New Zealand Travel Blog

What do you picture when you think of New Zealand? Crystal-clear rivers twisting and turning through untouched forests, mountains dusted with snow and waterfalls cascading into bright blue pools?

If so, you’ve definitely got Milford in mind. As one of the most famously beautiful places to experience on a NZ South Island Itinerary, “where is Milford Sound?” is a pretty common question that we get asked!

Wanaka is nestled lakeside, surrounded by huge mountain ranges and protected nature reserves, it is like Queenstown’s charming little sister – a lovely little mix of small town warmth and a slow, relaxed pace in one of the most beautiful settings in New Zealand. If you love nature, adventure, relaxing, wine, or all of the above, you will find countless things to do in Wanaka, New Zealand.

Jasmijn and Julia two of First Light Travel's latest interns venture into the Waikato to explore Hobbiton Middle Earth the now famous movie set to see what all the fuss is about.

Jasmijn is from Elst in the Eastern part of Holland near the German boarder and Julia is from Munich in Germany so both like the hobbits are no strangers to the delights of beer - but will the Hobbit village and especially the Green Dragon Inn meet their high expectations?  

The South Island of New Zealand's Secret Day Hikes

The South Island is the ‘crown jewel’ when it comes to hiking, offering an overwhelming amount of the best New Zealand day hikes set amongst an untouched wilderness. We’ve put in the miles for you and come up with six world-­class day walks to consider conquering on your South Island New Zealand vacation.

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.

We are Rosa and Juuso, Tourism Management students from Finland. As a part of our studies we need to complete five months of internship, and we decided to do that at First Light Travel in New Zealand.  During our stay we have explored the country, and one of our trips was to take 3-days and Hike the Tongariro Northern Circuit in the beautiful Tongariro National Park. For us it was something very special as we don’t have anything like that in Finland.

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.