New Zealand’s Natural Wonders

With its mountains, glaciers, fiords, lush subtropical forest, and miles of sandy coastline, one might call New Zealand a version of paradise. These features are indeed noteworthy, but their impact will be even greater as backdrop for New Zealand’s unique complement of endemic flora and fauna found nowhere else!

On this voyage of discovery, we will become acquainted with this amazing country and its diversity through a variety of excursions both on land and at sea. Among other places, we visit the incomparable lushness of Pureora Forest Reserve with its 1000-year-old trees and endemic birds. We will engage in a night-time search for the flightless Southern Brown Kiwi, one of the nation’s five kiwi species that lend the human inhabitants of this country their name. Elsewhere, a boat tour off the Kaikoura Peninsula will lead us to Sperm Whales as they feed in the nutrient-rich waters. At Milford Sound we will cruise on the deep, icy blue waterways to search for dolphins, fur seals and the rare Fiordland Penguin. The country’s wildlife and wild spaces are juxtaposed with the pastoral agricultural settings where we will appreciate the importance that sheep farming has had here. We will also have the chance to experience some of New Zealand’s seismic features such as steaming geysers and boiling mud. All throughout, your “kiwi” tour guide will provide real time interpretation of what we are seeing and experiencing and provide context to our discoveries.

Join Professor Greta Binford and fellow alumni and friends of Lewis & Clark to discover New Zealand!