The six bucks you'll spend on a day pass to Woodhill Mountain Bike Park represents probably the cheapest fun in the Southern Hemisphere. Throw in the thrills and spills and you are talking serious value for money for an adventure playground 40-minutes west of the city. There are 56 tracks throughout this pine forest with memorable names such as The Doris, Amyl Nitrate and Cry Baby. Nine tracks are for the advanced only, the longest run is 25km, there are plenty of jumps and challenges for the very experienced, and night riding for nutbags on Wednesdays when the park stays open until 10pm. Hire or buy whatever you need out here, including lights for night riding. An adult's day pass is NZ$6, groms (10-15) pay NZ$4 and Ankle Bikers (their words, not mine) are free.

If you want to amp up the fun factor and have the cash to do it, Heletranz has a number of adventure-chopper packages, including a quick but scenic flight to Woodhill followed by a spin in the forest and Muriwai Beach on quad bikes. Yee-ha! The two-hour tour is guided so you won't get lost in the forest — all 36,000 hectares of it. Optional extras include lunch and a return trip to Heletranz Base in Albany by Harley. Starts from NZ$452 per person for a group of six.

Yachting-obsessed Auckland has earned the moniker the City of Sails and you can get amongst it on a zillion-dollar America's Cup yacht. Wrap your hands around a winch on one of these monsters in a three-hour head-to-head race challenge.

Fergs Kayaks, owned by four-time Olympic gold medal kayaker Ian Ferguson, is at Okahu Bay, the first of the eastern beaches. Hire a kayak and do your own thing, or take a privately guided tour to Rangitoto (paddle over and climb the summit of this 600-year-old volcano), or anywhere for that matter. One-day hire for a single kayak costs NZ$60. The Wellington branch has NZ's largest rock wall, as well as kayak hire.

Adventure-based company Active Earth takes scheduled and tailor-made trips from Auckland and all over the country for adrenaline junkies and nature lovers. Hiking (or "tramping", as it's called in NZ), kayaking, rafting, canyoning, sand-duning, skydiving, remote destinations, spectacular scenery and more are all on the agenda. Trips are outlined online and it's worth checking out the website just to read their section on "Crazy Stuff" to get a handle on the Kiwi psyche and related nutbag adventure antics.

Canyoning is big here and Awol Adventures has all the expertise and gear — think wetsuits, harnesses and helmets — so you can take the plunge with daily trips out to Piha.

New Zealanders are mad-keen multisporters (think Coast to Coast!) and it's a given that events include exceptional off-the-beaten-track scenery. If you want to coincide your trip to compete in an event, here are a few websites to check out: The Superdune is held on Auckland's dramatic west coast; Moehau is a three-tiered event held on the Coromandel Peninsula; or for something a little more laid-back, the North Shore City Beach Series is held every summer and combines a 1km ocean swim, 5km beach run and 5km surf ski paddle, of which you can do one or all. These are just a few events — for a more comprehensive list, visit Endurance Sport.