Release of newest edition of Lonely Planet New Zealand

"The world's biggest film set is also the world's must-visit destination for the umpteenth year in a row," gushes the introduction. "No wonder the locals are smiling. They've long known they live in paradise and now everyone else does too." So begins the 13th edition of Lonely Planet New Zealand. The result of 5 writers on the road for 26 weeks, it offers a sometimes harsh but fair judging of all that New Zealand has to offer.

The authors praise New Zealand for it’s spectacular scenery, adrenalin pumping activities, music, wine and clean green image. The main cities fair well - Wellington is considered hip and energetic, Auckland cool, and Christchurch is seen as a thoroughly modern NZ city.

But some of the small towns are dismissed by the authors for being outdoor shopping malls (Cromwell), nondescript service hubs (Alexandra), fairly bleak (Ranfurly) and of little interest (Balclutha). Harsh judgements, I think, having visited many of the places myself. But it will give many of New Zealand’s small towns ‘food for thought’. If they are truly interested in attracting and then holding the attention of overseas visitors, they may need to work on and develop their appeal.

Lonely Planet guides have always been known for their honest appraisal of a place and this edition is no different. This honesty has only enhanced sales of its guidebook series. And the New Zealand editions are among Lonely Planet’s highest selling. It will be interesting to see if this edition maintains that honor.

New Zealand takes top billing

New Zealand is a star in Hollywood. Its spectacularly rugged and diverse scenery have provided the landscape for a number of Hollywood blockbuster. As a result, movie tourism has taken off in a big way. Following the release of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, numerous tour companies and guide books were created specifically to provide fans with access to LOTR location sites. But even before New Zealand became the new Middle Earth, movie tourism existed in New Zealand.
Among the main locations are:

The Piano:

Karekare Beach, Auckland
Lord of the Rings:

Matamata - Hobbiton

Rangitikei River - River Anduin

The Volcanic Plateau - Mordor

Wellington - The Shire, Moria and Bree

Hutt Valley - Isengard, Rivendell, Minas Tirith, Minas Morgul

and Helm's Deep

Nelson - Dimrill Dale

Takaka - Chetwood Forest

Canterbury - Plains of Rohan

Mackenzie Basin - Pelennor Fields

Queenstown - Lothlorien

Southern Alps - Misty Mountains

Milford Sound - Fangorn Forest
Perfect Strangers:

Punakaiki Rocks, West Coast South Island
Whale Rider:

Whangara, the tiny village on the NI east coast
The Last Samurai:

Taranaki
The Worlds Fastest Indian:

Oreti Beach in the southlands of New Zealand
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:

Flock Hill Station, near Oamaru
River Queen:

Whanganui River in Wanganui

Tourism New Zealand’s website provides more information on visiting the film
locations of Lord of the Rings, River Queen, The World's Fastest Indian, and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Lonely Planet’s Code Green mentions New Zealand….

Two New Zealand businesses, Whale Watch Kaikoura and Footprints Waipoua, have been included in Lonely Planet’s Code Green, a guide to responsible travel experiences.

Travel articles about New Zealand

For those who enjoy reading travel articles as much as I do, here’s a few new ones I found:

Sunday Star Times The untamed waters of Fiordland by Yvonne Martin
NZ Life & Lesiure Central Otago by Amy Kelly
Cuisine Magazine Gourmet Goldmine by Lauraine Jacob

World Bra chain record not broken

And the saga continues. Wanakafest 2006’s attempt to beat the world bra chain record has failed. They did finish up with 5 km of bras, which by any standard is a whole lot of bras. But they were way off the record, which stands at 95 km, achieved earlier this year by the women of Cyprus (they too were raising money for breast cancer awareness.

While not breaking any records, the bra chain provided much entertainment and raised over $10,000 for the Breast Cancer Research Trust.

Local newspaper articles:

Wanaka's world bra record falls well short
Bras end up being on small size
TVNZ video

Bra chain record bid set to fail

101 Must do’s for Kiwis

Just released by the NZ Automobile Association, this domestic tourism campaign aims to get more New Zealanders to stay home and travel their own country. Pick up a map at your local BP station and tick off your ‘have done’s’. An interactive campaign, the AA invites everyone to visit their site and vote on their top experiences. And for those who feel that something was missed out, you can submit your ‘102 must do’.

Earlier this month, another site ,Nzlive, was launched by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. It provides a one stop site shop for listing of all New Zealand cultural events, festivals, and activities.

The Christchurch Press article Explore Godzone: Just do it …

Krazy Kelvin’s Maori Blog

This looks like a promising site to learn more about Maori culture. Here’s a description of his blog

Haere Mai / Welcome, Even though I have maori blood in me, I am ashamed to say that I know very little about my maori background, so this is going to be a learning experience not only for me but for anyone who reads this blog. It is a culture within itself that is worth sharing - its people; its language; its food; its music & its heritage ! My thoughts & prayers are with you all. Arohanui ! Kakite !

Check it out at http://kknzmaoriblog.blogspot.com/

Looking for good coffee?

If you’re travelling to Christchurch or Wellington and looking for coffee, then check out the New Zealand Coffee Review. It has a collection of café reviews around the two cities (plus a few other places) that can give you idea of where to go. Don’t know who runs it, but you can write your own review if you want.

WOW !! Fashion on display.

The annual Montana World of Wearable Arts Awards Show are being held in Wellington from 21 September to 1 October. This is not to be missed, as innovative and creative New Zealand artists and designers defy gravity, logic and conservative thought to produce eye opening and mind boggling creations.

Meanwhile, up in Auckland, the annual Air New Zealand Fashion Week runs from 19 to 22 September. Featuring the collections of leading New Zealand designers, the show is held at Auckland’s Viaduct Marine Harbor Village.

Eccentric New Zealand - Tirau

This sleepy town at the intersection of SH5 and SH1 between Hamilton and Rotorua has reinvented itself into the ‘corrugated town’. Shops and cafes line both sides of the highway, with corrugated appendages and designs.

Four luxury New Zealand lodges named in Hideaway Report

Andrew Harper’s latest Hideaway Report named 4 NZ lodges in his list of the 20 top Hideaways of the world. They were:

Taupo’s Huka Lodge at #4
Glenorchy’s Blanket Bay at #6
Northland’s Kauri Cliffs at #10
Eichardt’s Private Hotel in Queenstown at #17

Demise of the Bra Fence

What was once a novelty is now causing controversy with the Wanaka Community Board decreeing that the bra fence must be no more. And so the bras must go. But rather than just being thrown away, all bras will be put to good use, as part of an attempt to make the ‘Longest Bra Chain in the world’ to raise money for breast cancer research. As part of WanakaFest 2006, the Breast Cancer Research Trust is calling on women to send in their bras (and a gold coin donation) to help collect the 115,000 bras needed to break the world record.

Where these bras will end up after the festival is up in the air. The ‘bra fence’ will be gone. But there is still the sheep fence surrounding the property….

Imagine New Zealand

Great images of the untouched areas of New Zealand can be found at blogger Rhys Postlewaights' site http://wildnz.blogspot.com/.

The Bra Fence

Most people come to New Zealand for the scenery, the wine, and the adrenalin pumping activities. But according to Edward Readicker-Henderson in his article ‘Uses for dirty Underwear’ (Perceptive Travel Magazine Sept 2006), the only thing he wanted to see was ’the bra fence’.

And he's not the only one. Apparently the Wanaka District authorites have had to spend thousands on road works to ensure the safety of passing motorists who stop to look and photograph this unique farm fence. To find out more about the 'bra fence' check out the Snow Farm website.

Want to spend the night in jail ?

Not something that appeals to most people, especially travellers. But if your visiting Christchurch, you might want to reconsider and check into the former Addington Prison. This 1876 prison has been been transformed into a new hotel called Jailhouse Accommodation.
The prison was closed in 1999 but a few of the cells have been left exactly as they were, complete with prison art on the walls, bunk beds and the basic steel toilet.
Located at 388 Lincoln Road, about 10 minutes from central city, the Jailhouse provides cheap, clean and safe accommodation.

May the art be with you

Turn heads and spark conversation wherever you travel around Australia ,New Zealand and Britain with a camper van rental from Wicked Campers or Escape Rentals. These uniquely painted campers, a movng collection of visual art and pop culture, are ideal for anyone looking for a unique travel experience with style and attitude. Whether you’re on a backpackers or flashpackers budget, these camper vans offer an entertaining alternative to run of the mill of car hire.

Searching for planets

Here’s an interesting fact. Approximately 150 extra-solar planets have been detected since 1995 and each one has involved New Zealand astronomers in the MOA (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) project. This project is based at Mt John Observatory at Lake Tekapo, three hours south of Christchurch.

Visitors to Tekapo can take a day or night tour of the facility through Earth and Sky Tours. Not only informative, the tours offer panoramic views of the Mackenzie Country. As the song goes, ‘on a clear day, you can see forever…'

Stonehenge, New Zealand

The world’s newest Stonehenge, opened in 2005, can be found in the Wairarapa hills of New Zealand. A full-scale adaptation of the original Salisbury Plains Stonehenge, it is located about an hours' drive from Wellington, the nation’s capital.

Stonehenge Aotearoa was built by the Phoenix Astronomical Society to help people rediscover the basics of astronomy. It is very much an interactive experience, with visitors allowed to stand amongst the pillars and learn about the stars in the sky.

This New Zealand henge incorporates Maori lore and marks the stars and constellations that Polynesian navigators followed on their voyages across the Pacific Ocean.

Eight things you need to know about Gore…

1. Location - 2 hours drive from Queenstown, Gore appears to be a sleepy country town of 9,500.
2. Annual Country Music Festival and Gold Guitar Awards every June.
3. Gore Historical Musuem features Gore’s colourful heritage, both Maori and European.
4. ‘Old Hokonui‘ whiskey and illicit stills, the result of 51 years of localised prohibition, has a legal home at the Hokonui Moonshine Musuem. The annual Moonshine Festival is held every February.
5. Art and Culture live at the Eastern Southland Art Gallery. Featuring a diverse collection of primarily New Zealand and Australian works such as Ralph Hotere and Hone Tuwhare, the gallery attracts thousands of art lovers from around New Zealand and the world.
6. Mandeville Airport, oldest in New Zealand, is home to The Croydon Aircraft company who restore classic 1930s aircraft.
7. The Annual Hokonui Fashion Design Awards, every July, feature up and coming designers.
8. The Matuara River attracts international anglers wanting to try out one of the world’s best brown trout fishing rivers.

48 hours: Furious Film Contest

New Zealand’s largest film-making competition is running this weekend. Now in its fifth year, this competition attracts people from all over New Zealand. Teams don’t know until the last minute what their film genre will be. They then have to write, produce, and edit a short film (3 to 7 minutes long) within the 48 hour timeframe. Check out the 2005 winning films at 48 hours. And look out for the 2006 live Grand Final 23rd June on C4 TV.