Leap over loveliness

Crammed in a small plane nearing 4m above the “gorgeously rustic” Bay of Islands, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Steve McKenna is about to throw himself out into the blue. “Peering out of a little window, I see turquoise seas breaking on white sandy coves set against a land of ludicrously lush rolling green hills. While some thrill seekers prefer to skydive over the dramatic scenery of Lake Taupo or Queenstown, I can’t think of a nicer, easier-on-the-eye place to leap from a plane for the first time.”