Northland

Northland is where New Zealand begins — in history, in landscape, and in spirit. The Bay of Islands is the country's most storied coastline: 144 islands scattered across a sheltered harbour where dolphins leap in the wake of sailing yachts and the light turns the water to hammered copper at dusk. The Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the founding document of modern New Zealand was signed in 1840, is one of the most significant cultural sites in the Pacific.

Further west, the Hokianga Harbour offers something rarer still — a place largely untouched by mass tourism, where vast sand dunes roll down to a harbour framed by ancient kauri trees. The Waipoua Forest is home to Tāne Mahuta, the largest living kauri tree on earth, and a guided night walk here, torch-lit and led by a Māori kaitiaki (guardian), is among the most humbling experiences in the country.

For guests arriving or departing via The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs — set on 6,000 acres of coastal estate above the Pacific — Northland delivers a beginning to any New Zealand journey that is impossible to follow without effort.