Father's Day Gifts in New Zealand

For the dad who wants pure adrenaline, this is a country that turned it into an industry. Bungy jumping started here commercially at the Kawarau Bridge near Queenstown, still running today, and it remains the obvious pick for a dad who wants to say he did the original. Jet boating through the rock walls of the Shotover or the Dart runs about half a day with transfers and gives him the thrill without the freefall.

Zip lining offers a thrilling adventure for dads who would rather stay attached to something. Courses run through native bush on Waiheke and above the forest canopy near Rotorua, most taking a couple of hours. Tandem skydives over Lake Taupo, the Bay of Islands and Wanaka take roughly half a day including the drive, and the view on the way down is the part he will describe for months. Several of these sit near a regional airport, which makes them a natural fit for a fly-in day rather than a local one.

A fishing charter is the classic outdoor Father's Day gift here, and a skipper who already knows where the snapper are holding saves him a morning of guessing from the rocks. Point him at the Bay of Islands, the Hauraki Gulf or the Marlborough Sounds, depending on the catch he is after. The shared trips tend to run 4 to 6 hours with rods and bait thrown in. Paying for a private boat buys him the wheel: his pace, his spot, his call on when to move on.

If he would rather be under the water than on it, the Poor Knights Islands off Northland rank among the finest dive sites anywhere, and both taster dives and full open-water courses launch from there. Snorkelling trips run the same waters through the warmer months. A gentler day afloat off the Coromandel or through Abel Tasman keeps a dad who likes the sea but not the depth happily on the surface.

For a slower day, a scenic cruise on Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound puts him under the waterfalls and the sheer rock without asking anything of him but that he look up. Most run 1 to 2 hours on the water.

A spot at a beer or wine tasting earns its place as a gift for good reason. Craft beer has reshaped the food scene, and the breweries worth the trip, particularly around Wellington and the hop country of Nelson, pour tasting flights alongside a proper feed rather than a lone paddle at the local. A brewery and distillery tour takes him behind the tanks, usually a couple of hours with someone talking him through what is in the glass.

Whisky tasting experiences walk him through the styles, from the single malt distilled down in Oamaru to imported peated drams, with a guide explaining each pour rather than simply refilling it. Wine tasting across Marlborough's Sauvignon Blanc country, the pinot vineyards of Central Otago or the Hawke's Bay estates runs as a full day with transport laid on, which counts for something once the tasting starts. A group tour keeps the cost down and the table lively. A private one hands him the itinerary, so he visits the cellar doors he wants and skips the ones he has already seen.

Cooking classes can be a fun way to bond, covering everything from seafood to knife skills, and a private class or a tasting menu night out both work as a Father's Day gift for a dad who takes his food seriously.

New Zealand's courses rank among the best anywhere, and a round somewhere he would never usually play is a thoughtful gift for the dad whose weekends already revolve around a set of clubs. Cape Kidnappers in Hawke's Bay sits on cliffs above the sea, Clearwater near Christchurch is a proper championship links, and courses around Queenstown and Auckland pair challenging fairways with backdrops that alone justify the green fee.

If the swing needs more help than the scenery does, book him a PGA pro and a swing assessment, worth far more to his game than yet another glove. Several of the destination courses sit a short domestic hop away, which makes the round a natural anchor for a fly-in day.

This is where the day-away idea earns its keep. A scenic helicopter or float plane over Fiordland, across the Southern Alps to a glacier landing, or out along the Bay of Islands shows him country he has only ever met from the ground, now laid out beneath him. Most trips wrap up inside a couple of hours door to door, and the moment that stays with him is the touchdown somewhere no road reaches.

The beauty of a voucher here is that he does not have to use it on the day. He can take the flight on a clear morning in November when the forecast is settled and the visibility is long, which is exactly when a scenic flight is worth doing. Weather is the one variable these depend on, and three years of validity means he waits for a good one rather than gambling on the first Sunday in September.

Guided walks through Abel Tasman, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and the Fiordland tracks stretch from a 3-hour amble to a full day and sit within reach of most fitness levels. For more, a guided leg of one of the Great Walks runs 2 to 4 days with the guide shouldering the heavy gear. Wildlife outings, whales off Kaikoura or albatross on the Otago Peninsula, come as half or full days and give the quiet-nature dad precisely the kind of morning he is after.

For the dad who mostly wants to do nothing, the geothermal belt delivers. A soak in the natural hot springs around Rotorua or Hanmer, with a massage on the end of it, is a legitimate gift for a father figure who would call a relaxing day the perfect escape. It photographs badly and remembers well.

Each operator publishes a fitness rating and a minimum age, worth a look before booking if a grandchild is coming too. On the longer tramps, a broken-in pair of boots will do more for him than any amount of fitness.

Craft workshops help build a skill and send him home holding the thing he made, which for a lot of dads is the whole appeal. Pounamu carving in Hokitika, where he shapes a piece of West Coast greenstone into something he keeps, is as local as a workshop gets. Pottery, woodworking and knife-making classes run half a day with a working maker.

A landscape photography workshop set to golden hour is the obvious pick for the dad whose good camera has spent eight years on automatic. Drone flying lessons cover both the technique and the CAA Part 101 rules that trip up most beginners. And a session with a fly rod, a coffee machine or a PGA pro turns a hobby he already keeps into one he handles a little better.