Spend 77 days exploring New Zealand’s South Island—a semester that will challenge you and change how you see the world. You’ll hike rugged alpine ranges, paddle stunning coastlines, and immerse yourself in local culture while developing outdoor skills and leadership. If you’re ready for unconventional learning far from the classroom, this is the course for you.

Your semester opens with a cultural section hosted by the local Maori community, where you’ll learn traditional practices, hear creation stories, and either stay overnight at a marae (meeting house) or paddle a waka-ama (outrigger canoe). This introduction to Aotearoa/New Zealand sets the foundation for everything that follows.

Photo credit: Nick Garrett

Course sections vary by semester and may include backpacking (24-36 days), sea kayaking (22-32 days), canoeing (18-24 days), or sailing (12 days). Backpacking takes you along the South Island’s alpine through native beech forests, open grasslands, and high-elevation snowfields. You’ll master camping, navigation, and Leave No Trace principles while learning first aid skills, hazard evaluation, and conflict resolution techniques. Sea kayaking explores the Marlborough Sounds—a maze of bays and islands where you’ll read tides, interpret weather, and refine paddle techniques. Canoeing follows the Waiau-Toa/Clarence River from mountain headwaters to ocean, running rapids and learning river rescue. Sailing teaches you to handle keelboats through coastal waters, covering everything from rigging to navigation.

Photo credit: NOLS Archives

Weather on the South Island is unpredictable—expect everything from heavy rain to sunshine. You’ll encounter wildlife found nowhere else: kea, tui, dolphins, penguins. As you build competence, you may travel in student-led groups, culminating in a multi-day independent expedition.

You’ll return with technical skills, cultural understanding, and lifelong friendships built in one of the world’s most beautiful places.

Photo credit: Vivian Merrill