Long-haul Rivalry

Australian-born Guardian columnist, Andrew Mueller, can’t understand the ongoing attraction of NZ to British holidaymakers. “Australia is worth spending 30 hours in a plane for,” he says. “NZ is Wales with more sheep.”

Seaside Hideaway

A Guardian travel special on remote retreats features Bethell’s Beach Cottages, run by Trude and John Bethell-Plaice. “The cottages have decking for alfresco dining, private gardens and sea views. A short walk…

Tales of the Heart

Colonel John Blashford Snell tells of “losing his heart in NZ” in a Guardian travel feature: “We are so overcrowded here but they have the most beautiful empty country with scenery that…

The Real Deal

A year on and Rings-related tourist stories still crop up in US papers. This one, originally published in the Washington Post, attempts to find the “real NZ, the part still untouched…

Sheep Ranch Deluxe

Wairarapa’s Wharekauhau Country Estate is given a rapturous write-up in the IHT. “A temple to order and calm, the Estate is located on the southern tip of the North Island of…

Not Just for Young ‘uns

MSN writer takes a leaf out of her post-collegiate travelling days and revisits the joy of youth hostels: “I was skeptical, but it turned out to be one of the best…

North Island Odyssey

The Telegraph‘s Max Davidson takes a leisurely tour of the North Island’s wine-producing hot spots. The trail begins in “cosmopolitan Wellington,” followed by the Wairarapa, Auckland, and Waiheke Island. Further north,…

Good Things Take Time

Globe writer, Leigh Turner, believes NZ’s value as a holiday destination lies in eco rather than adventure tourism. “In the last six years, international visitor numbers have risen 41%. But that success…

Information Overload

Only Punjab profiles Greg Scowen’s tourism website, New Zealand Focus, which has grown from a university design project to a 500-page source of quality registration. The site includes a ‘NZ Tourism Directory,’…

Something for Everyone

NYT travels to Auckland and finds a sprawling and diverse city “finally growing into its own.” Recommended activities range from sipping coffee on Ponsonby Rd or visiting the Auckland Art Gallery…

Strong Silent Type

Telegraph feature extols the many virtues of NZ, voted Favourite Holiday Destination in the paper’s exhaustive annual poll. “NZ is the silent type: take the trouble to get to know her…

Worth the Wait

Once again, NZ features in the  Guardian‘s “long-haul trips of a lifetime” travel feature. Highly recommended are Lake Rotorua’s On the Point chalet and Big Tom’s Cottage in Hawkes Bay.

Haven for Holiday-makers

NZ was voted the UK’s Favourite Holiday Destination in the annual Telegraph Travel Awards, ahead of the Maldives, South Africa, and Italy. “The Awards are based on the genuine opinions and…

Southern Bookmarks

Four American students embarked on a voyage of self-discovery against the backdrop of NZ’s South Island. After taking in such “must-sees” as Queenstown, Franz Josef Glacier, and Milford Sound, the four…

Mecca for Moviegoers

NZ topped the list of holiday destinations inspired by films in a British survey by Thomson Holidays. 40% of voters picked NZ in response to its LotR exposure. Cephalonia (Captain Corelli’s Mandolin),…

Paradise Uncovered

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson’s ode to NZ, Slipping Into Paradise, reviewed in Japan’s Daily Yomiuri. “Part memoir, part philosophical reflection, part travel book, Slipping into Paradise details why Masson picked NZ from the…

Top Spot

Martinborough Hotel features on the Observer‘s list of top retreats for wine lovers. “If you’re looking for a nice drop of Kiwi class, character and convenience, this is just the…

Four in Twenty Ain’t Bad

Four NZ estates made the top 20 international accommodation list in Andrew Harper’s annual Hideaway Report; Blanket Bay (Queenstown), Huka Lodge (Taupo), Wharekauhau (Wairarapa), and Kauri Cliffs (Bay of Islands). ” is…

Still the Place to Be

NZ is the world’s third most desirable holiday destination, according to  Condé Nast Traveller‘s annual Readers’ Awards. Australia, Thailand, Singapore, and Italy complete the top five.

Great Southern Land

Atlanta Journal writer takes in the sights down south, comparing the stunning vistas to precious works of art. “There’s a time for visiting hushed museums filled with masterpieces … But getting…

Exploring Our Edge

A couple from St Louis give a colourful account of their whirlwind 14-day tour of NZ. “Throughout ‘Kiwiland’ we bumped into geographical quirks, idiosyncratic traditions and a countryside full of surprises: miniature…

Southern Splendour

NY Post writer tours the South Island’s premiere ski sites; Mt Hutt, Cardrona, and Coronet Peak. As well as admiring the area’s “movie star good looks” and local culinary fare, he…

Money Makes the Cup Go Around

Alinghi syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli has provided Team NZ a multimillion dollar “no-strings” loan to ensure their presence at the 2007 America’s Cup. “In view, the regatta would lose some of…

Hadlee on Hanmer

Guardian Travel discovers Sir Richard Hadlee’s preferred holiday destination, Hanmer Springs. Hadlee explains his choice in the accompanying interview: “I’ve been going since I was nine, when the whole family would…

Mapping the Southern Skies

A Guardian feature uncovers the Wairarapa’s latest tourist attraction: Stonehenge Aotearoa. Built by NZ’s Phoenix Astronomical Society, the henge is a map and calendar for the southern hemisphere’s skies. “The whole objective here…

Polar Custodians

NZ’s Antarctic Heritage Trust has unveiled plans to restore and protect huts built by early explorers of the South Pole, including Scott’s Discovery Hut and that of Norwegian-born Carstien Borchgrevink. Norway and…

Aotearoa Uncovered

Female First delves deeper than the usual travel story, focusing primarily on the geographical and cultural make-up of NZ. “NZ comes with a reputation as a unique land packed with magnificent, raw…

Picturesque Plunge

In a feature on celebrity hobbies, the Observer advises fans of sky-diving enthusiast Nicole Kidman to head to Queenstown. After all, “if you’re going to take the plunge, you might as…

Walking the South Island

Berni Moestafa, contributor from Jakata, walks part of the South Island. “New Zealand has many faces. It is a sub-tropical forest with lush ferns and unusual old trees, or a strip…

Overnight Express to the Edge

NZ was named Favourite Long-haul Destination in the Guardian and Observer’s annual People’s Choice Awards, for the third time in the past four years. NZ topped the poll with 96.8% of…

Café Crawl

An Age tour of Wellington’s thriving café scene includes stops at Fidel’s, Pravda, Red Square, Espressoholic, and Lido. According to interviewee and Fidel’s owner, Roger Young, “There are some of the best cafés in the…

Kiwi Stonehenge

June 5 saw the opening of NZ’s very own Stonehenge, erected in the Wairarapa by the Phoenix Astronomical Society. More than simply a replica of its northern predecessor, the Kiwi henge…

Queenstown: Thrill Mecca

The will to thrill Kiwi-style shows no signs of subsiding, with bungy related features by the BBC and  Observer, and one covering the full adventure spectrum – from tandem parapenting to…

Up Close and Personal

Kaikoura features in the Guardian‘s top ten whale-watching tours around the world. “Head to for an excellent chance of seeing 66-foot sperm whales … humpbacks whales, killer whales (orca), and…

Ringing in the Changes

Tourism is predicted to overtake dairy as NZ’s top export earner by mid-2004 – a phenomenon largely attributed to  Lord of the Rings hype. The country’s newfound status as a…

NZ has the Eco Edge

According to New Scientist, NZ is one of few countries actively promoting responsible eco-tourism. National Geographic clearly agrees, awarding NZ 78 points out of 100 in its annual eco-tourism survey. “The NZ…

Kiwi Content for Oscars Loot

This year’s official Oscars goodie-bag – handed out to every presenter, performer and nominee – included a trip for two to NZ, with accommodation at Treetops Luxury Lodge & Estate in…

Roughing It?

Base Backpacker’s newly launched Sanctuary facilities – luxury, women’s-only levels in its Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch hostels – featured in the LA Times‘ Youth Watch column. “With bungee jumping, backpacker buses…

Best of the Rest

Sunday Business Post writer decides to test the theory that NZ is “the most beautiful place in the world,” and finds the statement to be no exaggeration. “There is simply no enviable natural…

Northern Exposure

Philippine Star travel  writer makes a good stab at the North Island, with a two-part article relating his adventures. The first piece covers Auckland and the Waikato, the second, Waitomo, the Coromandel,…

Lions and Tigers and Keas, Oh My!

National Post travel article muses on the many similarities between NZ and Canada: “The gracious wooden Victorian houses of Wellington could have been stolen from sea captains in the Maritimes. New Zealand’s…

The High Life

The opening in March of NZ’s first and only luxury alpine retreat – the Whare Kea Chalet – rates a mention in both the Guardian and  Observer. Guests reach the…

The People’s Choice

Aotearoa earned its second consecutive “Top Destination for the Coming Year” award in the annual poll of Lonely Planet staff around the world. According to global travel editor, Don George, for one…

Track Star

The Observer‘s “20 journeys of a lifetime” includes NZ’s legendary Milford Track. “Traversing the heart of South Island’s wild fjord country, the Milford Track is often described as the finest walk in…

Earthsea in Aotearoa

NZ is to act as ‘best supporting location’ for yet another cult fantasy series; this time for an adaptation of Ursula Le Guin’s acclaimed Earthsea novels by the creative team behind…

Off the Beaten Track

NZ is one of 30 “hot spots for switched on travellers” recommended by Lonely Planet for 2004. To avoid the inevitable horde of Rings fans, LP suggests taking the Pacific Coast…

Alternative Slopes

Scotsman feature urges snow bunnies further afield than the Alps and Rockies, recommending NZ alongside Iran, Alaska and Chile as a desirable alternative. “The Alps that run spine-like through the South Island…

Sleeping Outside the Square

The Hotel off the Square in Christchurch featured in the Guardian‘s ‘What’s Hot’ travel section. “The Hotel off the Square … proclaims itself a ‘hotel with attitude’ with 38 rooms decorated in a…

Road-tripping in Style

Condé Nast writer takes a “wholly enchanting” tour of the North Island behind the wheel of a BMW 745Li – dubbed the All Black “in honour of New Zealand’s brutal and…

Blown Away

Scotsman takes a bracing tour of Wellington, “New Zealand’s Windy City.’ Highlights include Te Papa (“spacious and informative, an emporium of knowledge”), Old St Paul’s (a cosy bijou of splendour”), a 4WD…

Southern Exposure

Guardian writer takes one of NZ’s iconic road trips: the State Highway 73 from Christchurch to Greymouth, across the Southern Alps. “The road begins to climb sharply, and in just a few…

X-treme for the Faint of Heart

Washington Post reporter goes tandem skydiving in Queenstown, one of the “softer” sports on offer in the home of X-treme: “somewhere between hot-air ballooning and needle-pointing … I survived without a scratch,…

Hunters and Gatherers

Baltimore Sun writer, Maureen Conners, accompanies her brother on a hunting trip to Shane Quinn’s Alpine Hunting Adventures, just out of Taupo. While brother bags deer, Conners wines and dines, shops,…

Glisten Like a Pearl …

NZ locales and services scored points with international tourists in the annual Condé Nast Readers Choice Awards, the most prestigious and comprehensive poll of its kind. Christchurch and Queenstown ranked highly on…

Fujinaki Tours Ltd.

29 October 2003 – Hoping that The Last Samurai will do for Taranaki what LotR has done for its various NZ locations, local guide James Heremaia has added the ‘A Mountain…

Go West … to the Edge

“There is another great shining land out there across the Pacific, far from the madding crowd. And it is all the things the Golden State once was. Onward then, to the…