ways that sustain both the community and the ecosystem. These practices connect people to the sea as a living pantry, tended with respect rather than taken from in excess. Onshore, storytelling and tradition carry the culture forward, while the bay itself reflects the balance of people and nature.
Perched at the meeting point of North and South, Wellington is a city where wilderness is never far away. Just offshore, kelp forests sway in cool currents, sheltering fish, crayfish, and marine mammals. Inland, the pioneering Zealandia sanctuary has rewilded a valley into a haven where native birdsong now fills the air, including rare species once thought lost to the city. With wild coastlines, thriving conservation, and a vibrant urban heart, Wellington proves that nature and modern life can coexist.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.svg)
.png)