Magical close encounters
MAGGY Oehlbeck gets up close to the legends – past and present – of New Zealand’s spectacular Bay of Islands during a cruise on the Oceanic Discoverer.
Pacific
Cool, calm and cultured in Rotorua
FROM mud baths to extreme sports to geysers to a rich cultural history, you really can have it all in New Zealand.
Climb of your life
IT is hiding behind a cluster of twisted branches, waiting to reveal itself and take my breath away.
Boozy tourists ‘clogging up NZ courts’
JUDGES in Queenstown are fed up with rowdy binge-drinking tourists behaving badly in the New Zealand ski resort town.
Swimming with whales
DIVING in with the ocean’s gentle giants in a tropical paradise is an unforgettable experience.
Man uses shark as taxi
A DIVER has been filmed using a shark as an underwater taxi.
Welcome to Wellywood
HOME to some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, the Kiwi capital takes centre stage with plenty of special effects.
Tahiti tour for the pampered
IT’S not hard to adjust to the rhythms of a decadent life aboard a luxury catamaran crusing the waters of Tahiti, writes Melissa Stevens.
Several shades of paradise
LAIDBACK luxury or heartbreak hotel? Brian Johnston gives us the low-down on the best and the worst of the French Polynesian resorts.
Relax in the Kiwi thrill capital
QUEENSTOWN is the home for thrillseekers in New Zealand but Alison Cotes found a way to avoid any sudden attacks of adrenalin.
Sea kayaks are sweet as, bro’
PADDLING with the local fur seals, Jeanti St Clair takes to the seas for a three-day kayak adventure around the sun-bleached top of New Zealand’s South Island.
Waiheke wined and dined
HAVING spent five days frolicking around Waiheke Island’s rolling hills, top wineries and olive groves, Sandra Killen just didn’t want to leave Auckland.
Lazing in a luxury island paradise
IF you are planning an escape to paradise in 2008, look no further than the coral reefs and palm-fringed white-as-white sand beaches of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands.
Welcome to Teahupoo
NO wonder the world’s most infamously savage wave, Teahupoo, had sat unchallenged nearly a kilometre out to sea on the coral reef fringing in Tahiti.
New Zealand’s quirkiest town?
WITH its nude rugby, perfect woman competition and love train Dunedin is one of New Zealand’s quirkiest destinations.
Adventure tourism operators ‘risking lives’
NEW Zealand’s thrillseeker tourism industry is to be targeted to weed out operators who are putting tourists’ lives at risk.
Kiwis upset by stingy Aussie tourists
AUSSIE tourists might be heading across the Tasman in droves but, much to Kiwis’ dismay, they’re keeping their wallets firmly closed.
Into the heart of the volcano
IT’S time to put on your hard hat and gas mask as nothing will prepare you for this trek on New Zealand’s most active volcano.
New Zealand’s reds centre
IT’S been said that “God created cab sav but the Devil made pinot noir” but that won’t stop Phil Tripp indulging in NZ’s Marlborough region.
Bridge walk has added spring
GREG Hackett tries out Auckland’s bridge climb and discovers those daring Kiwis can’t resist throwing in a bungy jump along the way.
Smokin’ on the rim of a volcano
STANDING next to a crater in Vanuatu can be nerve-wracking, as Martin Kwakwa found at one of the world’s hot spots for adventure tourists, the fiery Mount Yasur.
Helicopter heaven
PICNIC spots don’t come much higher than the one on New Zealand’s Cecil Peak, Brian Crisp was on cloud nine 4000m above Lake Wakatipu.
Just beer and tears
YOU can get emotional in a place like Dunedin, or go to the pub. Rachael Oakes-Ash does both and, over a quality ale, discovers the charm of NZ’s hidden gem.
Breathtaking Bora Bora
SANDRA O’Malley finds words can’t do justice to the pure magic that is Bora Bora as she attempts to describe French Polynesia’s little piece of paradise.
Kiwis’ capital of cafe culture
WELLINGTON’S starchy reputation belies an exciting and vibrant atmosphere, Ric Acott finds in a city known as the southern hemisphere’s San Francisco.
Riding high in Rotorua
XAVIER La Canna discovers why zorbing and shweebing mean heart-in-your-mouth action in the NZ town of Rotorua, now a leading destination for extreme sports.
Blazing paddles on Whanganui
PADDLING the upper reaches of New Zealand’s longest navigable river, Michael Gebicki soaks up its rich Maori culture during a two-day journey in a canoe.
Hatching a kiwi plot
NEW Zealand’s national symbol is under threat. Philip Young visits one centre in working Rotorua to save this curious creature from exitinction.
Lodged in lush Kiwi lairs
HAWKES Bay and Lake Taupo are destinations that rightly deserve decadently luxe lodges to match the great scenery. Lorraine Ironside reports.
Discovering Middle-Earth
YOU may have seen The Lord of the Rings films but New Zealand’s Routeburn Track brings you closer than ever to Middle-Earth, writes Margaret Pincus.
Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/travel/destinations/pacific/page/7