Muir departed from Sydney, Australia, bound for Auckland, New Zealand on January 11, 1904 and wrote his last comments steaming away from the North Cape of New Zealand on March 1, 1904. 

Arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on the north island on January 15, 1904, John Muir visited the Rotorua region of forests, hot springs, and geysers. Traveling southward, he was impressed by the volcanic peaks of Mounts Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu. On the South Island, Muir visited Christchurch’s botanical gardens and Mt. Cook with Mueller Glacier at its foot.

Today, Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain, is one of several New Zealand National Parks, attracting visitors from around the world.

.Sources:

• “John Muir’s Travels in Australasia, 1903-1904: Their Significance for Conservation and Environmental Thought” by C. Michael Hall, in John Muir: Life and Work edited by Sally M. Miller (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1993)
• John Muir in New Zealand by Colin Michael Hall in New Zealand Geographer 3 (2) 99-103 (1987) (PDF)
•  Writing Waikato: John Muir’s Contribution to Environmental Awareness by Lex Chalmers in Journal of New Zealand Literature: Special Issue: ‘Writing the Waikato’, 29(2), 108-124 (PDF)
• John Muir’s New Zealand Journal provides his 6500 word record of Muir’s travels in New Zealand. A transcript of this journal is provided, along with an useful introduction, in JOHN MUIR’S WORLD TOUR (PART V), by Lex Chalmers, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, Preface by W. R. Swagerty, Director, John Muir Center, University of the Pacific, in The John Muir Center for Environmental Studies, “The John Muir Newsletter, Spring/Summer 2007.”
• Letter from John Muir to Louie [Strentzel Muir], 1904 Feb 29.– (off-site link to University of the Pacific) – Muir’s letter to his wife and children “After a most instructive & charming six weeks in the two New Zealand islands…”