Travel off the beaten track and experience

New Zealand is one of those places that leaves you speechless, not just certain parts but quite literally the whole country casts a spell on you. It’s a haven for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts, with so many breathtaking sights it’s difficult not to fall in love with New Zealand. Despite being small, (compared to its neighbour Australia) it’s incredibly diverse and many of the most beautiful Instagrammable places in New Zealand are easy to access. It really is an Instagrammers dream. Here is our guide to the most Instagrammable place in New Zealand, starting in the North near Auckland, and working your way down to Queenstown area. Nearly all of these places are easy to get too in regards to walking/hiking, although some we’ve added in for a little extra fun to get too! How many can you tick off? North Island: Most Instagrammable Places in New Zealand Tongariro Alpine Crossing We are diving straight in the deep end! The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is known as...

Last week, I read a post over on Finding the Universe about the myth that explains how the volcanoes on New Zealand's North Island were formed. I love these sorts of stories. The Maori people have all sorts of myths and legends for how things in New Zealand came to be. They even have one for the country itself, in which a demi-god named Maui hooked the North Island and fished it up out of the sea. One of my favorite Maori myths, however, is a lesser-known one: the legend of Lake Wakatipu . Lake Wakatipu is a deep, S-shaped lake on New Zealand's South Island. The popular resort town of Queenstown sits right on its shores, and it's flanked by the aptly-named Remarkables mountain range. The lake was, in reality, formed by glaciers cutting through the Southern Alps 15,000 years ago. But I like the Maori legend of the lake much better. At the heart of the legend is Manata, the beautiful daughter of a local Maori chief, who was forbidden to marry Matakauri, the man she ...

When it comes to must-dos on New Zealand's South Island, there's one question that many travelers inevitably ask: Should I go to Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound? Both are fjords (not actually sounds; they were misnamed) on the southeast coast of New Zealand's South Island within Fiordland National Park. Milford Sound is the more famous of the two (Rudyard Kipling once called it the eighth Wonder of the World), but Doubtful Sound is also marketed to tourists. Cruising Milford Sound The good news for the decisionally-challenged (like me) is that these are really the only two fjords you can visit and cruise through in New Zealand. The bad news is that choosing between Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound can be really difficult! Milford Sound vs Doubtful Sound In order to help you decide which New Zealand fjord experience is right for you, I've put together this “smackdown” that compares the two. Accessibility Neither Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound are particularly ...

Recently I’ve been adding some posts from our earlier trips to New Zealand. So far I have covered off on our road trip to Wanaka from Christchurch, our road trip from Wanaka to Queenstown and Milford Sound with kids. We decided that we wanted to do something considered a little extreme while in the extreme capital of the world, the Shotover Jet was a far as I would go!