Nature / Sustainable Tourism

A new four-day walking track through the Waitakere Ranges west of Auckland has been named after one of New Zealand’s greatest adventurers, Sir Edmund Hillary.

The Himatangi sand dunes were once an important gathering place for Maori who regularly visited the area to fish and collect shellfish. The middens (piles of shells) they left behind provide a fascinating record of what the area used to look like.

Unique New Zealand native plants and trees: coprosma, kauri, kowhai, kowharawhara, lancewood, nikau, rata, rimu, totara.

Skies above New Zealand will sparkle with extra significance in 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy sees some major initiatives in 'astro tourism'.

Imagine hiking for six days, never seeing another soul and not even stepping out of a national park - that's Kahurangi National Park.

Kiwi grit and determination, and a hefty chunk of local pride are behind New Zealand’s newest outdoor experience – a new walking network in the Kahurangi National Park, in the northwest South Island.

It’s the buzz word of the New Zealand tourism industry but what is kaitiakitanga? If you don’t know then tread carefully because it could hold the key to the future of the world.

Kapiti Island is home to an internationally famed nature reserve protecting some of the world’s rarest and most endangered birds.

Lake Waikaremoana is famous for its fresh water trout fishing and hunting, and as home to one of New Zealand’s top 10 walks.

Getting back to nature doesn’t mean roughing it in a tent. Many New Zealand wilderness lodges are at the forefront of eco-tourism.