7 Best Sights in Upper South Island and the West Coast, New Zealand

One of New Zealand's most easily accessible parks is also one of the most visited, thanks to its golden sand beaches, sculptured granite headlands, and forest-lined tidal inlets and islands. Unlike other South Island parks, Abel Tasman has few extremes in weather, and its coastal track, one of the Great Walks, is an ideal place to explore without the need of serious technical equipment or experience. Day and multiday trips, walking, sea-kayaking, sailing, scenic cruises, and combos of all of these are popular ways to explore the area. Keep in mind in the peak summer holiday season (Christmas to late January) this area is very busy, and you will rarely be on that dream beach alone. Any time of the year, however, is perfectly suitable for an Abel Tasman trip. The small settlements of Kaiteriteri and Marahau are the main gateways to the national park, both at the southern end and 20- to 40-minutes' drive from Motueka. Stop first at the Nelson or Motueka i-SITE Visitor Centre for maps and information. If you're planning to stop overnight at any of the Department of Conservation's campsites or huts along the Abel Tasman Coast Track, you need to book ahead. You can do this online or at the Nelson or Motueka i-SITE. It pays to book well ahead, especially in summer. Water taxis service the coastline, and they drop-off or pick-up at many points along the way. At the northern end of the park, a road leads from Golden Bay through the park to Totaranui, where there is a large Department of Conservation campground and long, beautiful beach. This is a popular start/finish point for those walking the Abel Tasman Coast Track.

Jane Hunter is an internationally respected winemaker and a pioneer of wine making in Marlborough. A visit to her wine cellar, a restored old farm house, is a delight. You can also savor wine with an artisan cheese and meat board in the 5-acre garden, an environmental showpiece for the rare native plants it protects. There’s also a regular artist-in-residence. Famous Hunter wines include the Kaho Roa (oak-aged sauvignon blanc), pinot noir, and the Miru Miru (Māori for "bubbles").

Kahurangi is a vast wilderness of marbled karst mountains; glaciated landforms; alpine tablelands; rivers; alpine tarns; and beech, podocarp, and coastal rain forests. Underground are the country’s longest, deepest, and oldest cave systems. Multiday hikes, short walks, caving, extreme rafting, fly-fishing, and hunting are what people like to do here. Kahurangi National Park spans 1.1 million acres, much of it untamed, yet crisscrossed by 570 km (353 miles) of hiking trails of various levels. Most well known is the four- to five-day Heaphy Track, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks. Probably the most popular road access from Nelson is the steep, slightly scary climb to Flora Carpark on Mt. Arthur, and from Golden Bay its into the Cobb Valley. The main West Coast access is through Karamea; this is also the southwestern entry to the Heaphy Track. Helicopters regularly transport fishing fans to secret river spots, though large areas of the park are designated wilderness, where no development or helicopter transport is permitted.

See a superb collection of 150 immaculate vintage cars from over 100 years of motoring, ranging from a 1908 Renault AX to classics of the 1950s—including Vauxhalls, Triumphs, and Cadillacs—through to the exquisite mastery of Ferrari and Jaguar.

War stories are brought to life with actual historic planes placed in settings dramatized by New Zealand's Oscar-winning special-effects teams Weta Digital and Wingnut Films. The planes are from famed director Sir Peter Jackson's collection. World War I–era planes, and the stories of their pilots, are showcased in the Knights of the Sky exhibition. Dangerous Skies focuses on aviation development during World War II. There's also a café and shop.

Picton is the entryway to the Queen Charlotte Track, which stretches 73.5 km (45 miles) along peninsulas, around inlets, and on ridgetops, playing hide-and-seek with the Marlborough Sounds along the way. The Department of Conservation provides a few camping areas, but there is also a variety of other accommodations, including backpacker hostels, lodges, and plush resorts. (Booking ahead for any type you choose is advised.) Boat companies Cougar Line or Beachcomber Cruises can drop you at various places for one- to four-day walks (guided or unguided). You can also mountain-bike on this track—it's the longest single track ride in New Zealand. (The outermost section, Ship Cove to Keneperu Sound, is closed to bikes from December 1 to February 28). The boat companies can deliver and retrieve you and your bike to and from points along the track. For walkers and bikers they'll also carry your luggage between overnight stops. Some of the track passes through private land. Track users must buy a Queen Charlotte Track Pass, which contributes toward track maintenance.

The track has steep inclines and long drop-offs, and the weather can be unpredictable. It also gets busy in summer, and is part of Te Araroa, the Long Pathway walking trail that runs the length of New Zealand. Though it's relatively easy to access, the track shouldn't be taken lightly.

Here you can see firsthand the Department of Conservation's successful breeding program of the rare kiwi species, the rowi. You can see a few rowi in the Nocturnal House, but by far the best option is to witness the incubation and rearing program in the Kiwi Backstage Tour. If your timing is lucky, perhaps you’ll see a hatching chick. Other displays here include the West Coast storytelling hut, where you can learn from the "old-timers" and undertake a quite lifelike glacial exploration.