A limestone cathedral archway and a bubbling hot spring are just two of the surprises you will find on beaches around Whitianga. This thriving seaside town in Mercury Bay is just two hours drive from Auckland over the rugged Coromandel Range.
Kaitaia is New Zealand’s most northerly service town and the commercial heart of the Far North. The word Kaitaia means ‘abundance of food’ in Maori, chosen for the prolific bird life in the ancient Kauri forests and the plentiful supply of fish and shellfish along the 90 Mile Beach.
The view of Hokianga Harbour from Omapere Hill is both surprising and breathtaking. It takes a little while to survey the scene and appreciate the wild beauty of this timeless place.
Great Barrier is an enchanted island of perfect peace, solitude, wild beauty and warm hospitality - just the place for the holiday of your dreams. Long white sand beaches and unspoiled forest paths lie deserted, awaiting the traveller seeking a peaceful retreat completely separated from the trappings of modern life.
A lonely lighthouse and a gnarled, twisted pohutukawa tree on a windswept cliff top on the northern tip of New Zealand have a special place in the Kiwi psyche. Like Land’s End in Britain, this ultimate extremity of our dramatic landscape holds great historic and spiritual significance.
The Bay of Islands, New Zealand’s finest maritime park and the birthplace of our nation, owes its existence to the great melt that ended the last Ice Age. The rising sea drowned many river valleys leaving 144 ridge tops exposed as islands in a harbour of breathtaking beauty.
Come with us on a discovery tour of New Zealand’s often unseen but worthwhile destinations, travelling from North Island to South Island. On the way we will feature interesting towns and local activities for you to enjoy.
New Zealand’s most easterly city is the prosperous centre of the sun-drenched Eastland Region. Gisborne was known to the Maori as Tairawhiti - ‘the coast where the sun shines across the water’ and in fact the city is the first place in the world to greet the sun each day.
Napier and its pleasant sister city, Hastings make up one of New Zealand’s most attractive regional centres. They serve an area of vividly green rolling hills, alive with sheep and river flats enriched with orchards, market gardens, vineyards and olive groves
This friendly west coast city is the gateway to a prime dairying region that has a most spectacular backdrop, Mt Taranaki (also known as Mt Egmont). New Plymouth is not only rich in farming and alpine scenery but also in arts and crafts, parks and gardens.
Blenheim has just about everything a visitor could wish for - access to a wine trail of 70 vineyards, crystal clear fishing streams, high mountain peaks and native beech forests as well as secluded bush-fringed bays in the stunning Marlborough Sounds.
New Zealand’s largest lake is an immense volcanic crater fed by many sparkling rivers brimming with trout. It is one of the best rainbow and brown trout fisheries in the world. Lake Taupo is dominated by the active volcanoes of Tongariro National Park.
