Edgy stroll
The best way to begin your New Zealand adventure is, according to the Telegraph’s Tarquin Cooper, with a walk around the top of Auckland’s 328m Sky Tower. The Sky Tower is the tallest structure…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Backcountry Best
“New Zealand offers some of the best, and most extreme, heli-skiing on the planet”, according to The Sydney Morning Herald’s Craig Tansley who surveys New Zealand’s world-class fields. “There are over 400 runs to choose from…
Relaxed and Recumbent
Creator of Rotorua’s human-powered monorail, the Schweeb, Geoffrey Barnett, “combined a laid-back, recumbent bicycle with monorail technology” and came up with the idea while living in Tokyo. Barnett worked on the design for six…
Thinking Outside the Ball
“As I tumbled down the mountainside in a gigantic beach ball filled with water, feeling somewhat like I was in a washing machine, it occurred to me that there had to be…
With a Hiss and a Roar
When visiting Rotorua, “think Yellowstone or Lassen, but with some key differences,” describes The Sacramento Bee’s Mike Melnicoe. “For one, the mud pots, hissing vents and hot springs do not, for the most part,…
Futuristic Foot Power
New Zealand-invented pedal powered monorail shweeb opened in 2007 at Rotorua’s Agroventures Adventure Park as a “direct response to the transportation needs of today and the future.” Each capsule holds a single rider. Each…
Holiday With Gradient
At 2797m, Mt Ruapehu is the North Island’s highest peak with the largest area of patrolled skifield in the country on the Whakapapa side, and on the Turoa, Australasia’s longest vertical rise of 722m….
At Nature’s mercy
“If the volcano erupts, don’t try to outrun the lava,” a guide casually instructs Toronto Star freelancer Teresa Pitman who is on a tour of White Island. “Your best bet is to find something…
Leap of faith
Paragliding in Queenstown is, for Victoria Advocate reporter Aprill Brandon, “like jumping out of a plane with only a fourth of your parachute … and in New Zealand where there are no such silly…
Bumper season nears
Queenstown is looking at its best ever season this year with record online bookings, cheap airfares and a weak New Zealand dollar promising a booming 2009. NZSki Ltd CEO James Coddington suggested that “the…
Where There is Snow
Mt Hutt has acquired three state-of-the-art snow-making snow groomers and new snowmaking compressors to help produce more snow and improve trails for the 2009 season, scheduled to open June 14. Ski area manager Dave…
High on the Piste
Jane Peak is on a remote station in the Southern Alps accessible only by helicopter and “just begging for a beating” in the ski season when the slopes are “covered in fresh, untracked powder”,…
Wing on a Current
Queenstown BASE jumper and cameraman Chuck Berry, famed for the longest unassisted ‘wingsuit’ flight, has leapt off the top of Terror Peak in Milford Stand once again with wings “turning a nine-second freefall into…
Southern Adventures
Queenstown is a land made for thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies, with canyon swings, bungee jumping from bridges, G-force acrobatic flights, and paragliding, just for starters. Say you’re an average mountain biker and you’ll…
Top Spot for Tahrs
New Zealand is one of the world’s top hunting destinations according to Men’s Vogue, with New Zealand Wildlife Safaris the magazine’s featured tour company. Terry and Glad Pierson have operated Wildlife Safaris since 1978…
Celebrating Two Decades
For over 20 years, since A.J Hackett and Henry Van Asch’s first tandem leap of faith in 1988, bungee jumping has poured more than $1 billion into the New Zealand economy. On November 12,…
Big Red Excitement
Queenstown’s Shotover Jet is described by Washington Post reporter Barbara Bradlyn Morris, as one of a number of thrilling tourism activities available for kicks in the “Home of Extreme Sports and Hearty Sun-Bronzed Young…
Peak Inspiration
In preparation for a race to the South Pole, adventurer Ben Fogle hits the South Island for some thrill-seeking training. “The country that staged the world’s first commercial bungee jump has invented a whole…
Windy Farewell
Paddy Gillooly owns a tourism company in New Zealand which takes visitors by jeep or all-terrain bus to the tip of the South Island’s Farewell Spit, one of only two companies permitted the…
Hidden Treasures and Rugged Escapades
The London Times ran two travel articles on NZ last weekend. The first asked past and present All Blacks Richie McCaw, Anton Oliver, Reuben Thorne, Tana Umaga and Sean Fitzpatrick to “divulge their secret hot spots”….
Adventure Sports in Aotearoa
A Telegraph feature on NZ adventure tourism gives a comprehensive overview of the range of activities on offer. Tourist operators specialising in adventure sports have moved beyond Queenstown’s borders and can now be found all over the…
Stretching the Limits
Bungy pioneer AJ Hackett is to mark the 20th anniversary of his historic Eiffel Tower jump with a new world record attempt. In Kuala Lumpur later this year, the 48-year-old will leap from a…
Miracle Escape
A NZ skydiver has survived a 3600m fall after his parachute became entangled. Michael Holmes, 25, filmed his fall with a helmet camera as he spiralled out of control over Lake Taupo. The video…
Action Packed Queenstown
A self-confessed lazy New Yorker experiences adventure tourism NZ-style in Queenstown. The Skyline luge run is the highlight of a three-day trip which includes and air and sea tour of Milford Sound, skydiving and…
A Day to Get There, a Lifetime to Forget
A Guardian travel feature on the South Island covers a remarkable range of quintessential Kiwi activities in just ten days. From extreme sports in Queenstown and the grandeur of the TranzAlpine Express, to eco-relaxation at Lake Moeraki’s…
White Knuckle Fun
NZ’s latest extreme sport – white water sledging – features in the Voice of America. “Instead of a raft, these ‘sledgers’ run the rapids with special flippers and a steerable buoyant board … River sledger Jacob Bradley…
White Knuckle Christmas
The Independent lists Queenstown as one of 25 top Christmas holiday destinations. “Work up an appetite for a festive roast lamb dinner by getting the adrenalin flowing among NZ’s stunning mountain scenery … On any day of…
Dissecting the Edge
Outside Online writer, Stephanie Pearson, takes a month-long tour of NZ, in a bid to discover “why everyone wants a piece of the Kiwi magic.” After interviewing a slew of overachievers, including Icebreaker’s Jeremy Moon, Peter Jackson,…
Edge Adventuress
NZer Natalie McComb is the only woman in a crew of seven rafters aiming to sail the length of the Nile – a 4,200-mile journey from Uganda’s Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean which has never before…
AJ Hackett: Boucing Tiger, Dancing Dragon
King of all things extreme, AJ Hackett, has led the first dragon dance walk across China’s 233m high Macao Tower. Hackett and a Chinese bungy enthusiast each led a team of dancers around the outer rim of…
Yankee Dangle
Want thrills? Inhale the air head to Queenstown for “utter exhilaration” and the town Bill Clinton called the “most beautiful place on earth.”
Edge to Travel TV
US Travel Channel radically overhauls its image with “a new TV spot showing skate kids mountain-boarding down a sheep-studded slope in New Zealand”. “For the first time, the excitement and feel of a commercial really matched our…
Jumped
A.J. Hackett – the edge entrepreneur and adrenalin junkie who took bungee from a bridge in Queenstown to the world – profiled as pioneering legend of ‘American'(!) adventure sport in this month’s Vanity Fair.
Rock Face
“New Zealand is one of the few places on earth where a novice can partake in the wild and woolly sport known as canyoning: an odd combination of hiking and rock climbing.”
Cold Daring
What better guide through the frozen continent that “a New Zealander who, in younger days, had driven motorcycles across the ice pack and sampled the 80-year-old cocoa from the stores left in the hut of the…
Bored? Zorb!
“Over the years, Kiwis apparently have become bored counting sheep and have amused themselves by coming up with some extreme sporting activities. They pioneered bungee jumping and zorbing (literally rolling down a hill strapped inside a ball). Also,…
Which Way do I Jump?
Queenstown – the capital of adventure, or, as this ambivalent adventurer puts it, “dumb stuff”.
Wild Scent
Three New Zealand men kayaking across Antarctica have been chased by a leopard seal, run into a humpback whale and they’re starting to smell like penguins.
Unforgettable
Skiing the South Island of New Zealand is an “unforgettable” experience – a “a must see for every true adventurer”.
Postcards from the Edge
“Dad,” revealed the postcard from New Zealand, “went paragliding”. All it takes is a break from routine.
Tops for Jumps
Guardian netjetter Sam “takes advantage of New Zealand’s position as tops for adrenaline holidays – he’s just done a bungy jump.”
Travel Edge
“Bungee jumping got its start here, and if dangling off a bridge by your ankles isn’t your idea of fun, there’s hiking – or “tramping” as the locals, known as Kiwis, call it – along with…
Leia Skyjumper
Carrie Fisher on drugs, Thai food and going stratospheric: ‘I was in New Zealand recently, on one of those bungee catapults, which I was far too old to go on, and just as we were about…
Ski Bunny Finds Roads Funny
Amy Chavez of Japan visited the NZ recently to ski. She found some of the mountain roads a little too close to the edge for comfort.
Biking Across the World
Kiwis turn up in the most extreme places. The Copper Canyon region of Mexico is hardcore: the roads are rocks-strewn, pot-holed and dusty. Typical terrain includes dizzying curves, steep switchbacks and narrow passageways. Intrepid mountain-biking Kiwi Blair…
Hold on to Your Stetsons – Fly-by-wire Hits Texas
New Zealander Neil Harrap, developer of the fly-by-wire concept is bringing his innovative and heart-pounding flight simulation ride to Texas. With the right stuff – $75 – you can pilot a 24-horsepower open aircraft at heights…
Taking You to the Edge … and Jumping Off
“Not so long ago, New Zealand was finding it hard to shake off its “beautiful but boring” tag. It may have been renowned for its spectacular scenery – dramatic mountains and sweeping coast lines -…
Queenstown in World’s Ten Best Places for Mountain Biking
“Queenstown has a deserved reputation as the extreme sport’s capital of the southern hemisphere, and the mountain biking is nothing short of crazy. Gorgeous scenery that assaults the senses with waterfalls and snow-capped mountains.”
Ten Million Leap over the Edge
Bungee jumping, inspired by a South Pacific rite, was commercialised world-wide by New Zealander A.J. Hackett, who established the Kawarau river bridge site near Queenstown in 1988. This year the 10 millionth person across the world took the…
Thrills and Spills in Testosterone City
“Fly is the epitome of the New Kiwi, chattier than the chattiest Aussie, more fashionable than the most fashionable Aspenite”. Minty Church gets a personal introduction to the daredevil sports Mecca of Testosterone City, aka Queenstown,…
Snow Must Go On
If you’re itching for deep powder and big mountains there is no better place to visit between late June and mid October. Not only is NZ one of the most beautiful places in the world, it’s…
