Unseen Cities that you Must See

With all this time on my hands (ahem, you know what I’m talking about,) I’ve been spending a lot of it revisiting old travel photos. Photos of better days, more adventurous days, days often spent with a glass of wine in one hand and a generous serving of cheese in the other. Days I spent visiting Cloudy Bay in New Zealand’s iconic Marlborough. This region is renowned the world over for being the heart of sauvignon blanc, with too many awards and accolades to list here. So I thought I would share with you all more about my journey to Cloudy Bay to hopefully inspire your own wine-enthusiast escape. If you find yourself in need of an adventure when the borders open, why not consider New Zealand? Checking In: The Shack at Cloudy Bay I was fortunate enough to visit Cloudy Bay last year as a hosted guest. The vineyard was celebrating the start of the summer season in October, flying in a handful of guests from Australia, China and Hong Kong. I spent ...

With Queenstown being one of the most popular destinations to visit in New Zealand, I was understandably excited to check myself in to the area’s premier lodging accommodation: Matakauri Lodge , on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Just a seven minute drive from the centre of town, the lodge is close enough for convenience but far enough to feel a world away from reality. So if you’re looking for an unforgettable, unique experience in Queenstown, here’s more about my stay at the luxurious but low-key lodge known as Matakauri! Checking In: Matakauri Lodge If a picture tells a thousand words, then stepping in to this real life fairytale is surely a book waiting to be written. The rooms at Matakauri lodge give you that unique New Zealand experience you’ve always dreamed of, with all the comforts of home and then some. Furnishings are warm and inviting, giving you that instant homely feel as soon as you walk in the door. Around the lodge you can enjoy all the usu...

After a crazy three months in Australia and New Zealand, this month was all about slowing down, taking it easy and catching up on work. And yet, having said that, the start of the month included one of my most stressful travel moments… Oh, you know, that time when I realised I’d forgotten to apply for an Australian visa 12 hours before I was due to fly to Melbourne? When I hadn’t bothered to do any research because the thought hadn’t crossed my mind that I’d possibly even need to apply for a new visa? When I suddenly went into a panic 12 hours before the flight when I checked on the Australian immigration website and realised that I’d need to apply for a new one and that the site was about to go into scheduled maintenance? Yep. An Australian visa is valid for six months so I’d assumed I’d be fine — I’d spent a month in Australia before coming to New Zealand and my New Zealand trip was for two months. There would be plenty o...

For a long time, it was only possible to visit J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Middle-Earth through imagination. Traveling to the Shire and Rivendell and the realm of Gondor was only possible if you closed your eyes and let your mind wander as you read The Lord of the Rings . But then Peter Jackson filmed his trilogy and transformed New Zealand into Middle-Earth. Even though Tolkien created the legends and histories (and languages) of Middle-Earth to serve as the mythology that he felt England was missing, it only takes a few days in New Zealand to second-guess the good professor. Because New Zealand pretty much IS Middle-Earth , brought to life straight off the page. And, the good news for LOTR fans is that many iconic places from Tolkien's stories can be visited for real in New Zealand. Here are five Middle-Earth locations you can visit “for real”: Hobbiton The most recognizable location is Hobbiton — the movie set in Matamata in New...

Have you ever been up close and personal with a seal or sea lion? If you ask me, they are at the same time adorable and slightly terrifying. They are big and bulky and walk funny on land, and yet they are sleek and fast and graceful in the water. In the past, I've been perfectly content to watch them from afar — to look down on seal colonies from a safe vantage point, or to watch them glide through the water from safely inside a boat. But that all changed on my most recent trip to New Zealand. My first up-close encounter came just north of Kaikoura at Ohau Stream. Here, a 10-minute walk through a forest leads you to a small waterfall. From May to October, hundreds of fur seal pups hang out here, splashing and playing in the waterfall and learning to swim while their mothers hunt and bring them food. Once they get bigger, they swim down the river and out to sea. Since I was there in November, the waterfall was no longer teeming with baby seals — but there were still a fe...

QUEENSTOWN HOSTELS:  Best Overall  |  Best for Solo Travelers  |  Best Cheap Hostel  |  Best Party Hostel Interested? PIN NOW, read later! Although it is New Zealand’s 27th largest city, Queenstown’s action-packed reputation has made a name for itself as one of the country’s premier travel destinations. But as popular as Queenstown is, there are only a handful of well-reviewed hostels, and they can get booked very quickly, leaving other travelers having to book expensive hotels. Which is exactly why we put together this guide of the best hostels in Queenstown, New Zealand.  With the help of this brutally honest review, you’ll know exactly which hostel in Queenstown you want to stay in, so you can book (before it fills up!) Our guides are written for travelers, by travelers, so you know they are authentic, and written to get you exactly where you need to go. We’ve organized the best hostels in Queenstown by YOUR needs, so you can easily book, and fo...