For American visitors, perhaps the most extraordinary thing about New Zealand is that on regional domestic flights, there is still no airport security. You just turn up at the airport 30 minutes ahead of time and walk straight onto the plane. The inconveniences that the rest of the world has, resentfully, grown accustomed to are here deemed superfluous. New Zealand often feels like a little world apart. Separated from Australia by nearly 1,000 miles of ocean, it has a population of just 4.5 million people — around a third of whom live in Auckland — in an area the size of Colorado. In much of the country, crime is virtually unknown; prosperity seems more or less universal; and even relations between the Māori people and those of European origin appear to be harmonious. In addition, the mountain scenery is glorious, the food and wine are often exceptional, some of the golf courses compare with the best in the United States and the trout fishing is unparalleled.

These attributes, combined with remoteness from the world’s troubles, are doubtless what attract an ever-increasing number of affluent Americans. Indeed, the recent growth at the high end of the luxury market has inspired a new private jet terminal in Queenstown (population 13,000) on the South Island, and rates for the best suites at the leading hotels and resorts can now exceed $5,000 a night. American affection for New Zealand is not just a recent phenomenon, however. North Carolina hedge-fund billionaire Julian Robertson has been responsible for the creation of three of the country’s finest lodges — Kauri Cliffs, The Farm at Cape Kidnappers and Matakauri — as well as two of its leading golf courses. California-based billionaire William P. Foley II, the owner of Wharekauhau Lodge, has invested in two Wairarapa vineyards and is building a new bottling plant. While Blanket Bay, a superlative lodge on Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown, was the brainchild of Thomas W. Tusher, a former president and chief operating officer of Levi Strauss & Co.

I have made several previous driving tours of New Zealand. Their primary purpose has been to search for new hideaways, but I have also had the opportunity to visit many of the country’s leading wineries and to play some of the best golf courses. On this occasion, I decided to indulge in another of my passions: trout fishing. If the idea of a driving tour sounds intimidating — New Zealanders drive on the left and few roads have more than two lanes — rest assured that there is nothing to fear. Compared with most other peoples, Kiwis are extremely law-abiding when it comes to speed restrictions. The limit on most highways is 100 kph (62 mph), and few drivers exceed it, which makes car journeys unusually safe and relaxing, if slow. The roads themselves are well-maintained, and the signage is excellent. Above all, even the major routes are comparatively empty, so there is little oncoming traffic, and overtaking is, for the most part, unnecessary.