South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷
The standout animal attraction in Fiordland is completely free and most people walk straight past it. In Te Anau there's a bird sanctuary where you can see the Takahe - basically NZ's dodo that refused to go extinct. They were thought to be gone until they were rediscovered in the nearby Murchison mountains last century. They look impossibly chill for a bird with that kind of comeback story.
Promo code RANKERS - good deal done!
The glow worm caves near Te Anau are genuinely special. You cross the lake by boat to get there, so it's just your group and the cave - no coach tour chaos. The promo code RANKERS gets you a saving on entry, which is a nice bonus on something already worth doing. It's a different kind of wildlife encounter but one of the better ones in the region.
2 items with the highest ranking score first