ACTIVE in the Press: Featured in major publications

NEW ZEALAND: All Access Kiwiland. The North Island has the Bay of Islands and the best surfing; the South Island trumpets Queenstown and world-class hiking. For decades, New Zealand's two halves have been vying for the country's title of premier travel destination. But Active New Zealand just gave the South Island a major one-up: the first guided hiking and bicycle crossing from coast to coast. For this 13-day trip, the high-octane outfitter has chosen the wildest route possible, using little-known tracks (Kiwi for trails) and New Zealand's excellent hut system, which offers everything from bare-bones shelters to cushy crash pads with private bunks and kitchens. Starting in the temperate rain forests of West Fiordland National Park and the Milford Sound, you'll follow the Greenstone Track through the Southern Alps, then continue along Lake Wakatipu and across Central Otago to the brisk waters of the east coast. Highlights include beach-hut overnights on the Tasman Sea, where penguins and seals are a common sight; hiking to 200-foot Homer Falls; and biking to 3,000-foot Key Summit for views of three glacier-carved valleys, including the one you just hiked through, seven-mile Hollyford.

OUTFITTER: Active New Zealand; activenewzealand.com PRICE: $4,000 ($$$) LENGTH: 13 days DEPARTS: October-April

The Adventure Ratings 2009: For the second time in as many years, we’ve conducted an unprecedented survey of adventure travel companies, based on the idea that a traveler’s most important decision is not always where to go but who to go with. For the 2009 edition, we spoke to more guide services—and their clients—than ever before.

Active New Zealand Overall Score: 89.80

New Zealand's most popular destinations get special treatment by this outfitter. While most tourists see Milford Sound from the deck of a cruise ship, Active New Zealand's clients navigate sea kayaks among the fjord's seals and dolphins. And whereas the majority of visitors to Mount Cook catch just a quick glimpse of New Zealand's highest peak, ANZ's groups stay for two nights at a high-country sheep farm overlooking Mount Cook. Then they spend a full day hiking in Mount Cook National Park. The lodging is eclectic, from mountain huts to an apartment in Queenstown.

Signature Trip: South Island MS Rimu; hiking, sea kayaking, biking; 14 days; New Zealand

Rating Criteria Scores - Overall: 89.80, Quality of Service: 92.00, Sustainability: 83.50, Spirit of Adventure: 94.50, Education: 89.00, Client Satisfaction: 90.00

DEAL OF THE YEAR - That New Zealand is the place you fantasize about most is no surprise. But here's what is: This is the year to stop drooling and go. With a historically favorable exchange rate (at press time, one U.S. dollar equaled just under two New Zealand bucks) and round-trip flights available for around $800, adventure in Middle Earth is suddenly on sale.

FOR MULTISPORT GLUTTONS: Do It All
8 DAYS, $2,300

"This is a really punchy trip," says Andrew Fairfax, owner of Active New Zealand. "Punchy" is a Kiwi-ism for packing your days with adrenaline. To wit: On this whirlwind, called Tui Multisport, guests hike the Franz Josef Glacier, a World Heritage site; cycle Hollyford Valley; sea-kayak Milford Sound; and take a scenic flight to the Siberia Hut, one of the South Island's many isolated mountain lodges. Departures between October and April; activenewzealand.com.

WHAT'S NEW: Ask any group of experienced guides about their dream trips, and chances are they'll rattle off dozens of options. This year Queenstown-based ACTIVE NEW ZEALAND invented a creative way to take advantage of all this unrealized trip-planning potential: The outfitter inaugurated an annual competition among its guides to design the best trip around New Zealand. The winner, of course, would get to lead his or her entry. The contest's first champion is veteran guide Lynette Warmington, 37, who, beginning in March, will lead visitors on her custom 14-day multisport tear around the South Island, stopping to sample some of the region's finest and least known outdoor offerings.

Read the full article on the National Geographic Adventure website.

During ACTIVE NEW ZEALAND founder Andrew Fairfax's 2,700-mile cycling expedition from Istanbul to London in 2003, he thought, Why aren't we doing this at home? The result of that epiphany is the Weka, a 13-day supported bike trip circling the South Island. It hits all the top spots, like the majestic peaks and gushing waterfalls of Milford Sound and the blue ice of the Franz Josef Glacier, while staying off most of the main routes, worn thin by tourist traffic. You'll log roughly 400 miles on Specialized hybrids that can handle gravel farm paths and other classic Kiwi obstacles like cow dung and stubborn sheep.

Read the full article on the Outside Magazine website.