Taranaki

Mount Taranaki rises from the Taranaki coast with an almost implausible symmetry — a near-perfect volcanic cone, snow-capped for much of the year, ringed by an ancient forest that clings to its flanks like a cloak. The mountain is sacred to Taranaki Māori and dominates every view from the city of New Plymouth, which sits on the coast below.

New Plymouth itself surprises. The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is among the finest contemporary art institutions in Australasia. Pukekura Park is extraordinary — a garden of subtropical plants and illuminated lily ponds. And Len Lye, the kinetic sculptor whose works spin and shimmer at the Len Lye Centre, was born here. The surf coast from Oakura to Ōākura is world-class; the ring road around the mountain is one of New Zealand's great drives. Taranaki rewards those who stray from the well-trodden path.