Topkapi Turkish Restaurant - family-friendly dining in Christchurch, New ZealandWe’d been at a Tweetup with fellow travel bloggers and suddenly realized it was quite late for dinner.  Topkapi Turkish Restaurant’s fast service soon had us tucking into some great food.  They’v

Zorbing in Rotorua At the mention of New Zealand, a lot of people think about all the thrill sports that New Zealanders all seem to be so obsessed with.  Bungy jumping (in many different forms), canyoning, heli-skiing, hanggliding, skydiving, etc.  are found all over both is

One of the Maori actors, with painted on tattoosThere are several choices for Hangi feasts and Maori cultural performances in Rotorua, Maori Opening Ceremonies at Tamaki Village - cick for video!and it seems to have become quite a booming business, as one of the “must-do” things in Ro

The Shweeb track in Rotorua Another one of the ‘tamer’ activities we chose to do in Rotorua was shweebing.  This was another activity we found not involving throwing yourself off a bridge attached by a rope.  This is offered by Agroventures, an adventure park just outside Ro

View from the Lomond Lodge Lodging in Queenstown is apparently often difficult, with hotels filling up weeks in advance, even off-peak. We had reserved the Lomond Lodge before we Room at the Lomond Lodgearrived in New Zealand.…

Outside view of our room in the Matai Lodge at Top 10 Holiday Park Te Anau There are Top 10 Holiday Parks all over New Zealand, and we really weren’t sure what it was all about.…

Dirty room at Chateau Franz  We stayed at the Chateau Franz Backpackers hostel for a couple of nights in Franz Josef. This hostel was by far the worst accommodation we stayed at in New Zealand.…

View from our oceanfront room at the Purple CowWe stayed at The Wanaka Purple Cow YHA Hostel which was in stark contrast to the terrible hostel we had stayed at in Franz Josef.…

Front of the hotel - there's no sign that says it's the Novotel! We got a great rate at the recently opened Novotel in Christchurch’s Cathedral Square (90 USD per night booked through Expedia).…

171 On High hotel    This hotel was a bit of a splurge for us, at $110 USD per night. We called around a lot of the cheaper options, and many of them either didn’t have a private room, or did not allow children in the rooms.…