Less than two-hours from Auckland lies a mansion in gorgeous Secret Garden-like surrounds with no less than six different locations you could choose for your wedding day. Or you could be like us and be in search of your first trip away as new parents and want somewhere awesome and special but also easy – oh…
Tag: Waikato
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…
E-Biking The Waikato River Trails – My NZ Herald Article + Top 20 Photos
A couple of weeks ago the New Zealand Herald published my article about e-biking the new Waikato River Trails. Click here to link to the article to find out why riding these trails was so much fun and why I think Waikato is one of the most underrated regions in New Zealand. Also read about a…
New Zealand’s Only Tea Estate: Zealong Tea + A Luxury Waikato Farm Stay
Statues at the Zealong Tea Estate. Turns out in all of New Zealand there is only one solitary tea estate. In a country famed for agriculture, horticulture and our basic enthusiasm for growing stuff, we don’t make any of the product so many of us drink on a daily basis. That is, all except for…
Waikato’s Stunning Blue Spring – 12 Photos From 1 Of NZ’s Hidden Gems
The Blue Spring, Waikato Said smugly, I’ve been raving on about The Blue Spring in the Waikato for months now. Not like these Johny-Come-Blue-Spring-Latelys at Stuff.co.nz who’ve today asked the question: “Is it NZ’s best kept secret?” Months! Four to be exact. But still, months! Truth be told, like most Kiwis I’d never heard of…
My Top 50 Favourite Photos Of 2015 – A Travel Writer’s Year In Review Including Fiji, Australia, Malaysia & New Zealand
Monkey Bay, Tioman Island, Malaysia. 2015 had me swashbuckling / cramping up embarrassingly through Malaysian jungles, spearfish snorkeling / ripping my swim-shorts in the butt-crack region in Fiji and hiking the lush and rocky landscapes of Victoria’s Grampians National Park. While getting chased by a kangaroo. For every premature self back-pat, something unexpected or awkward…
Hobbiton Top 40 Photos + The Thigh-busting Wairere Falls
Outside Bilbo Baggins’ hobbit hole, Hobbiton. I’d held off visiting the preserved movie set of Hobbiton for two main reasons. One, at $79 for an adult it’s not exactly cheap. And two, New Zealand’s full of pleasant – let’s be honest, sometimes pleasantly dull – rolling farm country. Why pay for it when you can…
Where To Stay In Waikato If You Love Luxury And Gardens – Sarnia Park And The Acclaimed Hamilton Gardens
The lobby and grand staircase at Sarnia Park. As I continue my unexpected crusade to challenge the notion Waikato is less interesting than the rest of New Zealand, I was invited back to the province last week. I say “unexpected” because it’s a part of the country I’ve been to a million times for family…
The Opulence Of Lake Karapiro Lodge – Why Waikato Can Be A Destination And Not Just A Gateway (incl. 40 photos)
Lake Karapiro Lodge Provincial Waikato is unfairly unfashionable when it comes to New Zealanders’ own appraisals of their beautiful country. Probably because when we drive through Waikato it’s at 100ks and we’re always on the way somewhere. Somewhere more heralded as a tourist destination like Rotorua, Tauranga or the mountains and forests of Tongariro National…
Waikato – Wai Not? Maungatautari & Hamilton Zoo 2014
An inquisitive chap / meerkat, Hamilton Zoo. This time a week ago I was relaxing in the living room of my B&B in Cambridge, New Zealand after a big day’s driving and walking. Cambridge is an affluent, extremely photogenic little town in New Zealand’s Waikato region. While it was primarily a visit to the hilly forest…