For more information on New Zealand, please visit: NewZealand.com. The site offers interactive planning tools, special travel deals, operator listings and information on New Zealand.
Nga Haerenga is a 2,000-kilometre New Zealand cycling trail that opens in early 2013. Be the first to ride the entire trail.
Image Credit: Legend Photography
Many people head to New Zealand for the breathtaking natural beauty, the fabulous wine or the chance to learn more about Maori culture. Always creative, Kiwis are coming up with even more reasons to visit with new and interesting accommodation throughout the country. The top five unique places to stay in New Zealand are:
Travelling in New Zealand provides visitors with the opportunity for unique experiences that you can’t have anywhere else. Kiwis, the affectionate nickname for New Zealanders, are incredibly friendly and are known around the globe for their welcoming ways. Chat with a Kiwi and before you know it, chances are, they’re walking you to your destination, you’re visiting their favourite pub or you are at their house for dinner!
Below is a list of the top five things you can only do in New Zealand.
The most successful kiwi bird breeding season in the history of New Zealand’s national wildlife center has ended on an extraordinary note with the surprise hatching of an all-white kiwi bird chick. Named “Manukura” by local native iwi Rangitane o Wairarapa, the chick, whose name appropriately means “of chiefly status,” is not an albino kiwi, but the rare progeny of kiwi bird that were transferred to Pukaha from Hauturu/Little Barrier Island last year.
The chick was the thirteenth of fourteen kiwis successfully hatched at Pukaha Mount Bruce this breeding season, by far the most successful since 2003 when the kiwi were reintroduced into the wild there. The white chick will remain in captivity with other chicks at Pukaha for at least four to six months where, subject to its behavior and welfare, it will be able to be viewed several times a week while being weighed.
When it is old enough to protect itself, it could potentially be released into the sanctuary. However, Department of Conservation (DOC) rangers, who manage the kiwi program at Pukaha, will ensure the best interests of the bird remain a top priority.
For many people, a trip to New Zealand must include wine tastings. And why not? There are more than 230 wineries on the Classic New Zealand Wine Trail and an estimated 100 of them are open to wine lovers. Visitors to New Zealand have extensive opportunities throughout the country to try Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and, of course, Sauvignon Blanc from both larger and boutique wineries that have gained international acclaim for exceptional wines. In fact, in New Zealand, there are even opportunities to take in movies about wine making and to have a taste testing that follows the film. What visitors to New Zealand might not know is how many other incredible taste testing opportunities there are throughout the country (although wine does go with quite a few of them – a coincidence, we think not!).
As a destination, New Zealand has proven itself to have some of the most friendly, engaging and charming locals time and time again. Interestingly enough, those attributes don’t just apply to the people.
Auckland, New Zealand – a city of food, wine and fun. (photo: Tourism New Zealand)
For many North American travellers, Auckland is a place to recover from any jet lag and to get their bearings for their New Zealand vacation. However, visitors soon discover that the beautiful city on the bay is so much more than a stopover to the rest of the country.
It has been said that if you know a country’s wine, you know the country. Spending time in one of New Zealand’s ten major wine growing regions allows visitors to learn a great deal about the country, the people and, of course, the wine!
Wine tours in the land of the long white cloud are highly popular and with boutique wineries found on both the North and South Islands, you’re never far from a good glass of wine. Wine growing regions in New Zealand include Northland, Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury/Waipara Valley and Central Otago.