Free Travel Newsletter : September 2010
Written by Steph Kendall
Brought to you by New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz.
Lucky Subscriber
Congratulations to J H Wenmakers from the Netherlands, this month's lucky Free Travel Newsletter subscriber, winning "The Ultimate New Zealand DVD".
Snowdrops and daffodils usher in New Zealand's springtime this month and festivals celebrating the new season and longer, lighter and warmer days are being held throughout the country. Popular parades and spring events include blossom festivals and fashion extravaganzas and for those visitors keen to get their pulses racing there's still great skiing as well as exciting river-based sports such as white water rafting, kayaking, river rafting and more!
Find out about:
- Spring Blossom Festivals
- Spring Fashion Events
- Whitewater Rafting in Springtime
- Off the Beaten Track to... Springfield
- New Zealand Fast Facts
Spring Blossom Festivals
Celebrate the start of spring on either the North or South Island with two of the most popular blossom festivals on the calender. In Hastings on the North Island, you can sample Hawke's Bay wines and enjoy music, dance and theatre, plus the New Zealand Olive Festival. Meanwhile, way down south in Alexandra in Central Otago, you can join over 10,000 visitors at their historic spring festival – there's plenty of room for everyone to enjoy drag-racing, the latest fashions, mardi gras and racing... (more)
Spring Fashion Events
In every fashionista's diary this spring are the fabulous fashion events, New Zealand Fashion Week (21st - 25th September) in Auckland and the Montana World of Wearable Art (23rd September - 3rd October) in Wellington.
You can join in with the celebrations of Kiwi fashion and style as some of New Zealand's top designers showcase their collections during Fashion Week and marvel at design ingenuity as fashion and art blur in the creations of the Montana World of Wearable Art... (more)
Whitewater Rafting in Springtime
Canterbury
Photographer: Graham Charles
(imagematters@clear.net.nz)
For outdoor adrenalin junkies, whitewater rafting during the New Zealand spring promises to be an exhilarating experience as snow melt raises the river levels and rafting rides become even more fast and furious. Whitewater rafting in New Zealand is run on a variety of graded rivers, trips are suitable for a wide range of experience levels, all river runs are led by qualified rafting guides and all gear is provided. (Age restrictions may apply due to safety restrictions).
Off the Beaten Track to... Springfield
This small township in central Canterbury is located on the Great Alpine Highway, the most direct route by road between the east and west coasts. This springboard to the Southern Alps is well worth a visit for its historic tearooms and pie stop as well as local skiing, horseriding, hiking and jetboating... (more)
New Zealand Fast Facts
Springs... the world's clearest and the world's biggest! If you're heading to Nelson on the South Island, visit the Waikoropupu Springs. This is reputedly the clearest fresh water springs in the world with a average horizontal visibility of 63 metres and an approximate outflow of 14,000 litres of water per second, approximately enough to fill 40 bathtubs. Meanwhile on the North Island, you can visit Frying Pan Lake near Rotorua, the world's biggest hot water spring at over 38,000 square metres with a temperature of 200°C at its deepest point.
