New Zealand Attractions

Milford Sound - New Zealand's most beautiful location

Advantages: Stunning views
Disadvantages: Remote location

Milford Sound well deserves the title of New Zealand's number one tourist location. It is a stunning fjord in the South Island of New Zealand in the Fiordland region of the country. It is a must-sees for any tourist. If you are in the country, take the time to go on a cruise of the fjord - there are many operators available, with several tour buses leaving daily from Te Anau and Queenstown. As the crow (or tourist) flies, it is just a short hop over ...
...finally took a cruise of Milford Sound in April 2009. Named after Milford Haven in South Wales, it is nothing like its namesake, although very similar to the fjords I have seen in Norway. The walls of Milford Sound have an incredibly vivid emerald green colour from all the trees and shrubs. The tour I went with the operator Real Journeys and booked and paid for my trip the day before from the tourist information centre in Te Anau. The trip ...

beckyXX 21.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Milford Sound, South Island

Arrowtown: Small NZ town taken over by sweet shops and hikers.

Advantages: Quiet, peaceful, great chocolate
Disadvantages: Very small, a bit dull

Arrowtown is a very small town of about 2000 people in South New Zealand about 21 miles from the much larger Queenstown. It used to be a mining town 150 years ago, but the gold ran out many years ago and now tourism is the new source of gold for the town. Unusually for this area (which is now mainly famous for much more modern extreme sports industry), the town has a historic feel to it, with some very picturesque buildings. When we passed through ...
...small town could have such a large and varied shopping street. One shop in particular made the visit entirely worthwhile - a chocolatier called Patagonia Chocolates. They have some unusual (and extremely strong) flavours to pick from - our two favourites were the ginger and the chilli flavours - though be warned that these stronger flavours aren't for the faint of heart! A unique selling point for this shop is that you can watch chocolate being made. ...

beckyXX 15.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Arrowtown, Otago

New Zealand Wildlife Everywhere

Advantages: A lovely place to walk around
Disadvantages: Can't think of any

Staglands Wildlife Reserve Staglands is a unique expression of New Zealand. It is a reserve, which consists of 10 ha of land. Inside the reserve it features streams, ponds, hills and gullies that have been created and developed over the years. A special feature is the old bush settlement, which gives visitors an interesting insight into what life was like for early settlers in New Zealand. When you first go into the reserve there is an area called ...
...has Kea birds in it. Staglands have simulated the West Coast high country habitat to help these birds. Next stop on the way around was the stables and they have two donkeys called Charlotte and Moses. Charlotte seems shy but Moses is a character always up to something. We had food we had purchased to feed the animals. On the sign it says do not touch Moses as he is inclined to bite. Being scared to go near him I stayed well back. My partner who ...

DeniseKelly40 30.08.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Staglands Wildlife Reserve

Kaikoura, NZ - one of the best places on earth!

Advantages: Beautiful scenery, wildlife, friendly, good for getting away from it all
Disadvantages: None

I've only just realised that Kaikoura, one of my favourite places in the world, is on this site. Just had to tell people a bit about it. Kaikoura is a small town about 2 hours north of Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand. It originated as a fishing and whaling town, and its industries are still based around the sea, but now mainly in the form of tourism. However, it's far from being a stereotypical "tourist hotspot". It feels very like ...
...main dive operation is Dive Kaikoura, a very professional centre based in the main town. They offer a range of courses, as well as single or double tank trips for qualified divers. A word of warning - this is not tropical diving! I actually found it good preparation for diving in the UK - the temperature varies from around 12-17C, so a good wetsuit is essential. Visibility id often fairly low, usually less than 10m. On the other hand, you get the ...

cathy_m80 12.03.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Kaikoura, New Zealand

"Pokarekare ana Nga wai o Rotorua" - ROTORUA, New Zealand

Advantages: Somewhere very diiferent, Maori culture, boiling mud and geysers
Disadvantages: the smell was a little off putting, Maori evening was awful

...enjoyed during our stay in Rotorua, misty rain, steamy hot geysers all creating a ghostly, slightly smelly experience. LUNCH: After this we walked back into Rotorua town to find something for lunch and as it was raining still we decided soup would be nice and warming. We found a restaurant that was offering pumpkin and kamura (sweet potato) soup which we ordered with chips and aioli. The waitress was lovely and chatted to us until our meal was ready. ...
...both very damp and chilly and it came to a grand total of $23. THE POLYNESIAN SPA: After our lunch we returned to our hotel to get our swim suits and then went to the Polynesian spa for a relaxation. We paid for the lakeside pools rather than the adult ones as they seemed quieter and you got the towels, lockers and shampoo included. The adult pool was $20 and the Lakeside one $40 but it was recommended as superior. There were four alkali pools, 36°,38°C, ...

catsholiday 03.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Rotorua, New Zealand