New Zealand

Karen Plimmer / Via i1276.photobucket.com, touropia.com, buzzfeed.com, buzzfeed.com, htt

The “World’s Most Beautiful Island-Nation” is so stunning that it even makes the Top 3 for Beautiful Countries. It’s hard to know where to begin with such a scenically magnificent place.

Wellington has been named one of the ten most beautiful small cities, and Auckland is famously attractive with a host of beaches dotted around its fascinating isthmus setting. Queentown is the obvious ‘urban’ scenic highlight of the country, because it is so stunningly situated on Lake Wakatipu in the shade of ‘The Remarkables’ mountain range. It’s no wonder it has been named one of the five most beautiful towns in the world.
Of course, though New Zealand’s urban centres are very pleasant, they tend not to be the scenic highlight compared to the stunning natural beauty of the country. Not many places could pass for everything from Mordor to Rivendell, but Peter Jackson’s home country is the obvious country that does!
Only a stone’s throw from Queenstown is Fiordland National Park, home to Milford Sound. Arguably the scenic highlight of the whole country, the Sound has been rated Most Beautiful Fjord in the World and in 2008 was named World’s Top Travel Destination by Traveller’s Choice. The Mitre rises over a mile above the deathly still waters of the sound, in which pods of dolphins and sometimes even whales can be seen.
Nearby Doubtful Sound and Earnslaw Burn are almost as magnificent, and the Southern Alps are amongst the most beautiful mountains on Earth. Mount Cook or ‘Aoraki’ as it is known in local Maori has likewise been named the eighth Greatest Mountain in the World.
The Glowworm caves of Waitomo are a world wonder, as are the magnificent Kauri Forests of the far North Island. Tāne Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere are the most famous trees in New Zealand, and some of the most incredible in the world. The Kauris are magnificent, and said to have the fourth largest tree volume of any tree species in the world thanks to Tāne Mahuta. Discovering them while walking through the incredible Waipoua Forest, complete with the magnificent ferns for which New Zealand is famous, is an incredible experience.
The Coromandel Peninsula boasts one of the most beautiful coastal drives in the world. The Waikato river is so blue it’s hard to believe it’s real. Of course many of the country’s rivers are an unbelievably blue colour due to the glaciers that feed them! The Franz Josef Glacier is maybe most famous of all, but the Fox Glacier literally ends in rain forest!
New Zealand’s coast is one of the most beautiful on Earth, and Rotorua Geysers are second in the world only to Yellowstone in terms of geothermal activity. Sutherland Falls, in Fiordland, has been named one of the most amazing waterfalls in the world, and Lake Pukaki one of the three most beautiful lakes in the world. Unbelievably, Tekopo, Taupo and Wanaka seem just as beautiful!
Aotearoa, “The Land of The Long White Cloud” is not only the Most Beautiful Island Nation in all the world, it is beyond any question one of the most beautiful countries on our beautiful planet.