You’d think there’d be more of a song and dance about one of the initial landing spots for Captain Cook in New Zealand. After the first-placed Cook Landing Site Historic Reserve on Kaiti Beach Road in Gisborne, the evidently humble, picturesque spot of Simpsons Beach in the Coromandel is right up there historically for the adventures…
Category: Luxury Lodges
Tauranga’s French Country House: Why You Don’t Need To Be Beachside – Top 50 Photos Including Waterfalls, Forests & The Mount
The view towards Mount Mauganui from the French Country House, Tauranga. I wanted to stay by the beach. It was January, the middle of the Kiwi summer, and not only that, I was going to be in one of the most iconic seaside destinations in New Zealand – Tauranga / Mount Maunganui. Only problem was, everybody…
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…
Why Robin Williams Loved Rotorua – Top 50 Rotorua Photos Incl. The Black Swan Boutique Hotel
Rotorua’s Black Swan Boutique Hotel. When Robin Williams died, one of the best stories to come through to my Newstalk ZB radio show was from a Kiwi couple who’d once bumped into the actor in Rotorua. They were riding their mountain bikes through the city’s famed Redwood Forest (5600ha, officially named Whakarewarewa Forest) and had taken…
Summer At The Chateau – My Top 50 Photos From 1 Of NZ’s Most Iconic Hotels
Summer at The Chateau. With the New Zealand Herald publishing my article on what is arguably the most famous hotel in New Zealand – The Chateau in Tongariro National Park – I thought I’d head on back. Why not! Only this time it was with the idea of doing a Summer At The Chateau photo…
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…
New Zealand’s First Great Luxury Hotel: Why Staying At The Chateau Is Still So Worth It
The Chateau in Tongariro National Park, central North Island. I’d always wanted to stay at The Chateau. As far as historic hotels go in New Zealand there are few so iconic. So with it being my birthday last week I decided to see what the 86-year old dame is like. And given the lakeside town…
My Herald On Sunday Kauri Cliffs Feature – One Of The Premier Golf Resorts In The World
The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs. The Herald On Sunday published my two-page spread on Kauri Cliffs today and if you click here you can link to the Herald’s Travel section to read it. Kauri Cliffs is a 5-star, luxury resort in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands with a golf course so stunning it has been ranked…
Historic 5-Star Boutique Northland Lodge For Sale – The Beautiful Waipoua Lodge
Hokianga Harbour, just north of the Waipoua Forest. Late last month I returned to a place that feels as much like visiting old friends as it does like staying in a 5-star, boutique lodge. The Waipoua Lodge sits on the edge of arguably New Zealand’s finest subtropical tract of bush, the Waipoua Forest. A part…
Kauri Cliffs Top 50 Photos – Why It’s About So Much More Than Golf
In an upcoming two-page spread in the Herald On Sunday I’m writing about why Kauri Cliffs in Matauri Bay, Northland, New Zealand is about so much more than golf. Rated by Golf Digest as the 39th best course in the world, Kauri Cliffs is also one of the most exclusive retreats in the country. Somehow…
