Nya Zeeland

25 nya zeeländska dollar eller cirka 150 kronor per person. Så mycket är förslaget att den nya turistskatten i Nya Zeeland ska bli. Enligt ett uttalande från landets turistminister kan skatten komma att införas redan nästa år.

One hundred kilometres of salty vistas line the road between Westport and Greymouth. One of New Zealand's most beautiful drives, the Great Coast Road meanders past foaming surf and shingle beaches on one side, and forbidding, overhanging cliffs on the other. The best-known stop along this inspiring stretch of SH6 is Punakaiki's geologically fascinating Pancake Rocks. But there are numerous wind-whipped lookouts where you can pull over to gaze at waves smashing against haggard turrets of stone.

Coastal Abel Tasman National Park blankets the northern end of a range of marble and limestone hills that extend from Kahurangi National Park. Various tracks in the park include an inland route, although the Coast Track is what everyone is here for – it's New Zealand's most popular Great Walk.

Paris may be the city of love, but Auckland is the city of many lovers, according to its Māori name, Tāmaki Makaurau. Those lovers so desired this place that they fought over it for centuries.

Take SH1 129km southeast from Blenheim (or 180km north from Christchurch) and you’ll encounter Kaikoura, a pretty peninsula town backed by the snow-capped Seaward Kaikoura Range. Few places in the world are home to such a variety of easily spottable wildlife: whales, dolphins, NZ fur seals, penguins, shearwaters, petrels and several species of albatross live in or pass by the area.

Travelling into Taupo on a clear day along the northeastern shores of the lake is breathtaking: beyond the lake, which is the size of Singapore, you can see the snowcapped peaks of Tongariro National Park.

Halfway between Auckland and Wellington on New Zealand's underappreciated west coast, Taranaki (aka 'the 'Naki') is the country's Texas, with oil and gas streaming in from offshore rigs. But in New Plymouth free galleries, a provincial museum and dining hot spots attract young families and retirees from Auckland craving a slower pace without compromising lifestyle. Travellers are following suit.

Brace yourself for sublime scenery on a breathtaking scale.

Hawke Bay, the name given to the body of water that stretches from the Mahia Peninsula to Cape Kidnappers, looks like it’s been bitten out of the North Island’s eastern flank. Add an apostrophe and an ‘s’ and you’ve got a region that stretches south and inland to include fertile farmland, surf beaches, mountainous ranges and forests. With food, wine and architecture the prevailing obsessions, it’s smugly comfortable but thoroughly appealing, and is best viewed through a rosé-tinted wine glass.

The Bay of Plenty stretches along the pohutukawa tree-studded coast from Waihi Beach to Opotiki and inland as far as the Kaimai Range. This is where New Zealanders have come on holiday for generations, lapping up salt-tinged activities and lashings of sunshine.