TAKE FLIGHT WITH THE KIWIS

In 1990, I booked a return flight from Sydney to Auckland just after Christmas. It cost me $450. Today I can do it for around the $520 mark, including taxes.

Air travel is better value than ever, despite all the gloom and doom over oil prices. So why not consider New Zealand when next you’re planning a short break?

Luxury accommodation & cottages in New Zealand

It’s really accessible, with Qantas, Air New Zealand, Pacific Blue (Virgin) and Freedom Air providing direct services the length and breadth of both islands of “Aotearoa” or “land of the long white cloud”.

If you haven’t visited Auckland in a while, be prepared for a pleasant surprise. The city has embraced its spectacular waterfront with new hotels, apartments and chic restaurants – giving a formerly rundown precinct new life and vibrancy. The Sky Tower complex, with its casino, fabulous views and thrilling sky jump, reflects the energy and fun that Kiwis embrace.

For great city skyline views over lunch or dinner, take the ferry across the harbour to Devonport, where a brief stroll from its famous peer will take you into yet another place to explore the arts and crafts of creative New Zealand. There’s a range of galleries and boutiques with something for everyone.

In 35 minutes, another ferry will whisk you across the water to Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf, where some of New Zealand’s finest wines have their start. With 7,000 residents on the island, there are plenty of activities for visitors on offer, including art and wine tours, as well as the chance to enjoy some of the finest cuisine in all the Pacific.

Drive north from Auckland to the Bay of Islands and discover land and seascapes that have mesmerised visitors with their unspoilt beauty for hundreds of years. It’s a great place to take your golf clubs if that’s your perfect way to relax on holiday.

If you’re heading in the opposite direction, don’t miss Rotorua, a place of immense spiritual significance for the Maori people. Don’t worry about the sulphurous aroma that permeates parts of Rotorua – it’s just part of the unique qualities of this place, with its steaming geysers, mineral baths, boiling mud and spectacular lakeside setting.

Take in the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, where you can gain insights into the way of life that has been passed down through generations for centuries. The people of the area upon which the tours are guided belong to various family groups, who allow visitors to participate in their communal activities, which incorporate Maori culture and traditions. The people of this area have been hosting visitors and welcoming guests into their homes since the early 1800s. The Thermal Village is open seven days from 8.30 to 5pm, with guided tours running all day long. Visitors get a chance to enjoy a “hangi”, traditional Maori fare buried and slow-cooked on hot rocks.

If you’re feeling flush and are looking for an experience of a lifetime, take the helicopter scenic flight, during which you’ll land near New Zealand’s largest active volcano and take in wondrous lake, forest and geothermal views. This is one trip you surely need to take your camera!

Skydiving, trout fishing, cruising on Lake Rotorua and the nearby Lake Tarawera, jet-boating, mountain biking, river rafting or simply relaxing back in the healing waters of the geothermal springs, are just some of the attractions of Rotorua.

If you’re driving south, stop off for a view of the Huka Falls, just before you arrive at another beautiful destination that offers lots to see and do – Lake Taupo.

Wellington, New Zealand’s national capital, is well worth visiting. If you’re travelling with children, Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand, is one of the biggest visitor attractions in the country. It sits dramatically overlooking Wellington’s beautiful harbour and is a dynamic, interactive introduction to the history of this land of many contrasts.

Wellington has some fine public buildings, is the heartbeat of New Zealand’s cultural life, and is reputed to have the best restaurants in the country. Don’t miss Cuba Street, which is less than a five minute walk from Te Papa, where you’ve a huge array of restaurants, bars and boutiques reflecting the creative forces at work in this part of the country. You can quaff some of New Zealand’s famous cool-climate wines in the surrounding countryside.

Lovers of wine and the culture that surrounds it are in for a treat when staying at Nelson on the northern point of New Zealand’s South Island. The area is renowned for the number of artists working in the Nelson area, some 350 at last count.

There are studio and gallery tours, of which the World of Wearable Art and Collectable Cars Museum is not to be missed. The name says it all – you can see how creativity and imagination have been pushed to incredible heights, with the artists using the most unusual materials for their “garments”. Items such as plastic milk bottles, safety pins, zips, feathers, harekeke (New Zealand native flax) and even kitchen utensils, are used.

Nelson has a beautiful waterfront where you can savour the sunset over a cheeky little semillon ahead of an alfresco seafood dinner.
You’ll notice distinct changes in the landscape of the South Island – magnificent snow-capped peaks, deep fiords carved by ancient glaciers, and brilliant colours in lakes from minerals flushed from the mountainside. Even the sheep look different to their Australian counterparts – white and fluffy in their lush green paddocks.

If you’re flying into Christchurch, you’re in for a treat. In this most English of New Zealand cities, the drive from the airport takes you past beautiful gardens and parks – such a pleasant change from the industrial sites and advertising billboards one has to endure on the airport drive from most cities around the world.

Christchurch is compact and pleasant to navigate on foot. The river Avon runs through it, and you can even trigger the romantic in you by being punted right through the heart of the city by a young man wearing a 1920s outfit, complete with boater hat.

One of Christchurch’s top attractions is the chance to swim with dolphins around Akaroa Harbour, with eco-tourism specialists, Black Cat Group. All you need take along is your swimmers, as the operators provide wetsuits, masks and snorkels. After a safety briefing, you get to spend around an hour in the water with the dolphins. The company operates up to eight cruises a day during the summer months and venture out at least once a day all year round. There are just 10 participants in the dolphin-swimming tour, so it’s advisable to book early. If for any reason you don’t encounter dolphins on the tour, you’re entitled to a partial refund.

Make sure you factor in a road trip or flight to Milford Sound when you visit Queenstown, the action capital on the South Island. Tourism is the main game in Queenstown, and there’s a bewildering array of activities at any time of the year. The place really comes into its own in winter, but the summer months are equally fun. This is where jet-boating and bungee jumping started, and where you can enjoy golf, whitewater rafting and bushwalking or “tramping”.

You’ve some top-quality choices for accommodation in New Zealand in this issue of Unique Places to Stay. This may be the best time ever to consider a trip across the Tasman Sea.