While the landscape is pristine and the pace of life relaxed, the Kiwi passion for the outdoors has spawned amazing activities. Comprised of two main islands and similar in land size to Britain and Japan, New Zealand is home to only four million people - but they sure know how to have fun. It was the Kiwis who invented bungee jumping back in the 1980s. Now they have established New Zealand as the world capital of adventure sports.

In many ways, New Zealand is a microcosm of the world's visitor attractions. The spellbinding landscape ranges from picture-postcard pastures, crystal-clear rivers, rainforests and shimmering lakes to thermal wonderlands, soaring peaks, glaciers and spectacular fjords. Over the past decade, the country's professional approach to its tourism industry has resulted in visitor numbers skyrocketing.

My Japanese friend, who was easily convinced that this was the holiday destination for him, is part of a growing number of Asian visitors. Last year more than 165,000 tourists from Japan visited New Zealand and the number is set to continue its upward spiral. Earlier this year, it was voted the most desirable international destination in the world, ahead of perennial favourites Italy and Thailand.

Bungee jumping still draws thousands of adventurers every year, who throw themselves from bridges, buildings and cliffs with only a cord to secure them safely. However, as the bungee jump is no longer unique to New Zealand, a new array of adrenaline-pumping sports have been devised to keep thrill-seekers happy. You can walk on a glacier, ski on an active volcano, abseil into a canyon and paraglide off a high mountain. If that's not enough, try shooting white water rapids, riding a rocket plane or river surfing.

One of the home-grown inventions that has proved a hit with visitors is called "zorbing". You are strapped inside an enormous clear plastic, air-cushioned ball. Then the ball is sent rolling down a long grass-covered slope. As you tumble head over heels, you spin around in a virtual anti-gravity form of weightlessness like an intoxicated space traveller. It's quite safe, as the centrifugal force keeps you pressed hard against the plastic wall of the inner ball, while the violent bouncing is absorbed by the outer transparent ball.

The more adventurous can try "liquid zorbing" in which two or three buckets of water are poured into the inner ball and you are not strapped in for the ride. "Hydro-zorbing" over the surface of a lake is another variant where you are also left to flail about as the zorb floats across the water.

Other activities on water included white water rafting, river surfing and black water rafting. "White water rafting" involves travelling over fierce rapids on inflatable rafts. You have less to protect you if you choose "river surfing". You wear only a wetsuit and helmet, and hang onto a flotation board as you rush through the rapids.

In "black water rafting", you ride an inflatable tube through an underground cave filled with black water. The scariest part is having to jump from a ledge a few metres high into the dark water below. As you travel the underground river, you weave, jump and float your way through a labyrinth of dark tunnels.

Once you've travelled by jet and by boat - how about combining the two? The result is jet boating, the latest version of which has been voted the country's top adventure activity for the past two years. The high-speed boat shoots down river gorges and canyons at an amazing speed, culminating in a 360-degree spin.

If you’ve done all you can on land, then there’s only one way to go – and that’s into the sky. The Kiwis claim that parapenting is the easiest way for humans to fly. You run down a slope on the top of a hill and then simply take off into the air. The parapente is a combination of the parachute and hanglider. You can also go parasailing, where you ride under a parachute canopy while being towed by boat or vehicle.

However, the most exciting way to take to the skies is to fly-by-wire. Also known as "sky surfing", you travel in a single-seater plane that soars about at the end of an fly-by-wire system. Queenstown's million-dollar fly-by-wire installation is located in a canyon, making it even more spectacular. The plane has been clocked at 171kph (106mph), making it the world's fastest ride.

Other activities you can try include a guided walk across the precipitous slopes of a glacier of the Southern Alps, an heli-ski expedition in which you are transported to a mountain peak for an exciting run back down and sand-boarding down magnificent sand dunes.

Many of the most exciting attractions are around Queenstown, which has developed a superb tourism infrastructure with good hotels, restaurants and adventure sport companies. However, there are attractions and operators of outdoor adventures in virtually every corner of the country.

Within a day’s easy touring you can take in a scenic flight over the Southern Alps, soak in a thermal spa, jet-boat through white water rapids, whale watch, and still have time for a meal of crayfish and the fine local wine. Now, which other country could match that?