First thing Dua Lipa did in New Zealand
The singer is in New Zealand for her world tour – and the moment she touched down, she wasted no time doing one of the things the country is known for.
Dua Lipa is in New Zealand for her world tour – and judging by her social media posts, she’s living it up in Auckland, having hit up a winery as soon as she landed.
Can you blame her? The region is home to some of the best wines in the world.
The mega UK pop star performed at Spark Arena on April 2 and has one more sold-out show on April 4, that will mark the end of the Trans-Tasman leg of her Radical Optimism tour.
With her family in tow, the Grammy award-winner wasted no time making the most of her short stay in the city with a wine-oriented trip at The Landing in the Bay of Islands.
“Wine tasting on the edge of the world!!!!!! AUCKLAND IM SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU TOMORROW!!!!” she captioned a post on April 1, with a series of snaps showing off her wine-tasting experience.
Her post clocked almost 1.5 million likes with Kiwi fans commenting how excited they are to have the star in their country.
The winery she visited also chimed in, saying: “Such an honour having you and your family visit The Landing! We hope you enjoyed the wine as much as we enjoyed your presence!”
Dua shared snaps sipping on The Landings award-winning red and white wines, while also posing against picturesque backdrops on The Bay of Islands, a subtropical micro-region about a three-hour drive or 35-minute flight north of Auckland.
Annie Dundas, director for TÄtaki Auckland Unlimited said Auckland is “absolutely buzzing with excitement” over Dua’s visit.
“And it’s clear from her social media posts that she’s been enjoying her time here as well,” Ms Dundas told news.com.au.
“There’s a real sense of excitement in the air, and it’s fantastic to see international stars like Dua Lipa embracing what makes New Zealand, and especially Auckland, so special.”
She said it’s an exciting time for Auckland as it continues to position itself as a must-visit destination for international visitors.
Ms Dundas said Auckland is home to beautiful areas like Waiheke Island and Matakana, known for their stunning vineyards and eco tours.
“Wine tours here are incredibly popular with visitors from Australia and around the world, offering the perfect mix of stunning scenery, fantastic local wine and food and of course our manaakitanga (hospitality).”
Dua kicked off her first show in the city on Wednesday to a sold-out arena, paying homage to Kiwi star Lorde by singing her song Royals.
According to NZ publication Stuff, the entire arena went into meltdown with defeaning screams.
More Coverage
Throughout the tour, Dua has paid tribute to a different Australian artist each night with the 29-year-old delighting Sydney fans on March 29 with a stripped-back duet of “Big Jet Plane” alongside Angus Stone.
Other local tributes included Vance Joy (“Riptide”), INXS (“Never Tear Us Apart”), and showstopping appearances from Troye Sivan, and Kevin Parker of Tame Impala for “The Less I Know the Better”.
The pop superstar is off Europe next for her world tour – first stop Madrid, Spain on May 11. She will visit six more countries before ending the tour in her home country of the UK on June 20 at Wembley.
Inside island where 160k dead corpses lay
The world’s “creepiest” island that’s banned from tourist has a gruesome history, and is littered with hundreds of thousands of abandoned corpses.
‘Horrid’: Woman’s plane act angers
A woman has been slammed for making a boiled egg dinner mid-way through a 10 hour flight
Tourist reveals everything wrong with Aus
An Australian traveller has revealed her culture “shock” since returning home after living abroad, exposing everything we’re doing wrong.