Bloomin' Spring

As fine weather in the last few days has really brought out the colours of Autumn in the UK, over on the other side of the world, there's a different sort of awakening. Spring is in the air, which is bloomin' marvellous for gardeners!

Indeed, October in NZ is festival time with rhodies taking centre stage in not one, but two, dedicated festivals happening at opposite ends of the country (creative geography rules).

October 25-28 sees the Dunedin Rhododendron Festival return for its 24th year, while one day later Western North Island launches the 20th annual Taranaki Rhododendron & Garden Festival running from 26 Oct to 4 Nov.

The former celebrates the gardens of Otago, both private and public, focusing on glorious rhododendrons. Garden tours, open gardens, cooking demonstrations, a golf tournament and painting classes amongst other activities aim to give the event wider appeal to more than gardeners. There is even a elaborate Masquerade Ball held at Larnach Castle.

Meanwhile, back on North Island, Taranaki brings out the big guns with 16 of the festival's 49 featured gardens being of National or Regional Significance (the highest number of any region in the country).

Gardens in bloom are a great reason to visit NZ in the Spring and we can put together a tailor-made self drive holiday focusing on NZ's lovely gardens for the really green-fingered among you. So you’ll be able to see all of the country’s stunning highlights with a floral accompaniment.

Mt Ruapehu

Well, it's been going off in New Zealand this week and we haven't even reached the conclusion of RWC yet! I talk of course of Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand's most active volcano and part of the trio of volanoes in Tongariro National Park. The eruption lasted for seven minutes and was not anticipated by the experts, the volcano having given no warning signs.

One of NZ's most popular ski area, in the summer Tongariro NP provides the setting for some of the country's great walks including the famed one-day Tongariro Crossing.

As Lindi, our NZ product manager commented, "I did the walk in the summer and was astonished at the colours and textures of the landscape dominated by the volcanic peaks. Definately a trek to recommend".

There is something rather fascinating about volcanoes and the raw power of nature they represent. Indeed as part of our Iceland programme we feature a Volcano Hotline, whereby in the event of a volcanic eruption we'll arrange short notice trips to get clients over to Iceland to witness the activity at close hand. Logistics may prove a little difficult for us to offer a similar service in New Zealand!

Summer Sails

The 32^nd America’s Cup is now in full swing. This is the world’s premier sailing competition and while I can honestly say that I really haven’t got a clue how it all works, I do know that it is of considerable importance to our Kiwi friends and as such find it all rather compelling.

Sailing is a clearly a passion for New Zealanders, especially on the North Island. After all it’s not for nothing that Auckland is referred to as the ‘City of Sails’ and regardless of whether or not you’re a ‘yachtie’ yourself, in my opinion this passion is one of the city’s great plusses. The Viaduct Harbour, which was revamped when Auckland last hosted the America’s Cup in 2003 is a great asset to the city and is the perfect waterside location to enjoy café culture or indulge in some fine dining.

From an activity standpoint, sailing takes centre stage with the Sail NZL40, which provides a unique opportunity to crew an America’s Cup grand prix racer. No previous experience is required but your participation is encouraged. There are many other ways to take to the water in Auckland including a Harbour Lunch Cruise, but for pure thrills the NZL40 is hard to beat.

• Departing daily Sail NZL40 costs from £46 per person and lasts 2 hours.
• Auckland Harbour Lunch Cruise is 1.5 hours and costs from £23 per person including a packed lunch.

Meanwhile, back to the current competition, the series is tied. Come on Team New Zealand!

Winter Wonderland

Winter really kicks off in New Zealand next week with the start of the 33rd Lindauer Queenstown Winter Festival, (22 June – 1 July) which “is one of the largest such festivals in the world and in recent years has become known as ‘The Southern Hemisphere’s Ultimate Winter Party””. Now I like the sound of that!

In true kiwi style this is an all out extravaganza celebrating Queenstown and the winter season with more than 60 free and ticketed events being held over 10 days. Starting with the Lindauer (there’s that nice word again!) Party in the Park – music, food and fireworks – my pick of some of the other events include: Frisbee Golf Winter Doubles Tournament, the American Express Comedy Debate, which “brings together some of the biggest names in New Zealand entertainment to argue if Queenstown is more Auckland than Auckland”, Speights Dog Derby involving standard downhill racing followed by a bark-off and Coronet Peak Night Skiing, which doesn’t involve any silliness whatsoever… yeah right!

The theme of this year’s festival is ‘BIG’ and promises “…to rock New Zealand’s favourite party town from June 22 to July 1 with the biggest and best winter celebration there is”. I’m packing as I type…

Flight Fright Fascination

Growing up in the South Island of New Zealand is different to anywhere else in the world. In order to see other parts of my country, such as the North Island, I have to take the ferry across sea or fly. New Zealand has one airline, Air New Zealand, yes how original, who dominate the Pacific skies along side the odd Qantas plane or two. So after only flying Air New Zealand (ANZ) all my life, its only natural that i feel safest and most at ease with this airline. Yet somehow i managed to develop this ridiculously minor fear of flying. Upon take-off i have to squeeze my eyes tight shut and draw my legs up to my chest, so that i can't feel any engine failure vibrations through the floor of the plane (duh). I then push my earlobes inside my ear, attempting to block out any freaky rushing plane sounds and picture myself lying on a calm tropical beach, with my feet safely digging into the sand. I recently learned it is best not to crush the hand of the person sitting next to me as it may result in further discomfort on my behalf. Surprisingly though, i love landing and find it hilarious when my plane bounces or skids upon contact with the ground at eye-watering speeds. I believe this unnatural joy has to do with the concept of arrival and the desired action of getting off the plane.

Yet this small issue with flying has not managed to tame my wild passion for travel and new adventures, as i seem to forget i am 30 000ft. above sweet stable ground once we are airborne. I get distracted by the large variety of up-to-date movies and that delicious airplane food we all know and love. The drive of the destination fuels me, keeps me coming back for more personal torment in order to sample the flavour of every culture our world offers.

Air New Zealand fly daily from London Heathrow and have recently opened up new routings to Auckland via Hong Kong or Shanghai. Other popular stopover options include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Fiji, Rarotonga in the Cook Islands way out in the middle of the no where, Osaka and Tokyo, along with many more code shares and connecting airlines within the Star Alliance. The airline also offer Economy, Premium Economy and Business class airfares with the most comfortable seat pitch and that friendly Kiwi service with a smile.

New Zealand Christmas Tree

Ahhh, now is about that time when you are starting to think about kai for the Christmas barbie, pulling out your speedos again and dusting off the decorations to embellish the Pohutukawa tree. No, we don't really decorate the Pohutukawa tree but December is its time of year to flourish. The stunning blood red colour of its flower gives the Pohutukawa its unique beauty during this festive season.

The first settlers used pohutukawa blossom to decorate their new homes at Christmas time, think of it as New Zealand's rip off to holly. The settlers were the first to give the shrub its name of Christmas tree, but the name 'Pohutukawa' (Po-hootah-car-wah) is the Maori name meaning 'drenched with mist' or 'splashed with sea spray'. The leaves, bark, nectar and honey from this New Zealand native were also used by the indigenous Maori for many medicinal purposes, back in the day. Nowadays you can just get your fix at Amcal.

The trees are amazingly adaptable and can tolerate extreme coastal conditions, much like the common New Zealander really. They can be found congregating on beaches and coastline in the North Island of Aotearoa, much like the enthusiastic tourist.

However, our tree is in danger of being eaten. The possum, introduced from Australia, has damaged the Pohutukawa population, but the Kiwis have, of course, taken action. Project Crimson is the charitable trust which has been set up to protect the endangered species, along with its cousin the Rata. The funded conservation project encourages the growth and plantation of these trees throughout the nation, and plants up to 30 000 trees a year! There will be a tree for every sheep in no time!