Places christiesmiles Wants to Go

Largest Kauri tree in New Zealand.

One of New Zealand’s few castles boasts beautiful gardens, grand architecture, and a history filled with family drama.

Handcrafted thermal spa washes away each night with the tide.

The platform atop this verdant volcano was built with the help of a royal elephant.

Watch the seas clash at the place where according to Maori tradition, the spirits depart for their journey to the afterlife.

New Zealand's epic shrine to all things puzzling.

Highly spherical boulders on the shores of New Zealand.

The premier place to experience the Victorian imagining of the steam-powered future.

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauo tamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronuku pokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

The once and future home of New Zealand's famed Pink and White Terraces.

A lakeside garden in the Southern Alps full of whimsical artwork and thousands of beautiful flowers.

Modern art meets modern convenience in possibly the world's most architecturally important public bathroom.

Deadly scalding and one of the largest hot springs in the world.

This unusual rock formation looks like an apple that has been neatly sliced in half.

One of the world's steepest streets seems to have houses sliding down it.

The glacier tucked within a New Zealand rainforest.

The world's only complete colossal squid specimen is on display at the Te Papa Museum.

These phallic stone spires once served as Tolkien's Paths of the Dead.

Major tourist destination known for its bubbling mud-pools and hot thermal springs.

This strange geological landscape erupts with sudden bursts of water.

A Maori village obliterated by an 1886 volcanic eruption.

A galaxy of glowworms—larvae of a gnat—hides deep in the belly of these caves.

A gigantic sculpture garden is packed with innovative oddities.

A solitary tree has grown up all alone on Lake Wānaka, backdropped by the beautiful Southern Alps.