Thermal Explorer Highway a Wonderland

“With caves lit up with glow worms, mud pools bubbling, and geysers erupting up from the ground, New Zealand’s North Island is a wonderland of stunning natural phenomena. While temperatures are starting to drop in the northern hemisphere, it’s just the early days of spring Down Under, making it an ideal time for a road trip along the Thermal Explorer Highway,” Rachel Chang writes for Travel + Leisure.

“Of course, as with any road trip, the best adventures are the most spontaneous ones on the go. But the Thermal Explorer Highway serves as an ideal throughway that connects so many of New Zealand’s highlights,” Chang writes.

These include: Wairēinga Bridal Veil Falls, Waitomo Caves, Redwoods Treewalk in Whakarewarewa Forest, Orakei Korako Geothermal Park and Cave, and Cape Kidnappers gannet colony.

Original article by Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, October 11, 2023.