New Zealand's fascinating landscapes have formed over the past millenia predominantly due to our location on the 'Ring of Fire'. This phenomenon is associated with plate tectonics - in our case the Pacific Plate is sliding slowly but surely (know as "subduction") beneath the Indo-Australian Plate. Because of this plate movement, New Zealand is geologically active and is constantly undergoing gradual geological change including mountain-building (eg the Southern Alps, home to New Zealand's tallest mountain - Mt Cook/Aoraki), earthquakes (Wellington, the nation's capital is unfortunately located over a major fault line), and volcanoes (Auckland City is surrounded by dozens of extinct volcanoes and one of the largest volcanic explosions in the world created Lake Taupo approximately 2,000 years ago). But not to worry, these events happen very rarely and over a very long time period, so much so that we are mostly unaware of any changes during our lifetimes.

Mt Cook/Aoraki across Lake Pukaki

On a GeoSavvy Tour you will see many examples of New Zealand's unique geology, perhaps including the Moeraki Boulders - perfectly round concretions distributed along a sandy white beach and subject to many theories about how they came to be... including one theory involving aliens! We're not too sure about that one however. The Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki are another amazing example of Mother Nature at her best. You might also visit the glowworm caves at Te Anau where nature and geology collide with bioluminescence and limestone formations combining to form a magical boat journey.

Punakaiki Pancake Rocks

Also experience vestiges of the last Ice Age, including glaciers flowing down scree-covered mountains and disappearing amongst untouched podocarp forests. We recommend visiting at least one of our magnificent fiords, carved by glaciers thousands of years ago leaving behind sheer cliff faces and fiords/lakes with depths of over 400m (>1,200ft deep).