Capital Freebie Tourism Activities
“Whether you’re a fan making a pilgrimage to the city where the films were made, or you have no interest whatsoever in dwarfs and goblins, there’s plenty to do in Wellington. For free,”…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Jackson’s Capital Effect
“No part of New Zealand has been more changed by Jackson’s movies, and by the growing film-production industry they sparked here, than the city of Wellington,” Michael Joseph Gross writes in the December…
New Zealand: ‘It really is Paradise’ Says Bollywood’s Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan, one of Bollywood’s biggest superstars, rates New Zealand as her favourite place. She spoke to Filmfare, India’s leading film magazine, about her trip and shared some of her New Zealand photos with…
New Zealand’s Yellowstone
“When I read about Rotorua’s Lady Knox Geyser that erupts at 10:15 every morning, I knew this was something I wouldn’t see in Yellowstone,” Pat Bellinghausen writes for the Missoulian. “While Lady Knox erupts…
Top Travel Spots
Wellington Airport and the pensioners at Auckland Airport feature in this year’s ‘Monocle Travel Top 50’ list. Wellington International Airport sits at No 14 as the ‘Best New Air Terminal’. “Gehry-esque in ambition and…
Adventure for Real
“You could go to New Zealand just for the golf and not be disappointed – in fact, it might turn out to be the most memorable golf trip you’ll ever experience,” Stephen Szurlej writes…
Catch Yourself a River Prawn
“Hurl yourself out of a plane, swim in a lake that’s bigger than Singapore and catch Malaysian prawns,” Joleen Lunjew writes for The Malaysia Star. “Welcome to the Great Lake Taupo.” “What’s so great…
Hop, Skip and a Jump
“The sea is never more than a few miles away on Waiheke,” Jonathan Hutchison writes for The New York Times. “West is Oneroa, a small township with cafeterias and shops selling clothes, crafts and,…
Blooms and Bohemians
“Wellington long ago shed its staid, bureaucratic image, though you’ll still find plenty of ‘the suits,’ as they are affectionately called, around the beehive-shaped Parliament Building and New Zealand Stock Exchange,” Katherine Rodeghier writes…
Cycling Through History
The 317km Mountain to Sea Trail begins on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu, passes through two national parks (Tongariro and Whanganui), includes a jet-boat ride down the Whanganui River, and ends at the Tasman…
Heaven on Earth
“In the northwest corner of New Zealand – where craggy Pacific Ocean bluffs offer a panoramic view of the Cavalli Islands, sheep and cattle roam freely, and gently rolling hills are blanketed with thick…
Charming Mixture
Lonely Planet’s 16th New Zealand edition praises Wellington’s “compact and vibrant” CBD for its artsy mix of theatres, galleries, boutiques, museums and a “cocktail- and caffeine-fuelled hospitality scene” that fairly “fizzes and pops among…
Paddling Out in Raglan
Raglan, 50 kilometres west of Hamilton, “is your archetypal surf town, with annual surf contests, a busy surf school and a bohemian buzz reminiscent of the 1960s,” Kerry van der Jagt writes for The Age….
Finding the Middle of Nowhere
For those looking for an off-the-beaten-path excursion in New Zealand, Emily Dayton of the San Diego Reader recommends visiting Lake Tekapo. “The small town is a cluster of homes and motels at the south…
Instead of Adrenalin
New Zealand’s less extreme tourism activities provide the Gadling’s Meg Nesterov with plenty to do for a trip throughout the country in which she finds out “why Auckland is worth more than a stopover,…
Wonder for Yourself
“It’s difficult to describe the wonder of Milford Sound,” an ‘Escape’ reporter writes for The Australian. “It’s probably best that someone puts a photograph in front of you. Words can’t do it justice. Even…
On a Humane Scale
“New Zealand is everything that people say it is – friendly, beautiful and proportionally urbane,” American teacher Michael Nesset writes for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Nesset, who spent “Spring Break 2012,” travelling the country…
Being Herself Like Nowhere Else
Ever since a teenage backpacking trip through New Zealand – “one of the best times in my life” – Australian model Miranda Kerr has wanted to return. Beginning last December, Kerr, 29, got her…
Visiting the Fabulous
“Middle-earth may be mythical, but so too is New Zealand,” Mark Johanson writes for International Business Traveler. “The only difference is you can visit the latter. It’s a place where glaciers carve paths through…
Better Slopes Over Here
New Zealanders and Australians share a “friendly” rivalry until it comes to the snow, writes Rachael Oakes-Ash for The Age in an article comparing the two country’s ski fields. “More than one-third of the…
Fuss-Free and on the Cheap
Twenty days, 14 towns and cities throughout the North and South Islands, return flight tickets, return ferry transfer across Cook Strait, lodging, travel pass, two typical Kiwi adventures and shopping for famous local outdoor…
Inspirational Outlook
American novelist David Vann’s desktop picture is a view from his land in New Zealand. “We rented a place in Taupo Bay in 2009, for nine weeks, and that’s where I wrote the first…
Off on a Dream Holiday
“In a nutshell,” this is why American Jennifer Thomas went to New Zealand: “I’m driving along some winding country road and a flock of sheep shamble up a hill and cover the road, blocking…
On the Slopes by Lunchtime
It’s possible to take an early flight from an eastern capital in Australia and be lining up at the lifts above Queenstown, by mid-afternoon, The Sydney Morning Herald’s online sports reporter Scott Spits explains….
Taking in the Majestic
“New Zealand is a country of breathtaking extremes and that is spectacularly evident in the central North Island where you’ll find the world famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing,” Australian reporter Greg Sweetnam writes. “Even before…
Silence on Sunderland
“In days gone by, sleepy Clyde really made some noise, writes Caroline Gladstone for The Age. “Tuesday morning, 7 o’clock and the streets are pretty quiet. You could fire the proverbial cannon down Sunderland…
Designer Tramping with the Birds
“In the style stakes, there is no contest between hikers and pied oystercatchers in Abel Tasman National Park,” Melanie Ball writes for The Australian’s Vogue Living section. “For while the former splash through low-tide…
Whakapapa a Cool Destination
Skiing down the side of active volcano Mt Ruapehu, the Herald Sun’s Sarah Nicholson is “getting to know the Whakapapa ski area… and keeping an eye out for a puff of smoke…
Tourists Returning to Region
Chief executive of Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism Tim Hunter says tourism numbers have been “firming up” over recent months after last year’s earthquake, a process which he sees as important to the region as…
Bienvenue à Akaroa
“Akaroa is reportedly sufficiently French to confuse some passengers straight off the ship, who are puzzled by the French flags flying above the town, perhaps thinking they’ve ended up in New Caledonia rather…
Living Shrine to Deco
Within two years of Napier’s devastating 1931 earthquake the city, which had chosen to rebuild in the Art deco style, was being dubbed the “most modern town on the globe”. “Much of the innovative…
Chopper Ride into Cloudless Bliss
“It’s supposed to be ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’”, but when Helen Parker of The Australian visited the North Island’s east coast “there wasn’t a cloud in sight – or people for that…
Joyfully Optimistic
“New Zealand is an otherworldly mash-up of climates, geologies, adventures, and luxuries. (Oh, the things you can do!)”, writes Condé Nast Traveler’s Susan Hack, who “tries it all in the Southern Hemisphere’s hot zone”,…
All Aboard for Seal Spotting
The Coastal Pacific train journey runs so close to the coast, for nearly 100km between Picton and Christchurch, that along one section of its route you can almost see the whiskers of scores of…
As Close to Nature as You Can be
“It was my third night in a camper van, a miniaturized recreational vehicle – mine was about the size of a plumber’s van with a raised ceiling – and New Zealand’s mobile lodging of…
Best Dream Holidays
New Zealand’s 3000km Te Araroa — the Long Pathway is one of leading American active-lifestyle and adventure-travel magazine Outdoor’s all-time favourite dream vacations. Headlined as a “new long-distance trail to…
Pinup For Road Trips
“I still haven’t gotten past being wowed by the greenness of the countryside,” Chicago Tribune reporter Phil Marty writes on day three of a four-day driving trip from Auckland southward. “This country…
Deliciously Unique
New Plymouth’s Big Wave Café, the Flying Fox café on the Whanganui River and Dargaville’s Funky Fish are some of the “one-of-a–kind character” cafés worth travelling off the beaten track to find according…
Tramping The South
“Our visit to 47 degrees south has come during a seven-day trekking tour on the South Island — a round trip taking in Queenstown, Milford Sound, Stewart Island and the Catlins, a region hunkered…
Frontiers Compared
New Zealand reveals many similarities with Appalachia — the eastern United States region that stretches from New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia — according to The Washington Times columnist Lisa King. “Isolated from…
24 Hours In Rotovegas
Rotorua set itself up as a tourist destination in the 1800s; its pink-and-white terraces became New Zealand’s first attraction with people having to pass through sleepy Rotorua to reach them. “Today, Rotorua receives 3.2…
Traverse Demands Respect
“The Tongariro Crossing is considered New Zealand’s best one-day trek, and one of the best in the world,” Star Tribune reporter Melanie Radzicki McManus writes. “The trail winds through soft alpine meadows and past burbling mountain…
Staying Atop an Alpine Meadow
“Whare Kea Lodge pilot James Ford is gunning his helicopter up a wide, verdant valley on a perfect summer’s day,” Toronto Star travel editor Jim Byers describes. “He climbs up and up and clears a…
Chinese Tourism Numbers Climb
Chinese tourists in New Zealand outspent American visitors last year for the first time on record. Spending by Chinese tourists gained 26 per cent to $457 million last year, the Ministry of Economic Development…
Magical Getaway With Birds
Lochmara Lodge in Queen Charlotte Sound captured the magic of New Zealand for Penn Live blogger Ann Witmer. “One-time paua diver Shayne Olsen started the lodge to house backpackers tramping the 71km Queen…
Memories Of Travel To The Sea
Auckland-born DJ and BBC Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe describes his life in travel with the Independent. Lowe’s first holiday memory is driving to the Bay of Islands. “I remember being packed into my dad’s…
Monster Trout Down South
New Zealand trout dwarf their Californian relatives writes American fisherman Alistair Bland for the Marin Independent Journal. “Indeed, to raise a New Zealander’s eyebrows one must catch an eight- or 10-pounder,” Bland says. “Suffice…
Seaside Serenity
The historical naval village of Devonport, just across the harbour from the centre of Auckland, is the place to be for a gentle pace according to Julia Kirchner writing for Monsters & Critics. “While…
Maiden Into Milford
“My first sighting of New Zealand is from the balcony of my cabin as Sun Princess sidles up to the rugged cliffs of Fiordland,” The Australian’s Helen McKenzie describes from aboard the ship for her maiden…
Fully-Booked And Beautiful
“Why if the is so fully-booked, expensive, and logistically unfriendly, would so many people choose to trek it?” asks Gadling blogger Kyle Ellison. “Because, to put it simply, it might actually be…
Dreaming Of A Bach Life
New Zealanders and Australians could easily develop hospitality schools that would give Lausanne and Cornell a thumping reflects Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé after his “most wonderful eight-day holiday.” “ are good at hosting, selling, serving…
Underworld Holistics
Rotorua’s Tikitere looks so much like a trip to the underworld that when Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw set his eyes on the area he immediately dubbed it “Hellsgate”. “It is said that Shaw,…
Feel And Scale Of Earlier Times
“ downtown is dominated by 21st century high-rises, but neighbourhoods like Ponsonby retain the feel and scale of earlier times,” Allan Seiden writes for the Hawaii Reporter, “with galleries and boutiques to browse and eateries…
Cliff-Top Perfection
The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs has been named the No. 1 Lodge in Australia and Pacific Nations on the 2012 Gold List, ‘The World’s Best Places to Stay’ selected by the readers of Condé Nast…
Leave Your Inhibitions Behind
“Hector’s dolphins may be the smallest and rarest dolphins in the world, but they will seem larger than life when you are swimming nose-to-nose with them in the Pacific Ocean,” Boston Globe correspondent Kari Bodnarchuk writes….
Tales Of Vineyards And Vintners
Four days are not enough time to fully immerse yourself in the land of the long white cloud, writes Kari Gislason for Adelaide Now. Gislason spends two of her three nights visit at the “outlandishly…
