New Zealand Nature Blog

It’s fair to say New Zealand’s a pretty safe place to travel, we have no poisonous snakes or dangerous animals and are populated by a small group of pretty laid back, genuinely friendly people. Hell, our police don’t even carry guns! – We have nothing to worry about! But 'Keeping it Real' there are few things you do need to be aware of, especially if you are planning to get out into the great outdoors.

We are Ashley & Jordi, Canadian & Dutch Tourism Management students in Amsterdam. As part of our studies we needed to complete a five month internship which we chose to do at First Light Travel in New Zealand. During our time there we were able to explore much of the beautiful country and one of our most unforgettable experiences was to dive the Knights Islands. A protected nature reserve with a rich Maori history, these uninhabited islands off the East coast of New Zealand’s North Island have now been labeled ‘tapu’ or sacred.

Best New Zealand Day Hikes – North Island

What first comes to mind when you think of New Zealand? Our soaring Southern Alps? Windswept coastlines? Glistening lakes? Our country was made to be explored on foot – it’s the only way to experience the full extent of NZ’s striking wilderness. To show you how to incorporate a little hiking into your New Zealand itinerary, we’ve put together a couple of posts about our favorite day hikes. Here’s the Best New Zealand Day Hikes - The North Island installment.   

We are Stephanie and Martina, tourism students from Germany and Switzerland, who were lucky enough to have the opportunity to live and work in Auckland for a few months. We love to travel and explore so were on the road every other weekend exploring the rest of New Zealand. The circumstances for this little trip could not have been better: the weather forecast was amazing and thanks to Queens Birthday it was a long weekend.  In order to explore the Central North Island we left Auckland after work on Friday, arriving in Taupo around 11pm.

Anne and Sophie get out of Auckland for a long weekend and explore tropical Northland and the Bay of Islands. With adventure on their minds they intend to make the most of the three day break and are looking for fun! Oh What to do in the Bay of Islands? Hiking, Sailing and Diving and thats just the beginning....