Free Travel Newsletter : December 2015

Written by Steph Kendall

Brought to you by New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz.

Lucky Subscriber

Congratulations to Jess Edelen, this month's lucky Free Travel Newsletter subscriber, winning a "Kiwi Country New Zealand" DVD.

Countdown to a fantastic New Year! We've picked out some of the best and most brilliant festivals packed full of colour, family fun and entertainment; one of our most beautiful one day hikes; and for those who love living life in the fast lane, the most thrilling adventure activities the country has to offer.

Psychedelic Wonderland

Location: South Head, Auckland
Date: 28 December - 2 January

Billed as an adventure of love, sharing, music, art, colour, technical wizardry, imagination, laughter and joy, this is a New Year's camping festival at Twisted Wonderland outside Auckland. Suitable for everyone, although under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.

Entertainment includes: Psytrance, Progressive, Techno, House, Dub, Ambient, Dnb, Live Music, Solo Artists; a Mad Hatters tea party, 35+hour Alice in Wonderland themed production of light and sound for New Year's Eve with an incredible line-up of international and local DJs and live acts; fully supplied art zone, workshops, healing, dress ups, performers,

Visit the Psychedelic Wonderland website for more information.

Spencer Park Gala and Market

Location: Spencer Park, Christchurch
Date: 1 - 2 January

A free event for all the family with over 60 market stalls, live entertainment, food stalls, giant slide, rides, chocolate wheel and side shows.

Adjacent attractions include lagoon/wetlands, animal and birdpark, mountain biking and walking in Bottle Lake plantation, BBQs, mini-golf, tennis, beach volleyball, new state-of-the-art playground, toddlers' pool, Adrenalin Forest and four permanent orienteering courses.

For grotto opening dates and times, please visit the Auckland Zoo website.

World Buskers' Festival

Location: Christchurch
Date: 14 - 24 January

The first buskers festival was staged in 1994, and 22 years on, 65 amazing street performers, comedians, fringe artists, musicians and visual artists descend once again on Christchurch city to mesmerize and entertain you with street performances, fantastic indoor shows, kids pitch and comedy club.

Come and enjoy highly skilled acrobatics, hoola-hoopers, trapeze artists, musicians, dancers, circus and vaudeville skits, burlesque or a good belly laugh. It's one of the most enjoyable festivals in the country!

See more about the performers and program at the World Buskers' Festival website.

Go See... Emerald Lakes, Tongariro National Park

The Emerald Lakes consist of three water-filled explosion craters and are, as their name suggests, brilliant green in colour due to the minerals leaching into the water from the surrounding thermal area.

To reach the Emerald Lakes, you have a challenging journey across an amazing landscape - it's often described as New Zealand's greatest one day walks, you will walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It is seven to eight hours walking from one end to the other, 19.4km in total.

Fit and enthusiastic walkers can also make return side trips up Mount Ngauruhoe, whilst others may be content to climb from the valley to the Mangatepopo Saddle to enjoy the panoramic view which on a clear day can reach as far as Mount Taranaki. As you walk, you will perhaps smell sulphur - a reminder that Red Crater, the highest point of the crossing is still active. This is an unmissable one day experience for all keen hikers and walkers. Follow local advice from Department of Conservation on weather, gear and timings - transport can be arranged in Taupo.

Where to go: Tongariro National Park
How to get there: All year round, but summer months are best (December - February)

View more about the Tongariro National Park.

10 Top NZ Experiences for Extreme Sports Fans

Most, if not all, of New Zealand's popular tourist destinations and experiences are age-friendly and suit all ages. However, we've picked out a few special experiences that we believe Extreme Sports Fans travelling on a cruise/tour package or independently would really enjoy. (We've left out adrenalin-charged activities such as bungy jumping, but of course age is no barrier. The oldest recorded bungy jumper was 96 years old at the time of her jump).

Bungy jumping in New Zealand has to be at the top of any thrill-seeker's list of things to do during their travels. Bungy jumping is all about leaping from high places whilst secured by your ankles - sounds mad, but it's quite true and you can bungy jump from bridges, viaducts, platforms and stadium roofs. Bungy alone, bungy in tandem, bungy into water - this is probably the most thrilling way to spend 8 seconds of your life, ever. See where to bungy jump in New Zealand.
Canyon swinging... yes, that's swinging not singing. The experience is akin to being on the most extreme flying fox in the world. Imagine being launched from a ledge 175 metres above a river canyon before racing down a kilometre long zip-line at speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour - it may just take your breath away! Popular canyon swings can be found on the North and South Islands at Taihape and Queenstown respectively.
Skywire - there can be, and is, only one of its kind in New Zealand. Designed with characteristic Kiwi ingenuity, Skywire in Nelson (South Island) is a combi flying fox/chairlift adventure attraction, which helps you soar like a bird - a bird which can hit speeds of 100km/h that is. A great option for adrenalin seekers not quite prepared to leap off a high ledge!
Skydiving - What's better than going up in a plane to view New Zealand's beautiful countryside? Coming down without it of course! Skydiving is one of the most exhilarating, adrenaline-pumping thrills available on the planet - you jump from a plane and for the first 30 seconds of your sky dive, you free fall at around 200 km/h. One major adrenalin rush - available at skydiving locations throughout New Zealand!
New Zealand's white water rafting rivers can offer sight-seeing paddlers Grade 1 tranquillity, but for adrenalin junkies, a Grade 5 river offers an extreme sport experience for a couple of hours or a multi-day trip. Qualified rafting guides comply with established safety codes, but Grade 5 (Class 5) rafting is not for the faint-hearted - a good level of fitness, sense of adventure and acceptance of personal risk is required. Find out more about your rafting options in New Zealand.
If you see a challenge in every rock face, then you may enjoy abseiling in New Zealand. Abseiling is a controlled free-fall where you scale down the side of a near vertical face, and New Zealand's terrain provides a wealth of abseiling opportunities. At Waitomo (the longest abseil in New Zealand), in the central North Island, you can abseil into the spectacular canyons of the Haggis Honking Holes, plunging down water chutes and waterfalls to swim, slide and float through a wonderland of sculptured rock and thundering cascades.
Jetboating celebrates the ingenuity of a Kiwi inventor, Bill Hamilton who first invented the jet boat to navigate the shallow rivers of Canterbury. It wasn't long before its potential as an adrenalin-filled adventure activity was realized. A typical commercial tourist jet boat ride in New Zealand means powering through narrow river gorges and experiencing passenger-drenching 360 degree spins.
Kart racing isn't just for the kids, although they'll love it too. It's a great way for any speed junkie to get on the track and go for gold - Top Le Mans endurance race drivers from New Zealand started their careers in karts. Choose from indoor, dirt and outdoor kart racing or, for an extreme adrenaline rush, try racing a Formula Challenge V8 or single seater race car…
Just when you think we've run out of adrenalin options, we give you skyjumping! In New Zealand, skyjumping is a take on bungy jumping where jumpers, attached to a harness and cable, jump from the Auckland Skytower head first. If you're really into heart stopping experiences, go and chuck on your 'flying suit' and fall towards the earth in - we should definitely add - a controlled 11 second fall from 192 metres up at around 85 km per hour in a horizontal starfish position to land smoothly on your feet. Major buzz rating.
Coming in at number 10, is the uniquely crazy craze of zorbing! To zorb is to secure yourself inside an inner capsule within a large, transparent ball which is then rolled along the ground….or down hills. Let's not forget that you can reach speeds of up to 50km/h and adding a bucket of water ensures your clothes get a free wash whilst you're rolling... zorbing only in Rotorua.

Share Your Experience

If you've come across a little-known nook of spring flowers, why not let other NZTG readers know about it - send details of your adventure to the newsletter editor.

New Zealand Fast Facts

Have you heard of the Waitomo Cave glow worms - a species found exclusively in New Zealand? They are tiny carnivores - fungus gnats - who catch their dinner by lowering a line of sticky mucus to catch midges, mosquitoes and flies. They can attract 2,000 visitors a day during summer months - more than any other glow worms in Australasia.

Featured