Rite of passage 
"Having a towering, tattooed man press his nose against mine has to be one of the more unusual — and enjoyable — greetings I have experienced," describes Victoria Mitchell for Scottish newspaper The Press and Journal. "When arriving in a new country, you might be welcomed with a firm handshake or a polite bow, maybe even a kiss on each cheek. The hongi, a traditional Maori welcome, made an interesting start to an unforgettable trip to the country also known as Land of the Long White Cloud. This exchange meant I was no longer considered a visitor, but rather as one of the people of the land." 
(10 April 2010)

Best northern beaches 
The North Island's top beaches are named by The Sydney Morning Herald's Bruce Elder, who writes that those suggested are so good that no trip to New Zealand would be complete without visiting them. Elder includes: Karekare Beach, west of Auckland, famous as the location for the film The Piano and a "dark, dangerous and passionate" beach "not to be missed"; Waiheke Island's Onetangi Beach, which has a 2km-long white sand beach lined with small chic villages and good cafés; the "particularly impressive" Opunake Beach which is recognised by surfers as one of the North Island's top surfing destinations; and Whangamata Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula — "a rare mix of rainforest and pristine white sands". 
(21 March 2010)

Adrift on lush Rakiura 
"It's from the air that Stewart Island reveals itself," describes The Independent's Ben Ross on a trip to Rakiura, or 'Glowing Skies'. "All but one-sixth of the land is protected by national park statues, with lush hills and valleys forming a point at Mount Anglem in the north. So densely packed is the crush of vegetation that for the most part it feels as if man has scarcely intruded here. It's like visiting Conan Doyle's Lost World, except that instead of being attacked by pterodactyls, hikers who choose to follow the three-day 29km Rakiura Track along the coast are likely to see birdlife that is either rare or extinct on mainland New Zealand: a kiwi, perhaps, or yellow-eyed penguins, or the predatory, flightless weka. Beside a broad scoop of beach at Lee Bay stood a rather literal sculpture constructed to mark the inauguration of the national park in 2002. Huge links in a chain disappeared into the sea, to signify Stewart Island's role as an anchor for the rest of New Zealand. Being cast adrift rather than chained to the mainland is part of what makes Stewart Island so appealing." 
(6 March 2010)

Sculptured meaning 
At Timaru's Phar Lap Raceway, a bronze statue of the famed Big Red and his regular jockey, Jim Pike takes pride of place. Today, the South Island city is making full use of the Phar Lap connection. Timaru's fine-dining venue, Ginger & Garlic, serves up a tribute Big Red rib eye; Petite cocktail bar serves up a Red Terror and memorabilia is for sale at the tourist information centre. The port city is most definitely in it for the long haul — the Joanne Sullivan-Gessler-designed statue is only the first stage of a three-stage project that will eventually include a Phar Lap museum and cafe built at the racetrack. Phar Lap was born in Timaru on October 4, 1926. He died suddenly in California, due to arsenic poisoning in 1932.
 (28 February 2010)

Perfect with Pimms 
Worcester Street in Christchurch is the feature promenade in The Age's 'Street Smart' travel section. Christchurch is a walking city and Worcester Street one of its loveliest promenades. Stretching from Canterbury Museum and the Botanic Gardens through Cathedral Square and the Cultural Precinct, it takes in neo-gothic-style architecture and historic university grounds as well as gallery and shop frontages. Christchurch is a very English city in a Pimms-and-picnics-by-the-river kind of way.
(31 January 2010)

Barrier time 
"You won't find street lights, an ATM or a bank on the Barrier," a local tells Los Angeles Times reporter Rosemary Macclure. "But we do have two stop signs." They also have a place that seems a million miles from reality. The kind of place you might expect to see a castaway living on a powdery white beach in a shack built from driftwood. At 110 square miles, Great Barrier Island is the largest in the gulf. It was named by explorer Captain James Cook in 1769, and its history includes whaling, mining and logging. Today, its 1500 residents depend on sheep and dairy farming, besides tourism. During the peak summer season — underway now — visitors come to surf, mountain bike, swim, fish, kayak, explore the island's hot springs and hike its lush tramping trails. Guests camp, or stay in cabins, holiday houses or lodges, many of which also serve meals. Life slows down; things don't always happen on time — they happen in "Barrier time." Friendliness comes with the territory, as does national pride. 
(17 January 2010)

Luxury lodge world's best 
Rotorua's luxury Lake Okareka Lodge has been voted the world's best luxury country lodge at the Luxury Hotel Awards held in Thailand. The five-year-old lodge has three double bedrooms, each with bathroom en suite, plus breakfast, dining and living areas, a kitchen, library, gallery, gym and massage room. The 2500-square-metre site includes a helipad, stream, waterfall and spa pool. The room rate is $7150 a night for two people, $9350 for four, and $11,550 per night for six. Guests can treat the lodge as their own home, or a staff of 10, including a 24-hour on call butler service, is available. Lodge manager Diana Moore said the award was recognition for providing exclusive accommodation for discerning guests who could treat it like their own home. The award was judged from guest feedback, including a "mystery guest", and by the travel industry. 
(17 December 2009)

Picking up the protocol 
"New Zealand may be best known for adventure tourism including sky diving, bungee jumping, gliding and 'Zorbing' — rolling downhill in a 10-foot-tall inflatable sphere cushioned with water." Yet the most enriching part of Seattle Times reporter Kathy Matheson's trip was the cultural tourism that taught her about the Maori. "Don't be fooled: 'Meeting' a Maori tribe at a heritage centre can be just as intimidating as thrill-jumping off Auckland's Skytower. What's the proper reaction when a tattooed, spear-carrying warrior bounds out of a house, shouts something in Maori at you, makes menacing faces and throws a leaf at your feet? Think fast, because that spear is pretty sharp. My adrenaline got pumped enough by the spear-carrying Maori at the heritage centre in Rotorua who threw down the leaf. The proper reaction, by the way, is to pick it up. They'll invite you in. Stay a while — they make a mean feast." 
(6 December 2009)

If it ain't broken 
New Zealand has been named by travel gurus The Lonely Planet as one of the ten top countries to visit in 2010. The travel bible named New Zealand on the basis of the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The authors said the last time they checked "the land of Maori and hobbits certainly didn't need repairing". The annual guide, which draws on the knowledge of Lonely Planet's staff, named the country's most inspiring activities as flying over Fiordland, kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park and paragliding over Queenstown — all South Island activities. But the North Island's Tongariro National Park, prized for its iconic one-day crossing hike, also rated a mention. Other countries named in the top 10 were El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Portugal, Suriname and the US. 
(2 November 2009)

In hot water 
Despite New Zealand's growing prosperity, the country's natural beauty has been preserved says Hindustan Times travel writer Vir Sanghvi, who describes his seven-day adventure from Rotorua, by chopper to White Island and then across Lake Tarawera on a 50ft catamaran. "The high spot of the cruise for me is when we came to one of the edges of Lake Tarawera. Presumably there is some volcanic activity below the water because the sand at this edge is hot. The captain makes me put my hand in the water. It is ice-cold. He takes the boat a foot away and asks me to put my hand in again. Now the water is scalding hot! A few feet further, there is actually steam rising from the lake. That's a first for me!" 
(16 October 2009)

Feast for the eyes 
"If it's culture you're after, make a beeline for the North Island," writes the Examiner's Molly McCahan, suggesting in particular, a trip to Rotorua, "considered the centre of Maori culture." "Today around 35 per cent of the population here is Maori; their traditional settlements abound. Attending a Maori performance and indulging in a hangi, the traditional Maori feast, is a highlight of any Rotorua visit. The local 'chefs' dig a pit in the ground, place heated rocks inside, set the food on top (these days, it's often wrapped in foil), and then cover the pile and slowly roast the whole concoction for hours. The result is deliciously tender meat and smoky kumara (sweet potatoes), a local staple." 
(21 September 2009)

Communing with quiet 
Owner of Roxborough Farm Lloyd Watkins invites Toronto Star correspondent Adrien Veczan to spend a weekend on his 210ha property in Tirau. Veczan writes: "The feeling of being in the middle of nowhere can never be stronger than when you're watching the sunset in the middle of a field, in the middle of an island, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I don't have to look at the photographs to remember that evening. I just close my eyes and I can feel the slight breeze and hear the sheep conversing with one another. Peaceful is the best way to describe it: no cellphones or email, just a "baaaah" here and there." Roxborough Farm was founded in 1911 and has been passed down from generation to generation. 
(15 August 2009)

For the big spenders 
A St Mary's Bay, Auckland home, on the books at Boulgaris/Maguire Properties, is advertised in The New York Times' international real estate section, which also provides an overview of Auckland's current property market. Foreign buyers are more likely to purchase a house than an apartment, director Michael Boulgaris said. Many expatriates look to buy in the best school districts, which are in central Auckland. Boulgaris said houses with harbour views in the affluent neighborhoods of Auckland cost two to five million dollars. Homes in the South Island cost about half as much as homes in the Auckland area. A typical vacation home with mountain and lake views in Queenstown would cost about $1 million dollars. 
(21 July 2009)

Mobile bach adventure 
A Christchurch Classic Camper Volkswagen Vanagon is rented by Los Angeles Times' reporter Mary Engel and her husband who says the rented vehicle makes for an "experience still more up-close and personal". No taller or longer than an ordinary van, a VW camper — or Kombi, as it is known in New Zealand — is more fuel-efficient than an RV and far easier to park. And for the price of wheels, you get a bed and meals. "Our van, we decided, would be our mobile bach," writes Engel. "Imagine the most beautiful places you've ever seen — Grand Teton, Big Sur, Alaska's Inside Passage — cram them all into a skinny strip of land, and that's New Zealand." Classic Campers is owned and operated by Auckland couple Bevan and Andrea Beattie. 
(17 July 2009)

Pakiri paradise 
Horse-riding on a secluded North Island beach is one of the activities included in the series and accompanying BBC book Unforgettable Things To Do Before You Die; examiner.com reporter Jenna Voigt decides to complete the challenge on the Island's east coast amidst the sand dunes of Pakiri Beach. "Trail guides tell the story of the area while winding along forested paths on the short ride to the beach. Cresting a high dune, a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean spreads out below. Over nine miles of white sand stretch along the water, unmarred by commercial development. There is nothing but surf, sky, and the sound of horses' hoofs drumming softly in the sand." Unforgettable Things To Do Before You Die is the second in the BBC series. 
(6 July 2009)

Icy kicks 
Queenstown's annual week-long Winter Festival saw mountain bikers tear down Coronet Peak's slopes, near-naked bird people leap into a freezing Lake Wakatipu and cross-dressing men in heels sprint toward victory in a drag race. These just some of the dozens of events taking place in the world's adventure capital this week as part of the city's festival: a party that combines big-scale events with the sort of quaint community activities more typically associated with small towns. More than 60,000 people attend the festival, most of them young and many of them (the majority of visitors) Australian. The last event added to the programme was determined by popular vote. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the people voted for the "Undy 500" race: another opportunity for participants to strip off in public in the extreme cold. 
(29 June 2009)

High above the Bay 
Bay of Islands luxury self-contained accommodation Cloud9 is reviewed by the International Business Times which describes the $1700 per night hilltop house as about "as close to heaven as you can get." "This place must rate the most welcome destination in this part of the world. All the bedrooms have a cedar patio or deck that have panoramic unobstructed views to the islands and the ocean … Cloud9 in the dreamy Bay of Islands is the real natural piece de resistance but like an upmarket New Zealand bach. It's the best of the best. Ironically, the only cloud in sight when I drove away was Cloud9 which still taunts the happy side of my mind." 
(8 June 2009)

Beats the Trail 
"The Queen Charlotte Track is to the Appalachian Trail what the Ritz-Carlton is to a homeless shelter," writes Angus Phillips for The Washington Post. Polar opposites. Phillips and a friend wanted to see the countryside, with its towering ferns and its clear subtropical bays, and, being of a certain age, they wanted to go in style. "Most New Zealand tracks are bridle trails from the days before the 1950s when folks got around mostly on foot or horseback. It's soft ground and mellow walking. Even better, on the QC you don't have to carry a big pack. Our destination lay four hours up the track: the No Road Inn, accessible only by water or foot. Owner Garry Ashton greeted us with ice-cold beers. The rooms were huge. The bathrooms had footed tubs with views of the water, the bedrooms overlooked the bay. Soft terry robes and flat-screen TVs beckoned. Ashton led us out to a steaming hot tub made from an old wine barrel and warned that dinner was in half an hour. The Marlborough Sounds area was mostly sheep stations until 1979, we learned, when Montana produced the first bottles of sauvignon blanc. The wine was superb; the world came running. Thirty years later along we came, walking in the finest way, with full stomachs, no heavy packs on our backs, soft beds and crisp sheets waiting. It sure beats the Appalachian Trail." 
(31 May 2009)

Beautiful or else 
"In New Zealand some things are taken very seriously and some are not. Sport is serious. Politics is not. Lifestyle is serious; religion less so," explains Joanna Norris for Abu Dhabi's English-language newspaper The National. "Considered among the most important, however, is the face this little country presents to the world. New Zealand's image abroad is the source of both national pride and collective handwringing. The release of a new edition of any influential guidebook from Lonely Planet to Frommer's sparks a flurry of activity in civic offices and tourist bureaux, with disparaging observations quickly countered by indignant press statements. 'We offer a lifestyle which is pretty relaxed in this part of the world — a lot of people who visit often return to live,' one baffled publicity officer told a local paper, with not a hint of irony, after her town was critiqued. Of the same town, the Lonely Planet authors were a little more succinct. 'Shabby,' it said." 
(11 April 2009)

Gold 'neath the Swingbridge 
The Buller River, New Zealand's longest river at 170km, is proving popular with gold panners from around the globe. "Before you get to the area where gold flakes are found you have to cross the swingbridge across the deep chasm — the longest in New Zealand at 110m long and 17m high," explains Geena Paul for Commodity Online. "The land on the other side of the bridge is like an open-air museum of gold prospecting in New Zealand … With a lot of stories flooding the internet on gold digging in Buller River, more and more people are now rushing to this spot in search of the yellow metal." Payable gold was first found in the Buller River in 1859. The Buller Gorge Swingbridge offers activities including goldpanning, Cometline ride, guided walks and jetboat rides.
(4 May 2009)

Tours in make believe 
"When Florida native Michele Maro became captivated by The Lord of the Rings movies, she never imagined she would one day be walking around in the Shire, touring Hobbiton and peeking into hobbit holes," writes A. Pawlowski for CNN Travel. "Though all fictional places, fans can visit the closest thing possible in New Zealand, where the trilogy was filmed and where specially designed tours will take visitors to some of the stunning locations featured in the movies. 'The scenery was so pretty that I thought it had to be computer-generated,' Maro said. 'I just stood there and cried. I couldn't believe I was actually there,' she said. Such passion has prompted tour operators all over the world to take fans to sites that have served as settings for blockbusters on the big and small screens, including London locations used in movies such as Bridget Jones's Diary and Four Weddings and a Funeral. And sites used during the filming of The Sound of Music have many visitors singing with joy in Salzburg, Austria." 
(3 April 2009)

Victorian mod-cons 
Greytown in the Wairarapa — population 2001 and New Zealand's first planned town — is definitely worth a visit writes the WA Today's Kate Duthie, a town not unlike Berry, on the NSW South Coast. "In recent years, Greytown has undergone a transformation, making it a lively destination in its own right," says Duthie, who books in for a few nights above the Main Street Deli at Apartment 88. "With interesting shops selling things you actually want to buy — furniture, homewares, gifts and clothes … Unashamedly Victorian in character, Greytown has become modern. There's plenty to do around here. For surfers and beach lovers, the coast is 30 minutes away; there are also forest walking trails, golf courses, formal gardens and the Waiohine Gorge to visit as well as the wine trail through Martinborough." The first Arbor Day celebration in New Zealand was held in Greytown on 3 July 1890. 
(8 March 2009)

French's heaven 
It was love at first sight for comedienne Dawn French when she landed on New Zealand's North Island, falling for a "peaceful, unspoilt and friendly" country that reminded her of Scotland, only warmer. French sidestepped bungee jumping and other extreme sports, saying, "my boobs are so big they would almost certainly have done me a serious injury." Instead, she preferred to stick to the lattes, ice cream, and wine, especially at Stony ridge and Te Whau vineyards, and enjoyed a weekend on Waiheke Island, "a magical little trip all in itself."
(6 March 2009)

Anchors aweigh 
The new Marsden Cove Marina is a luxurious full service port of entry, and a welcome addition to New Zealand's Whangarei Harbour. "The area is a cruising ground to pine for," with twenty three kilometre long Bream Bay Beach, nearby Hen and Chicken Islands, and the scuba diving hotspot, Poor Knights Marine Reserve. The harbor is home to the deep-water port that acts as the main shipping artery for the region, freckled with small coastal towns and line by beautiful beaches. Marsden Cove marina, just inside the entrance to the harbor, is its newest gateway, 230 berths big, equipped with an in-house customs dock and backed by a waterfront boulevard that is home to specialized retail shops, cafes, and restaurants.
(8 February 2009)

Above the mountains
New Zealand's Maori namesake, Aotearoa, is captured at sunset in digital by photographer Chris Picking in the form of a lenticular cloud swirling above the Tararua Ranges. Picking said: "The picture was taken in the late evening and is looking south west along the line of the range. The cloud formation formed along the line of the range and in this case I remember it being accompanied by strong winds at my location. These clouds were particularly striking as the colour shifted through oranges and reds as sunset approached." 
(22 January 2009)

World's best walk 
The Tongariro Northern Circuit and Heaphy Track are two of the world's best unknown treks, an 82-mile "one-two punch that delivers the full range of Kiwi highlights in nine perfect days — and without the conga-line crowds you'll find on the more famous paths." A mix of volcanic wilderness moonscape, bubbling mud pots, fumaroles, and steaming craters speckled with white foxgloves and yellow buttercups blooming from lava flows, the loop unravels in awe of the 9,177 ft Ruapehu Volcanoe. The Heaphy track, meanwhile, has 'more personalities than Sybil," foraging through dense forest of beech, and traipsing around under the kahikatea and the red flowers of the rata tree. The forest then opens up into limestone caves and arches, rolling tussock hills, crossing rivers along swinging-bridges, and ending on the secluded beaches of the Heaphy River lagoon.
(January 2009)

Lodge one of the top 
Five New Zealand hotels and resorts have been included in Travel and Leisure's list of 500 World's Best Hotels for 2009 with Rotorua's Treetops Lodge and Estate the highest rated. "This is the list you'll want to use all year long" writes the magazine. Other New Zealand listings include: the Hyatt Regency Auckland, The George in Christchurch and Queenstown's Millbrook Resort. Treetops Lodge is also one of Conceirge.com 'Editor's Picks'. 
(December 2008)

Walking the wet
Fiordland’s Hollyford Track “lacks the traffic of Milford Sound” according to The Sydney Morning Herald’s Jenny Tabakoff who tramps the Valley in a guided tour on a particularly damp three days. Delivered by a bus from Queenstown Tabakoff describes: “A few metres after passing the sign proclaiming the start of the Hollyford Track, the isolation is complete: the mountains immense, the trees towering and thickly green, the river (and narrow path) a tumble of water. We always knew we were going to get wet. The only surprise is how wet. Day one is the hardest and longest day ... On day two, we walk a ‘mere 12 kilometres’ ... Day three dawns clear and bright. The jetboat transport us to the coast, where we walk seven kilometres through dunes straight out of Lawrence of Arabia.” The Hollyford Three Day Wilderness Journey is an all inclusive guided walk available from late October through to April. 
(22 November 2008)

Home with benefits 
New Zealand is the favoured country for British expatriates to live because of its low property prices, mild weather and favourable tax rates. Having the lowest average property price at £105,750, low fuel, food and drink costs, and one of the lowest higher-rate tax bands at 39 per cent (compared with 50 per cent in Australia and 48 per cent in France) has helped to push it to the top of the expat table according to Alliance & Leicester International's (ALIL) Cost of Living Scorecard. Acting managing director of ALIL Simon Ripton said: "Its strong cultural links to the UK also make it highly attractive to many UK movers." 
(6 November 2008)

Relaxed in the south 
There is more to Queenstown that diving off bridges and screaming down slopes on snowboards. There is, according to the Irish Independent's Mary O'Sullivan, a "super holiday destination" leaving the visitor "perpetually awestruck." Queenstown is a great base for exploring. Set on the edge of Lake Wakatipu, it's a young town in a young country. There was no Queenstown until the 19th century — when gold was discovered, prospectors came in their droves. Queenstown retains the low-key charm of a prospecting town. Places like Arrowtown, another former mining town which comes complete with a mining museum, has original tree-lined avenues and wooden houses have been preserved. Glenorchy is a delight and the starting point of many well-signposted walks and hikes. 
(19 October 2008)

The wild edge 
New Zealand's dramatic scenery is the backdrop for an 11-day "fall" fashion shoot in the latest issue of National Geographic Adventure, which takes the writer/photographer and his models from Auckland to Te Anau. "This is the country whose most famous and revered citizen Sir Edmund Hillary, was a mountaineer," Steve Casimiro explains, "where they invented jet boats, commercialised bungee-jumping and turned helicopters into backcountry taxis ... Facts which reflect the distinctly Kiwi spirit: clear-headed determination, ingenuity born of extraordinary isolation, and an unbridled and creative approach to adventure." "And of course, there's the land. Whether it's the Maori earth-spirit influence or the simple fact that the country is home to the full gamut of Lord of the Rings landscapes, geography is a fixation that trumps even religion." 
(October 2008)

The American dream 
New Zealand is an enticing destination for American property developers and investors because the populace speaks English, there are minimal restrictions on ownership and land is still relatively cheap. There are also no property taxes, and land sales other than by people in the real estate business are exempt from capital gains taxes. Chief executive of Equity International Gary Garrabrant says: "Visitors see New Zealand as one of a handful of last spots that are undiscovered. There's a lure." New Zealander Peter Cooper, 56, splits his time between California and the North Island. Cooper's Mountain Landing development targets affluent Americans who want two things: security and a unique environment. The first stage of the development was completed last year, and 8 of the 46 available sites have been sold, mainly to US buyers. American interest in New Zealand as a place to retire or to buy a second home jumped after the September 11 attacks. Residency applications doubled from pre-attack levels. New Zealand is a 12-hour flight from the U.S. West Coast, and Cooper could add to his sales pitch a pristine environment: The Lord of the Rings meets The Piano. 
(21 July 2008)

Sheep farm vogue 
The Farm at Cape Kidnappers has made the third annual 2008 Travel + Leisure 'It List', one of 30 best new hotels in the world featuring alongside "Europe's most stylish recent opening" J.K. Place in Capri and the Hotel Fasano in Rio de Janeiro. "Pastoral chic has never looked so good" the article writes of the 26-room country hotel, which is located on a 6500-acre working sheep farm. "There are plenty of leather armchairs and heavy wooden tables, but details like black-and-white sheep photographs and barn doors that close off indoor spaces add a nice tongue-in-cheek touch. The Farm navigates the fine line between formality and accessibility." 
(June 2008)

Trend-setting in the capital 
Wellington, according to travel newspaper South African, "manages the fine balancing act of city slicker affluence and small town charm deftly." "The undisputed cultural centrepiece of New Zealand packs a lot of punch in its petite city centre. And if you scratch below the surface you'll find a veritable hive of activity, with an abundance of good times on offer." This includes continues the article, Cuba Street, "the number one hang out for trendy, artistic types" and live music venue, the San Francisco Bathhouse, the author's "favourite stomping ground". 
(11 June 2008)

"Sweet as"
Next stop Queenstown - "an adrenalin-fuelled, hyperactive, big scream of a town where tourists go for one of two reasons: either to jump from a plane, mountain or bridge, or to watch others do it". 
(21 February 2002)
    

Land of the safe white cloud
In a survey of travelers carried out by Conde Nast, New Zealand scores the highest for safety, with a reassuring 94.69. It is also voted the ninth most popular destination, beating out traditional favourites like Greece, Egypt and Switzerland.
(November 2001)
     

Especially select 
New Zealanders have a love of coffee, wine, water and an extraordinary, "relentless" particularity for those beverages, for dogs, sport, even driveways and beech trees, writes Peter Miller for Seattle news site Crosscut. "Water and wine is a wonderful combination of good fortune to these New Zealanders," Miller continues. "They have both in true profusion, bright and clear, and they know well to take care of them … At L'Affare, the coffee shop in Wellington, it is like a pub with coffee only and not an inkling that perfect foam is prissy. Even out in the country, the coffee was wonderful and straightforward. The bakery in Hokitika, on the West Coast, looked like Iowa in the '50s and the staff looked like the same Iowans, but the coffee machine was Italy 2010." 
(22 April 2010)

Roughing it no more 
"New Zealand's hostels are ridiculously pleasant," writes Ben Groundwater for The Sydney Morning Herald. "The sort of gems you might find in one or two locations in other countries are everywhere across the ditch. The hot favourite, streaking out ahead of the pack, and exemplary of all that's good about New Zealand establishments, is the Wellington City YHA. Away from the chains, New Zealand also boasts more than its share of quirky little one-offs. Some hostels might make you feel like you're being forced to stay in a prison, but in Napier, you can actually do just that. Rather than merely take a tour of the city's old jail, you kip in a cell overnight if it tickles your fancy … As beautiful as the country's great outdoors is, its residents have done some pretty great things with the indoors, as well." 
(29 March 2010)

Delightfully relaxing 
On board Russell's new 46m-long catamaran Ipipiri, which offers overnight cruises around the Bay of Islands, The Sydney Morning Herald's Rob McFarland learns about the town's colourful past. "If you'd visited the town of Russell in the early 1800s, you'd have found a lawless outpost famous for its drunkenness, gambling and prostitution. Sadly, I couldn't find any evidence of this but I did stumble across a fascinating museum and several excellent cafes," McFarland writes. "After being welcomed on board by the boat's smartly dressed crew, we tuck into a selection of warm, homemade blueberry muffins while ship's master Robbie briefs us on safety. And then we're off, cruising up the Veronica Channel past yachts, powerboats, dinghies and tall ships and admiring the decadent holiday homes on the tree-lined foreshore. We anchor for the night in Parekura Bay and while the boat gently rocks on its mooring, everyone congregates at the bar for a pre-dinner drink." 
(14 February 2010)

On the anchor stone 
"There's a flock of noisy kakas on my front lawn, quarrelling over some croissants left over from breakfast," describes The Independent's Kathy Marks, holidaying on Stewart Island, "a place so remote that few people have even heard of it, let alone visited." "A few hours ago, I saw baby carpet sharks bobbing offshore, and a blue penguin gliding through the emerald waters. Tonight, who knows, I might spot a kiwi. Maori call it Rakiura and, according to their creation myth, it was the anchor stone that held the canoe belonging to the ancestral god Maui secure while he hauled a great fish — the North Island — out of the ocean. Modern-day fishermen return to Rakiura in boats laden with blue cod, crayfish and internationally renowned Bluff oysters, harvested in Foveaux Strait." 
(6 February 2010)

Brown trout capital 
Mataura River, just outside of Gore, is "the world capital of brown trout" and a "world-class fly-fishing destination". The Mataura extends for an impressive 140 miles of trout water in the heart of sheep and dairy country. Most tourists fishing these waters will catch at least one three-pound trout a day, according to American angler Tom McLoughlin, who fishes the Mataura in the New Zealand summers, and fishermen will frequently catch 17- to 19-inch fish. Some streams contain trout that average five to seven pounds, said Ron Granneman, a retired guide from the Bighorn River in Montana. The trout hide in deep holes, long riffles, and upstream or downstream of willows at the river's edge. New Zealand began importing brown trout from Germany, France and England in the 1860s, and they thrived. So did rainbow trout, brought in later from the Russian River in California. But brown trout dominate on South Island, and browns are the greater challenge. Many fly fishermen consider them the most difficult to catch of all trout. 
(31 January 2010)

Extreme shearing 
Shearing sheep in New Zealand is included in Time magazine's list of '25 (More) Authentic Asian Experiences'. "Schweebing and Zorbing not your thing? While many pumped-up tourists go to New Zealand to participate in the nation's fixation on death-defying sporting events, some locals seek their adrenalin surge from another extreme sport: sheep-shearing. Sheep are a big part of rural life on the Shaky Isles, where the woolly creatures outnumber humans 9 to 1. You can try your hand at sheep-shearing at various agricultural hubs throughout the country, where pros demonstrate the tricky task and a few will let tourists have a go at it. Average sheep-shearing time? Two minutes. Helmets and harnesses? Not required. But you might need a shower after." 
(22 January 2010)

Defining experience 
"The New Zealand lodge is almost a travel genre in its own right; and, like the safari lodge, the ranch and the spa resort, it comes with a set of defining experiences," writes Max Anderson for the Times Online. "Chief among these is wilderness, something that New Zealand —  populated by just 4 million people —  has in excess." Anderson recommends six lodges "offering something fresh and fine": Manawa Ridge, The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, Whare Kea Lodge and Chalet, Wharekauhau, Blanket Bay and Otahuna Lodge. "The experiences are as rich and 'gourmet' as the price tags suggest; but while wealthy guests like to lodge-hop (slowly killing themselves with kindness), three nights at a single lodge in the midst of, say, a camper-van holiday would be just as rewarding." 
(13 December 2009)

Slink into style 
The Wairarapa's Wharekauhau Lodge & Country Estate is one of five "sexy and stylish retreats" recommended by the Observer's Mr and Mrs Smith who travel throughout New Zealand and Australia looking at the best. At Wharekauhau the pair stayed in a standalone cabin which "was pure modern farmhouse in style: high ceilings with exposed beams, a canopied bed, a romantic gas open fire and a stunning and private view from the bathroom window." Also listed is The Boatshed on Waiheke Island, "nautical chic, bayside bliss"; Mollies in Auckland, a "bohemian boutique hotel something you won't soon forget"; Azur Lodge in Queenstown, described as "sublime"; and Hapuku Lodge in Kaikoura, the rooms "luxurious, with ridiculously impressive views and very sexy bathrooms". 
(22 November 2009)

Luxury on tap 
New Zealanders — the Telegraph's Lisa Grainger and her partner came to learn on a recent trip — "are masters of the understatement". "They're dry. Quietly confident. Down to earth, capable and can-do. And, despite their no-nonsense attitude to life, they really understand luxury — of the underplayed type. The kind of luxury that makes you grin from ear to ear because it's so simple, so refreshingly unpretentious. The late English wit Sir Clement Freud once observed that he couldn't give an opinion on New Zealand because when he was there, 'it appeared to be shut'. That was obviously decades ago. The new, modern New Zealand is open — and in some style." Charter the "perfectly restored" 1935 wooden launch Lady Gay or an Over the Top helicopter excursion; book an Allan Scott Marlborough vineyard tour; rent a private ski chalet in the Southern Alps; or indulge at Lake Whakatipu's Matakauri spa — Grainger's "favourite place in the country". 
(2 November 2009)

Streak down south 
Dunedin is promoting itself as New Zealand's quirkiest city in a bid to encourage more visitors to the southern centre. The wackier tourist activities include the June staging of the nude rugby international tournament that marks the beginning of the Test season. "It's a mixed event with an international team taking on the unbeatable 'Nude Blacks'," says Tourism Dunedin's Heather Mollins. "The obligatory (nude) haka starts proceedings. And during the match a fully clothed 'streaker' runs on to the field. It's not too exciting, though, to play with nothing on during the middle of winter." Or: "A week-long celebration of chocolate takes place from July 10–16 next year, including a race involving 30,000 Jaffas marked with numbers down the 'world's steepest street'". And over the Easter weekend is the running of the "love train" that takes single ladies from Dunedin to the country town of Middlemarch where eligible farmers await.
(15 October 2009)

Waving mad by camper 
The first rule of campervanning around New Zealand is to wave every time you pass a fellow camper, according to the Daily Mail's Charlotte Gill who travels in a Kea beginning in Christchurch. "The penny only dropped a few days into our road trip around the South Island, but for the rest of our ten-day trip, we went waving mad," writes Gill. "In Kaikoura, we met Maurice Manawatu, a Maori from the Ngai Tahu tribe, whose ancestors settled in New Zealand 800 years ago. Maori culture is everywhere in New Zealand, and his fascinating tour taught us about their customs, beliefs, history and their love of music … [After] a final stop in pretty Akaroa, a former French settlement on a peninsula 50 miles south of Christchurch, we'd covered 1,000 miles — and what felt like at least three dazzling countries: one day Scotland, next the Alps, then through a rainforest to emerge in the Lake District." 
(17 September 2009)

Perfection on the Peak 
Coronet Peak is an international training hub for the US Ski Team, Swedish, Swiss and Canadian Alpine Ski Teams as they train for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Of course, the New Zealand national team is also skiing the slopes and has been at it since mid-July. New Zealand national team's coach Nils Coberger said this season at Coronet Peak has been perfect. "The combination of great natural snow this year and superb man-made snow from a new snowmaking system has made for world class training conditions at The Peak," Coberger said. The Canadian Men's Alpine Team has been relishing the great snow conditions, and the Canuks know their snow. "We are really pleased to be here and the terrain is perfect," said head coach for the Canadian Men's Alpine Programme Paul Kristofic. 
(11 August 2009)

Wellington for women
Wellington's "glam beer hall" Mighty Mighty, "funky little" BATS Theatre and the "legendary" Slow Boat Records are included in a suggested itinerary for "ladies of the world" in the June/July issue of American popular culture publication Bust magazine. Writer Gemma Gracewood describes Wellington as a cross between San Francisco and an Italian fishing village. Gracewood also suggests a visit to the "magnificently restored" Embassy Theatre and then a coffee downstairs at Deluxe, "a tiny café with a South Pacific-kitsch-meets-Day-of-the-Dead aesthetic." And "for two-wheeler gals, there are the twenty trails in Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park" to navigate, "some of which afford awesome views of the city. Rent a bike from Mud Cycles and pedal straight there." 
(June/July 2009)

Flirtatious fins 
Kaikoura's Dolphin Encounter marketing manager Jo Thompson says the acrobatic and sociable dusky dolphin is the "big tart of the dolphin world" and "unique for travelling in pods of up to 1000." The Sydney Morning Herald's Louise Southerden dons a wetsuit and snorkel and climbs aboard the tour boat at South Bay. "It takes us 45 minutes to find the nearest pod but it's a sparkling day and there's plenty to see en route: wandering albatross, mountain views, cape petrels, New Zealand fur seals. Then we see it: a pod of about 300 dolphins, moving south. One blast of the air-horn and we're leaping like lemmings into the open sea. There are dolphins everywhere: fins breaking the surface all around us, shiny grey bodies launching like mammal missiles beside us." 
(19 July 2009)

If trees could talk 
Much movie magic is created "in and around Wellington, the San Francisco-like capital city situated at the southwest tip of North Island" writes Boston Globe correspondent Ethan Gilsdorf. "In the city limits and within an hour's drive, film geeks will find plenty of stops to satisfy their cinematic cravings. The best way to see movie sites here is to book a full-day tour with Wellington Rover, whose small vans take fans to a plethora of sites. Bordered on the east by emerald waters, and steep, green hillsides on the other three compass points, Wellington, with a population of about 380,000, has long been a jewel in the rough. Much of the city has a small-town feel, but it's also a mecca for the arts, with a lively cafe and night life scene. Some claim it has as many restaurants per capita as New York."
(12 July 2009)

Face to face on the South's slopes
Western Australia Today has pit two of New Zealand's banner ski resorts against each other to see whether Wanaka or Queenstown really has it all. Combing through the views, nightlife, food, accommodations, and skiing, the results seem mixed. Queenstown tends to offer up the best time for those looking for a tourist hot spot loaded with great restaurants, crazy nights and a 'hassle-free holiday.' When it comes to traveling independently and enjoying the epic scenery and skiing that made Queenstown so famous in the first place, Wanaka is a calmer quieter, less commercial experience. Either way, neither is bound to disappoint. (10 July 2009)

Creators and destroyers 
The history and breathtaking landscape of New Zealand's first national park, Tongariro (which dominates the middle of the North Island) is subject to an in-depth analysis by travel writer Mel White and photographer Stuart Franklin, in the July issue of National Geographic. White is mesmerised by the three peaks that dominate the landscape — Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe — and in particular the conical beauty of Ngauruhoe: "The mountain lacks only a few streaks of vivid red crayon above it to be every child's drawing of the archetypal volcano," she writes. But co-existing with Tongariro's beauty are serious conservation and cultural issues. "Bird-eating stoats, parking-lot construction, profound spiritual and cultural values — all these issues crowd the desks of DOC managers. And one more: Theoretically at least, the park could blow itself to smithereens at any moment." Stuart Franklin's photographs complement White's words, capturing the intense beauty of the region that has been named a World Heritage site twice, both for its physical features and, later, for its cultural importance. 
(July 2009)

Winter bar-hopping 
Queenstown's "bar scene can match any city for quantity, variety and quality and the disarming sincerity of this cold town's warm heart is impossible to resist," writes West Australia Today's Amy Cooper on a recent trip to the southern city claiming "the world's ultimate winter party". "The festival is on while I'm visiting but drop in any time of year, the brochure states, and you'll find 'unrivalled warmth and friendliness'. Cooper asks the whereabouts of the local bars and is told there are 120 within walking distance of her hotel. "We seek out the notoriously elusive Subculture, a backstreet basement cocktail bar and nightclub so tricky to locate that locals swear it actually moves. Friends are acquired in Queenstown as effortlessly as drinks and our crew soon fills a petite hideaway called Mini Bar. What's lacking in space (it holds about 20) is compensated for by a hefty menu of 100 international beers. Next day I head reluctantly to the airport, unable to shake the feeling I'm leaving a party too soon. Queenstown's boasts are justified." 
(14 June 2009)

I heart NZ 
Three senior writers from The New Yorker have been posting rave reviews about New Zealand in blogs on the magazine's website. Chief political commentator Hendrik Hertzberg, along with colleagues Judith Thurman, Rhonda Sherman, and James Surowiecki, were in the country for the recent Auckland Writers and Readers Festival and found themselves "in a Hobbity paradise". "I did see the first of the three Peter Jackson movies and although my attention wandered during the interminable battle scenes, I was transfixed by the landscape," wrote Hertzberg. He goes on to say that our snow-covered Southern peaks "look as if Zeus, or more likely some Celtic god, would be tempted to reach down with a giant spoon and have a taste". The New Yorker business writer James Surowiecki blogged about the comparative health of our banking system compared with the United States, "it feels like what New Zealand is going through is something closer to a traditional recession ... one that doesn't have the added dimension of a banking system in crisis". Hertzberg concludes his blog from Queenstown with, "In short, [Middle-earth is] the sort of place, tame, but with a touch of unthreatening wildness, that any Baggins would be reluctant to leave. "I certainly will be." 
(23 May 2009)

Flattery gets you places
"Undoubtedly when God created the world He made two Edens. New Zealand is the second one," writes Betty McCoy for Alabama newspaper The Gadsden Times, describing the country as "a pristine landscape drenched in indescribable beauty." McCoy discovers the haka and explores the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, "the closest thing to visiting" the continent. "Time marched on and it became time to fly to Aucklund [sic] … One hundred beautiful beaches are within one hour's drive and more than 70,000 boats are owned by residents. Aah, what a way to live!"
(5 April 2009)

Contemporary Christchurch 
New Zealand's oldest city Christchurch is more than punting on the Avon and Octagon wizardry, and boasts plenty to do for the intrepid, including tram, Segway and Antarctica tours, a visit to Fred and Myrtle's Paua Shell House and sundowners at SOL Square's "Austin Power"-like Minx. There's more: "Ride the Christchurch Gondola to the Summit Cafe for a scenic lunch 500m above sea level, then meet your guide for a one- to two-hour downhill adventure," suggests The Age's Louise Southerden. Or if it's raining catch "the world's longest-running movie, cult classic Gloomy Sunday, which has been showing for eight years in the Arts Centre's intimate Academy Classic cinema. For dinner, try Dux de Lux, a Christchurch institution founded in 1978 and specialising in fresh seafood, world-class vegetarian fare, beer brewed on site and live music." 
(9 May 2009)

Hokitika's wild side 
The population quadrupled this autumn in Hokitika, as food enthusiasts from around the world flocked to get a taste of the 20th Wildfoods Festival, serving up a host of obscure, adventurous, and downright daring culinary experiments. "Some of this exotic fare included whole species I had never imagined could be edible, much less considered gourmet," writes Meg Adams. "Booths advertised ostrich pies and sandwiches, snails, and even worm sushi. Among the most daring purchases were huhu grubs: barbecued, marinated, pickled, or even raw. One huhu grub booth had a large stack of deadwood outside of its stall. To the delight — and disgust — of onlookers, two men took hatchets to the rotting tree trunks and harvested huhu grubs right then and there." Other highlights included ice cream draped in freshly sliced honeycomb, coffee liqueur made with unpasteurised cows milk, venison kebabs, barbecued cow's udder, and even deep-fried sheep gonads. "For a country where the most adventurous local food used to be the ever-present spread Marmite ... New Zealand is certainly producing some interesting food these days." 
(9 April 2009)

On the cheap 
Rotorua hotpool Kerosene Creek, Rangitoto Island, Waitomo Caves, the Tongariro Crossing and Te Papa are the "five best freebies" on offer for tourists "with strained budgets" writes journalist Xavier La Canna who has lived in New Zealand for two years. "Without anyone turning a profit from the attractions there is little publicity, and in some cases outright hostility, from locals who want their secret spots hidden ... Many people in New Zealand for business or in transit find themselves in the nation's biggest city, Auckland. Rangitoto is an island not far from the city, and was created by a volcanic eruption about 600 years ago. A Maori term meaning "Bloody Sky", Rangitoto offers breathtaking views of Auckland." 
(25 March 2009)

Tramp of all tramps 
New Zealand boasts more "swoon-worthy tramps per square mile than anywhere else in the world," according to Backpacker magazine, and the notorious Milford Track is at the top of the list. "From Glade House on the northern tip of Lake Te Anau, the route crosses the trout-choked Clinton River, meanders through beech groves and vast grassy meadows and around tumbling waterfalls before climbing to 3,520-foot MacKinnon Pass, the track's highpoint. From here, you'll descend through rainforest where, at night, glowworms illuminate the undersides of thousands of ferns. At trip's end, spill into Milford Sound, where bone shaped mountains pop 5,000 feet above shimmering waters." 
(25 March 2009)

Harbour-side haven 
Hokianga is "the perfect place to build a prototype of a new type of community to model a more visionary idea of how the world can be" writes Kimberley Paterson for The Seoul Times and two Northland men are in the process of this, "clawing back local pine forests into something special," and something sustainable. Terry Kennedy, a lifelong farmer and agro-ecologist, and Sean Murrie, an accountant turned boutique brewery owner say pine forests — which for years have provided a strong export income for New Zealand but which are now showing poor returns — are 'scars on the land' and there is a much better use for the land. Their mission is a place they call Rangiora ('heavenly wellbeing' in Maori), a 120 hectare of coastal development with lifestyle blocks starting around $99,000. Surrounding areas are also due to be turned into pecan forests or mixed use forests of macrocarpa and swamp cyprus that are sustainable and useful for residents. www.rangioralifestyle.co.nz 
(18 March 2009)

Built to sway 
"Wellington, full of steep and newly formed hills held together by grass, gorse bushes and stunted ngaio trees … shares with its better-known counterpart San Francisco an engaging characteristic: it's a wooden city," writes The Sydney Morning Herald's Hamish McDonald, who revisits his adolescence. "To appreciate the timber-framed, weatherboard-clad look of Wellington, try to arrive in the teeth of a strong southerly when your aircraft will have to fly in low across the harbour. Then look right at the white weatherboard houses climbing up the slopes of Mount Victoria and Kelburn." To see the wooden foundations of New Zealand society, McDonald takes a short walk around Thorndon, visiting the all-timber 1876 government office building, "disguised cunningly in faux stone" and Old St Paul's Anglican Church, "a marvel of fine stained-glass windows and dark kauri, matai, totara and rimu timbers, hung with old battle ensigns including those of the US Marine Corps, who stayed in Wellington on the way to Guadalcanal in the Pacific War." 
(21 February 2009)

A paddler's paradise
Abel Tasman Park on the northern coast of the South Island is a veritable kayaking nirvana, offering up pristine coastlines of granite headlands, tiny coves of golden sand, and voluptuous hills cloaked in emerald green. Better still, the coastline is only accessible by kayak, boat, or by foot, and an island area that would otherwise be overrun with admirers is relatively desolate, save friendly fur seals and majestic white gannets, nose-diving for fish. Not one to stray too far from the precious creature comforts? Guide services have a knack for blending the two. "One of the most appealing attractions of Wilson's Abel Tasman National Park adventures is that they combine jaw-dropping natural beauty and aerobic exercise with comfy accommodations and delicious food and wine," says Darryl Wilson.
(31 January 2009)

Pursuits of happiness
"Beyond the wild, raw landscapes, another New Zealand beckons: one of sophisticated restaurants, silvery olive groves, and the most lush, grape-heavy vineyards this side of Bordeaux" writes Condé Nast writer Chang-rae Lee, who spent two weeks travelling both islands touring wineries, playing golf and "eating [his] way across the landscape." Beginning on Waiheke Island, Lee then heads south to the Hawkes Bay and "classic maritime vineyard land" where he sips Craggy Range pinot after a round at Cape Kidnappers. Across the Strait, Lee finds his favourite wine of the entire trip in Central Otago, an '03 pinot noir from the Pisa Range Estate, whose earthy bouquet was so redolent and exquisitely layered with hints of river rock and dark cherry that I wanted to buy the new block of proposed vineyard land which the affable owners, Warwick and Jenny Hawker, had up for sale, and share a piece of the terroir myself." 
(February 2009)

Around New Zealand in 30 days
Sherman's Travel offers up a primer on New Zealand's "stunning landscapes ... fantastic wine scene, unbelievable lodges, and happening cities," charting a course through the premier attractions of Auckland, The Wine Trail and The Southern Lakes Region. Author Arabella Bowen writes of Auckland as a "cosmopolitan hub with a burgeoning fashion scene" led by the likes of designers Karen Walker and Kate Sylvester. The City of Sails offers up its water-born charm along its "superlative waterfront setting," and with the "iconic Sky Tower, the Southern Hemisphere's answer to Seattle's Space Needle." The infamous Wine Trail offers a ten day, 240 mile journey through both the North and South Island, colored by the world renowned Sauvignon Blancs of Marlborough, the pristine scenery of Hawke's Bay, an Art-Deco bonanza in Napier, and an overnight stop in delightful Wellington, which "bears an uncanny similarity to San Francisco," and acts as a "fun, urban counterpoint to the wine trail." Touted over all, however, is the Southern Lakes Region, "Adventure Capital of the World." Bowen suggests a five day foray, based out of Queenstown, "one of the world's most attractive mountain resort settings," and spreading outwards into the Southern wine district of Central Otago, through gold rush Arrowtown, Lord of the Rings Glenorchy, and out into the highly-lauded Milford Sound. The area accommodates a stunning variety of activity from golf, trout fishing and wine tours, world-class skiing, Jet Safaris (jet boats "speeding along glacier-fed rivers at breakneck speeds"), and horse back rides through Lord of the Rings country. "If you have time to visit only one place in New Zealand," writes Bowen, "make it the lush plains and soaring, snowcapped peaks of the Southern Lakes Region."
(January 2009)

Divine dwellings 
Nelson's Lodge at Paratiho Farms is on the market for $14,500,000 and features alongside a $16,000,000 Coromandel property, both properties included as part of a New Zealand promotion in the autumn edition of Century 21's North American real estate quarterly Fine Homes and Estates. "New Zealand is heavenly," describes the publication. "The Southern Alps, massive caves, deserted beaches, boiling mud, rapid rivers, and hissing geysers make it an extraordinary place to explore or settle." The Lodge at Paratiho Farms was built by Americans Robert and Sally Hunt in 1999. 
(December 2008)

With loppers at the ready
Conservation Volunteers New Zealand is joined by British gap-year blogger Ruth Holliday who writes about her time spent with the group in the Telegraph, “doing what is best described as heavy gardening in the back of beyond”, working on the construction and maintenance of Te Araroa national pathway. Also called the “Long Pathway”, Te Araroa is funded by a charitable trust and will eventually run the length of New Zealand from Cape Reinga to Bluff. “The embodiment of Te Araroa is a man named Noel,” writes Holliday, “the project’s construction manager — a rangy Kiwi standing over six feet tall, 65 years old and still running marathons after a heart bypass. He wears very tiny shorts — the old-school conservationist look. And he is exactly the kind of person who would choose to trek from one end of New Zealand to the other.”
(25 November 2008)

With comforts, without pack
Opened in 1992, the 71km Queen Charlotte Track is located between Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru Sound, and Los Angles Times's reporter Amanda Jones — who considers herself "an outdoorswoman" but for who the "appeal of pitching a tent has lost its lustre" — opts for a guided five-day excursion from sound to sound arranging for her baggage to be "whisked ahead by boat." "Ray Waters would be our guide. Seventy-one years old, he and his leather-tan and sinewy legs smacked of the über-athlete. Indeed, he told us, 10 years before he had run the entire track in less than 10 hours ... By 6 at night we tumbled off the track onto the trimmed lawn of Furneaux Lodge, originally an early-1900s holiday home for well-heeled pioneers. Nowadays, hikers sprawl on the vast porch paying homage to their first Steinlager of the evening." 
(29 October 2008)

Tramping pick n' mix 
New Zealand's Department of Conservation has designated nine tramping tracks as "Great Walks", which include the Tongariro Northern Circuit, the Kepler Track and the ever popular Abel Tasman Coast Track. "Fresh air, exercise and amazing scenery abound in the Land of the Long White Cloud," writes Richard Tulloch. "And when it comes to playing outside, those New Zealanders punch well above their weight. They've done a brilliant job of turning their country into an open-air gym." The nine tracks and their huts are kept in better condition than those on other routes and, in peak periods, a booking system allows hikers to reserve accommodation. 
(28 September 2008)

Oriental's Ohtel 
Wellington's latest accommodation option, the 10-room boutique Ohtel, is 'Hotel of the Week' in The Independent on Sunday. Situated on Oriental Parade, a wooden Victorian house was removed to give the Ohtel its central location; the house was recycled to the countryside; the new building, clad in wood and glass, claims eco-friendly credentials, with solar panels and a heat exchanger for hot water. Created by architect/owner Alan Blundell, Ohtel is furnished with mid-20th century furniture, including items designed by Arne Jacobsen and Charles Eames. "Much of my collection is Australasian-made by Danish craftsmen who left Europe during the 1950s to settle in New Zealand and Australia," Blundell told Platinum magazine. He has been designing apartments and houses in Wellington for 22 years. 
(10 August 2008)

“Pretty damn sweet”
A US exchange student in NZ writes an ode to Aotearoa in his home college newspaper, the New Hampster. “I think I've got NZ fever already. This country has been described as a laidback, fun place to be, and rightfully so … Impressive hospitality, truly impressive.”
(25 March 2005)
    

From sea to sea: Kipling's landscapes
Biographer David Gilmour finds chronicler of British imperialism Rudyard Kipling has an affinity for the edges, "his favourite landscapes were in adverse angles of the Pacific (New Zealand and British Columbia) and in opposite corners of the Atlantic (New England and Cape Colony).
(26 April 2002)
       

Island paradise 
Waiheke Island's Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant is recommended by the Wall Street Journal in an article about worldwide wine tours. Waiheke Island features alongside the Barossa Valley, Australia; Western Cape, South Africa and Grover Vineyards, Bangalore, India. "Less than an hour by ferry from Auckland, sits a small island in the Hauraki Gulf that is a wine lover's paradise," writes Graham Reid. "More than two dozen vineyards, some of them award-winning, call the island home, thanks to a microclimate that's perfect for growing grapes — more hours of sunshine and consistently higher temperatures than the North Island. This two-day trip is a tour of five of the island's best wineries, all of which are clustered in the western end of the island." 
(30 April 2010)

Children allowed 
At the "sophisticated" Poronui Lodge near Lake Taupo The Sydney Morning Herald's Max Anderson is relieved to find there is also room for his six-year-old boys. "It's a little-known fact that most of New Zealand's famous luxury lodges don't welcome children under 13. But I'm pleased to report there are ways you can get your little ones into a champion wilderness retreat without having their heads mounted above the hearth. Poronui is set in 6500ha of forested valleys with 45km of private watercourse. World-renowned for its fishing, it has a finely tailored main lodge hung with reels, rods and stuffed trout and caters to a maximum of just 14 guests. If you offer some personal guarantees of their good behaviour, this number can include your rugrats. The lodge is well-suited to young guests. For a start it has a dog — a thing that, to your children's eyes, has the same appeal as a good bottle of Hawkes Bay pinot might have to you." 
(27 March 2010)

Bent to every whim 
"The beauty of train journeys is that you can appreciate the dominance of New Zealand's landscape over its inhabitants," writes The Independent's Dan Poole post-Tranz Scenic trip down through both islands. "Over half of the population of four million live in four of the towns and cities I'd passed through: Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch. This majestic country is forthright in its unwillingness to be tamed. As the train rumbled along tracks that bend to the landscape's every whim, it was hard to resist the temptation to break out in quiet applause." 
(23 January 2010)

On the floral trail 
New Zealand municipal botanical gardens, including Hamilton Gardens and the Whakarewarewa Forest and Government Gardens in Rotorua, feature in a travel article written by Ray Boren for the Desert News. "Indeed, the web site www.nzescapes.com acknowledges, 'From the landscaped front lawns of their detached suburban houses to public parks and gardens — there are a wealth of botanic delights waiting to be discovered.' The world-spanning, 58ha garden complex in Hamilton certainly has to be counted as among the nation's very best. Without leaving the gardens' expansive site, one can time-travel through the Egyptian and Chinese Scholars gardens, the contemplative Japanese Garden, the modernist American 'West Coast' garden (complete with a pool presided over by a pointillist image of Marilyn Monroe) and a spectacular Italian Renaissance Garden, as well as patches showcasing English flowers, and herbs and vegetables grown as demonstrations for native Hamiltonians." 
(9 January 2010)

Perfectly picturesque 
New Zealand's "countryside is stunning (no wonder The Lord of the Rings was filmed there); the people are charming — like happy Britons; and the food and drink can be memorable," writes Oxford University chancellor Lord Patten in an article for the Financial Times. Patten, "on a lecture tour of New Zealand attempting to explain the often puzzling role of the EU", and his wife arrive in Christchurch "in time for the rhododendrons and the azaleas" at the Botanic Gardens in Hagley Park. "In Nelson, we stayed at Warwick House, a delightful Victorian gothic mansion 10 minutes' walk — much of it along the banks of the river — from the city centre. The owners of this small hotel, retired from commercial adventures in Asia, are perfect guides to the area and, if you like a walk, you can take their Labrador with you." 
(19 December 2009)

Distance makes special 
New Zealand "is the ideal destination to gain maximum distance from everyday life" describes German magazine Geo in a special edition about this country, which includes stunning photographs of Fiordland, Nugget Point and Hoopers Inlet amongst other locations. The supplement covers the kakapo, rugby, Christchurch boy-racers, cuisine, Maori moko and in association with Wellington's Goethe Institute, presents a photographic insert of Cuba Street portraits. The publication is sold with a DVD. (October/November 2009)

Ski season success 
New Zealand's 2009 winter ski season was the best it has ever been with 1.5 million sets of skis and snowboards hitting the slopes, including over 100,000 skiers from across the Tasman. New Zealand tourism operators are sending a big thanks to Australian PM Kevin Rudd for "stimulating" the winter ski season, and have a suggestion — please do it again. "We're all writing to Kevin Rudd to see if he'll do it again next winter," said Lake Wanaka Tourism manager James Helmore. 
(10 November 2009)

Symbol of renewal 
"If you believe clouds have silver linings, Napier's is surely rimmed with neon and chrome, the shiny new materials of the art-deco age," describes the The Observer's Nigel Tisdall. "For this was an earthquake that also gave back, tilting the coast up by a couple of metres and draining a huge lagoon that is now filled with fertile farmland, the city airport, and some choice stretches of 30s and 40s suburbia. Downtown Napier, meanwhile, was quickly rebuilt in a colourful, confidence-raising art-deco style that married symbols of renewal — sunbursts, fountains, flowers — with robustly quake-proof buildings limited to two storeys. Lovers of art deco will find plenty of individual gems to swoon over in metropolises such as Paris, New York and Shanghai, but Napier is exceptional because it offers such an engaging and strollable concentration of provincial 30s edifices." 
(25 October 2009)

Jurassic Park tramps 
"One of the best and most economical ways to see New Zealand is to tramp your way through it," suggests Canadian freelance writer Vawn Himmelsbach, whose favourite tramps include: the Northern Circuit & Tongariro Crossing, the Abel Tasman Coast Track and the Routeburn, "arguably one of the best alpine tramps" in the country. Tramping in New Zealand means "you'll find a little bit of everything, from mountains to volcanoes to fiords to glaciers to beaches — all surrounded by primeval forests. With some of the oldest plant forms on earth, you'll feel like you're on the set of Jurassic Park." 
(22 October 2009)

Remarkable rail 
Taieri Gorge in the South Island is included in the Telegraph's 'All you need to know about the world's most remarkable places in 60 seconds'. Taieri Gorge is special because it features one of New Zealand's most scenic rail trips, a 50-mile journey into majestic mountain scenery that is otherwise almost inaccessible. The line was designed to open up the Crown Lands of the Otago interior, and in particular to serve the goldrush town of Cromwell, 150 miles from Dunedin. Commercial operations ceased in 1990, but the most scenic part of the line was saved. Over Labour Weekend in October the Taieri Gorge Railway will celebrate 130 years since the commencement of the building of the Otago Central Railway to Cromwell. 
(17 September 2009)

Out of town delights 
Waiheke Island, Martinborough and North Canterbury's Waipara Valley, each a short drive from a main centre, are all worth exploring for "epicurious travellers" from across the Tasman. Residents of Auckland would doubtless prefer that Waiheke Island remained their little secret. Sorry folks. The word is out. The myriad attractions here include a dozen or so wineries, several with top-notch cellar-door restaurants that lie dotted among the island's fruit farms, olive groves, cafes, art studios and galleries. The superb views and much slower lifestyle are also drawcards. One of the highlights of Martinborough is that several of the best cellar doors are within walking distance of each other. The area prides itself on locally grown produce that is used by the cafes, pubs and restaurants and can be sampled at the Village Cafe, Providore or Riverview Cafe at Murdoch James. A visit to the Waipara Valley Wine and Food Celebration, which is held on the last Sunday in March in the Glenmark Church grounds, is also recommended. 
(26 July 2009)

Holiday on the right 
Driving a camper van in New Zealand is "disconcerting … through a right-hand-drive country" but the "best part of driving the [vehicle] was the door it opened for conversation with waitresses, shop clerks and fellow campers," explains the San Francisco Chronicle's Nancy Davis Kho. "Straight lines on a New Zealand map may not reflect the belief, passed on to me by a New Zealander in her 70s, that the country's road engineers were paid by the curve. Luckily, traffic is relatively light outside of Auckland and New Zealand drivers seem to know to give camper vans carrying tourists a wide berth … When we pulled into an empty parking lot at dusk, we were treated to a glorious view of the turquoise Pacific Ocean through that unique combination of pine and palm vegetation that characterises the country." 
(24 July 2009)

Top lodge spots 
The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs has been voted No. 1 Lodge/Resort in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific in the 2009 Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards readers' survey, with The Farm at Cape Kidnappers ranks No. 2 in the region. The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs ranks No. 16 on the 2009 World's Best Awards list of Top 100 Hotels Overall. The Farm at Cape Kidnappers ranks No. 21 on the list of Top 100 Hotels Overall. The 2009 World's Best Awards survey results will be featured in the August issue of Travel + Leisure. 
(17 July 2009)

Little island paradise 
Waiheke Island, in the North Island's Hauraki Gulf has placed 6th in the 2009 list of the 'World's Best Islands to Live On' by Islands magazine, and is praised in particular for being emigration-friendly and socio-economically diverse. "Multimillion-dollar homes share the island comfortably with summer cottages, and magnates mix easily with artists and writers." US Expats Mike and Ann Sprat, owners of Destiny Bay Vineyards, moved to Waiheke in 2000 to escape a harried professional life in California's Silicon Valley. "We were in Dunedin, and one morning at breakfast, a friend said, 'You should move to Waiheke and grow grapes.' Of course, we'd never heard of Waiheke, and we'd never contemplated growing grapes, but when we got to the Auckland area, we went over and drove around, and it's kind of a paradise island. It's really beautiful and there were a lot of vineyards." 25% of the 8,000 residents on Waiheke Island are US Expats. 
(July/August 2009)

Western scenes 
The West Coast's Bruce Bay is "windswept, isolated and utterly beautiful" where travellers "have left their mark on the beachfront with small cairns of smooth rocks carefully balanced on boulders which line the shore," writes the Bryon Shire News reporter Lee Mylne. "There are hundreds of them, and it feels like a place where wishes are made … It's just one of the unexpected discoveries that make exploring this coastline such a delight. This stunningly scenic drive hugs the coast for almost 450km between Westport to the north and Haast to the south." 
(21 June 2009)

Near perfect north 
The Bay of Islands "is not only South Pacific-beautiful, it has been an important crucible for New Zealand's human history". That history begins with arrival from the north in sea canoes of the fierce, and fiercely proud, Maori people about a thousand years ago. New Zealand, devoid of people for eons, was gradually settled, basically north to south, over the succeeding centuries. Today Russell, Paihia, Waitangi and this bay of many islands — "a place of rolling green hills, sheep grazing above the crystal blue waters," Jeff Lawson, an expedition leader for Utah-based Fun for Less Tours notes, is "a place where you truly feel 'down under,' far from the troubles of the world — a place the New Zealanders refer to as a "Godzone" because so many of them are people of faith, believing their homeland is God's best work, and you live closer to God by living in New Zealand. 
(20 June 2009)

What a German thinks 
A new book on New Zealand by German journalist Ingo Petz Kiwi Paradise takes the author to Palmerston North and the Caitlins, tells the story of a game of ping-pong with poet Sam Hunt and recounts an interview with mountaineering royalty Ed Hillary. Kiwi Paradise is an amusing account of a travelling German struggling to understand the complexities of the New Zealand psyche. "I mean, I liked New Zealanders, but it wasn't always easy to understand their mysterious mentality, one that shifted somewhere between non-commitment, friendliness and indifference." Kiwi Paradise is published only in German by Droemer Knaur. 
(19 May 2009)

Don't look down 
The seven kilometre route to Treble Cone can be unnerving for American travellers accustomed to ample four-lane roads leading to their favourite resort. The gravel road winding up from Wanaka to the ski-field has changed little since its inception. "Unsealed" roads? Yep, still working on the concept of "guard rail", but a new daily shuttle service is a welcome step for those searching out the best skiing that can be found during the summer. Meanwhile, further north at Mt Hutt, one of New Zealand's premiere spots is primed for June's season opening with more than six feet of new snow falling on the mountain in early May. "I've been working at Mt Hutt for eight years and I've never witnessed falls like this so early in the season," said Mt Hutt ski area manager Dave Wilson. 
(11 May 2009)

Home on the pa
Leading member of the Nga Puhi iwi Hone Mihaka is an oral historian guiding tourists about the land of his ancestors and the Ruapekapeka pa, 14km south east of Kawakawa and one of the largest and most complex in the country. Mihaka can recite the names and fates of generations of his ancestors stretching far back into the mythical past, one of these men, Hone Heke. Mihaka takes Times journalist Dan Snow around the hillfort over two days, and in a powhiri at his home, calls Snow a "strange heron" brought from Britain by the wind gods. "In New Zealand history matters," Snow writes. "I met people of all political outlooks and their arguments were deeply rooted in their reading of the past. I met Maori who claimed that the New Zealand Government is an illegal entity. I met the descendants of settlers who said that their ancestors had been sold land legally by its indigenous inhabitants … The country's history is impossible to miss." 
(11 April 2009)

Sirens call from Russell 
Luxury 70-acre retreat Eagles Nest, located on the Tapeka tip of the Russell peninsula, is one of Paradizo's "emerging hotspots", which writes that "the team behind Eagles Nest works around the clock making sure that every detail — every meal, every wine, every yacht, every massage — of every day is exactly as you want it." "Stay in one of six extravagant private villas abundant with modern amenities and comforts that flood with sunshine splashing through expansive windows and glass walls. And the view, what a view. Each private villa has incredible views of New Zealand's Bay of Islands: secluded beaches, white sailboats cruising in the gentle breeze, dolphins dancing over the surf and a crisp horizon of baby blue." Tatler includes Eagles Nest as one of its 101 Best Hotels and writes of the award-winning resort: "When the Royal Shakespeare Company stayed here, they spontaneously broke into song; a celebrated architect cried; a travel agent from Dubai was worried that some of his clients might never leave. This is back-to-nature fantasy with rock 'n' roll on its mind." 
(25 March 2009)

The greatest crater 
Lake Taupo, is "arguably the most famous crater lake on the planet". Formed by a volcanic eruption 27,000 years ago, Taupo offers up the strange bedfellows of an almost surreal tranquility and furious geothermal activity bubbling up from its depths. Surrounded by breathtaking views in all directions, it is the largest freshwater lake in Australasia, attracting over 1.5 million visitors each year.
(10 February 2009)

Region of the perpendicular 
The Milford Track — "what Americans call a trail" — is free of mammals and snakes, explains New York Times writer Robert Hershey, but watch out for the "large and brazen New Zealand parrot, [which] will make off with your lunch." Hershey joins a guided group of 50 travellers on a five-day 53km trip. "The two words I heard uttered most often as we trekked through the wilderness were 'awesome' and 'incredible.' The only irritating touch of modernity, according to some hikers, was the occasional buzz of a sightseeing plane or provisioning helicopter. Asked about this, general manager of Ultimate Hikes Bill Davidson approvingly quoted the reaction of one satisfied client. 'It's a small price to pay,' she had commented, 'for such a wonderful experience.'" The Milford route was discovered by Quintin MacKinnon in 1888 and the first track was completed within two years. 
(18 January 2009)

Dipping into the serene
The Whanganui River Great Walk features in the December issue of online magazine InTheFray, which writer Aaron Richner describes as a “river is so peaceful that [reflection] can stretch into infinity, and time, a construct for lesser beings, vanishes.” “There are other moments, both in life and on the river, that demand action ... reaching and pulling at the churning water while wrenching at the river with your paddle, manoeuvring your canoe around rocks and keeping yourself upright and inside the boat. It is a rush, a blur of action independent from conscious thought, and it is even fun when you spill into the river.” Richner also visits Renwick’s vineyards, tramps the Rees-Dart Track in the Southern Alps and climbs Avalanche Peak, near Arthur’s Pass. 
(3 December 2008)

For sale in Central Otago
Queenstown’s 3,000-acre Closeburn Station features in The New York Times international property listings this week. “This six-bedroom three-bath contemporary home has a master suite with views of Cecil Peak. The home’s family wing has two bedrooms, a shared bath and views of Lake Dispute and the Remarkables, a mountain range popular for alpine and adventure sport.” The recent weakening of the New Zealand dollar has sparked increased interest among American buyers over the past two months, said Julian Brown, the owner of Browns Sotheby’s International Realty in Queenstown. Brown said that interest among the upper reaches of the property market remains high. “There’s a limited supply of luxury homes in Queenstown,” he said. About 20 per cent of homeowners in the Queenstown area are international. 
(2 December 2008)

Lakeside hedonism 
Blanket Bay luxury lodge on the shores of Lake Wakatipu is the starting point for any adventure a guest can imagine, but it is also home to some very fine cuisine, according to The Australian's Michelle Rowe. "Blanket Bay is able to offer a daily changing menu serving the best seasonal produce with no worries about skimping on ingredients, and the flexibility of guests eating at whatever hour of evening they choose. The majority of the lodge's guests are from North America, followed by Europeans. Australians make up about 10 per cent of visitors. The lodge is just far enough away from Queenstown to escape the ski crowds but sufficiently close to take in the best of the central Otago wine region and surrounds." 
(1 November 2008)

Holiday on kauri coast 
On the Coromandel Peninsula Metro UK reporter Kieran Meeke catches the Driving Creek Railway, a narrow-gauge railway line set up by local potter and conservationist Barry Brickell, who over the last 27 years has also planted 10,000 kauri seedlings in the area. Brickell started building the line so he could get clay for his pottery and wood for his kiln, and it is now the number one tourist attraction in the Coromandel. Meeke also explores an old gold mine shaft and savours a glow-worm display "shining like the Milky Way." "The question of why anyone might spend their life in an office in London is one [Meeke's guide] very politely doesn't ask." 
(10 October 2008)

Over the Alps
On the TranzAlpine, India's Economic Times reporter's travel from Canterbury, taking in mesmerising views of the Waimakiriri, through the Otira tunnel and on to Punakaiki and Greymouth. "The highest viaduct, 73m above the river, is quite appropriately called the 'staircase'! The views around changed again, with plateaux around and hills in the horizon fading away in the blue sky." At Punakaiki: "We were transfixed by a traffic sign that warned us of crossing penguins! Nowhere in the world had I seen this sign and we craned our necks hoping to see one of these sombre looking creatures!"
(18 September 2008)

Dream with opera
Auckland five-star boutique hotel Mollies — owned by opera fanatics Frances Wilson and Stephen Fitzgerald — has received a coveted 'Hideaways of The Year Award' and is one of Harper's 'Longtime Favourite Hideaways in The World'. Sydney Morning Herald reviewer Rob McFarland describes the St Mary's Bay getaway as "the most unashamedly romantic hotel" he has ever stayed in. "I was there on my own and had to constantly fight the urge to propose to one of the staff." An experienced opera voice coach, Frances makes no apologies for the extravagance, and at pre-dinner drinks says: "I like to make every evening a romantic occasion. I love having far too many candles and far too many flowers." Opened as Mollie in 2001, the hotel is named after the owner's mother, who ran it first as a guesthouse and then as a motel. 
(16 September 2008)

Capital connections
Wellington's green belt, its educated populace and diverse economy is comparable to an extent with Ottawa, Canada's capital, in that both are ideal illustrations of "younger new-world" cities. "Wellington shares more with Ottawa than, say, Paris," writes the Ottawa Citizen. "But for years, the city has plastered 'Absolutely, Positively Wellington' anywhere it could, which somehow Ottawa just couldn't pull off. And yet, new downtown buildings in Ottawa keep selling, as more people say a spunkier, denser city is something they want - like Wellington." Then there's the southern city's famous gusty weather. "Writer Jane Clifton describes its women as likely land yachts, wind catching their clothes. She has a point. Antarctica's spawn, the gale, is as unwelcome to Wellingtonians as Ottawa's chill is for Canucks." 
(6 August 2008)