New Zealand New Zealand Blog

Named one of the "hippest" cities in the world by the New York Times, rated the third-best place in the world to live in the Mercer's survey and continuously outranking every major Australian city for quality of life - Auckland is not only a great place to live, but also a great place to visit. Describing the City of Sails as being 'geographically blessed' and with a 'vibrant Polynesian culture' the Travellers bible the Lonely Planet recently ranked Auckland, as the top 1 and 2 ‘must do’ experiences when traveling to New Zealand. Lets find out why…………

A group of intrepid New Zealanders are undertaking an amazing and some say perilous journey across the Pacific Ocean to Easter Island. They are sailing in a traditional waka hourua (double-hulled sailing canoes) without GPS or modern navigational tools, in a bid to retrace and revitalise the steps of their ancestors in Maori history; the crew are using only the stars and moon with ocean currents to guide them. Traditional methods of navigation waned soon after European settlement in the Pacific.

Once described as "Mardi Gras meets Haute Couture at a Peter Gabriel concert directed by Salvador Dali," This show twists conventional perceptions of art and fashion Welcome to the World of Wearable Art! Individual works of art are designed and animated by the body then choreographed into a two-hour theatrical show. Each year's performance is original and contains elements of dance, music, drama and comedy. Attracting both local and international artists it is now considered one of the most prestigious art and fashion competitions in the world.

Who or what is DOC? 

When travelling through New Zealand and especially if you venture outdoors, you will inevitably see DOC signs and or meet DOC rangers -  But who or what are they?

Well 'DOC' or the 'Department of Conservation'  is the government agency charged with conserving New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage. They have a very cool vision and that is for New Zealand to be the greatest living space on Earth | Kāore he wāhi i tua atu i a Aotearoa, hei wahi noho i te ao.

What are the Southern Lights?

The Southern Lights, also known as the Aurora Australis, is a natural light display in the Earth’s sky. This incredible display can provide stunning shimmers of pink, red, green, and purple light. This breathtakingly vibrant optical phenomenon is named after the Roman goddess of the dawn (Aurora).