New Zealand

North Island

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Whakamere

Geothermal

Conscious

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Glowworm Cathedral at Waipu Caves ❘ Marcel Strelow/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Paddling the Whanganui River ❘ Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
Wai-O-Tapu ❘ Beerpixs/Getty Images
Maori kapa haka performers ❘ Hannah Peters/Getty Images
Hamurana Springs Nature Reserve ❘ Westend61 GmbH/Alamy
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Wander through glowing caves, across bubbling lands, and alongside Māori guides.

Across the island, tour companies and cultural organizations run by Māori communities abound.

New Zealand is perhaps best known for its staggering fjords, seaside mountains, and alpine lakes. Many travelers flock to the nation’s South Island for those sites, but the North Island holds some of the country’s strangest depths, as well as deeper cultural connections.

The North Island is home to plenty of geothermal activity, best observed at the Wai-O-Tapu Springs in the eastern Bay of Plenty region. There, a colorful “champagne pool” bubbles with carbon dioxide, steam rises from the ground, and mud gurgles from below. Farther west, glow worms fill the caves of Waitomo, which you can visit on a guided canoe tour. Many of the guides there are Māori, who first explored the cave and found it alight with bioluminescent grubs.

Whanganui River ❘ Michael Runkel/Getty Images

Across the island, tour companies and cultural organizations run by Māori communities abound. This is due in part to the Waitangi Tribunal, which Māori citizens negotiated with the New Zealand government in 1975. This court investigates and addresses grievances related to the Crown’s enforcement of the 1840 treaty of the same name, which established the British colony there and was intended to protect Indigenous rights. Since the commission’s founding, over $2 billion in damages have been paid, and this year, the government approved $8 million in funds for Māori tourism.

Now visitors can take guided tours along the crystal clear Hamurana Springs Nature Reserve, led by descendants of the Ngāti Rangiwewehi people who first came to the area in the 14th century. Māori-run tour companies also offer guided canoe trips along the Whanganui River. Many villages across the island provide traditional and community-supported cultural experiences for tourists, such as waka (canoe) paddling, kapa haka (dance) performances, traditional pit-cooked meals, and weaving. In the Northlands region above Auckland, Māori guides walk visitors through the Waipoua Forest, home to the country’s largest living Kauri tree. This more conscious form of tourism has helped the Māori in Wai-O-Tapu implement composting, grow more than a thousand native plants, eliminate invasive species, and conserve water across the land.

KEEP WANDERING

Additional resources to learn more about the North Island

Wingspan National Bird of Prey Center Rotorua

Get to know the birds of the island.
Learn More

Atlas Obscura’s New Zealand Trip

Glowworm caves, geysers, and geological wonders.
Learn More

Wai O Tapu Thermal Pools

Geothermal wonder.
Learn More

Waitangi Tribunal

A history of the commission of inquiry.
Learn More

NZ Maori Tourism

A guide to Maori-run experiences and tours.
Learn More
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