Two ways to go: should North or South Island be top of your list?

By Amy Cooper

Aotearoa is a beauty from head to toe, but below the belt is where you'll find peak New Zealand - and I mean peak in every sense. The South Island may be the bottom half, but it's tops for natural highs. This is mountain country, with the dramatic contours of the Southern Alps running the length of the island like a silvery spine amid glacial valleys and lakes, panoramic passes and a winter wonderland of snow sports.

Edmund Hillary honed his Everest skills here on Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest peak. The ocean-to-sky mountains in stunning Milford Sound moved Rudyard Kipling to pronounce it "the eighth wonder of the world". Fiordland's Mount Kidd is so beautiful it made the actors in TV show Rings of Power cry when they shot on location there.

Gandalf himself could only dream of weaving magic like these spellbinding slopes, forests and plateaus. A magnet for Tolkien tragics flocking to see Lord of the Rings locations, Middle Earth is so much more magnificent in real life.

And the wines - oh, my precious. They're as sensational as the landscape. While the North Island has more wineries, NZ's most famous drops are born down here in the world's southernmost vineyards, where cooler climates and ocean breezes make for vivid, vibrant flavours. This is the home of the mighty Marlborough sauvignon blancs and powerful, plush Central Otago pinot noirs, but between those two superstar regions is a tapestry of terroir, with places like Nelson and North Canterbury rich with sub-regions and small, exceptional wineries focused on organic and biodynamic winemaking.

And then there's Queenstown, where the 24/7 party hasn't stopped since the 19th-century gold rush. This ebullient little alpine resort with a giant appetite for fun makes your average city seem soporific, with a dedication to good times that starts on The Remarkables (not a superhero ensemble movie, but another scenic mountain range) and plummets, hurls and spins right up to the door of an embarrassment of bars - one for every 75 people.

It's the southern hemisphere's thrill-seeking capital, and whether for you that means dancing at a vertiginous open-air concert up on Coronet Peak, bouncing on a bungee rope, hurtling down a black run, skydiving, or any number of insane adrenalin activities, there is no better place beneath the equator. But when it's time for tranquillity, you'll find it in some of the most remote and pristine places on earth. About 77 per cent of New Zealand's population lives up on the North Island, which is probably the best reason to love the South Island. If you'd rather swap crowds for lofty alpine passes, rare wild birds, ethereal snowscapes and blissful bike rides through ocean-flanked vineyards, this is your kingdom.

By Mal Chenu

New Zealand is heaps chur, eh bro? All of it. Well, except for the sully lungo and eccint. It's like Australia used to be before we got all serious about stuff. Kiwis still know how to take the puss.

Advocating for one of the islands is like being asked to choose your favourite cuz, but if pressed, it's the North Island for me. And for most Kiwis, too, as only a quarter choose to call the South Island home.

For starters, the North Island has a reasonable climate with normal seasons, whereas the South Island boasts six seasons, four of which are winter.

And unless you're skiing at Queenstown, which is mainly populated by rich Aussies anyway, it's pretty miserable during three of these winters.

The North Island has a lot more to see and do and the further north you go, the better it gets.

There's the sunshine, gorges, coves and pristine beaches of The Coromandel Peninsula. The pretty towns and actual warm waters in the Bay of Islands. And the spectacular Hauraki Gulf and Waiheke Island, which lies between them.

As a more compact destination, the many highlights on the North Island are much closer together, whereas it can be hours between Four Square supermarkets on the South Island.

For culture, it's North all the way. Indeed, the highest achievement in Kiwi culcha, (maybe after John Clarke's Fred Dagg) is the renowned cartoon strip Footrot Flats, which is set on a farm on the North Island. Wal and Dog also inspired the New Zealand national anthem - and the world's worst earworm - Slice of Heaven by Dave Dobbyn. (You're welcome.)

Auckland has a reasonable harbour, as long as you're not from Sydney, and the City of Sails is as good a yachting experience as there is.

Afterwards, you can enjoy a gin at The Churchill and a feed at Orbit 360 Dining - the revolving restaurant atop the Sky Tower - before you head to Eden Park to watch the Wallabies get their arses handed to them by the All Blacks.

In Wellington, where the cable car puts the fun back into funicular, you can also visit the superb Te Papa museum, the World of WearableArt, Zealandia ecosanctuary and Sky Stadium, where the Wallabies get their arses handed to them by the All Blacks.

The 70-hectare geothermal wonderland of Te Puia in Rotorua redolently showcases the world-famous Pohutu geyser, as well as mud pools, hot springs and Maori arts and crafts. And near Hamilton, check out the Waitomo Caves and Hobbiton Movie Set.

If you're heading east across the dutch from the West Island, go North.