If it seems like New Zealand is the capital of the adventure travel world, that's because it is. Local liability laws have made it easier for small businesses to launch people off cliffs and bungee jump off bridges. The South Island in particular, known for its outrageously beautiful mountains, national parks, and fjords, has become an adrenaline-junkie destination unto itself, with Queenstown as its gateway. Not to be outdone, the North Island has some of the best volcano hikes in the country, though we're warned to steer clear of one of the most famous—the so-called "Lord of the Rings" volcano, Mount Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park—because it's grown more active in recent years. (Redirect your Hobbit pilgrimage to the Shire for now.)
You can pinball across the islands testing your limits, or you can focus on the South, where the biggest and baddest activities happen. Just follow this map for thrill seekers.
NORTH ISLAND
1. Hike an active volcano on White Island.
"Roaring steam vents. Bubbling pits of mud. Hot volcanic streams. An amazing lake of steaming acid." Don't take our word for it—this is how White Island Tours describes a casual trip to the inner crater of NZ's only active marine volcano. Take a boat from Whakatāne to White Island in the Bay of Plenty; from there, spend a couple hours walking the crater (no climbing required) and learning about the geology of the place. Don't worry: There's only "minor volcanic unrest."
2. Abseil (rappel) into the Waitomo Glowworm Caves at night.
"Leave it to New Zealand to make even worms look beautiful," says Traveler's Caitlin Morton. "The Waitomo Caves hold thousands of bioluminescent larvae that leave long strings of mucus (sounds gross, looks dazzling) and glow like a subterranean Milky Way." Sure, you can see them by boat, but we double dare you to abseil 150 feet down into the canyon at night for the full, otherworldly effect.
3. Do your best hamster impression by Zorbing in Rotorua.
By now, we've all encountered those giant inflatable balls you crawl inside, then topple in—end over end—down a grassy hill. Maybe you had to do it as a team-building exercise (poor you). Maybe you saw a bunch of bros do it across the college quad. Did you know it's called Zorbing, and it's been around since the mid-'90s? Credit the Kiwis with this one, too. You can roll in Rotorua down slick, grassy tracks, with plenty of competing Zorb operators to choose from.
SOUTH ISLAND
4. Go canyoning in Abel Tasman National Park.
What's canyoning? Basically a chance to fling yourself down into a mountain stream. We've seen people just...jump, feet first, off the edge of a waterfall; others rappel or zipline for a more controlled descent into a pool of water below. It's no less wet. And you can try it half a dozen ways in Abel Tasman National Park, NZ's smallest national park, but one of its most brilliant.
5. Heli-hike across Franz Josef Glacier.
Heli-skiing is so last year. Now, we're heli-hiking—taking a helicopter over the Southern Alps (or the Misty Mountains, to the nerdier among us) to ultimately land on the 7.5-mile-long Franz Josef Glacier, so named for Austrian Emperor Franz Josef in 1865. Then it's a "moderate" three-hour guided hike across the blindingly bright blue ice.
6. Pair bungee jumping with jet boating in Queenstown.
Thank Kiwi AJ Hackett for bringing bungee jumping to the masses more than 25 years ago. Now you can launch yourself off the Kawarau Bridge—the original site—or strap into the Nevis Bungy, the highest in the country, at 134 meters (or 439.6 feet) above Queenstown. With eight and a half seconds of freefall, it's one of the best rushes out there. And why stop there? Unwind (ha) on a jet boat, one of the more accessible thrills in the South Island, and shoot through canyons and over rapids at upwards of 50 mph. Shotover Jet has been navigating Shotover Canyons longer than Hackett has been leaping off bridges.
7. River surf the Kawarau.
This sport was born in the unlikely surf city of Munich, about 300 miles from a coast, and has since caught on in the Queenstown area. All it takes it a wetsuit, helmet, boogie board, and nerves of steel to ride the crests in rapid-heavy stretches of the Kawarau River.
8. Tramp through Fiordland National Park.
Let's get this out of the way: "Tramping" in NZ is hiking. It's a national pastime, with nine "Great Walks" along mountain faces, through dense, electric green forests, and past waterfalls on both islands. We highly recommend Ultimate Hikes' trips along the Routeburn Track (keep an eye out for the Valley of the Trolls) and Milford Sound in the Fiordlands. You get to power hike by day and crash in a heated lodge with a three-course meal paired with wine at night. After all that extreme living, you've earned it.