Apr 20, 20214 min read

Invigorating Autumn in New Zealand

Autumn is the favourite season of many, including me. Autumn in New Zealand is especially mesmerizing, with clear blue skies and foliage ablaze with golden colours. Whether you fly into Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, you’ll find curious, sensual, only-in-New Zealand, autumn experiences in all four corners of the two main islands. Let me take you on a journey to explore New Zealand in Autumn with your five senses.

Hamilton Gardens © Mark Hamilton Photography

Touch: Let your fingers do the walking

Get in touch with nature as you cross the sands on a deserted beach. Southeast of Auckland on the languid Bay of Plenty coast, Moutohora Island is a world away. The cool autumn air is a perfect match for the warm thermal beach pools and the squelch of sand between your toes.

Head south to Wellington, and the Museum of New Zealand where you can run your fingers over the glossy, soothing surface of a pounamu boulder – the deep green New Zealand jade – and learn how important it is to Māori culture.

Just across the waters of Cook Strait in sunny Marlborough, EcoWorld Aquarium in Picton, is the place to get a feel for one of the world’s oldest reptilian species, the tuatara. Touch the wizened, gnarled skin of this ancient living fossil at the ‘Meet the Locals’ events.

Tuatara © Phil Brown www.sanctuarymountain.co.nz

Taste: Flavoursome autumn fun

Each year in May, seafood fans set off for Southland – in southern New Zealand – for the Bluff Oyster Festival, where music, entertainment, wild foods, seafood, oysters and local beverages take centre stage.

However, if you’d prefer something from the land, make you way from Auckland to the Waiheke Wine & Food Festival in early April to sample some of New Zealand’s best reds along with some local cuisine.

And then there’s the feijoa — the humble ‘pineapple guava’ fruit that makes New Zealanders living abroad feel homesick. All around the more temperate parts of Aotearoa, you’ll find roadside stalls stacked with fruit from late March to June. If you miss the short season sample golden feijoa wine at Lothlorien Winery near Matakana, north of Auckland.

Bluff Oyster Festival © Venture Southland

Listen: Sounds like paradise

The sound of kiwis calling to each other at night is one of the most evocative sounds in New Zealand. Pitch your tent on Aroha Island, a beautiful 12-hectare sanctuary on the shores of the Kerikeri Inlet – in the Bay of islands, north of Auckland – and listen out for the kiwi’s distinctive, high-pitched call.

The burping and belching of the fascinating mud pools in the North Island’s Rotorua region are an aural reminder of the earth’s geothermal wonder. Hells Gate has mud you can bathe in; elsewhere in the region you’ll find hissing geysers erupting up to 20 times a day (Te Puia) and rumbling geothermal caverns (Wai-o-Tapu).

Less of a natural sound but just as stirring, The Bay of Islands Country Rock Festival each May is based around Paihia and features great music in a spectacular setting with more than 50 local and international acts.

Belching Mud Pools © Destination Rotorua Marketing

Smell: The nose knows

The North Island’s central volcanic regions are a playground for rich outdoor adventures and sensual experiences.

Deep in the heart of the Waikato, in the small country town of Te Aroha, you can relax in natural soda waters sourced from springs deep under bush-clad Mt Te Aroha. The silky texture and remedial properties of the waters at Te Aroha Mineral Spa have been attracting visitors for centuries. Fill your bottle or go for deep immersion in a slipper bath complete with aromatherapy – and breathe deeply.

Further south, the North Island’s Chateau Tongariro is one of the most beautiful hotels in New Zealand. Built in 1929, its Neo-Georgian grandeur is the perfect place to inhale crisp, clean mountain air and relax after a thrilling day on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing – where you might just get a whiff of volcanic thermals.

If you’re looking to get away from it all, you may prefer to take a walk on the green side on one of New Zealand’s nine great walking trails – a multi-day experience in a remote South Island wilderness or just a couple of hours in Wellington’s Zealandia Eco-sanctuary is as far as you need to go to inhale the earthy perfume of the forest floor underfoot.

See: The eyes have it

Forgotten World Adventures – based out of the central North Island town of Taumarunui – allows visitors to pilot modified rail carts or pedal rail bikes along more than 142 kilometres of disused railway tracks, through established deciduous trees that look astonishing in autumn. The apple trees will just be ripening.

For the past three years, the annual Great Easter Sunday Long Brunch, has taken place within the grounds of Wairakei Resort on the northern fringe of Lake Taupo. The perfectly manicured garden is a treat for the eyes while the brunch with a jazz band takes care of the ears and tastebuds too.

But you haven’t seen it all until you’ve discovered the magnificent Southern Alps – the mountain range extending the length of the South Island – and the skies above the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. The heavenly reserve of nearly 4300 square kilometres of night skies is protected from light pollution, making a visit to the area’s Mount John Observatory, above Lake Tekapo, a must-do for star-gazers.

With so much to see and do, I can't wait to experience autumn in New Zealand soon!