Like gondoliers, punt skippers await business on shady banks of the Avon River in central Christchurch, New Zealand.

Tour boat TSS Earnslaw steams across Lake Wakatipu to sheep station at Walter Peak High Country Farm; Queenstown, New Zealand.

The Remarkables mountain range towers over treelined shore of Lake Wakatipu as Shotover tour boat races by; Queenstown, NZ

Gentle waves lap the shores of Lake Wakatipu as mountains loom in distance near Queenstown, New Zealand.

Shops and cafes overlook calm summer waters of the Bay of Islands at Paihia, New Zealand.

View from high point of Roberton Island of some of the 144 islands in Bay of Islands Maritime Park near Paihia, New Zealand.

View from high point of Roberton Island of the cruise ship Clipper Odyssey in Bay of Islands Maritime Park; Paihia, New Zealand.

Pied shags, or cormorants, rest on rock ledge in the Aldermen Islands off the Coromandel Peninsula; New Zealand.

Passengers in Zodiac explore the outpost isles of the uninhabited Aldermen Islands off the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand.

Passengers in Zodiac explore the rocky shores of the Aldermen Islands off the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand.

Maori men and women perform traditional greeting song and dance at Waimangu Volcanic Valley; Rotorua, New Zealand.

Tattooed Maori man performs ritual challenge and greeting with fighting stick at Waimangu Volcanic Valley; Rotorua, New Zealand

Feathered Maori man performs ritual challenge and greeting with heavy stick at Waimangu Volcanic Valley; Rotorua, New Zealand

Tattooed Maori women perform traditional dance with small pompons at Waimangu Volcanic Valley; Rotorua, New Zealand.

Geothermal steam cloud shrouds White Island, nation's most active volcano, mined for sulfur until fatal 1914 eruption; Bay of Plenty, NZ

White Island, NZ's most active volcano at north end of Taupo-Rotorua fault, cloaked in geothermal cloud at sunset; Bay of Plenty, NZ

White Island, NZ's most active volcano at north end of Taupo-Rotorua fault, cloaked in geothermal cloud at sunset; Bay of Plenty, NZ

At sunset a veil of geothermal steam fills the caldera of White Island, NZ's most active volcano; Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

Orange sunset, framed by steep cliffs of White Island, NZ's most active volcano at north end of Taupo-Rotorua fault; Bay of Plenty, NZ

Passengers admire coastal scenery from deck of Clipper Odyssey cruise ship at sunset; Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

Silver-haired woman admires coastal scenery at sunset thru spotting scope from the Clipper Odyssey's deck; Bay of Plenty, NZ

Australasian gannet (Sula serrator) soars against blue sky at Cape Kidnappers colony, largest and most accessible in New Zealand.

Australasian gannet (Sula serrator) hovers for landing at Cape Kidnappers colony, largest and most accessible in New Zealand.

Australasian gannets pass nesting material between beaks at Cape Kidnappers colony, largest and most accessible in New Zealand.

Australasian gannets greet one another by rubbing beaks at Cape Kidnappers colony, largest and most accessible in New Zealand.

Portrait of endemic yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes), world's rarest, reveals distinctive iris; Otago Peninsula, NZ

New Zealand robin (Petroica australis) is a highly tame bird found on Motuara Island; Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand.

Weka, or woodhen, is a rail family member that forages forest floors and swamps for insects, etc; Ship Cove, Marlborough Sounds, NZ

Group of hikers crosses beach on 32-mile-long Coast Track in Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand.

Group of hikers pauses to admire foliage on 32-mile-long Coast Track in Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand.

Ferns frame ocean view on 32-mile-long Coast Track in Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand.

Father and daughter put on shoes after washing feet in stream on beach on 32-mile-long Coast Track in Abel Tasman NP; NZ

Cruise lecturer Paddy Ryan shows guests earthen mound formed by burrowing bees on Coast Track; Abel Tasman NP, New Zealand

Monument marks Ship Cove where Captain Cook stopped five times on various sailing expeditions; Queen Charlotte Sound, NZ

View of Queen Charlotte Sound from atop lookout platform on Motuara Island, Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.

Vineyards carpet Wairau Valley, seen from Knob Point at Montana Wines' Brancott Estate; Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand

Cruise ship Clipper Odyssey anchors close to shore beneath coastal mountains; Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Captain Mike Taylor stands outside the bridge as he guides his cruise ship Clipper Odyssey along the Otago Peninsula; New Zealand.

Bagpiper on wharf serenades cruise ship Clipper Odyssey before its departure from Scot-settled town of Dunedin, New Zealand.

Well-bundled woman sits outside bridge on cruise ship Clipper Odyssey as it passes Otago Peninsula at sunset; Dunedin, NZ

Otira Viaduct on State Highway 73, completed 1999, spans Otira River and fault zone high in the Southern Alps of New Zealand.

Cruise line expedition leader John Kernan takes passengers in Zodiac for visit to Captain Cook's Astronomer's Point; Dusky Sound, NZ

Three-masted sailing ship cruises past cloud-shrouded mountains of Doubtful Sound; Fiordland National Park, New Zealand.

Deck hand swabs sun deck in stormy weather as Clipper Odyssey cruise ship explores Fiordland Natl Park, New Zealand.

Red tour boat sets off on trip around Milford Sound; Fiordland National Park, New Zealand.

Tender boat, 'Tender Love,' plies waters of Milford Sound; Fiordland National Park, New Zealand.

Boardwalk overlooks Pohutu Geyser which erupts hourly up to 100' high at Whakarewarewa Thermal Area; Rotorua, New Zealand.

Black swan cuts graceful wake across the calm waters of Lake Rotomahana at Waimangu Volcanic Valley; Rotorua, New Zealand.

Purple lupine blossoms in high summer in alpine field at Arthur's Pass village; New Zealand.

Evening sun reflects off building's corrugated iron siding as couple walks onto main dock in Halfmoon Bay; Oban, Stewart Is, NZ

Sailboat glides across Halfmoon Bay at sunset; Oban, Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Sign advertises locator beacons for backcountry trekkers outside visitor center in Oban; Halfmoon Bay, New Zealand

Sign post on Halfmoon Bay beach in Oban points to various nearby destinations; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Telephone hangs on tree as a joke along road from Halfmoon Bay; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Sam and Billy the Bus take visitors on tour of the island's 12 miles of road; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Sam Sampson, driver of Billy the Bus, has taken visitors on tours of the island's 12 miles of road for years; Stewart Island, New Zealand

View from Observation Rock of Paterson Inlet; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Waves wash up on rocky shore of Lee Bay; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Group of hikers crosses sandy beach on Ulva Island in Paterson Inlet; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Nature guide stops to examine plant with group of hikers on Ulva Island in Paterson Inlet; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Older couple paddles sea kayak in Paterson Inlet on a summer day in January; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Man snaps photo of wife with sea kayak guides after paddling to remote cove in Paterson Inlet; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Two sea kayaks on remote, isolated beach frame distant shores of Paterson Inlet; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Mother and daughter jump across boulders at Harrold's Cove near Leask Bay; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Glendene Rout displays paua shell at Harrold's Cove near Leask Bay; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Close-up of paua shell on rock at Harrold's Cove near Leask Bay; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Detail of paua shell on rock at Harrold's Cove near Leask Bay; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Close-up of cat's eye snail in person's hand at Harrold's Cove near Leask Bay; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

New Zealand pigeon (Hemiphaga novaseelandiae) perches on branch; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Head portrait of South Island kaka (Nestor meridionalis), an indigenous lowland parrot; Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Wet-suit brigade on way to swim with dusky dolphins passes Dolphin Encounter's mural outside briefing & suit-up rooms; Kaikoura, New Zealand

Dusky dolphin surfaces near snorkelers during a Dolphin Encounter swim-with-dolphins tour; Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Woman stalks dusky dolphins with camera from front deck of Dolphin Encounter boat after swimming with them; Kaikoura, New Zealand

Tourists watch from front deck of Dolphin Encounter boat as dusky dolphins speed away; Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Woman snaps photos of dusky dolphins as they swim to side of Dolphin Encounter boat; Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Dusky dolphins beeline underwater toward camera on a December day; Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Dusky dolphin swims in reflection of Dolphin Encounter boat, catching a free ride on the bow wave; Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Two orcas swim side-by-side, marked by the distinctive dorsal fin of alpha bull called Corkscrew; Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Corkscrew, an orca bull with a malformed dorsal fin, rests on surface before diving again to feed; Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Water pours off massive fluke of male sperm whale as it begins 3000-foot-deep feeding dive; Kaikoura, New Zealand.