New Zealand

Virtual travel to New Zealand in VR180

From the snow of the Southern Alps to river gorges cut through West Coast rainforest, New Zealand is a land of extraordinary contrasts. These experiences transport you to Middle-earth’s real-world inspiration: towering mountains, glacier-fed rivers, ancient forest, and coastlines that feel like nowhere else on Earth. Whether you’re seeking adventure or tranquility, New Zealand delivers both in stunning up to 16K VR180.

New Zealand is the largest set in our library and it divides in two. On one side, alpine country: Hooker Valley Track and Sealey Tarns Skywalk climbing into snow, Southern Alps Snow Trek with Mount Cook in the far distance, Mountain Top Sunrise walking a ridgeline as the light arrives. On the other, moving water, which this country does better than almost anywhere: The Chasm pouring down a narrow canyon, Secrets of Fox River working upstream to a hidden cave, Jungle Cave Exploration lit by torchlight. Both halves suit VR180 for one reason. A glacial valley photographed flat is a postcard; in stereoscopic 180 you get the real distance between the gravel at your boots and the ice at the head of the valley, and that distance is the experience.

Seasonally the South Island is two different places. Winter and early spring put snow on everything above the bushline, which is the version you get in Hooker Valley Track and Winter Wonderland. Summer swings the other way: Blooming Beauties and Lupin Lake Views catch the lupins that take over the lake edges around December and January, and the rivers run the glacier blue you can see in Alpine River Flow. The coastal titles sit outside the seasons entirely, and Golden Sands, Under the Palms and Tide At Your Feet are the calmest things we have filmed here. Bealey Spur, The Ridgeline and Canyon River Explorer are for anyone who would rather be walking, and Cows in Paradise is fifty seconds of high country and nothing else.

One piece runs longer than the rest. Guardians of Tamatea is nearly ten minutes with Maria and Seán at work on the water: less scenery, more people doing something difficult. And if you have only ever seen this country in flat drone footage, the difference is worth naming. Drone shots sell New Zealand as a map. VR180 sells it as somewhere you are standing, at eye height, with the weather on your face.

New to the set? Start with Hooker Valley Track, three minutes of snow-draped alpine valley and the clearest demonstration we have of what stereo depth does to a mountain. Riverside Relaxation is the still alternative, glacier-fed water from a fixed camera.

Browsing by feel rather than by country works too: most of this set also lands in Mountains and Waterfalls & Rivers.