Our Travel

Characters, curiosities and intrepid opportunity lie around every corner of one of New Zealand’s longest rivers.

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

Rugged, dramatic, pristine... the Catlins are mesmerizing. They’re also comparatively under-explored. Pack those bags.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Discover a region where the sunshine hours are unrivalled and the beaches are shared with sunbathing seals.

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 is egged on by a 12-year-old and gives a terrifying ride in Rotorua a swing.

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.

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.

A long ride on a spine-cracking rickshaw and ten days of excruciating, immobile silence lead to a place of slow-and-surprising recognition.

A cruise passenger speed-dates destinations along the south-east Asian coast, and hopes to meet some of them again.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

A New Zealand bibliophile discovers the pleasures and pitfalls of running a bookshop in a small Scottish town.

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

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

The journey has been every bit as important as the destination for two farming families behind New Zealand’s longest-running private walk.

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

Visiting Golden Bay - the Insider's Guide has got you covered.

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

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.

'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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Lisa Scott wears her gravel rash as a badge of honour after testing her skills at Queenstown MTB (Mountain Bike) Park.

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.

 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.

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.

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 first day of snowboarding at Awakino skifield in North Otago involved a helicopter and an avalanche.

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

New Zealand Photographer Birgit Krippner captured the gritty reality of Russian village life on her journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

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

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

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.

Garry Wycherley and Robyn Ansell are putting tiny Awakino on the map, one building at a time

Water, a precious resource, is at its most pristine in a spring-fed stream chuckling its way through the heart of Wanaka

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

Baerbel and Thomas Hack were so determined to set up a dream seaside location for horse lovers, they built a road.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Rhianna Osborne lives like a local to enjoy Melbourne without breaking the bank.

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.

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.

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.

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

An entrepreneur wants his new website to be the matchmaker of cycling.

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

In a parched and withering place, a New Zealand photographer gets instructions on how to live.

Sue Moody explores Auckland's magenta cycle way - by foot.

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.

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

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

Christchurch’s Averil Stuart-Head followed her heart to create art in a medieval village in Italy.

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

Hotter than Hades in Chihuahua, Mexico

Head into Breaking Bad territory, where land is dry, throats are parched and dogs are very very small.

My wayward wheels: from mountains to the sea

Riding 300 kilometres on the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail can be hard work  but it’s worth every turn of the wheel.

Peta Mathias explores Uzes

The writer, cook and lover of the south of France tempts visitors to dance in her town square.

My wayward feet: walking the Onehunga Foreshore

Aucklanders have a brand new $28 million foreshore on the Manukau Harbour at Onehunga, Sue Moody goes exploring.