Billy Connolly in New Zealand

Filming magnificent sperm whales, having a cup of tea on a back road to no-where, eating shellfish plucked from the sand with local Maori… These are just some of the memories Billy Connolly has of his unique tour of New Zealand for the fourth Billy Connolly World Tour television series. Guess what? You can have the very same experience.

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Want to tour like comedian Billy Connolly?

Off the Beaten Track

Wild black sand beaches are a soulful stopover on the road to New Plymouth.

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Following Billy Connolly’s lead in the way he explores real New Zealand is highly recommended - even when he veers off-course.

Riding his motor-trike on a muddy back road to nowhere across the western hump of the North Island, Connolly went missing in action. When his convoy eventually found him, he was parked on the side of the old pig hunting route to Whangamomona, sitting amongst the lush native flora and happily strumming his banjo.


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He was quite comfortable - Connolly is at home in New Zealand, not least because his wife, Pamela Stephenson, is a Kiwi. Having visited New Zealand 16 times in 22 years, Connolly has seen more of the country than most New Zealanders. But this World Tour of New Zealand took him even further into the heartland, and into the hearts and homes of the people who make the country exceptional.

During eight weeks on the road, Connolly traversed 8,500km - a lot of ground in a country that measures only 1600km in length. In true lively Connolly style, the tour was far from your text-book guide-book holiday.

Adventure and Culture

About to capture local shellfish - click for more.

Capturing Ninety Mile Beach on film

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Sure, he threw his sixty-something body into some of the thrills that have stamped this country as the world's adventure capital. He took a dive from New Zealand's tallest building, Auckland's Sky Tower. (Naturally, he was wearing a full body harness attached to a wire cable at the time.) Of course he did the must-do drive by of landmarks like Wellington's political hub, the Beehive, and hopped between bubbling mud pools in the geothermal wonderland of Rotorua.

But he also drove his trike off the beaten track to commune with the awe-inspiring natural wonders of the land while sipping numerous cups of tea from his thermos flask - and experienced the rich Maoritanga (culture) of Maori people.

New Zealanders, it seemed, appreciated Connolly's honest interest in them, and in turn he received a feast of Kiwis' famous hospitality. At the end of a day's filming on Stewart Island, an unspoilt little paradise off the southernmost tip of the South Island, he and the crew were treated to a traditional spread by the locals - crayfish, smoked salmon, muttonbird and even the most celebrated local delicacy, Bluff oysters.

At the northern tip of the North Island, he roared down a motorway of sand on Ninety Mile Beach, the spectacular stretch of beach and dunes that leads to Cape Reinga. At the end of the beach, at Waipapakauri, he dug toheroa - a shellfish delicacy - with local Maori.

Nature and Wildlife


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Connolly was determined not to miss anything in the unique Kiwi experience - even if it meant going to extraordinary lengths to capture it. Wanting to film the giant sperm whales at Kaikoura, on the east coast of the South Island, he returned three times until he was rewarded with the perfect day to witness the magnificence of these ocean kings.

Such adventures are not just for celebrities like Billy Connolly. Anyone can experience the authentic nature of New Zealand – it just takes a wide-open attitude, and perhaps a thermos of tea.

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