South Island

Incredibly diverse, crazily adventurous and breathtakingly beautiful: you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the many highs of New Zealand’s pristine South Island.

The Māori name for this far-flung South Pacific island is Te Waka a Māui (Māui's canoe), with the top end’s Marlborough Sounds representing the ripples around its bow. At first glance, the adrenalin-addicted Kiwis here seem to love challenging fate, but you only have to follow them on their rafts, snowboards, mountain bikes, ice shoes, bouncy bungy cords or jet boats to understand it’s actually all about feeling more alive than ever.