Top New Zealand hotels
Queen Street & Downtown Auckland
35 Reviews If you want to shop or just look around in Auckland go to Queen Street. It is the major commercial area of Auckland CBD. It is a quite long street from the Upper Queen Street beginning at Newtown Road...
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City Center Christchurch
154 Reviews Update 26 November 2011 Having lost his stage - Cathedral Square - in the February earthquake, the Wizard had been out of action for many months. But now this Christchurch icon has regained his...
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Skyline Gondola and Restaurant Queenstown
46 Reviews my favorite activity..there are so many trails to explore, either by foot or biking. My favorite is "Skippers road" in the "skippers canyon" of course. It's easy to get to, for info ask people from...
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Mt Victoria Wellington
13 Reviews If you have no car or are not into hiking or just too short of breath to make a longish uphill walk, put the Mt. Victoria Lookout on your Things to do list of a weekday. Strangely enough, the Metlink...
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Skyline Gondola & Luge Rotorua
21 Reviews This is not to missed, fun for all the family, fast or slow it's up to you with beginner, medium and fast tracks! Take the Gondola up the top of the moutain which has panoramic views and enjoy riding...
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Cape Kidnappers. Napier
13 Reviews There are a lot of coastal wineries next to Cape Kidnappers, Elephant Hill, Clearview, Te Awanga Estate, and Beach House Winery. There's a good range from modest to not so, we had a fantastic day...
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Hole in the Rock Paihia
9 Reviews On the way back to town, the boat allowed a few of the insane passengers to venture into the freezing cold water to ride a net. Sorry folks, but I?m from a tropical country so I gave this a miss. The...
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Oneroa Waiheke Island
10 Reviews Every Saturday morning 8.00am - 1.00pm, the Island holds a community market at the RSA in Ostend. Lots of gifts, arts and crafts, second-hand goods, and even entertainment, organic produce, books,...
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Castle Hill Arthur's Pass National Park
4 Reviews You won't miss Castle Hill. About an hour out from Christchurch, along a fairly straight stretch of road, the weird rock formations of Castle Hill attract a more or less permanent huddle of...
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Climb the mount Mount Maunganui
8 Reviews There are also other routes for those that are afraid of heights which avoid the steep drops.. If you follow the 4x4 track it will also take you to the top, it is a steep climb but you miss the...
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Blue Penguin Colony Oamaru
6 Reviews Visit Oamaru for a Penguin evening in the Blue Penguin Colony. Those penguins nest in town close to the harbour. There is a little Blue Penguin Reserve/Visitor Centre. You pay about 8$ entrance. Go...
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The Big Sheep Wool Gallery. Tirau
3 Reviews When it comes to big sheep, I'm reminded of the one on the outskirts of Goulburn in N.S.W. but this is certainly a worthy challenger. Situated right beside the tourist centre it offers all sorts of...
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Beehive & Parliament Buildings Wellington Region
9 Reviews Free tours of Parliament Buildings operate every day, on the hour. Tour duration is 1hr. Weekdays commencing 10am, last tour 4pm; Saturdays and most public holidays commencing 10am, last tour 3pm;...
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Cathedral Cove Coromandel
5 Reviews We had seen Cathedral Cove on many documentaries, so we had to see it for ourselves! Cathedral cove is only accessible by walking or boat and it is a MUST VISIT if you feel you can handle the walk....
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Waitakere Range Regional Park. Auckland Region
12 Reviews Piha Beach is situated at the end of Piha Road going through dense native bush. Suddenly the road winds down to the coast. There are wonderful views over Piha Beach, divided through the huge 100...
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Bay of Islands North Island
4 Reviews This is a rustic and picturesque bay with many islands dotting. There are many tours including sailing in all kinds of vessels, being dragged in net, island cruising or dolphin watching. We saw wild...
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Bay of Islands. Northland
16 Reviews When visiting the Bay of Islands area we had to make at least one cruise to see at least a couple of the 144 islands. We decided to make the "Cape Brett Hole-in-the-Rock Cruise" with Fullers, leaving...
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Canterbury South Island
24 Reviews There are many reasons why you may consider adding Arthur's Pass National Park to your itinerary. For some, it makes a great coffee break between Christchurch and the West Coast of the South Island....
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Devonport Auckland
31 Reviews Devonport was one of the highlights for me when I went to Auckland. Located on the north shore it is just a 12 minute ferry ride away from downtown Auckland. (This is one of the best ways to see the...
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International Antarctic Centre Christchurch
24 Reviews A very realistic glimpse of life in the Antarctic region can be experienced at the very popular Antarctic Centre which is touted as the gateway to Antarctica. The museum cum amusement park of sorts...
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Jet Boating Queenstown
27 Reviews At Shotover River is known for it's jet boats. I passed on this experience having done it before on a Huka Jet near Huka Falls.This is a fast boat ride in shallow water and the driver comes very close...
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Parliament Buildings & Beehive Wellington
29 Reviews The Beehive is a Parliament office building located next to Parliament. It is shaped like, you guessed it, a beehive, and is a unique building that has seen plenty of controversy about its design....
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Wai-O-Tapu Rotorua
34 Reviews Wai-O-Tapu is one of my fondest memories of Rotorua, you get to see an assortment of Thermal wonders all around the same area, if you do not do anything else make sure you check this place out! Bring...
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Marine Parade Napier
15 Reviews Marine Parade, as the name suggests, runs along the sea front. The area is very nice. The fountain here, we only saw in the day time, but at night it is lit, I think in different colours. THE NEW...
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Haruru Falls Paihia
5 Reviews They're not really high falls by any means, but they are in a horseshoe shape, which is evidently rare, Niagra Falls being cited as the only other horseshoe shaped falls known. Beware of your...
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Try (in vain) to keep up with the seals as they dance around the rocks and your kayak. Was a great opportunity to get up close to the animals in their chosen & specialist environment...the water! The cold and the water is kept out by the equipment provided and friendly, easy instruction is given in how to kayak - especially useful for amateurs like us who were petrified of capsizing.
Whilst most thermal areas with the possibility to bath are nicely ringfenced and pricy here you find an excellent opportunity to bath in a really purely natural hot water - it is creek with a small waterfall flowing into the Waikato river so you can "adjust" the temperature so that you go closer to the river if the waterfall is too hot for you.
Monro beach gives you the unique opportunity to see the rare Fiordland crested penguins from very close (see photos). You have to be on the beach with low tide and preferrably in the morning. Best monthes are allegedly June-november; I was there mid of november and the experience belongs to the best I had in NZ.
What a place to see if you need the hsitory of the Maori's. Kippa Munro lives in Whangerei and he is the one to make contact with. One Maori who knows his history. He is involve with the maori culture history and everybody knows him in the Bay of Islands. Visit Russel while in Bay of Isalnds. (Across the Bay.) See the oldest church in NEW Zealand. (Anglican church.)
In 2009, together with some close friends, I enjoyed a few days in Taranaki, one of New Zealand's less visited provinces. Taranaki is dominated by the iconic Mt Taranaki / Egmont. It is a rural region dominate by pastoral farming - mainly dairy. The main city is New Plymouth.On one of the days we had in New Plymouth, we decided to make a day trip out of a drive around Mount Taranaki in a clockwise direction starting from New Plymouth. We included stops a drive half way up the mountain, Dawson Falls, and the lighthouse at Cape Egmont. It was a great day with plenty of interesting and photogenic scenery! Here's a sample to give you an idea of what you can see on a day trip driving around Mount Taranaki.
GLIDING TRIAL FLIGHT.Enjoy the exhiliration of flight without the noise and vibrations of an engine. A truly worthwhile experience, and you can easily take photos out the canopy of the lovely terrain below. Once you have released from the towplane, flight becomes vibration and noise free and you are up there with the birds!! Having no engine is a real plus, as you will see :-)Check the GlidingMatamata website and view thru the webcam on their homepage.*THIS IS CONVENIENTLY LOCATED BETWEEN AUCKLAND AND ROTORUA*Trial flights cost $NZD110; $165 & $275. as at 2011.They fly Sat/Sun and Wednesdays, and public holidays.
There are two bad things about New Zealand wine: It is incredibly expensive, and at most places you even have to pay for tasting. So forget about getting nicely high for free, as you could do in other countries. The good thing about NZ wine is that it is of excellent quality, especially the white wines. NZ is not a country with heavy reds. It gets as far as to the refreshing pinot noir. Most red wine is imported from Australia.To market the great NZ wines a wine trail has been created. It covers the south-eastern part of the North Island, from Napier to Hastings, and the very north of the South Island in the Nelson/Picton and Blenheim regions, which are NZ's most famous wine growing areas, Hawkes Bay and Marlborough, and it is called The Classic New Zealand Wine Trail. In most Visitor Centres you will find a detailed map of it, and also on the internet.Other regions like Waipara (north...
Every now and then somebody asks for great half- and full-day hikes in New Zealand. So now I post a list here, so I do not have to retype it every time the question pops up in the VT Forum.I will mark the hikes which are along the main tourist tracks with stars; the others are a bit too far off these tracks if, for example, you have only three weeks in New Zealand. North Island***** The Tongariro Crossing Track surely is the most spectacular day hike in NZ. **** Once you are there, you could also take the chairlift up Mt. Ruapehu and then walk to the crater lake and back. - (Mt. Tarawera is the only one you cannot do on your own, only guided tour and have to pay for it - Maori land.) - Walk to the northern tip of Coromandel Peninsula - Mt. Taranaki (Egmont) - would be a five star walk but you will struggle to include it in a 3 week itinerary **** City-to-Sea Walk in Wellington (Island...
Every now and then the question comes up in the Forum what would be exciting to do with kids in New Zealand.Here are some attractions/activities young children might enjoy - just a spontaneous list:Auckland: - Zoo- Kelly Tarltons- Sky Tower- Boat trip to Tiritiri Matangi (walking and rare birds)- Kids section at AKL Museum- Butterfly Creek- Rainbow's End (theme park)- Rainforest Railway in the Waitakere Ranges (but I think they only operate at certain dates and weekends)Wellington:- Zoo- Cable Car- Te Papa museum- Karori Wildlife Park - Tour to Somes IslandMore North Island activities:- luge and gondola in Rotorua- Sheep Show at the Agrodome in Rotorua, Rainbow Springs (animals) - Geothermal wonders in and around Rotorua- Driving Creek Railway on the Coromandel - Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel - Hobbiton near Matamata - Sheep World north of AKL (near Warkworth, I think) - Gannet...
With water below, around, in front and behind you, it is not surprising that this fjord is called the wettest place in New Zealand. Or would it be called so because of the fact that it rains two out of three days !? Nevertheless, do not let this spoil your fun. When I visited Milford Sound, it was sunny but misty. Mystic and a bit threatening is how I would describe the atmosphere. With all those little waterfalls tumbling down from the cliffs and the wide open ocean in front of you, it almost seemed as if I was heading to the end of the world. Camera's and binoculars could come in handy as seals, penguins and dolphins are often spotted here.
Copthorne Hotel Commodore Christchurch Airport Christchurch
6 Reviews and 291 Opinions Prior to the earthquakes, I have always stayed in town at some renowned hotel chains. When I was...
SKYCITY Grand Hotel Auckland Auckland
7 Reviews and 432 Opinions The rooms and hotel in general were nicer than expected, and service was good. While this hotel may...
Browns Boutique Hotel Queenstown
1 Review and 169 Opinions Within stroling distance from the main town. Welcoming and homely. A warm cozey room admist the cold...
Reviews and photos of New Zealand attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for New Zealand sightseeing.
Q: Hi, Are there good beaches where you can go for snorkeling on the South island ? Eddy
A: You betcha Eddy! :-) Snorkelling off New Zealand's South Island coastline offers snorkellers the chance to snorkel alongside fur seals or the world's smallest...
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