Taranaki, New Zealand

Taranaki has the most symmetrical volcano on earth and the region is entirely organised around it — the mountain is visible from everywhere, the national park around its cone is genuine alpine terrain with a rainforest ring, and the whole province treats it as a personality. New Plymouth is the city at the coast with the Len Lye Centre — the stainless steel gallery that made the town an unexpected art destination — and the coastal walkway that runs the length of the waterfront. Surf Highway 45 is the road that circles the mountain with a genuinely outstanding break every few kilometres, and Whangamomona is the tiny inland settlement that declared itself an independent republic in protest and has maintained the joke ever since with its own passports.

The region's character is outdoor, dairy and genuinely proud, with an offshore oil and gas industry that funds a lot of the arts infrastructure and a population that is serious about surf, fishing and tramping.

Expect real surf content, genuine mountain-and-coast talk, and a region where the volcano is in every background.

Nearby: Manawatū-Whanganui Waikato Hamilton Wellington