Stewart Island was the furthest south I've been. And worth going south - it felt like one had crossed from where nature was tamed to where wilderness reigned. So green, so lush, out of the rat race. I could easily have spent more days here. Wekas patrolled the beaches innocent of the serpents civilisation has introduced to most of New Zealand.

The "Spellbound" tour at Waitomo had a splendid glide down a subterranean river towards a waterfall - overhead the glow-worms glowed like stars. Great, and there was solid commentary from our guide about their life-cycle.

Fiordland is majestic - Doubtful Sound may have been less tourist infested but Milford Sound had stunning scenery. On the way to Milford Sound from Te Anau Cascade Creek had a wondrous beech (not true European beech) forest where green moss covered everything like unearthly snow.

To remember long are the minutes of enchanting fernbirds to appear at Tautuku Estuary. Thanks to my guide Wynston and his CD of bird songs I did eventually see the furtive striped brown avians. Perhaps not the most beautiful winged forms, but rarity and difficulty add glamour. Familiarity breeds contempt.