New Zealand with kids

Built into old sewage tanks under the road, with a moving walkway through a shark tunnel and a penguin colony. Nineteen dollars.

The tallest building in the southern hemisphere, with glass floor panels on the observation deck. Twenty-seven dollars.

Maori and Pacific collections, a natural history floor and a daily cultural performance. Sixteen dollars and the best museum on the North Island.

Waka, migrant ships and America's Cup yachts on the waterfront, fourteen dollars. An hour, and it explains how everyone got here.

A walk-through of how film effects are made, run by the Wellington workshop. Thirty-eight dollars and better for a child who likes the making-of more than the film.

A boat in the dark under a ceiling of glowworms, in silence. Genuinely extraordinary and completely wasted on a child who is frightened of the dark.

Where the treaty between Maori and the Crown was signed in 1840, with a carved meeting house and a war canoe. Three hours north and the most important place in the country.

A maze of textures, lights and sounds to crawl through. Twenty-two dollars and squarely aimed at younger children.

Rugby, the haka and a kicking challenge. Forty dollars, and it lands whether or not anyone follows the game.

A loop of the harbour, the museum and the zoo. Thirty-four dollars and useful before you pick up a hire car.

A boat along the Coromandel cliffs to the arch, with a glass floor over the marine reserve. Two and a half hours east.

Out into the Hauraki Gulf, where Bryde's whales live year round. Sightings are never guaranteed and the boat keeps its distance.

Ninety minutes under sail on the harbour, sixty-four dollars, and children are usually allowed to take the wheel.

The Shire, kept as a permanent set with forty-four hobbit holes and a working pub at the end. Two hours south and the one thing everyone books.

The Pohutu geyser, which goes up to twenty times a day, plus a carving school and a kiwi house. Twenty-seven dollars.

Boardwalks past pools the colour of paint — the Champagne Pool and the Devil's Bath. Twenty-three dollars and the most photogenic of the thermal parks.

A village where people still cook in the steam vents, guided by the people who live there. Twenty dollars and the least staged of the cultural visits.

A sheep show with shearing and dogs, plus a farm tour. Thoroughly touristy and children under ten love it.

A working conservation hatchery where you see eggs and chicks. Forty-four dollars, and the only reliable way to actually see a kiwi.

Animal feeding, a tractor ride and a farm show, twenty-eight dollars. Gentler and cheaper than the Agrodome.

A hangi meal cooked underground, a war canoe on the stream and a performance. The standard evening here, and done well.

Rolling down a hill inside an inflatable ball, usually with water in it. Ridiculous, and the single most requested thing in Rotorua.

Exactly what it says, and twelve dollars. Rabbits wander the course while you play.

Painted illusion rooms, thirteen dollars. An hour, and useful because it rains here.

Ziplines and high ropes strung between the redwoods. Height and weight minimums apply and are checked.

An amphibious wartime vehicle that drives into three lakes. Sixty-four dollars, and the moment it enters the water is the point.

Hot mineral pools on the lake edge with a family section, nineteen dollars. The cheapest good soak in the country.

A boat to Maori carvings cut into the cliff in the 1970s, reachable only from the water. An hour south of Rotorua.

A small conservation park with kiwi, kea and tuatara, and feeding shows through the day. Thirty-seven dollars.

An underwater viewing chamber on the lakefront with trout and eels. Twelve dollars and twenty minutes.

A boat across the lake then a punt into a limestone cave under the glowworms. Smaller and quieter than Waitomo.

Illusion rooms and a large outdoor maze, nineteen dollars, an hour from Queenstown. Absorbs children for far longer than you expect.

Glow-in-the-dark indoor mini golf, twenty dollars. Exists for the evening it rains, which it will.

Quieter and wilder than Milford, reached by boat, coach and boat again. Longer, dearer and far emptier.

Across Lake Wakatipu on a 1912 coal-fired steamship to a working sheep farm. Forty-four dollars and the best-value half day here.

Ziplines down through the forest above the town, starting from the gondola top. The gentlest of Queenstown's adventure products.

Through a rock canyon at speed with 360-degree spins. Loud, wet and genuinely thrilling; there is a height minimum.

Forty-five minutes up the lake to the valley used for Isengard and Lothlorien. The drive is the attraction.

A heritage train through a gorge on a line built in the 1870s, with open viewing platforms between carriages.

A beginners package with lesson, lift pass and hire, priced for children as well as adults. June to October.

Four hours each way through the mountains, then a cruise under waterfalls into the fiord. A twelve-hour day and the best of New Zealand.

The highest mountain in the country and a lake the colour of milk. A long day, and the Hooker Valley walk at the end is flat and short.

A choice of the country's headline attractions on one ticket. Only worth it on a long trip covering both islands.

The country's only open-range zoo, with a drive-through lion reserve and a giraffe feeding platform. Twenty-three dollars.

Native species including kiwi in a night house, plus hand-feeding. Twenty-one dollars and closer to town than Orana.

Up the crater rim for a view over the city, the port and the plains. Twenty-six dollars.

A guided electric shuttle round the gardens, eighteen dollars. Useful with tired legs after the punt.

A small museum about the 2011 earthquake, told through objects and survivors' accounts. Fifteen dollars, and honest rather than sensational.

A hillside farm above the harbour where you feed and walk with the animals. Thirty-eight dollars, ninety minutes from town.

Over the Southern Alps past the limestone boulders used in Narnia. Mostly driving, with short walks.

A dark-sky reserve with the southern stars explained through Maori navigation. Thirty-four dollars, and it runs late.

A flat-bottomed boat poled through the botanic gardens by someone in Edwardian dress. Twenty-six dollars and thoroughly charming.

Hector's dolphins, the smallest in the world, live in this harbour. Sightings are common but never promised and the boat keeps its distance.

Sperm whales feed in a trench close to shore here, so sightings are more reliable than most. Two and a half hours north, and the sea is often rough.

Hot pools and water slides in an alpine village, twenty-five dollars. Ninety minutes north and built for families.

Two or three of the gondola, the punting and the tram on one ticket. Cheap, and they are all within walking distance.

The national museum, free to enter, with a colossal squid and an earthquake house. The guided tour is the paid part.

The workshop that made Lord of the Rings, with the props and the people who built them. Thirty-four dollars and the reason to come here.

First World War aircraft staged in dioramas built by Weta, across the strait at Blenheim. Fifteen dollars.

Through the Marlborough Sounds with mussels and salmon from the farms you pass. Across on the ferry from Wellington.