NEW ZEALAND: NORTH & SOUTH ISLAND
While New Zealand has landed on the top of many Americans’ bucket lists, there’s still a handful of locations that remain well off the tourist trial. A Nantucketer ought to begin their Kiwi adventure to the north at the Bay of Islands where Nantucket whalers once found safe harbor in the 1800s. Here you can stay at one of only six Relais & Châteaux properties in New Zealand, Robertson Lodges at Kauri Cliffs with its PGA-worthy golf course—recently named one of the 100 Greatest Golf Courses in the World by Golf Digest. From the Bay of Islands, take a seaplane south to Waiheke, a tiny island off the coast of Auckland that’s reminiscent of Nantucket fifty years ago.
Cap off the adventure in Queenstown on the South Island. The birthplace of bungee jumping, this lakeside town bustles with adrenaline. The newly opened QT Queenstown offers the perfect jump-off point for adventuring—quite literally. Guests can walk directly out the entrance to the trailhead leading up the Ben Lomond, the 5,735-foot peak looming over town—where the legendary Ledge Bungy Jump is located. For a cushier adventure, hop on the Fiordland Jewel, a luxury liner equipped with on-deck hot tubs, three-course dinners and nine king cabins that will tour you from Queenstown to the mesmerizing natural wonder of Milford Sound.
