Short answer: with under two weeks, pick one island. The North Island suits glowworms, Rotorua, Hobbiton and Kaituna rafting, with warmer weather and a cheaper, easier trip from Auckland. The South Island suits Queenstown’s adventure menu, mountains, Abel Tasman, Kaikoura’s dolphins and Milford Sound.
New Zealand is two islands with two personalities, and most backpackers only have time to do one of them properly. The North Island is volcanoes, glowworms, Hobbits and the best rafting river in the country. The South Island is Queenstown, the mountains, Abel Tasman’s beaches and swimming with wild dolphins. This is the adventure list for both, with what each activity involves, what it costs from our catalogue, and a straight answer on which island to pick if you have to choose.
North Island adventure activities
Waitomo glowworm caves
Waitomo, a few hours south of Auckland, is a limestone region riddled with caves, and the caves are lit by thousands of glowworms: the larvae of a native fungus gnat that glow blue-green to lure insects into sticky threads. Sounds grim, looks like a galaxy.
The easy version is the Waitomo Glowworm Caves tour from $66: a 45-minute guided walk through the cave and a silent boat ride under the glowworm grotto. Everyone can do this one.
Black-water rafting in Waitomo
The adventure version is black-water rafting: a wetsuit, a helmet with a headlamp, a rubber tube, and a guided float through an underground river in the dark with glowworms on the ceiling. You climb, wade, jump backwards off small waterfalls into the tube and drift. It is cold (cold enough to need a thick wetsuit) and genuinely one of the strangest things you will do in New Zealand.
Black Labyrinth is the classic three-hour trip from $149. If you want the full-day version with an abseil down into the cave and a zipline in the dark, Black Abyss is from $259 and runs about five hours.
Hobbiton
The Hobbiton Movie Set is on a working sheep farm near Matamata, about two and a half hours from Auckland, and it is the one activity that converts people who swear they do not care about the films. The 44 hobbit holes, the gardens, the mill and the Green Dragon Inn are all still there, and the guided tour ends with a drink at the inn. The Hobbiton Movie Set Tour from The Shire’s Rest is from $105 for around two and a half hours.
Kaituna River rafting (Rotorua)
The Kaituna, just outside Rotorua, is a short, steep Grade 5 river that drops over Tutea Falls, a seven-metre waterfall that is the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world. The trip is quick (about 50 minutes on the water inside a three-hour session) and intense: three waterfalls, a lot of rapids and a guide who talks you through the big drop before you go over it. No experience needed, confident swimming essential. Kaituna White Water Raft is from $109.
Rotorua is also the geothermal capital: bubbling mud, steaming vents in the parks, Māori cultural evenings and sulphur in the air. Give it two nights.
North Island skydive
Taupo, with its lake and volcanoes, is the big skydive town on the North Island, and tandems jump from 12,000 feet and higher above the lake. If you are only skydiving once, the choice between Taupo and Queenstown usually comes down to which island you are on.
South Island adventure activities
Shotover River jet boat (Queenstown)
The jet boat that started it all. The Shotover River Canyon Jet Boat Ride is 25 minutes of a shallow-draft boat skimming the Shotover River canyon at speed, inches from rock walls, with full 360-degree spins thrown in. It is short, it is loud, and it is the first thing most people do when they land in Queenstown. Wear a jacket; you will get sprayed.
Queenstown skydive
The Queenstown Tandem Skydive from 15,000 feet, from $466, is the one with the Remarkables mountain range, Lake Wakatipu and, in winter, snow under you. Around a minute of free-fall, then a long canopy ride over the valley. Queenstown air traffic and weather can bump jumps, so book early in your stay to leave room to reschedule.
Queenstown is also where you will find bungy, canyon swings, paragliding and mountain biking, so budget for more than one thing and then be honest with yourself about the money.
Abel Tasman National Park
At the top of the South Island, Abel Tasman is New Zealand’s smallest national park and its most beach-heavy: golden sand coves, clear green water, seals on the rocks and a coastal track that runs the length of the park. The way to do it is by water taxi and on foot or by kayak: get dropped at one bay, walk or paddle to the next, get picked up.
The Abel Tasman 3 Day Passport from $259 gives you water taxi access across three days to walk the track in sections, while the Abel Tasman Two Day Kayak Classic from $739 is the guided paddle with a night in the park. For a single day, the Awaroa Ambience cruise is from $109 and covers the length of the coast by boat with a walk and a beach stop.
Swimming with dolphins (Kaikoura)
Kaikoura, on the east coast between Christchurch and Picton, sits beside a deep ocean trench that brings whales, seals and huge pods of dusky dolphins close to shore. The Dolphin Encounter Swim is from $209 for around four hours: wetsuit, snorkel, a boat out to the pod, then you are in the water with wild dolphins swimming around you, sometimes hundreds of them. They are not fed or trained; you keep them interested by diving, singing through your snorkel and generally acting like a fool. Early morning trips have the calmest sea.
Milford Sound
Not an adrenaline activity, but you cannot do the South Island and skip it. Fiordland’s most famous fiord, with sheer cliffs, waterfalls and seals, is a long day from Queenstown by coach and cruise, or a shorter one if you fly one way.
North Island vs South Island: which one?
If you have under two weeks, pick one island and do it well. Here is the honest split.
Pick the North Island if you want glowworms, geothermal Rotorua, Hobbiton and the Kaituna, and you like warmer weather and beaches you can actually swim at. It is cheaper to get around and Auckland is the main international gateway.
Pick the South Island if you want mountains, Queenstown’s full adventure menu, Abel Tasman, Kaikoura’s dolphins and Milford Sound. It is the postcard New Zealand and the one most backpackers have in their head when they book the flight.
Do both if you have three weeks or more. A fully guided tour removes the planning: the NZ Adventure, 17 Days Auckland to Queenstown (linked below) is from $4,399 with fixed departure dates and a group, covering Waitomo, Rotorua, Abel Tasman, Franz Josef and Queenstown in one run. The 9-day North version (from $1,999) and South version (from $1,999) cover one island at a time.
When to go
December to February is summer: warmest, busiest, best for Abel Tasman and the Kaituna. March to May is quieter with settled weather and autumn colour around Queenstown. June to August is ski season in Queenstown and Wanaka, cold but clear, and the glowworm caves and Hobbiton run regardless. September to November is shoulder: fewer people, rivers up from snowmelt, and skydives with snow still on the peaks.
See everything bookable on our New Zealand page.
FAQs
Is black-water rafting scary?
It is dark, cold and unfamiliar, but the river is slow and the guides are with you the whole way. The waterfall jumps are a couple of metres. If you are claustrophobic, the standard glowworm cave walk is a better fit than the rafting.
Do I need to be fit for Abel Tasman?
Not especially. The coastal track is well-formed and mostly flat to rolling. Water taxis let you pick a section as short or as long as you like, and the kayak trips are guided with no prior experience needed.
Taupo or Queenstown for a skydive?
Whichever island you are on. Taupo gives you the lake and volcanoes, Queenstown gives you the mountains and lake. Both offer 15,000-foot tandems.
How do backpackers get around New Zealand?
Hop-on hop-off backpacker buses, a campervan, or a guided tour. Distances are shorter than Australia, but roads are winding and slow, so allow more time than the map suggests.
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