Crossing the divide
Routeburn Track, Features, Great Walks
It’s hard to beat the Routeburn on a good day. There is a world of rainforest green – mosses, lichens and orchids. Kaka and kea inhabit these parts. Stunning lakes...
Marios Gavalas
Tramp or mountain bike the Heaphy Track?
Heaphy Track, Great Walks, Mountain biking
The Heaphy Track has become one of the country’s premier multi-day mountain bike trips. It’s still a summer tramp, but from May 1 to November 30, it’s also a ride....
Heaps to see on the Heaphy
Heaphy Track, Features, Great Walks
If there’s one word to summarise the Heaphy Track, it’s variety. From the beech forests of the upper Aorere and the craggy pinnacles of the Douglas Range, the track climbs...
Hidden spots in the Abel Tasman
Abel Tasman Coast Track, Great Walks
Abel Tasman National Park is our smallest national park, but it is host to the most popular Great Walk: more than 43,000 people walked the Abel Tasman Coast Track in...
The stay-sane guide to summer holiday walks
Features, School Holidays, The Life List, Wild Trips
Maungauika/North Head, Auckland In the 1880s, when the Russians were the enemy, the government constructed coastal defence systems as a deterrent. The three guns were state-of-the-art and the barrels alone...
In Cook’s footsteps
From October to December this year, a flotilla will visit locations associated with the visit of Captain Cook to New Zealand between 1769 and 1772. The Tuia 250 commemoration is...
How to get your kids into mountain biking
Marios Gavalas and is 16-year-old daughter Maya share how they went from riding through puddles to completing multi-day rides together. Background Marios: I grew up in England in the 1980s...
The French Connection
French exploration took place in the South Pacific at the same time their English rivals were also looking at colonial expansion. Given only slight changes in the historical winds, New...
10 of the best pā sites in New Zealand
The anatomy of a pā is similar wherever you go. Sites were chosen atop hills or on headlands, the obvious advantage being an early sighting of approaching foes allowed time...