Image Credit: newspore.com

New Zealand’s North Island

Auckland is where most international visitors first touch down in New Zealand, but don’t think you have to leave the city for your first adrenalin rush. Head into the CBD and bungy jump off the 328 metre Sky Tower. A fantastic introduction to extreme New Zealand! Just a few hours south of Auckland is the beautiful city of Rotorua, otherwise known as Sulphur City thanks to occasional sulphurous whiffs caused by the geothermal activity in the region. If New Zealand is the extreme sports capital of the world, Rotorua could well be the extreme sports capital of New Zealand. White water rafting and sledging, jet boating, zorbing, bungy jumping, skydiving or Freefall Extreme in a skydive simulator, climbing, mountain biking or just going downhill big time on the luge. You can do all that in Rotorua and still have a long list of things to do. Just down the road, the Lake Taupo region is the place for some awesome mountain bike runs, including heli-biking. The rugged and mountainous terrain of the central North island lends itself to a whole host of extreme sports and even in the capital city of Wellington, you can sign up for activities as diverse as scuba diving and wind surfing.

New Zealand’s South Island

Cross Cook Strait – an adventure in itself if you take the ferry on a windy day – and you’re in the South Island. This is alpine country with the beautiful Southern Alps running nearly the full length of the island. It is the place for snow-based extreme sports, especially around Queenstown. Staggeringly beautiful in winter, it’s a top spot to base yourself for a bit of snowboard fun, amazing skiing, rafting, jet boating and the Shotover Canyon Swing, the world’s highest cliff jump. The West Coast’s wild rivers make for some pretty amazing white water and black water rafting, with heli-rafting taking you to some sky-high start points. You can also have a go at sea kayaking in several South Island destinations including Milford Sound, one of the natural wonders of the world.

Image Credit: snowrev.com

To go through every extreme sports activity and every place to do it would take forever. The adventure scene in New Zealand really is that diverse and crammed into a relatively small and incredibly scenic space. You’re never too far away from your next adventure, the roads are good, the food and wine even better and the people are friendly. Friendlier still, in most cases, the exchange rate! And, with increased interest in New Zealand as an extreme sports destination, there are lots of professional and safety-conscious companies offering to take you to the very best adventure hot-spots. Do you need any more reasons to make New Zealand the next stop in your extreme life?

Author Bio: Dani Bellamy is a professional writer, who loves experiencing fascinating places. She is currently exploring the world of collectable Japanese erasers at this uber Cool Pencil Case site www.coolpencilcase.com. If you would like to guest post for Extreme Sports Trader, please take a look at our guest post page.