Wild About New Zealand

New Zealand's biggest national park, Fiordland, is one of the largest in the world. It contains a wide range of geographic features, from deep fiords, glacial lakes, and mountains to waterfalls.

Abel Tasman, with many tidal inlets and golden sand beaches, is New Zealand's smallest national park outside of Tasman Bay; Nelson Lakes stretches southward from the forested shores of Lake Rotoiti and Rotorua to the Lewis Pass National Reserve.

The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park houses more than 50 islands on the outskirts of Auckland; most islands are open to the public while some are sanctuaries for endangered species as well as five marine reserves.

Westland, home of the well-used Heaphy Track, is New Zealand's second-largest national park. Gus visits a rugged, remote South Island landscape wedged between the Tasman Sea and the great Southern Alps.

Aoraki/Mount Cook houses New Zealand's highest mountain and its longest glacier, Tasman Glacier, making it a hotspot for mountaineering, ski touring and scenic flights.

Whanganui includes areas of Crown land, state forest and many former reserves; New Zealand's first national park, Tongariro, is recognised as a World Heritage Site with several sacred Maori places and three active volcanoes.