NZ Travel Blog http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/ Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:22:02 -0800 Yahoo! http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/74/climbing-the-iron-way-queenstowns-via-ferrata/ "Remember: the journey is everything," says guide Chris Prudden, as our group of eight assembles beneath the hard, flat face of Queenstown Hill on a grey Sunday morning. We are about to scale the Southern Hemisphere's only Via Ferrata: an Italian climbing system comprising a series of fixed steel rungs, pegs and cables... Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:45:40 -0800 Amelia Norman http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/73/ripples-of-the-past-kayaking-on-lake-wakatipu/ According to Sam de Reeper, there's "a whole lotta rubies" in the hills above Lake Wakatipu. Sam, our suntanned, dreadlocked kayaking guide, points across sparkling water to the head of the lake, where snowy peaks and velvety brown hills crowd together, thick as thieves... Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:56:13 -0800 Amelia Norman http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/72/an-atmosphere-of-the-marvellous-christchurch-bike-tours/ Sometimes in life, there are things that we just don't see - even when they're right in front of us. Take Stephanie Fitts, owner of Christchurch Bike Tours. Her thing was a tree, on the day she learnt to ride a bike... Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:04:06 -0800 Amelia Norman http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/71/things-learnt-from-a-day-in-the-country/ Thing #1: Tying a pink balloon to your car's radio antenna is not as silly as it sounds. Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:12:50 -0800 Amelia Norman http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/70/art-in-a-garden/ I never have had an eye for art, but this is ridiculous. Is that sculpture moving? Or is it an actual dog? Is that pond part of the exhibition? Or is it just Mother Nature getting artistic? Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:43:47 -0800 Amelia Norman http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/68/discovering-tasman-glacier/ The Tasman Glacier tastes of nothing. I crunch through a morsel of the 25km long ice river and feel the frozen fragment melting across my tongue. Granules of silt wash across my teeth... Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:53:13 -0800 Amelia Norman http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/63/the-seasons-of-the-south-island/ Whilst any time is a good time to visit the South Island of New Zealand, each season brings out the best in different regions. Here is a guide to the South Island by season: Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:58:27 -0800 Amelia Norman http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/62/a-buzzy-week-in-wellington/ Wellington is a chameleon; home to an eclectic melting pot of PDA-carrying government employees, trend-setting fashion designers, op-shopping university students and bongo-brandishing musicians. The face of New Zealand's capital city is ever-changing, constantly diversifying and always exciting... Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:37:12 -0800 Amelia Norman http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/61/the-heat-is-on-in-rotorua/ When soaking in a magma-fuelled hot spring within a volcanic caldera I decide it's best to adopt a philosophical air... Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:30:15 -0800 Amelia Norman http://nz.travel.yahoo.com/b/amelianorman/60/eco-travel-auckland-style/ So fast are the expectations of eco-aware travellers growing that these days, accommodation providers are having to go much, much further than the now ubiquitous towel sign... Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:04:38 -0800 Amelia Norman