New Zealand · Beyond the Map
Chatham Islands
Way, way to the east, forty-five minutes ahead of the rest of the country.
The Region
Eight hundred kilometres east of the mainland, the Chatham Islands keep their own time zone, forty-five minutes ahead of the rest of New Zealand, first in the world to greet each morning. This is the home of the Moriori, whose covenant of peace is one of the Pacific’s great stories, and a cluster of islands where almost everything worth seeing sits on private land.
There is no tourism infrastructure to speak of, and that is the point. A single trusted host acts as guide, opening farms, fossil forests, basalt columns and family histories — integrating you, for a few days, into a singular community. We send the returning traveller here: the one who believes they have seen New Zealand, and is one flight from being wrong.
01
A Moment We Design
Everything here is private
The basalt columns, the fossilised kōpī forests, the seal colonies, the best fishing beaches — on the Chathams, nearly all of it lies behind farm gates. Our host holds the keys and, more importantly, the relationships; you arrive a stranger and eat dinner as a neighbour.
02
A Moment We Design
The Moriori story
At Kōpinga Marae, built in the shape of an albatross, the Moriori story is told where it belongs: a people who chose peace, nearly vanished for it, and are now reclaiming their place. It reframes everything you thought you knew about these islands, and a good deal beyond them.
When To Come
The season is part of the design
The weather is oceanic and opinionated in every month; late summer and autumn (February to April) give the most settled spells.
Whenever you come, come for several days: the flights are few, the community deserves the time, and the islands do not reward haste.
Design your journey
Tell us what pulled at you here. We'll design the journey around it, with the right people waiting when the helicopter lands.
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