Extreme Wine Tasting, New Zealand Style

new zealand wine tasting

Last Updated on November 12, 2022 by Audrey Scott

This is our on-the-ground introduction to the New Zealand wine scene, focused on the South Island regions of Marlborough, Central Otago, and Nelson. It includes recommended wineries, a wine cottage experience for the romance bucket list, and an insight into how wine tasting in New Zealand can be more frightening than jumping off a bridge.

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New Zealand North Island: Don’t Sell It Short

Last Updated on June 20, 2020 by Audrey Scott

"Get amongst it!" - Audrey grabs a bit of junglelicious New Zealand rainforest
The New Zealand advice mantra of choice: “Get amongst it!”

This is a story about living in someone else's shadow. It's also the beginning of our answer to the question: New Zealand, North Island or South Island?

Imagine a geeky younger boy who grows up in the shadow of his brother, the all-star. The big brother gets all the attention, all the fame. But it's the younger brother with whom you develop a special relationship, who was allowed to surprise you because you spent some time with him.

This is our relationship with New Zealand's North Island. It lives in the travel shadow of its South Island brother. Sure, the South Island is spectacular (yes, we'll get to that), but it's on the North Island that our New Zealand love affair began.

While most may steer you directly to the South Island when asked about New Zealand travel, we take a different approach. Visit both. Really. You can thank us later.

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Hiking Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand

Hiking at Franz Josef Glacier on the South Island of New Zealand

Last Updated on July 23, 2017 by Audrey Scott

One minute, you're in the center of the town of Franz Josef, a cafe on one side of you, a pizzeria on the other. Then, within minutes, you are transported to another world. Your helicopter pops up into the air, through jagged mountain crags, just before dropping you into the heart of a glacier, an otherworldly ice field of turquoise blues and glowing whites.

This was Franz Josef Glacier.

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A Tandem Bungy Jump on Valentine’s Day [VIDEO]

Last Updated on April 21, 2018 by

Tandem Bungy Jump on Valentine's Day – Kawarau Bridge near Queenstown
Tandem Bungy Jump on Valentine's Day – Kawarau Bridge near Queenstown

I am starting to wonder about you guys. every time you celebrate your ‘love' (V-day, anniversary) you jump off something very high. Please explain.

A good friend responds to our Valentine’s Day bungy jump, capturing a little problem we seem to have.

So there we were in New Zealand, Valentine’s Day approaching. We find ourselves in Queenstown, the so-called adventure capital of the world where just about any adrenaline-pumping, blood-draining exercise can be found. So we think: What sort of shared experience, that we haven’t done before, can we do together to celebrate Valentine's Day?

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Pursue the Precious: A Maori Blessing

Last Updated on December 17, 2019 by Audrey Scott

Sometimes in life, we find ourselves fortunate enough to be surrounded by so much beauty that we can feel a bit like we are drowning. In these moments, we need a dose of wisdom, an aid in context that allows us to grasp it all at once, to properly honor it, to put it into perspective.

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Next Up: New Zealand, When I Close My Eyes

Last Updated on November 2, 2017 by Audrey Scott

New Zealand at it's Best!
This is a story about faraway places and our relationship to the somewheres we dream of visiting. It's also about the fact that we fly to New Zealand next Monday.

Some places on our planet seem to lend themselves to the imagination, that is to the image of the mind, to putting eyes closed and attempting to place yourself somewhere you’ve never been. Think about it: there are endless beautiful places on Earth that evince all manner of beauty, but among them, there are a few special places whose reputation so precedes them.

One of those places: New Zealand.

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