Timelord Travels South

“We had only been in New Zealand for a weekend but already I had begun to understand how the country’s dramatic landscape — volcanoes, mud pools and geysers, pristine…

Packing a Punch

New Zealand is one of those countries that packs an enormous amount into a relatively small package. It’s unpretentious, despite its wonderful portfolio of natural treasures that range from…

Twitter Tourism

Scottish journalist Danny Wallace recently tweeted his way around New Zealand garnering valuable travel tips from locals on the way who suggested views from atop…

Trekking Frozen Tears

“With the help of experienced guides it’s possible to safely enjoy the exquisite beauty of ancient, frozen rivers, their icy blue splendour glowing in the southern hemisphere’s…

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…

Checking in at Opua

Opua is the first mandatory stop in the Bay of Islands for boats arriving from foreign waters and where visiting sailor, and blogger, Ruth checks in with New Zealand…

Hobbit Tourism

With filming on The Hobbit confirmed to begin in March, New Zealand is preparing for another tourism boom. It is expected that Peter Jackson’s latest film creation will drive…

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…

Sustainable style

Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay is included in a Reuters list of “1 green getaways” compiled by “boutique hotel specialists Mr & Mrs Smith (http://www.mrandmrssmith.com)”. “Combine a 6-acre working…

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…

Frontier Travel

“Driven by an adventurous national spirit and blessed with an extraordinarily rugged landscape that calls to adrenaline addicts like a jungle gym calls to children, New Zealanders and visiting…

Wind Assisted Travel

When in Wellington “you don’t need energy to walk as you’ll be assisted by the wind,” discovers Malay Mail reporter Dominah Devadas. Devadas writes that asides from the wind,…

Ball Player Takes a Hike

“Without question, the highlight of offseason was the 53.5km trek on one of New Zealand’s Great Walks that opened his eyes to the…

Queenstown Todo

As the brochures boast: “Whether you crave adventure daily, or just like to have your pants scared off occasionally, you will find what you are looking for” in Queenstown….

Tourism Awakening

These days, Nelson is a city “very much awake to the rewards of top-class dining and swish eco-stays”, Jimmy Thomson writes for The Sydney Morning Herald. “‘I’ve been to…

Scratching the Surface

“No, you can’t do New Zealand in a week,” is what a travel writer friend told The National’s Rosemary Behan when she was invited on a seven-day whirlwind tour…

Golfer’s dream courses

The sister golf courses of Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers are included in a list of Toronto Star travel writer Ian Cruickshank’s “top five places that still need to…

Different Sort of Luxury

“Forget hot showers, nice meals and clean sheets, walking New Zealand’s spectacular Milford Track is a luxury in itself,” Eric Arnold writes in a travel piece for Forbes. “Most…

Kayaking Refuge

“Whale Island, in the Bay of Plenty is roughly 15km long by 5km wide with a central dome that reaches 354m,” describes Keith Austin in a travel piece for…

Wine About the Bay

There’s more to New Zealand wine than Marlborough, and much of it is within an hour of New Zealand’s major cities jaunted reporter Eric Rosen discovers on a “whirlwind…

New Zealand and You

After more than a decade of success with the 100% Pure New Zealand brand, Tourism New Zealand has changed the slogan to 100% Pure You. Tourism New Zealand chief…

Ulva Island transfixes

“I feel like I’m in a New Zealand tourism commercial,” Sarah Nicholson writes for Adelaide Now describing her “perfect New Zealand moment” wandering the golden sand of Ulva Island,…

New crowd descends

Visitors from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to New Zealand was up 57 per cent in the last eight months, largely driven by UAE tourists, according to…

Scenic Rail Journeys

Travelling by train from Wellington to London, BBC journalist Robert Greenall writes that “there are still plenty of good reasons to go by train.” “The joy of ‘slow travel’…

Pristine Parengarenga

“Somewhere ahead is Parengarenga Harbour on New Zealand’s North Island,” Peter Gosnell writes in an article about a kayak tour for The Daily Telegraph. “Legendary oceanographer Jacques Costeau once…

Stretching Out on High

“In what is being hailed as the most important development in air travel for decades,” Air New Zealand has taken delivery of the world’s first passenger plane with a…

Breath of Fresh Air

“It’s an extraordinary place, New Zealand,” British writer and journalist Daniel Hannan writes in a blog for the Telegraph. “Its pure air gets to work on even the most…

Volcanic adventure

“The precipitous mist that clung to the peaks of this volcanic island did little to obscure the ominous scene that was quickly emerging in front of our boat,” Pittsburgh…

Steamy sightseeing

Rotorua’s “Buried Village is a museum where you can walk around the excavations and see a Victorian gentleman’s hat and Sunday best crockery preserved in mud as perfectly as…

Makarora patience

The Makarora River, which enters Lake Wanaka from the north, is where the Edmonton Sun’s Neil Waugh heads to fish. “You quickly learn that New Zealand trout…

Diabetes aware walk

From New Zealand national park to New Zealand national park American Greg Lineham, 5, will walk over a two and a half month period to raise money for juvenile…

Underground Stars

“The world renowned Waitomo Glowworm Caves should be high on any visitor’s wish-list,” recommends Monsters & Critic’s writer Jennie Radue. “The most obvious difference between the Waitomo Glowworm and…

Holiday Seclusion

New Zealander Amanda Jones writes for the Los Angeles Times about the bach, “purportedly evoking ‘bachelor pad,’ although this typically refers to their condition and not the marital status…

First light treks

New Zealander Reg Kaa, 46, and wife Dutch-born Jacqui Kaa, 39, run Eastender Horse Treks in Rangitukia. Their most popular route is a two-hour circuit along the isolated Rangitukia…

Sea-life haven

“This is Kaikoura: and it’s paradise,” Kip Brook writes for the International Business Times. “It’s just two hours’ drive from Christchurch international airport and is one of the most…

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….

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….

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…

A really good time

In an extract from the 21-published Lonely Planet title Discover New Zealand, which highlights the very best the country has to offer, the guide says: “You probably already know…

Railway tranquillity

New Zealand’s trains, like the country itself, offer a glimpse of an older world. Travelling from Picton to Christchurch, the Telegraph’s James Owen relishes the chance to slow down…

In the Top Three

New Zealand has made the top-three list of the best place to live in the world, following a United Nations human development annual survey. Norway took first place, followed…

Spending up on fun

“As the brochures proudly boast: ‘Whether you crave adventure daily, or just like to have your pants scared off occasionally, you will find what you are looking for’ in…

Coolest Little Capital

Wellington has been named the ‘Coolest Little Capital City’ in the world by Lonely Planet. The Lonely Planet Best In Travel 211 also named Wellington as the fourth best…

Auckland comparisons

“Travellers from Vancouver disembarking in Auckland will feel instantly at home,” Alan Ferguson writes for The Vancouver Sun. “The city’s temperate climate, its easy access to the coast and…

Sharing the wave

North Otago’s Waitaki District has been chosen as Nevada’s Douglas County sister community. One borders the South Pacific, and the other sits in the Great Basin. One calls August…

Intimate Sophistication

Wanaka’s Whare Kea is included in a Forbes’ list of the ‘World’s Top Microboutique Hotels’. “Whare Kea means ‘house of the kea’ in Maori — the kea being the…

Unforgettable sights

“New Zealand is no single thing, stretched as it is across 1 miles in the Roaring Forties, from businesslike Auckland in the north to the uninhabited, penguin-covered Snares Islands…

Wilderness gold

“Just like the safari camp and the ski chalet, the New Zealand lodge is a triumph of reinvention, the transformation of a utilitarian wilderness refuge into tourism gold,” writes…

Woods’ Own Hill

New Zealand entrepreneur Nick Wood, co-creator of internet service provider iHug, which sold for NZ$82 million in 23, is currently in the United States where he has purchased Teton…

Icy southern beauty

“New Zealand is the land of all things possible,” Josh Green writes in a travel piece for the San Jose Mercury News. “It’s one of those places where you…

Black in the sky

Air New Zealand’s chief executive Rob Fyfe revealed images of the company’s design for a black domestic jet aircraft in Sydney this month. Fyfe said: “In celebration of Air…

Cycling the Peninsula

The Otago Peninsula was recently included in a Lonely Planet list of the world’s top ten cycling routes, alongside the San Juan Islands in Washington, The Luberon and…

More the merrier

The number of overseas visitors arriving in New Zealand has hit an August record, with strong growth from China who more than doubled from 46 in August 29 to…

Heavy duty crush

Christchurch tourism company Tanks for Everything is “New Zealand’s latest adrenalin adventure that takes you to the edge and then charges over it, literally,” reporter Rebekah Devlin describes….

Banking on youth

Aucklanders Justin Crooks and Roger Chu have taken New Zealand cuisine to Shanghai, opening Little Huia restaurant on Dagu Lu. “We wanted to create what we believe epitomizes the…

Otago tourism mined

The Otago Rail Trail is New Zealand’s first dedicated long-distance cycleway, following part of the course of a former railway 15km into Central Otago from Dunedin, and used by…