News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Mitre Peak Ascent Daunting but Achieved

Mitre Peak Ascent Daunting but Achieved

When Guardian photographer Murdo MacLeod and his 25-year-old daughter Lilidh attempt the rarely climbed 1700m spire in New Zealand’s Milford Sound the obstacles appear overwhelming. The pair was beaten on their first attempt in 2018,…

Packrafting a New Adventure Sweeping New Zealand

Packrafting a New Adventure Sweeping New Zealand

“New Zealand has long been known as one of the world’s greatest adventure travel hotspots. From bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, and heliskiing, to jet boating, mountain biking, hiking, and swimming with sharks and dolphins,…

Six of the Best Adventures in New Zealand

Six of the Best Adventures in New Zealand

“Whether you prefer a stomach-dropping free fall or a calf-burning rock ascent, New Zealand has no shortage of hair-raising adventures for those with a head for heights,” Justin Meneguzzi writes for National Geographic Traveller. In…

New Zealand Charts On Nat Geo Best Trip List

New Zealand Charts On Nat Geo Best Trip List

Looking for your next adventure? You’ll find it on National Geographic’s annual list of the world’s best destinations for travellers, and of the 25 breathtaking places and experiences listed, you’ll find New Zealand, with…

South Island the Reigning Adrenaline Capital

South Island the Reigning Adrenaline Capital

“Of all the world’s adventure destinations, there are few more tantalising or dreamlike than New Zealand, a country that seems at once familiar and otherworldly. With its deep-azure seas, mist-shrouded mountains, dense forests, and…

Eight Can’t-Miss New Zealand Adventures

Eight Can’t-Miss New Zealand Adventures

When American travel blogger Liz Carlson, the self-proclaimed ‘Young Adventuress’, moved to New Zealand six years ago from Washington D.C., she says she wasn’t sure what she’d gotten herself into. “I was struck by the…

Conquering Heights in the South Island

Conquering Heights in the South Island

Adventurer and writer Briton Sadie Whitelocks heads to New Zealand on a two-week tour of the South Island where she leaps off some “terrifying” cliffs, paddles our national parks, and in Akaroa, spots the…

New Bungy Experience Catapults Users to 60 mph in 1.5 Seconds

New Bungy Experience Catapults Users to 60 mph in 1.5 Seconds

“Adrenaline junkies can now be catapulted to 60mph in 1.5 seconds across a 500ft ravine thanks to an amazing world-first bungy experience,” writes Jennifer Newton in an article for The…

How Wanaka Became NZ’s New Adventure Capital

How Wanaka Became NZ’s New Adventure Capital

With its bungee jumps, giant swings, jet boats and ski fields, Queenstown isn’t known as the adventure capital of the world for nothing. Until recently, nearby Wanaka was typically likened to a more low-key…

Heli-Biking in New Zealand is Epic

Heli-Biking in New Zealand is Epic

“A thick layer of fog makes the scene that much more intense as the helicopter touches down. One by one, each mountain biker jogs away from the helicopter. One by one, the bikes are…

Athlete’s Guide to New Zealand

Athlete’s Guide to New Zealand

Adventurer and now New Zealand-based athlete Luke Yates, “newly enamoured with the country”, explains why the Land of the Long White Cloud is perfectly suited for endurance adventures in an article for IRONMAN. “Mythical stories…

How New Zealand Invented Adventure Sports

How New Zealand Invented Adventure Sports

New Zealander Henry van Asch was bumming around the ski slopes of Wanaka in the 1980s when his friend A.J. Hackett persuaded him to try a strange new extreme sport – hurling himself off…

New Zealand’s Disabled-Friendly Adventures

New Zealand’s Disabled-Friendly Adventures

A quick flick around the internet will confirm that travellers with disabilities can enjoy adventure activities in New Zealand – from leaping out of planes and exploring the rainforest canopy to jet boating in…

Adventure Calls in Queenstown

Adventure Calls in Queenstown

“On the balcony of our lovely suite at the Heritage Queenstown, with its front-row views across Lake Wakatipu, I watch and wait as the morning light slowly washes the vast razorback range beyond in…

Thrilling Start to 2017 in Queenstown

Thrilling Start to 2017 in Queenstown

Queenstown and its reputation as the adventure capital of the world, is a centre for every kind of extreme sport imaginable – but it is best-known for bungee jumping. New Zealand is included in…

Bollywood Star on Power-Packed NZ Adventure Trail

Bollywood Star on Power-Packed NZ Adventure Trail

Bollywood superstar and adventure junkie Sidharth Malhotra, 31, was in New Zealand recently shooting a social media video highlighting New Zealand’s scenery, adrenalin-packed activities and cultural experiences which will be incorporated into Tourism New…

Stunning Descent of Mount Aspiring Documented

Stunning Descent of Mount Aspiring Documented

Three American climbers joined New Zealand alpinist Graham Zimmerman, 29, for a 72-hour descent of Mount Aspiring in which the group navigate “across glaciers and snowfields, jungles and flooded rivers; exchange greetings with local…

The Adventurous Side of New Zealand

The Adventurous Side of New Zealand

“New Zealand is where you’ll find coy honeymooners gazing at each other; intrepid backpackers exploring the highest peaks and the deepest seas, Nature enthusiasts on a relentless trail of whales and dolphins, and adventure…

High-Octane Thrills amid Spectacular Scenery

High-Octane Thrills amid Spectacular Scenery

“There are few, if any, other places in the world where you can do some scenic mountain sightseeing while plunging at a velocity of 200km/h for 3050m of free fall. In 60 seconds,” Jeremy…

First Things First in Planet’s Adventure Mecca

First Things First in Planet’s Adventure Mecca

Braving the 16-hour flight from Los Angeles to New Zealand is easy, according to Outside Magazine, but the hard part is sorting through the overwhelming number of possibilities crammed into the two islands. Outside…

Pack up Your Troubles and Paddle

Pack up Your Troubles and Paddle

New Zealand’s only packraft operator Expedition X takes Guardian journalist Ellie Ross into a “secret corner” of the Rees Valley, an hour’s drive north of Queenstown, for a trek into the wilderness with a…

North Island a Feast of Exhilarating Activities

North Island a Feast of Exhilarating Activities

Ahipara, on the west coast of Northland, New Zealand’s northernmost region, is a fantastic place to begin a tour of the North Island, the National Post’s Kat Tancock suggests. “It’s late afternoon on a hot…

Rugged Aoraki Region a Pinnacle of Adventure

Rugged Aoraki Region a Pinnacle of Adventure

Even with the mist covering the tallest of them, the Southern Alps rising up around the Hooker Valley have a humbling stature, Abu Dhabi’s English-language publication the National reports in a travel feature about…

Riding a Whole New World of BMX Clay Trails at PMP

Riding a Whole New World of BMX Clay Trails at PMP

For a trails rider, an appealing aspect of New Zealand is the PMP trails, located not far from the bustling metropolis of Auckland. This sculpted greatness is a dramatic clay theme park…

Waitomo’s Subterranean World an Adventurer’s Paradise

Waitomo’s Subterranean World an Adventurer’s Paradise

“Time and nature have wrought havoc underneath the surface of and the pretty wildflowers growing on the grassy contours disguise an elaborate system of caves,” David Whitley writes for the National. “Getting down into…

On the Adventure Trail in the Footsteps of William and Kate

On the Adventure Trail in the Footsteps of William and Kate

On a South Island tour of New Zealand in the footsteps of royal couple William and Kate, the Daily Mail’s Katie Nicholl begins in the “quintessentially English city” Christchurch before making her way further…

Remarkables Ice Climbing Coolest Way to See NZ

Remarkables Ice Climbing Coolest Way to See NZ

Ice climbing is an exhilarating way to break up a New Zealand ski trip and a natural progression for Australian rock climbers, says Perth Now reporter Matt Kitchin who together with Tim Steward from…

Exceptional Mountain Biking Trails Abound

Exceptional Mountain Biking Trails Abound

New Zealand “boasts exceptional mountain biking” according to Men’s Journal, which includes a feature on our best trails, saying that local “fat tyre offerings are too often overlooked by adventure-seekers rushing toward the beach…

Outdoor Leadership Adventure a Great Accomplishment for US Student

Outdoor Leadership Adventure a Great Accomplishment for US Student

Tramping with a heavy pack for the better part of a day is physically demanding, but doing so up the side of a mountain is exhausting. Bel Air university student Wendy Cirko found that…

Bungee Celebrates 25 Years of Adrenaline

Bungee Celebrates 25 Years of Adrenaline

To mark the 25th anniversary of the world’s first organized bungee jump made in New Zealand, the Guardian has picked the 10 best adrenaline dives on the planet, including naturally, Queenstown’s 43-metre drop over…

Wanaka Aerobatics in a Vintage Tiger Moth

Wanaka Aerobatics in a Vintage Tiger Moth

Classic Flights takes San Gabriel Valley Tribune reporter Richard Irwin up in a vintage de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane for some shallow dives over Lake Wanaka. “The friendly pilots offer 20-minute scenic flights over beautiful…

Who Invented This Country?

Who Invented This Country?

New Zealand does not seem of this earth according to Outside Magazine contributing editor Peter Heller, who writes that it’s “like a kid asked a genie to make a world full of everything fun…

Signing Away Her Life and Giddy with Survival

Signing Away Her Life and Giddy with Survival

“It was beginning to feel as if New Zealand’s national emblem wasn’t the silver fern, but the disclaimer form,” Guardian correspondent Rebecca Nicholson writes on a recent backpacking adventure throughout the country….

Skimming Shallow Waters at Breathtaking Speed

Skimming Shallow Waters at Breathtaking Speed

“Shortly after the invention of the jet unit by New Zealander Bill Hamilton, the Melhop brothers started the world’s first commercial jet boating on the Shotover River in 1960,” Richard Irwin writes for the…

Record Heights over Franz Josef

Record Heights over Franz Josef

“With a 19,500-foot parachute jump over New Zealand’s scenic South Island … one of the highest commercial sky-dives in the world that doesn’t require customised planes and breathing equipment,” The Wall Street Journal’s Chris…

Exhaling for Beauty

Exhaling for Beauty

Day one of this Daily Mail reporter’s romantic honeymoon in New Zealand and he and his wife are about to throw ourselves out of a light aircraft at 16,000ft. “Mrs Foy, bless her, is…

Mountain Biking for the Well-heeled

Mountain Biking for the Well-heeled

Queenstown’s Fat Tyre Company is recommended for “those who like riding down and can afford not to pedal up” in the Globe and Mail’s travel pages. “For the well-heeled rider, there’s a…

Reviewing Safety in a Major Export

Reviewing Safety in a Major Export

“Adventure tourism is one of New Zealand’s biggest drawcards, but sometimes tourists can get far more adventure than they bargained for,” begins a report by Dominque Schwartz for ABC. “This week, the industry made…

CarboNZero Skateventure

CarboNZero Skateventure

Auckland trio Alan Carnaby, Troy Bilbrough and Guy Parsons spent five weeks from November to January skateboarding 1600km from Arequipa, Peru to La Serena, Chile to raise awareness about sustainable travel. They wound through…

Surviving A Day Of Fun

Surviving A Day Of Fun

“In one day I jumped from a bridge, rode at breakneck speeds in a canyon on a jet boat, took a helicopter flight over a mountain range, survived four hours on Class IV white…

Dangerous Driving for Kicks

Dangerous Driving for Kicks

“There are, perhaps, 20 people wedged into a small bus that’s winding its way down a dirt road in one of the steepest canyons I’ve ever seen,” the Toronto Star’s travel editor Jim Byers…

Breathtaking Safe Danger

Breathtaking Safe Danger

“The only thing crazier than bungee jumping itself might be setting up a business helping other people to fling themselves off high surfaces,” Time’s Nick Carbone writes in an article about “destinations…

Big Doses of Epinephrine

Big Doses of Epinephrine

“If careening downriver at 50 miles per hour in a boat that came within inches of jagged cliff walls hadn’t woken me up and floating backwards through a swirling rapid named Toilet hadn’t elicited…

Bungee-Roped Canyon Beast

Bungee-Roped Canyon Beast

New Zealand is home to the world’s largest and highest swing. Located in scenic Queenstown, the Nevis swing is a “bungee-roped beast swings in a 3m ark and hangs a lofty…

Limitless Adventure

Limitless Adventure

“If hurling yourself off of a bridge is not your thing, then how about jumping out of a plane from 15, feet?” Malaysia Star reporter Wayne Johnson suggests. “You may, like me, be so…

Taking the Tube

Taking the Tube

“Taniwha Cave Tubing, embraces much of what makes the New Zealand West Coast so special, with its combination of wild rivers, unspoiled forest, turbulent mining history … and an adventurous spirit,” Jim Eagles describes…

Republic of Waiver Forms

Republic of Waiver Forms

“It’s perfectly normal to jump off buildings, planes, canyons and bridges in New Zealand,” writes the Globe and Mail’s Robin Esrock. “No other country compels visitors — of all ages — to push their…

German for Float

German for Float

“With its eagerness for wacky rides and a steady stream of adventure-seeking human guinea pigs, New Zealand was the obvious location” for the 2m monorail Swheeb track, writes the Financial Times’ Tarquin Cooper. “The…

Adventurous Outlook

Adventurous Outlook

“Gain a new perspective on the world as you loop-the-loop, twist, turn and feel g-forces unlike ever before while zooming along at more than 3km/h,” Carol Driver writes for TNT Magazine in an article…

Portable cooler mayhem

Portable cooler mayhem

Daredevils attached to a wheelchair, a scooter and skis leapt from a plane in the skies over Matamata in November launching the 211 Nitro Circus Live New Zealand Tour. Nitro Circus stars Joelene Van…

Leap over loveliness

Leap over loveliness

Crammed in a small plane nearing 4m above the “gorgeously rustic” Bay of Islands, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Steve McKenna is about to throw himself out into the blue. “Peering out of a little…

Impressive on Wheels

Impressive on Wheels

A New Zealand mountain biking trip features in the extras of Canadian adventure documentary DVD release, Follow Me, which is paired with a slide show by New Zealander Caleb Smith of Wellington-based mountain bike…

Fear the Cone

Fear the Cone

“The big daddy of New Zealand’s South Island fields has a reputation for being big, bad and nasty — in a good way,” Rachael Oakes-Ash writes for The Sydney Morning Herald. “Some whisper about…

Dream team celebrated

Dream team celebrated

The New Zealand Olympic Committee has decided to pay tribute to the world’s most famous mountaineering duo by naming the country’s Commonwealth Games logo “2928 Hillary and Tenzing”. The Games will be held in…

Formidable Kicks

Formidable Kicks

Two surfing legends are taking on New Zealand’s most rugged waves off the coast of Fiordland for an episode of the Discovery Channel series Storm Surfers. The Storm Surfers’ — Australians Tom Carroll and…

Anything but the Bungy

Anything but the Bungy

Lyttelton-based Joe Bennett, author of Hello Dubai: Skiing, Sand and Shopping in the World’s Weirdest City, tells the Telegraph why Queenstown is his kind of town. “It’s the main visitor town of New Zealand’s…