I’ve lost count, but I’m pretty certain it’s rained all but three or four days in the past six weeks in Auckland. As the final month of an admittedly mild, but oh-so-wet winter limped to its depressing, soggy end, my mind’s been drifting back to the tropics and my favourite island in the world. Malaysia’s Tioman Island lies…
Tag: Hotels
Why Rotorua Canopy Tours Is 1 Of The Best Zip-lining Adventures In The World
To be consistently ranked the number one outdoor activity on Tripadvisor in a city famous for exactly that is no mean feat. It’s even more impressive when you consider this is one of the most-touristed areas of one of the most bucket-list worthy destinations on the planet. So yes, it’s a big congratulations to Rotorua…
See inside the top suite at the Chateau Tongariro, + the stunning surrounding walks
There aren’t too many countries where you could quite safely and without too much debate name the absolute most famous hotel. Which is not to say there wouldn’t be some serious contenders. Perhaps the Ritz in London, maybe something like the Chateau Marmont in LA and certainly the Raffles in Singapore. But for every Ritz and Chateau Marmont…
Why Whanganui Is New Zealand’s Most Misjudged City – My Top 50 Photos
There are underrated towns and cities in New Zealand and then there’s Whanganui. Part of the entire reason for the existence of the Roxborogh Report is to highlight the overlooked and the underrated, but I’m not sure I’ve ever written about a destination quite as misjudged as this city of 45,000 in the western lower…
Is This NZ’s Prettiest Boutique Hotel? – Our Return To Tauranga’s French Country House
My first visit to Tauranga’s French Country House was as a bachelor who was about to have a eureka moment, the second was a year later for the marriage proposal and the third was another couple of years after that with a baby on the way. Now that’s clearly the short version of the story, but…
My Top 50 Sydney Photos + Unforgettable Exhibitions On Star Wars & The Rolling Stones
“Do you want to go to Sydney to cover a Rolling Stones exhibition and a Star Wars exhibition?” So came the question from my editor and if memory serves me correctly, I gave my first ‘yes’ at “Sydney”, my second ‘yes’ at “Rolling”, and was up to about ‘yes’ number six or seven by the…
Singapore’s M Social Hotel – A Robot Who Delivers Direct To Your Room!
I’ve always loved Singapore. With seven years in nearby Kuala Lumpur in the 80s, Singapore has so many of the same smells, sights and sounds that transport me right back to that Southeast Asian childhood. As I recently wrote in my weekly New Zealand Herald ‘Travel Bugs’ column: “I never understood why some people think Singapore…
Why The Andaman In Langkawi Is One Of Asia’s Best Beach Resorts – Let’s Travel Mag
It’s a travel writing cliche to say that a hotel or a resort was so wonderful that you didn’t want to leave to see anything else. “I just didn’t want to leave!” I’ve written it myself, though I suspect half the time this is travel writer hyperbole and that the writer really did want to check…
Beyond Disneyland: My Let’s Travel Mag ‘Anaheim For Adults’ Special
“Anaheim for adults” was the pitch from my editor at Let’s Travel magazine and I was up for the challenge. Yes, everyone knows this is the home of Disneyland, but what else is there to do if you’ve booked a family holiday in Anaheim, California? In my case, I’m an adult who unashamedly still loves…
Sleeping In A Smurf House! Exploring Solscape In Raglan, Waikato
I always loved the Smurfs. I was even such a Smurf-geek as a kid that I’d set my weekday alarm early enough to watch the 6:30am episodes on TV2 before getting ready for school. The pre-pubescent version of myself often thought how cool it would be to have my own human-sized Smurf house. Well, fast-forward 25…
Waikato’s Slice Of Jurassic Park
A couple of weeks ago my wife and I took up an invitation to return to a guesthouse that sits on the edge of a forest some people say is the healthiest in all of New Zealand. Maungatautari is the name of a mountain in Waikato that most North Islanders would’ve driven past without probably…
Why To Make Penang Your Next Tropical Island Holiday – My NZ Herald Article + Top 60 Photos
Last month the New Zealand Herald published my article about why Penang in Malaysia should be on your radar if you’re after a holiday on tropical island that’s a little different from all the rest. There are plenty of warm weather islands in the world with beautiful scenery and nice resorts to de-stress yourself, but there…
