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Exploring Oita Prefecture in Japan
Kyushu, Japan’s southern major island, has rugged mountains, thick forests, glorious food, and plenty of steam. It’s also heating up for this year’s Rugby World Cup.

Fiordland cruise with a difference: Passengers participate in conservation work
An entrepreneurial couple have built a Fiordland-based business that takes New Zealanders out of their daily lives and back in time.

Whangamata business owner can work 20 days in a row over summer
Boutique owner Karan Gregory Has an eye for business based on experience earned, not learned.

Exploring Northland's history on the Twin Coast Cycle Trail
The Twin Coast Cycle Trail snakes through Northland’s often raw backcountry. What better way to learn the contours of the land than by bike?

All hands on deck for Kiwi yacht-support business
When Sam met Jess on a ski field in Turkey, neither guessed they’d end up running a yacht-support business together in Vanuatu.

Christmas spirit aboard a European winter cruise
Swapping pavlova and sunshine for European waterways and cuckoo clocks helps one voyager realize the festive spirit she never knew she had.

A guide to the Rangitikei river in New Zealand for the intrepid traveller
Characters, curiosities and intrepid opportunity lie around every corner of one of New Zealand’s longest rivers.

Waihi & Whangamata: Things to do, places to eat and where to stay
While the golden triangle of Waihi, Whangamata and Waihi Beach isn’t short on glittering activities and pristine landscapes, the Coromandel’s true gems are not tour stops but people giving back to the community.

A blockbuster adventure in Hawai'i
A cinema-lover discovers a world beyond the familiar attractions of the movie-esque Hawai’ian island of Kaua’i.

The Catlins: What to do, where to eat, and where to stay
Rugged, dramatic, pristine... the Catlins are mesmerizing. They’re also comparatively under-explored. Pack those bags.

Highlights from the NZ Life & Leisure and Walk Japan Reader Lunch
The food was exquisite, the sake was flowing and the conversation was filled with colourful travel stories at the NZ Life & Leisure and Walk Japan reader lunch.

3 unusual collections to discover in Mid Canterbury
For those planning a visit to Mid Canterbury be sure to pick up the phone and chat to some of the region’s collectors.

Travel essay: Saving smiles in Kenya
Not every baby is born with the ability to smile. Cleft palates are a heartbreaking but treatable condition. In Kenya, one photographer documents the mothers and children that make their way to surgery as they embark on a journey of hope.

Experience Stewart Island like a local
Stewart Island is a flawless microcosm where the fish is fresh, seeing a kiwi is likely and the genuine welcome also makes it special.

A pub crawl through NZ history
These five historical pubs have have survived the gold rush and the six o'clock swill. They are well worth a visit for those who wish to soak up some New Zealand history with a cold one in hand.

Why Golden Bay should be your next weekend trip
Discover a region where the sunshine hours are unrivalled and the beaches are shared with sunbathing seals.

Exploring Tasmania's pristine south coast by ship
Whales and wild waters, sugared beaches and dramatic landscapes, kangaroos and convict chronicles are all wrapped into the story of this isolated coastal stretch made accessible when explored by small ship.

Jim Kayes' Blog: In the swing of things
Jim Kayes is egged on by a 12-year-old and gives a terrifying ride in Rotorua a swing.

Why action-packed Rotorua should be your next family holiday
There are few places one can land a plane on a lake, creep through treetop canopies, dangle feet in geothermal waters and explore the pockmarked landscape left by an enormous explosion.

4 places to indulge in retail therapy in Palmerston North
What better way to get to know a region than by doing a little retail therapy? Treat yourself to a little something special in these four Manawatu stores - a souvenir of sorts.

Chris Van Ryn didn't speak or move for ten days in India
A long ride on a spine-cracking rickshaw and ten days of excruciating, immobile silence lead to a place of slow-and-surprising recognition.

Exploring South East Asia by cruise ship
A cruise passenger speed-dates destinations along the south-east Asian coast, and hopes to meet some of them again.

Why autumn is a great time to visit Queenstown
There’s no need to bungy-jump from a bridge or swing perilously close to a cliff-face in a jet-boat to sample the delights of New Zealand's adventure capital. Autumn is a time for gentler pursuits.

Secrets of the Cook Islands
There are secrets to discover in the Cook Islands by following the road less traveled.

3 things to do in East Auckland
Trying to make sense of South and East Auckland is like peering into a kaleidoscope. Every twist reveals a new scene – there’s the colour of Otahuhu, the calm of Clevedon, the mana of Mangere, the solitude and beauty of the regional parks and the history of Howick.

Video: Exploring Crete by horseback
Sabine Ruijters guides NZ Life & Leisure's Yolanta Woldendorp for a horseback ride to remember in Crete.

Behind the scenes on the Otago goldfields cavalcade
Discover "real New Zealand like it was 100 years ago" on Otago's cavalcade, the high country horse ride of a lifetime.

Inside Bavaria's churches and monasteries
In the monasteries and churches of lower Bavaria, spiritual and secular pleasures go hand in hand.

Lisa Scott goes cage diving with great white sharks
They say the only way to conquer a fear is to confront it, but Lisa Scott discovers singing “la la la” and completely ignoring it might be less psychologically damaging in the long run.

Travel with a difference: Kiwi journalist works in Scottish bookshop
A New Zealand bibliophile discovers the pleasures and pitfalls of running a bookshop in a small Scottish town.

Exploring Japan's countryside by foot
A gentle walk in the Japanese countryside is an intriguing introduction to the country’s spiritual and cultural heart.

3 multi-day walks on Stewart Island
There are three excellent multi-day walks on Stewart Island and one of them is officially Great.

Family and friendships formed on the Tora Coastal Walk
The journey has been every bit as important as the destination for two farming families behind New Zealand’s longest-running private walk.

What to do at Lake Waikaremoana
Lake Waikaremoana is a special place; we share the best places to walk, explore and learn from this amazing part of New Zealand.

Lisa Scott... goes tramping
The earth moved for the Feckless Miss Scott on her first three-day tramp high in the Naumann range north of Lake Ohau.

4 places to grab a bite in Gisborne
From a very cool bar with a DC3 plane out back, to a cafe where the homemade crumpets have a fan club: here are four places to eat in sun-soaked Gisborne.

8 reasons to visit The Colombo
'Tis the season for a bit of present shopping. With food, retail, homewares, fashion and entertainment under one roof, everything the heart desires can be found in The Colombo in Christchurch.

An unforgettable drive
Kelly Gillbanks drives the Holden Equinox SUV through the Forgotten World Highway and discovers some colourful New Zealand history including the feline vice-president of the 'Republic of Whangamomona' and a brand new private museum.

Turning back time on the Forgotten World Highway
The decommissioned Stratford-Okahukura line covers some of the most isolated country in the North Island making it home to the tunnels, bridges and townships that time forgot.

Travelling through Dublin by foot
A visitor to Dublin meets Molly Malone, Oscar Wilde and Handel, and downs his first-ever Guinness in the embrace of a local pub-goer.

What Carolyn Ferraby learned creating Barewood Garden
Every vista in this world-class garden, photographed through the seasons, tempts visitors down a path laden with promise. Barewood Garden's creator shares how she's grown alongside her garden.

Exploring US National Parks
A farewell tour of some of the United States' most famous destinations comes close to breaking the heart of this nature photographer.

Lisa lives through it: Downhill mountain biking
Lisa Scott wears her gravel rash as a badge of honour after testing her skills at Queenstown MTB (Mountain Bike) Park.

4 reasons why you need to visit Blackball
Gold is hidden in the black sands and gravel creeks of Greymouth but travelers need to venture no further to find quirks and curiosity than Blackball, 30 kilometres inland from Greymouth.

Jim Kayes' Blog: Playing with fire in Samoa
This week Jim takes the family to Samoa and it is confirmed, those daughters are an easy step ahead of him in his Apia-bought jandals.

Water Cooler: Deco decadence and anti-plastic fantastic
This week in the water cooler: we're exploring Napier's Art Deco architecture in style, reducing our use of plastic bags and taking part in an important study.

Great Dixter gardener heading to NZ
When a legendary gardener dies, what becomes of his or her garden? Ask Fergus Garrett, the guest speaker at November's Nelmac Garden Marlborough.

Lisa Scott's wild ride at Awakino Ski Field
Lisa Scott’s first day of snowboarding at Awakino skifield in North Otago involved a helicopter and an avalanche.

7 things to do in Invercargill
There’s plenty waiting to be discovered in the big city of Invercargill and in the small towns that line its wild coast.

Photo essay: From Russia with Love
New Zealand Photographer Birgit Krippner captured the gritty reality of Russian village life on her journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

A local's guide to Wellington
To truly get to know Wellington’s hidden secrets, leave the preconceptions at home.

It's all good craic in Belfast
It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but what do Game of Thrones, a jigging Irishman and Bill Clinton have in common? Belfast

A walk on the wild side in Southland
In this award-winning story, Lisa Scott travels on foot through northern Southland’s high country and on board a helicopter to the roof of the world in Southland.

Meet the 'unofficial mayor' of Awakino
Garry Wycherley and Robyn Ansell are putting tiny Awakino on the map, one building at a time

Video: Locals fighting to protect the waterways that feed Lake Wanaka
Water, a precious resource, is at its most pristine in a spring-fed stream chuckling its way through the heart of Wanaka

Hunting for wild flowers in Aus
Western Australia’s wild flowers draw hoards of hunters in search of a floral fix.

Horse trekking off the beaten track
Baerbel and Thomas Hack were so determined to set up a dream seaside location for horse lovers, they built a road.

PurePod glass cabins are a partnership with NZ farmers
A stay at these all-glass cabins on the outskirts of Kaikoura is to step into a magical realm where the world is reframed and time works in mysterious ways.

Jim Kayes' Great Barrier Island fishy tale
Twenty-five years a journalist, Jim Kayes knows how to hook a story but when he ventures out on his rookie fishing trip he realises hooking a fish is completely different.

Street art and historic charm in Dunedin
A grand city built on a wave of gold-fueled wealth, Dunedin has had its ups and downs. today finds the city very much on a high.

Building a human nest
Creating your own human nest? Landscape architect Sara Gerard has some tips on how to survive the renovation process, plus some tree house inspiration

Jim Kayes cycles the Hauraki Rail Trail
Jim Kayes is easily led astray by his 10-year-old daughter on a bike along the Hauraki Rail Trail.

Move it in Madagascar
Cycling the exotic island of Madagascar provides a lesson in the country's economy, as well as one in humanity.

Ghost stories and the charming characters of Port Chalmers
Ghosts, nudie photographs and a Pacific slave trade - Lisa Scott takes a tour of Port Chalmers and discovers a few skeletons in the closet of this Dunedin suburb.

Exploring the sacred forest of Ubud, Bali
A sacred forest in Bali’s Ubud is both a conservation area for monkeys and a place where humans strive to reach physical and spiritual well-being in accord with Hindu principles.

6 surprising things about Abel Tasman
Dunedin writer Lisa Scott went adventuring in the Abel Tasman National Park, north west of Nelson, and came away reeling.

From farm to 'glampground'
Cows and sheep aren’t the only creatures enjoying the bucolic life — holiday-making families can too. as farmers look for new ways to diversify, home-stays and holiday rentals, even posh camping sites – are on the rise.

Welcome to The Outback
In a parched and withering place, a New Zealand photographer gets instruction on how to live.

Small kids in a campervan - no problem
Fun and freedom on a budget? Or the family holiday from hell? Traveling some 1200 kilometres from Christchurch to Auckland in a campervan with two small children isn’t everyone’s idea of heaven. But this family survived… and then some.

Five things to do in Melbourne on a budget
Rhianna Osborne lives like a local to enjoy Melbourne without breaking the bank.

The green heart of Italy
For an alternative to well-worn (and often overrun) Tuscany, the relatively unknown Abruzzo region in central Italy offers a true Italian experience with the capacity to surprise.

Horse trekking through the Coromandel
There may be a few hills to climb and you could well be subjected to a little karaoke, but this trek through some of New Zealand’s best scenery does good in more than one sense.

Leading the way in eco tourism
Featuring New Zealand's largest earthbag buildings, tipis, a permaculture garden and solar energy, Raglan's Solscape eco-camp is leading the way in sustainable tourism.

Dunedin through a phone lens
A travelling foodie changes captures the best of Dunedin - through her phone.

Easy riding in Central North Island
An entrepreneur wants his new website to be the matchmaker of cycling.

Creating a home in France
Former Auckland art dealer Anna Bibby ignored the voices that told her she was bonkers and upped and moved to small-town France for a life tres tranquille

Finding Love in the Outback
In a parched and withering place, a New Zealand photographer gets instructions on how to live.

Self-sufficiency on Norfolk Island
When you live on a little island in the middle of a big ocean, you have to make your block of land pay its own way in the most self-sufficient manner possible.

4 amazing museums to visit in Ireland & the UK
Caught out by the weather while visiting the UK or Ireland? Here are four great museums to visit on a rainy day.

Why his nickname is 'Bulldog'
There's a reason why Brook MacDonald is a top 10 World Cup mountain bike rider.

A new Italian life at 57
Christchurch’s Averil Stuart-Head followed her heart to create art in a medieval village in Italy.

Life on a container ship
26 days on a container ship puts life on dry land in perspective for a photographer.
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