Seasons & Episode
Gus heads into the heart of the Southern Alps to find a dynamic alpine paradise. He explores a vast mountainous range, dominated by New Zealand's tallest peaks and largest glaciers.
Gus makes his way to the Central North Island of New Zealand, a vast desert-like landscape known as the central volcanic plateau. Rising from this unique geology is the commanding presence of three volcanic mountains – Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro, while at their foothills lie the upper reaches of the spectacular Whanganui River.
In this episode, Gus travels to the national parks on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, a rugged remote landscape wedged between the Tasman Sea to its west and the great Southern Alps to the east, thrust upward by the collision of tectonic plates, and gouged by rain and ice over 23 million years.
Gus explores New Zealand’s unofficial National Park of the sea - the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. Covering 1.2 million hectares of open ocean, hundreds of kilometres of coastline and more than 50 islands, the Park was preserved by its own Act of Parliament more than a decade ago.