By LEAH KOHLENBERG

f the tropical sun is burning a little too brightly for your liking, consider a break in New Zealand. It's winter in the southern hemisphere, but that's not the only reason to visit Kiwi country. There are also plenty of adventure sports, awe-inspiring scenery, penguin watching and extraordinarily friendly locals.

All that, plus great bargains. Hit hard by the Asian tourism slump, the country is going to great lengths to lure back once-loyal visitors, particularly from Japan and South Korea. Bargains abound, especially for big-ticket items like airfares and hotel rates. A joint Air New Zealand-Singapore Airlines deal offers roundtrip fare for two from Singapore to either Christchurch or Auckland for $715 each until Nov. 19. With each ticket comes four free days of car rental and four nights' accommodation.

A weakened Kiwi dollar (which dropped nearly 22% in the past year) means many Asian currencies go even further, especially if you shop around. At the Hermitage, for example, a historic lodge located at the base of the South Island's magnificent Mt. Cook, standard rooms can go for as low as $62, compared with $138 during the high season (Tel: 64-3-435-1809).

Renting a car is the best way to see the country, with its icy glaciers, freshwater lakes, crashing ocean beaches, quaint, cozy towns and a range of accommodation to suit both backpackers and higher-budget travelers. On the South Island, don't miss the Otago Peninsula, home to the albatross and the rare yellow-eyed penguin.

While the North and South Islands offer numerous opportunities for outdoor sports like cave-exploring and hang-gliding, one of the best sporting areas is the southern city of Queenstown, known for bungee-jumping and skiing (the truly daring can try either activity from a helicopter), along with whitewater rafting, jet-boating and skydiving.

On the North Island, the capital city of Auckland has a bustling urban scene. For a unique introduction to Kiwi friendliness and cuisine, contact the Auckland Tourist Hospitality Organization (Tel: 64-9-575-6655). This volunteer group will match you with a local family, who will pick you up from your hotel and make you a traditional New Zealand dinner, like hogget (lamb) with roasted pumpkin and kumara (sweet potato), and Pavlova, a sinfully good dessert of whipped cream, meringue and kiwi fruit. The only cost to you is conversation.

A good place to check out Maori culture, and soak in some of the country's best thermal hot springs, is Rotorua, north of Auckland. Make sure to tour--preferably by harbor cruise--the Bay of Islands, a four-hour drive north of Auckland.

A vast range of antipodean treats awaits you--and the timing couldn't be better.

--By Leah Kohlenberg

Get more info at www.time.com/asia

OFF THE SHELF

THE RIVER AT THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD
By Simon Winchester
(Penguin; 413 pages)

Inspired by a 17th century painting depicting the entire 6,380-km length of the Yangtze River, British writer Simon Winchester returned to the "Mother of All Rivers," which both nourishes and terrorizes the half-billion people living within flooding distance of its shores. As he travels upstream from the rapidly modernizing Shanghai cityscape, he also ventures backward in time, exploring the roots and routes that have made this body of water separating north and south a mythical force uniting all Chinese. Winchester's most moving passages take him through the Three Gorges Dam project, where he stops to ponder the next watershed in China's history.

WEB CR@WLING

ATM LOCATORS

SHOW ME THE MONEY, Depending on your preference, the websites for both Visa and Mastercard feature useful search engines to help travelers pinpoint the nearest cash machine in more than 100 countries around the world. Visa's online service (www.visa.com/cgi-bin/vee/main. html) is available in a variety of languages, while the Mastercard site (www.mastercard.com/atm) offers travel tips for safe ATM usage on the road. Both sites can be searched by country, region or airport. Don't leave home without consulting them.

VIRTUAL LIBRARY MUSEUMS PAGES
(www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/archive/other/museums.html#virtual)

HIGH BROWSE, The most comprehensive listing of museums and galleries on the Internet, this site is currently under renovation but is still open to the public. The virtual exhibits section may tempt armchair travelers to a quick cyber-trip through the Louvre.

SHORT CUTS

FARE DEAL Japanese travelers can take advantage of the inaugural discount rates offered by Skymark Airlines, set to begin service on Sept. 13. Japan's first new domestic airline in 35 years is celebrating its launch by charging customers only $97 for a one-way ticket on its daily flights between Tokyo and Fukuoka until the end of March. That's less than half the price charged by its competitors, JAL, JAS and ANA, for this popular route.

ROLLING WONDER The luxurious Palace on Wheels train through India's picturesque desert state of Rajasthan gets rolling again Sept. 2 after its annual summer break. Each trip takes fewer than 100 passengers on a week-long exploration of the ancient forts of Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. Then it's on to Agra, where the day-trippers tour the Taj Mahal and the abandoned Mughal city of Fatehpur Sikri before returning to Delhi. The double occupancy rate of $1,890 a person jumps to $2,275 in October, so book early. Contact India Tourism offices for details.

DETOURS

Few journeys evoke the romance of travel as much as the Trans-Siberian Express. Rudolf Nureyev, the dancer, was even born on the "Tranzip" as it passed over Lake Baikal. Nowadays many travelers opt instead for the Trans-Mongolian railway or the Trans-Manchurian across northern China. On all three, strict visa regulations prohibit spontaneous side-trips, so book through firms like Hong Kong's Moonsky Star, which can arrange a five-day stopover in Mongolia (with two nights in a traditional ger) followed by skiing--in season--in Irkutsk, and three-star accommodation in Moscow, all for only $1,140. (Tel: 852-2723-1376; www.monkeyshrine.com)