New Zealand Blog - life and travel in New Zealand

Come & Meet Us at the British Birdwatching Fair!

Come and meet us at the world's largest international bird watching event where our New Zealand and Australia Specialists, Lindi and Liz, will be on hand to discuss our range of fantastic birding and wildlife holidays in New Zealand, Australia and beyond.

The Birdwatching Fair is a three day event and has been described as the ‘birdwatcher’s Glastonbury’! Offering visitors a programme packed with everything from bird shows to interactive workshops, a charity auction to a variety of shopping opportunities, selling everything from sculptures to binoculars. Take time to also enjoy the various lectures throughout the show and leave feeling inspired ready to explore the world's incredible wildlife.

Visit us in Marquee 4. We’ll be on the Australian Birdwatching stand (no. 41,42) as well as the Heritage Expeditions and Wild Earth stand (no. 43,44) where you can talk to us about New Zealand wildlife holidays as well as expedition voyages to Antarctica and beyond.

20 - 22 August 2010
At Egleton Nature Reserve
Rutland Water, Oakham, Rutland
See it on the map here»

Find out more and purchase your tickets at www.birdfair.org.uk »

New Zealand Wildlife Holidays »
Australia Wildlife Holidays »
Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Expedition Voyages »

Posted on August 11, 2010 in Kiwi , Nature , Travel , Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | E-mail this

New Zealand Cycle Trail

Back in the heady days of early summer, 20 June to be precise, several members of our team here at DTW (me included) joined 27,000 other participants in the annual London to Brighton bike ride in support of the British Heart Foundation. Months, or in some cases simply minutes, of dedicated training culminated in a jovial posse of lycra clad 'athletes' setting off through the streets of South London en route to the seaside, some 54 miles away.

It really was a great day and quite apart from raising lots of money for charity it turns out that cycling is the new passion for many of us in Arctic House (though not actually in the office of course). So, it's a good thing that the NZ Cycle Trail has just got underway.

As Team DTW look for our next challenge could the proposed cycling network across New Zealand be the answer?

The initial sections opened last month on the the North Island forming part of the Ruapehu to Whanganui trail and with the full project intending to link existing 'great rides' throughout the country in a continuous 3,000 km route by the end of 2011, I think we'd best get training.

But you don't have to wait for the trail to be completed to experience the joys of the Kiwi landscape on two wheels. You can hire bikes all over New Zealand and in particular, pedal power makes an excellent way to negiotiate the wine regions of Hawkes Bay and Marlborough. For those interested in a more inclusive cycling holiday complete with guides and fellow participants, check out our West Coast Glaciers itinerary.

Posted on August 9, 2010 in activity , Current Affairs , Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | E-mail this

The Return of the Tuatara…

Another blog from Holly, one of our New Zealand travel specialists

While the thought of the return of an exotic reptile may engender panicked thoughts of Godzilla, fleeing citizens and destroyed cities, the species in question today is much less stroboscopic in its movement and more inclined to making a burrow for itself or just kick back and sunbathe. No, they are not chilled out college students either, but rather New Zealand's best and most elusive offer in connecting the modern world to our reptilian past - the dinosaurs. Commonly referred to as 'living fossils' these lizard like creatures are approximately 30 inches in length and though they bear resemblance to lizards, actually belong to a species category all of their own: the Tuatara.

Like much of New Zealand's animal kingdom, such as the Kiwi Bird, the Kea and the Weta, they are unique to the small Polynesian country and were actually extinct on the mainland North and South Islands until recently, when in 2005, a small population was released into the Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary. 5 years later and much to the delight of the sanctuary staff, a hatchling was sighted in the park, indicating that at least two of their reptilian wards were breeding. So what, I hear you ask? Well, consider that Tuataras are the slowest breeding reptile in the world, taking as long as 2 to 5 years to complete a reproductive cycle; a fact (combined with the introduction of colonial predators) that lodged them securely on the Endangered Species list way back in 1895. This recent discovery of youth on mainland New Zealand is only the second sighting of an infant Tuatara in over 200 years! A little more exciting now eh?

Of course Zealandia is not the only menagerie to hold Tuatara, although it is the landscape most akin to what the Tuatara would have known as home before they were made extinct. The reserve stretches across 225 hectares of wood and wetland area and houses hundreds of New Zealand's endemic flora and fauna living wild, in a mission to reverse the 700 year sequence of decline and extinction New Zealand has suffered, compounded by the introduction of western predators heralded with the arrival of the Pakeha (the white-man) 200 years ago. The Southland Museum and Art Gallery of Invercargill has developed a Tuatara breeding program itself and recently enjoyed success with the birth of a baby in 2009, while the Wellington Zoo and Hamilton Zoo also endeavour to continue the new flourish of Tuatara life with their own conservation and breeding efforts. With a bit of luck, the tide of baby Tuataras will soon swell and we may just see a near return to the Jurassic on New Zealand!

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