Nature in New Zealand

Discover 20 places to experience unusual nature in New Zealand.

Omarama Clay Cliffs

Quailburn, New Zealand

Omarama Clay Cliffs

Towering earthen formations that rise straight out of the ground in New Zealand .

Boulders.

Glenduan, New Zealand

Boulder Bank

An unusual snaking bank of boulders caused by longshore drift.

Muriwai, New Zealand

Muriwai Gannet Colony

New Zealand's west coast is one of the best places in the world to view these large seabirds.

The trees against an ominous sky.

Slope Point, New Zealand

Slope Point

The most southerly spot on New Zealand's South Island is home to surreally shaped, permanently mangled trees.

Rere Rockslide

Rere, New Zealand

Rere Rockslide

Nature's slip and slide.

Mount Sunday

Ashburton Lakes, New Zealand

Mount Sunday

Edoras, capital city of Rohan in Lord of the Rings, once sat atop this isolated New Zealand mountain.

The Tree Church

Ohaupo, New Zealand

The Tree Church

One man's dream has turned into this naturally growing chapel made of almost nothing but trees.

Devil's Bath

Waiotapu, New Zealand

Devil's Bath

This electric green sulphur lake in New Zealand looks like a cartoonish radioactive dump site.

View in an ice cave

Fox Glacier, New Zealand

Fox Glacier

A glacier pocked with ice caves and surrounded by rainforests.

Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Milford Sound, New Zealand

Milford Sound

Dolphins, ancient clams and hundreds of waterfalls make this one of the world's top tourist destinations.

South Island, New Zealand

Franz Josef Glacier

The glacier tucked within a New Zealand rainforest.

Punakaiki, New Zealand

Pancake Rocks

This strange geological landscape erupts with sudden bursts of water.

The steaming waters of Lake Rotomahana

Waimangu, New Zealand

Lake Rotomahana

The once and future home of New Zealand's famed Pink and White Terraces.

Waimangu, New Zealand

Frying Pan Lake

Deadly scalding and one of the largest hot springs in the world.

(Flickr/Eliduke)

Hot Water Beach, New Zealand

Hot Water Beach

Handcrafted thermal spa washes away each night with the tide.

Collage of the tunnel at Tunnel Beach, Dunedin, New Zealand, showing the beginning, a look backwards up the tunnel, and a view of the beach at the end of the tunnel. (Wikimedia Commons)

Dunedin, New Zealand

Tunnel Beach

Known for the tunnel that leads visitors to the water.