i was at the beach at opunake and we took a ’scenic flight’ in this tiny tinny airplane i was so scared and excited at the same time
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Down in boooring Invercargill we accidently took Diesel instead of 95 in our Van…that was really ……well…..silly of course. But we got great help from a garage, that took us to the next place where they can take it out of the car. It did cost us only the new petrol we had to fill. In Germany you pay a lot to dispose the unused diesel for environment reasons (what is good) but there we did not have to pay for our idiocy, so we were quite happy You can experience exiting things in boring towns if you dont have a lot to do there.
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I’m 23 & went their for the second time in 2007 for Xmas with my Family. We hired a winnebago & drove around the North Island for 10 days.
It was the most beautiful country site. I fell in love with the bay of islands & am looking at spending Xmas 2008 again in New Zealand.
My favourtie memory from the trip is hospitality of the people in every single town we visited. Such down to earth friendly people.
I love Australia (my home) but New Zealand just sucks you right in & you don’t want to leave!!!
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i went when i was just 7. but it was great! i cant actually remember where we went but i know we went to the waterfall which we slid down =D
x
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We went to the North Island during winter a few years ago. Hired a camper van and just drove No map.. It was the best time.
Beautiful Cheese and Wine in the back of a camper on a stunning beach. What more do you want.
I want to do it again very soon.
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I remember camping with my family @ the camping ground in Orewa near Waiwera, remember doing heaps of swimming and going to the beach for bbqs. The kids were pretty much left to do what ever they wanted and could wander round pretty safely. Everyone always made heaps of new friends and there was never any need to wear shoes.
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Bay Of Islands even better when NZ turns on the summer weather….
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During childhood they were always spent at family’s friends baches in Whangaparaoa & Ruakaka.

To be honest I normally holday in Australia but now that airfares around NZ can be so cheap I have started holidaying here (remember in the past it was actually cheaper to fly to Oz than it was to alot of NZ destinations, especially if you were looking at going to the South Island). The last NZ holidays I took were up North to Hokianga Harbour, up to 90 Mile Beach & through to Cape Reinga (also saw Tane Mahuta – unbeleivable that this tree was around before the time of Christ – can’t quite get my head around that!). Also went to Bay of Islands on that same trip. I loved that holiday, had never even bothered going to any of those places before even though I’ve lived in Auckland all my life.

Another time in recent years I did a tiki tour from Auckland to The Coromandel & Tauranga but we took our time about it & made it a 2 week trip. I loved doing this, there are so many unexpected things to do along the way. Ngatea was a cute little place with the crystal shop & bought some cool things in a second hand store that would be 10 times the price up here in Auckland. And they have that water fountain park thingo there too. Went to the butterfly house at Thames which was awesome & did some bushwalks & the sculpture park walk, etc. We drove up the Western route to Coromandel Township but to be honest that was a waste of time as nothing to see there & nothing to do in the township (although I’ve since found out we could have gone to some private railway that someone owns there? Doesn’t appear to be very well advertised). Went to Waihi (took a picture of the mine & when I got back I showed it to people & pretended I’d been to the Grand Canyon (& people beleived me!!!). Love Waihi, cute little town, liked Whangamata & Whitianga also. Favourite beaches are Cooks Beach (mostly because no one goes there!) & of course Hahei & Cathedral Cove (probably the best beaches in the country). Katikati is nice, the bird park on the way out of there is so cute, love the rural charm of things like the kea’s in separate cages with the explanation cards up saying things like Susie doesn’t get along with Benny so they live apart now, etc! Cute ducks there too & unusual breeds, particularly one that followed us everywhere (he appeared to be an outcast – maybe because he looked so different from the others – he was identical to Daffy duck, not like a mallard or anything). Tauranga & Mt Maunganui are cool too.

For day trips I love to travel about 1 & a quarter hours north of Auckland to Pakiri Beach. It’s a long white sand beach with no shells or stones. I like it because I used to live in Oz & it’s the only beach I’ve seen here that’s like an Australian beach. It’s also a large beach so you can get far away from people if that’s what you want. On a large beach like that, frankly I felt like sunbathing nude but people in NZ are just so weird about that. People really are prudes.

Weekends away on Waiheke are great too, our own little paradise on the harbour.

And even staying in Auckland for holidays & just going on day trips to Waiheke, the Western Beaches – Bethells, etc (& I love that little caravan cafe at Bethells & the crazy locals who are kind of hippish & very friendly, the cafe is like Ponsonby on the beach! Great food & coffee, not what you’d expect out there). Like the crystal shop, cafe & museum at Swanson also. And of course tramping in the Waitakere’s . The Cascades are my favourite & it feels safer than the Hunua Ranges out South as there can be riff raff there sometimes. Went to Wrights Watergardens & Waterfall Cafe, 128 Mauku Rd, Patumahoe, Franklin ph 09 236 3036 wrightsgardens.co.nz a few months back, great place, not very well advertised though. They have waterlillies (waterlilly festival is in February each year I think), waterfalls, take a bushwalk through the place, very peaceful, quite a large place. Good for weddings. Surprisingly great food in the cafe – maybe because they have wedding receptions there that I assume they cater, so they are up to play with good food.

If in Auckland on my holidays I also like to hang out at cafe’s in Ponsonby, Parnell (the chocolate boutique there is great) & check out the dealer galleries in Parnell, go shopping at Dressmart & the Hard to Find Bookshop in Onehunga. Go for long walks around Tamaki Drive (as in all the way from the city to St Heliers if we can be bothered or St Heliers to Okahu Bay & back – this takes about 1 and a half hours there & back). Centennial Park in Birkenhead on the North Shore is a little known about treasure, walk through kauri trees full of fantails & tui’s (you are guaranteed to see & hear tui’s as there are loads of them so great for tourists), go down to Kendalls Bay & walk around the rocks on the left hand side of the bay if the tide is out & at the end you can see a superb view of the city skyline with the Skytower, etc. Where else can you see kauri trees next to a beach with the city skyline & native birds? And in Auckland! And usually there’s no one there.

Also love visiting Wellington (especially in the summer, it’s awesome in the sun). Not a fan of Te Papa (do they ever change their exhibitions? And most of it seems aimed at children) but love shopping, the friendliness of Wellingtonians, the architecture of those awesome old homes in Mt Victoria, etc, the laid back stress free environment, the cafes, nightlife, arts & theatre (especially during their arts festival – much better than Aucklands one), etc.

With the cheap airfares now, I also plan on going to Nelson, Napier, Christchurch, Dunedin & Queenstown. Apart from Christchurch I have never been to any of these places before. So happy that the fares can be down as low as $75 each way these days, particularly if you book a couple of months ahead, but sometimes even booking only a couple of weeks away you can still get these cheap fares. That’s what I find with Air NZ anyway.
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you are all totally right , as a new zealander, born and bred, i love my country heaps ,,, the say its god own ,,, peaceful, heaps to doing and see , freedom, sunshine, winter a bit nippy , but lovely days , people are regaurd as the friendless in this world ,, , so i welcome anyone to holiday in n z
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Well not that I have been on a huge number of holidays around NZ ( sadly) but those that I do remember are down the Marlborough Sounds…..either being in a dingy and just hearing the quiet, seeing the bush line down to the waterline, the calm water on a hot sunny day……also the birds. Lots of fishing and relaxing.
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I LIVE IN THE MIGHTY GREEN! haha i
just like how everyone is so relaxed and friendly in NZ! hahabut not much to do if your a teenager lving a in tiny town BLAH.haha nz is the shit
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My boyfriend, now fiance proposed to me when we went for a picnic at Castle Rock. It was just magical. *True love forever*
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