Blog Archives

Learning to surf in Raglan

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Most travellers come to Raglan for its world-class surfing. Experienced surfers head to Manu Bay, but beginner surfers are advised to start at Ocean Beach. Please note that access is now restricted to Whale Bay as Māori regard this as a sensitive spiritual area.

Raglan Surfing School is popular with many backpackers. It is run by Karioi Backpacker Lodge and they also rent surfboards and wetsuits.


Lost World

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Waitomo’s Lost World abyss is one of the lesser-visited parts of the Waitomo cave system but is totally worth it. It is a big cave, it can take 20-minutes just to abseil in and once inside the cave ceiling is usually at least 50m above you.

Waitomo Adventures operate three different tours into the Lost World abyss ranging from Lost World Through the Window where climb down a staircase to the more challenging tours that involve abseiling into the 100m-deep abyss.

All three options let you explore vast caverns where you can see fossils, waterfalls and lots of glowworms.

It is a unique experience with small groups (usually no more than four people at a time).

Although the first two options are dry tours, it is best to wear something that dries quickly like shorts or chinos (not jeans).

Lost World Through the Window

Lost World Through the Window was developed by Waitomo Adventures as a way to experience the Lost World without abseiling. It involves entering the cave through a sinkhole known as The Window and descending down a staircase towards an elevated platform where you ride a zipline before climbing through the Spider Hole. Allow four hours for the Lost World Through the Window tour.

Lost World

The original four-hour Lost World adventure involves a 20-minute 100m abseil before exploring the cave system and returning to the surface via a 30m ladder. This is a popular option and the small group sizes mean that it is best to book the tour prior to arriving in Waitomo.

Lost World Epic

The Lost World Epic is the more extreme seven-hour version of the Lost World tour. Like the standard trip, it starts off with a 20-minute 100m abseil but this is a wet tour where you don a wetsuit and explore the Mangapu streamway.

Mangapurua Track

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The Mangapurua Track (3–4 hours one-way) starts at either Ruatiti or Whakahoro and follows the Manapurua Valley via the Bridge to Nowhere. The track ends up at the Mangapurua Landing on the Whanganui River. Most people walk one way and take a jet boat back. There are several jet boat operators that offer this service including Bridge to Nowhere Tours , Forgotten World Jet, Whanganui Scenic Experience Jet and Whanganui River Adventures.

Marlborough Musem

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The Marlborough Musem is a large regional museum that has exhibits on local history and culture.

The museum features The Wine Exhibition, a permanent exhibit showcasing the history of Marlborough’s wine industry as well as Te Pokohiwi – The Wairau Bar 1250 AD, an exhibit focusing on the archaeology of the Marlborough region’s early Polynesian settlers.

There are also galleries with displays about European settlement in the region, Captain James Cook’s visits to the Marlborough Sounds and the region’s goldmining and whaling heritage.

Masterton railway station

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The train is the best way to visit Masterton with up to five daily trains (two on Saturdays and Sundays) connecting Masterton with Wellington, which is only one hour and 40 minutes away.

Masterton railway station is on Perry Street around a 15-minute walk northwest of the town centre.

Matiatia Wharf ferry terminal

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Matiatia Wharf ferry terminal at the western end of the island is the most popular entry point to Waiheke Island.

Ferry services operated by Fullers operate every half hour to the Auckland ferry terminal on Quay Street and there are also less frequent ferries linking Matiatia Wharf with Devonport. The Fullers ferry service between Auckland and Matiatia costs $22 one-way or $36 return.

Matiatia Wharf has the best public transport connections of Waiheke Island’s two ferry ports. It is the terminus for all of the island’s bus routes and several rental car companies maintain offices at the wharf.

 

 

Milford Track

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The Milford Track Great Walk (53.5km, 4 days) is New Zealand’s most famous walking track and over 13,000 people walk along it every year.

It goes from Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound along the Clinton and Arthur River valleys, passing numerous waterfalls along the way. The Milford Track can only be hiked in one direction.

The number of independent hikers is restricted to 40 each day (with an additional 50 hikers on guided walks) and bookings are essential if you’re planning on hiking the Milford Track during peak season (Nov-Apr; the Great Walks Season). Booking for each season opens in Jul and the more popular summer months fill up early. You are limited to staying only one night at each hut on the track.

It costs around $495 to hike the Milford Track including $210 for three nights’ accommodation in huts on the track, plus another $285 for bus and ferry transfers to and from the track. That’s the cheap option! A guided walk can cost over $4000 but your four grand does give you luxury accommodation and gourmet meals.

Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut (5km, 1–1½ hours)

You approach the track by ferry from Te Anau Downs. The first day on the track is an easy 5km walk from Glade Wharf on Lake Te Anau to Clinton Hut.

Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut (16.5km, 6 hours)

The second day on the track is a gradual climb to Mintaro Hut.

Mintaro Hut to Dumpling Hut (14km, 6 hours)

This section starts with a zigzag climb over Mackinnon Pass followed by a steep rocky descent to Dumpling Hut. Many walkers say that this descent is the most difficult part of the Milford Track.

Dumpling Hut to Sandfly Point (18km, 5½–6 hours)

The final leg of the Milford Track follows the Arthur River and the western shore of Lake Ada before reaching the trailhead at Sandfly Point near Milford Sound.

Monteith's Brewery tour

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The West Coast’s biggest brewery produces some of the country’s best beer, which is now sold around the world. The Monteith’s Brewery tour involves a 25-minute tour where you can see beer being brewed and after the tour you get to sample your choice of three beers at the Brewery bar.

Mount Maunganui InterCity coach stop

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InterCity Coachlines coaches stop at the bus stop outside the Spongedrop cake shop at 10 Salisbury Avenue in central Mount Maunganui.

There are direct InterCity coach services connecting Mount Maunganui to Auckland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Hamilton, Napier, Palmerston North, Rotorua and Taupo.

Most coach services that stop in central Mount Maunganui, also stop at the Bayfair shopping centre and also outside Pacific Coast Lodge. There is a wider choice of coach services departing from the busier InterCity coach stop outside the i-SITE information centre in central Tauranga, including coaches to Wellington.

If you are catching a ManaBus coach service from Mount Maunganui, you’ll need to wait outside Pacific Coast Lodge.

Mount Taranaki Summit Track

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One of the most popular activities in the park involves climbing Mount Egmont/Taranaki, however it is dangerous and over 60 people have died attempting it. The best time to climb is January–March when there is very little snow on the mountain. The ascent can be done in one day with the return climb taking 8–10 hours.

The Mount Taranaki Summit Track is the main route up the mountain, which departs from the North Egmont carpark outside the Egmont National Park Visitor Centre.

The climb can be broken into two sections: the hike to Tahurangi Lodge, followed by the steeper climb up the scree slopes of the mountain. Once you’re at the summit, you will need to climb back down again.

Egmont National Park Visitor Centre (946m)–Tahurangi Lodge (1492m) (4km, 1½–2 hours)

From the National Park Visitor Centre, the track follows a boardwalk before following a gravel Tahurangi Translator Road to the Tahurangi Lodge. The lodge is privately-owned but there is a public toilet near the lodge and a small shelter room at the lodge in case you need to take shelter from the rain.

Tahurangi Lodge (1492m)–the summit (2518m) (2.3km, 3–4 hours)

After passing the lodge, follow the poled route through the Hongi Valley and then make your way up the steep scoria slopes towards the Lizard (2134m) which leads towards the crater.

There is ice in the crater year round. You will need crampons (and possibly an ice axe) if you want to cross the crater.

Allow 5–6 hours for the climb up and another 3–4 hours for the climb back down.

Mount Victoria lookout

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There’s a fantastic view over Wellington and the airport from the Mount Victoria lookout at the summit of Mount Victoria (Matairangi) in the Town Belt to the southwest of the city centre.

You can drive to the top or catch bus 20, but the best option is to hike up the Lookout Walkway, which is around a 30-minute walk from Courtney Place.

MTG Hawke’s Bay

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MTG Hawke’s Bay (formerly the Hawke’s Bay Museum & Art Gallery) has a wide variety of exhibits including dinosaurs, Māori culture and local history. The exhibits relating to the 1931 earthquakes are particularly interesting.

Murchison Museum

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The Murchison Museum has varied exhibits on local history including vintage machinery and exhibits on agriculture, gold mining and forestry. The museum’s highlight is the exhibit on the earthquake that shook Murchison in 1929.

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, commonly referred to as Te Papa (Māori for Our Place), is New Zealand’s leading museum and Wellington’s top attraction attracting over one million visitors each year.

The museum is housed in a building on Cable Street on Wellington’s waterfront and is comprised of six floors although the museum’s main exhibition space is on levels 2–4. Te Papa is noted for its excellent interactive exhibits and interesting displays about New Zealand culture and history.

Starting at the main entrance on level one, the first permanent exhibit is Quake Breaker which demonstrates how base isolators work to protect major buildings (including Te Papa) during an earthquake.

Level two features the Britten V1000 motorcycle, an excellent exhibition about New Zealand’s involvement in the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War and displays about natural history plus the Awesome Forces exhibition. The Awesome Forces exhibition focuses on geological forces with an emphasis on earthquakes and it features an earthquake simulator where you can experience being inside a house during an earthquake. One of the highlights of this level is the world’s largest colossal squid. The 4.2m long, squid weighs 495kg and was captured in 2007 in the Ross Sea off the Antarctic coast. It is the only colossal squid on display anywhere in the world.

The Bush City exhibit is an outdoors exhibition space between levels one and two. This area features native plants as well as a glow worm cave and fossil dig.

Level three has the Blood Earth Fire gallery, which depicts how introduced species have transformed New Zealand’s environment, and displays commemorating the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s and 1870s.

On level four you will find interesting displays about Māori and Pacific Islander history and culture and its place in New Zealand society along with stories of people of have migrated to New Zealand over the past 200 years. The Mana Whenua gallery focuses on Māori culture with taonga including a waka taua (war canoe) from the Whanganui region as well and displays about the Moriori, the original inhabitants of the Chatham Islands. There is also an exhibit relating to the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, although you have to visit the He Tohu exhibition in the National Library to see the original treaty. Level four also features the skeleton of Phar Lap, New Zealand’s most famous racehorse.

On level six, there is a viewing terrace with sweeping views of Wellington Harbour.

Museum of Transport & Technology (MOTAT)

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The Museum of Transport & Technology (MOTAT) is a fascinating place if you’re into old cars, planes, trains and steam engines.

This science and technology museum is set on two sites, which are linked by a tram route running vintage tramcars (originally from Melbourne). The museum admission fee includes a return tram trip between the two museum sites. The tram also stops at Auckland Zoo en route between the two museum sites.

MOTAT 1 (the original museum site on Great North Road) was built on the site of a beam engine pump house, which originally supplied water to Auckland. The original beam engine has been restored and is on display along with a collection of other steam engines.

The original museum site is also home to a large collection of over 100 vehicles including trams, trains, cars, buses and fire engines. There is also a display on space travel including a Corporal rocket.

The excellent Pioneers of Aviation exhibit including displays on Charles Kingsford-Smith’s trans-Tasman flight and Jean Batten’s England–New Zealand flight. Parts of Richard Pearse’s aircraft (which made flights prior to the Wright brothers) are also on display here.

The MOTAT 1 museum site is also home to a recreated shopping street depicting life in the 1920s.

Although MOTAT 1 is home to an excellent aviation pavilion, MOTAT’s main aviation exhibits are housed at the museum’s secondary site on Meola Road (MOTAT 2).

Aviation exhibits at MOTAT 2 include the engine from Jean Batten’s Percival Gull (the actual plane is on display at Auckland Airport) as well as displays on the history of commercial aviation including Pan American Airways and Imperial Airways flying boats of the 1930s and TEAL (which later became Air New Zealand) flying boats of the 1940s and 1950s. This site also has exhibits of military aircraft including a collection of Royal New Zealand Air Force aircraft.

Napier bus and coach terminal

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Bus and coach services let you travel from Napier to Auckland, Gisborne, Hamilton, Hastings, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Taupo, Tauranga and Wellington.

InterCity Coachlines stop in Napier on their Auckland–Hastings, Gisborne–Wellington, Hastings–Tauranga, Napier–Wellington and Tauranga–Palmerston North routes.

ManaBus services go to Auckland via Taupo and Rotorua.

InterCity Coachlines and ManaBus stop in Napier at the Clive Square bus and coach stop on Carlyle Street.

National Park railway station

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The Northern Explorer train that runs between Auckland and Wellington stops at National Park railway station. There is a bar/cafe/restaurant at the station, which isn’t bad for a station that only sees one train a day in each direction.

The train station is located at the corner of Findlay Street and Station Road, which is hardly the centre of town (although National Park Village doesn’t really have a town centre).

Nelson Airport (NSN)

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Nelson Airport (NSN) is New Zealand’s fifth-busiest airport, located near Tahunanui Beach 8km southwest of the city centre.

Air New Zealand have flights to Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, Air2there fly to Blenheim and Paraparaumu, Jetstar fly to Auckland and Wellington, Originair fly to New Plymouth and Palmerston North and Sounds Air fly to Paraparaumu and Wellington.

Nelson Shuttles and Super Shuttle operate shuttle buses that connect the airport with the city centre.

Nelson Travel Centre (bus and coach terminal)

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InterCity Coachlines and ScenicNZ coaches connect Nelson with destinations throughout the South Island.

InterCity coaches go to Blenheim, Greymouth, Havelock, Murchison, Picton, Punakaiki and Westport and ScenicNZ run coaches to Abel Tasman National Park and Golden Bay with stops at Motueka, Kaiteriteri and Marahau.

Both InterCity and ScenicNZ coaches stop at the Nelson Travel Centre on Bridge Street, although InterCity coaches also stop at the Nelson i-SITE information centre, Paradiso Backpackers and Tasman Bay Backpackers.

Nevis Highwire Bungy

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AJ Hackett’s Nevis Highwire Bungy is New Zealand’s highest bungee jumping platform.

Bungee jumpers jump from the 134m-high platform suspended over the Nevis River valley by high-tension cables. It is equivalent to a 34-storey building and jumpers get around eight seconds of freefall at speeds of over 128 km/h before the bungee cord kicks in to slow your fall and bring you back up.

The Nevis bungee platform features a glass floor making it an even scarier experience while giving spectators a unique vantage point.

The return trip from Queenstown is four hours making this a good half-day excursion.

It is a must-do if you really want to jump from New Zealand’s highest bungee site.