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Below them, along the Shotover River, jet boats race the wind in shallow river waters. This purely Kiwi invention carries about a dozen passengers through the winding riverbed at 70 mph speeds, deftly maneuvering turbo-charged turns on a dime - the oil age's answers to whitewater rafting. Above the canyon, paragliders dip and rise and up-river a ways, white water rafters take their shot at challenging rapids.
Zip lining, too, is taking off in a big way. Try the Mokai Gravity Canyon in Taihape (a quaint village in the middle of North Island along the main North-South route). The Zip-line launches you from a ledge 574 feet above a river canyon before you race down a Zip line 2/3's of a mile a long at speeds up to 99 miles per hour. Apart from the Zip line, two other adventure activities await on-site: a 262-foot-high bungee and a 164-foot freefall on the bridge swing. Most people coming this far simply combine all three.
Between Christchurch and Queenstown, New Zealand has the Southern Alps. The  Everest of these Alps is easily Mt. Cook - at 12,316, Australia's highest mountain. It is said Sir Edmund Hillary, the first climber to conquer Everest - a Kiwi at that - practiced on this bunny hill - one of the world's most dangerous actually in having claimed more than 200 lives.
Guided hiking outfits to fit any level of skill and a variety of packaging options for hours, days, type of trip and destination are ubiquitous in the Canterbury and West Coast regions of South Island. You can get packages that include add-ins such as "Picnic on a Peak" helicopter tour with a ride through narrow canyons in the Remarkable range and over skyward glaciers before landing at a heavenly lake, a tour of Milford Sound, a jet boat rip through Shotover and a jet boat safari from Queenstown along the Dart River to the UNESCO World Heritage area of Mt. Aspiring National Park (including 4WD tour of Lord of the Rings scenic filming locations). Travelers can spend three nights on Fox Glacier, South Island exploring the glacier peaks amid primeval rainforests. This include a half-day walk on Fox Glacier, dramatic heli-hike on Fox Glacier, breakfast daily and three nights at the Te Weheka Inn on Fox Glacier.
Among the other intriguing adventures to be found in New Zealand, dolphin  encounters ranks high on the "must-do" list. Swimming with dolphins Kiwi-style is not the tame photo-op tour it is in the states where visitors get limited contact with the friendly sea mammals in a controlled environment. Rather, in New Zealand, whether you are out in the open ocean or in a calm harbor, you can frolic with a variety of dolphin species in a multitude of conditions. Wet suits, transport and guidance are all included in most arrangements and because the swimming encounters are highly regulated and can only happen during New Zealand's summer (our fall to spring) reserving early is strongly suggested.
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skimming water at 80 miles per hour, jumping onto a 90-foot swing, swimming with Cetacea Delphinidae, spelunking with glow worms or heli-touring through narrow fjords. If you have ever met a Kiwi - that is a New Zealand national named after a flightless bird the size of a chicken known for its fearless punching prowess, its keen sense of smell and its ability to lay an egg a quarter of its body size - you'll understand why the country is considered the epicenter of extreme sports.
brought bungee jumping to these parts, but the Swing takes the experience of flight a few ticks farther as participants swing on a wire pendulum from one cliff face to the other in a heart pounding swirl of Gs.