New Zealand travel guide

There is something extremely romantic about road tripping through the Coromandel Peninsula. Narrow piece of land (40 km at its broadest point!), surrounded by ocean, makes you feel like being lost in the middle of nowhere even if you know for sure where exactly you are going.

Tauranga lures tourists in with its magnificent beaches; Rotorua boasts extraordinary mud pools, geysers and colourful steamy lakes; Taupo relies on its giant lake as a great source of activities for tourists all year round… It might seem that despite being New Zealand’s fourth largest city, landlocked Hamilton will never be that attractive to visitors. But don’t be fooled by the first impression! It’s proximity to Hobbiton is definitely not the only reason to visit Hamilton.

Rotorua reminds me of Hermione Granger’s beaded handbag: small from the outside, it was bottomless inside, so she could pack all the supplies she might need one day in it (those included Perkins’ tent, that easily accommodated seven Weasleys and Harry Potter – not sure I really need this detail here, but it’s Harry Potter, you know). Anyway, the population of Rotorua is only 71,700 people. Might look like a sleepy little place. But the truth can’t lie any further from that. You can never have enough time to explore all the activities and entertainments Rotorua has to offer! And I know what I’m talking about – we live in Tauranga. With Rotorua being located only an hour away, it has been our go-to choice for a cool weekend getaway for the last two years.

I always felt that Karangahake Gorge is sort of an underestimated New Zealand walkway. Yes, it has made it into 101 Must Do’s for Kiwi’s. Yes, everyone have heard of it. But who has really been there? Photos of the stunning Karangahake Gorge views we’ve posted on Instagram were mostly met with one question: ‘Where is it?’ I think, it’s time to answer it!

Lying long and deep in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is the largest glacier in New Zealand. And though this…

If you ask me about the quintessential New Zealand destinations I was dreaming to visit, I would name White Island…

Have you ever asked yourself, what’s the actual difference between “just another hotel” and a hotel that you suddenly have…

At some stage I was ready to admit we’re some sort of travel losers. Imagine having a tour cancelled TWICE due to the weather conditions… Doesn’t sound too bad? Wait until I tell you the tour is located in the SUNSHINE CAPITAL of New Zealand. Yep, story of my life:) But after the success of our third attempt to visit White Island (I bet, you have guessed by now), I truly believe the timing was just perfect!

During our first trip down to ‘The Heart of North Island’, Taupo wasn’t even on our radar, to be honest. We intended to spend a night there and drive to Whakapapa Skiing Resort the next morning. Avid snow fans, we couldn’t think of a better way to spend the whole weekend, rather than on the sunny beautiful slopes of Mt Ruapehu. Apparently, things don’t always go the way you pictured it. At the bottom of the mount we were greeted by a severe storm, wind, rain and snowfall – pretty much all the natural disasters you can think of. We managed to have some fun anyway, but after pouring tons of water out of all our boots, jackets and helmets and a good half an hour in a hot bath, we decided to play safe and stay in Taupo on Sunday. And God, though I definitely didn’t have enough snow this winter, I never regretted this decision. Taupo is a wonderful town with lots of exciting and unique activities.