Enjoy a good night's rest in this nicely decorated 3-star hotel on a quiet location. Some hotel rooms offer a lovely view of the river Zaan.The hotel lies on a...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Fletcher Hotel Huis te Eerbeek in the province of Gelderland is a 3-star hotel with a beautiful location near Apeldoorn, Zutphen and Arnhem. It is an...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Advantages: Fun, educational, entertaining, hands on Disadvantages: Very big (can't see it all), can't take pictures of exhibits
...Te Papa Tongarewa museum ("Te Papa" or "Our Place" for short) is NewZealand's national museum and is right in the heart of Wellington next to the docks. If you only have time to visit one thing in Wellington, visit Te Papa. Many of the collections are online, so if you can't make it all the way to NewZealand, then have a look at the web pages instead. Originally dating from 1992 (or 1998 for the present incarnation in its iconic building), this is a modern museum suitable for children and adults alike and the exhibits are fun and often interactive, whilst still being educational.
Most of the exhibitions are free, but you pay if you want to go on a guided tour. Lifts going to every floor help with accessibility and are useful for everyone - the museum goes up to floor level 7, so we were quite worn out by the end of our trip...
Advantages: Wonderful way to see New Zealand way of life, past and present Disadvantages: None
...Don't plan a short trip to Wellington and NewZealand's Museum of New ZealandTe Papa Tongarewa. You will need at least a morning or afternoon, better plan on the whole day.
I've been to Te Papa, as it is more usually called, several times and every time I go there I see something different. This is mainly because they have set exhibitions but there are ever-changing long and short term special exhibitions to focus on.
We took my grand-daughter to one called ` Inside your Body'.` (I think I remember that as the title, but even if it wasn't , that was what it was all about. Aimed at all the family it left nothing to the imagination! Exceptionally well presented and inter-active.
I love Te Papa because it belongs to all NewZealanders and in that respect a lot has gone into presenting how the country has evolved, both...
Advantages: Somewhere very diiferent, Maori culture, boiling mud and geysers Disadvantages: the smell was a little off putting, Maori evening was awful
...ROTORUA:
Rotorua is on the North island of New Zealand almost in the middle about three hours drive from Auckland and six from Wellington.
We stayed at the Sudima Hotel right beside Lake Rotorua and as we got off the bus the interesting sulphur smell of Rotorua greeted us. It is quite a strong rotten egg sort of smell that gets in to everywhere. I didn?t find it too revolting but others in our group found it very over powering and complained constantly that it even pervaded the air-conditioning in the rooms.
The town is quite small enough to walk around the main sights, the lovely steaming lake and the park alongside it and all the way to Ohinemutu. On our first evening we went to the Tamika Maori evening ( see separate review on this one)
TE PUIA ? THE NEW ZEALAND MAORI ARTS AND CRAFTS INSTIRUTE:
The next day we were up...
catsholiday
03.10.2009 (05.10.2009) ·Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Rotorua, New Zealand
Advantages: Great Scenery, lots to do Disadvantages: long bus rides to see the whole area
...New Zealand is the youngest country on earth, it was the last major landmass to be discovered. Its history has both Maori and European heritage. There are still amazing Maori historic sites to be found some dating back almost a thousand years.
When I visited New Zealand in July I decided to take an organised tour as I had limited time. I travelled with a group of other like minded travellers and we were transported around on a bus with two tour leaders who gave us loads of information along the way. They organised my accommodation and recommended tours to go on in each place we visited. Also most meals were included. The tour overall cost me
The Advantages on taking a Connections Tour
• It took hassle out of having to navigate and plan the trip.
• You travelled with like minded travellers.
• Were recommended...
DeniseKelly40
13.09.2007 (14.09.2007) ·Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of General: New Zealand
...New Zealand is such an amazing country I have truly fallen in love with it! After 6 weeks of traveling the North and the South Island I fill very happy that I covered most of what this country has to offer. I am going to give a brief over view of New Zealand as I am planning some more in depth reviews about each place. I hope this will give you an idea of how long you need in each place, the highlights and the best advice for getting around etc
Traveling around NewZealand:
There are many options available to you, camper vans and cars are the best way as you get to create your own journey stopping along the way from place to place, just make sure you get a good guide book so you know where to go etc.
I don't drive so I opted to go with magic bus Tours which is a hop on hop off bus service, Magic bus where the cheapest option...
Advantages: Beautiful city Disadvantages: Not very Kiwi
...Christchurch is in the Canterbury region of NewZealand's South Island and is the largest city on this island. Like the North Island's Auckland, it is a key arrival point and hub for international travellers.
Christchurch is situated close to the East coast and to the West lie the immense flat sweeps of the Canterbury plains. These vast plains feel flat, even to me, a native of East Anglia. Their main use is farmland and they require regular wind blocks of tall fences of trees to stop the topsoil from blowing away.
Named by the after Oxford's Christ Church (a college that one of the Canterbury Association went to), it was a colony sponsored by the Church of England about 150 years ago. Even today, the city centre has an extremely British in feel to it and even has a river Avon upon which you can go punting!The centre itself has...
Advantages: Kiwi welcomes you to Aoteoroa - Land of the Long White Cloud Disadvantages: Long way from anywhere, don't let this put you off
...an instant fine.
New Zealand has a well deserved reputation for its cultural events, like the Wearable Arts Festival, the South Pacific Festival and a strong New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Ballet Company. Its historical heart is Te Papa Museum in Wellington. ''Our Place - Te Papa'' is an ideal way to learn about where the country has come from and how it is dealing with life today. It's a happening place, not really a traditional museum.
A New Zealand High Point: Mount Cook, (Aoraki in Maori) in the Southern Alps, South Island. 12,316ft (3754m) high - the place where Sir Edmund Hilary, NewZealand's famous first climber to reach the top of the world's highest mountain - Mount Everest, practiced his alpine experiences. It's now a part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. Alpine enthusiasts will marvel at the unusual...
Writing321
31.01.2006 ·Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of General: New Zealand
Advantages: Beautiful scenery, friendly people, fantastic! Disadvantages: Long way away from anywhere, weather (sometimes!!)
...you are visiting for less than 3 months, as long as you can prove you are leaving within 3 months (i.e. flight ticket out of NewZealand) you are granted a 3 month visitor visa on arrival at the airport. If you wish to stay longer, you must apply for a longer stay visitor visa or a working holiday visa if you would like to work. You do not need any special vaccinations to enter the country, and customs is the same as any other country I've been so all in all a pretty simple process to get into the country.
At the moment, the exchange rate is about 2.7 NZ dollars to the British pound which is good news for British travellers! I stayed in Backpacker hostels costing $20 - $27 per night for a dorm room with shared facilities. From what I hear, the camp grounds in New Zealand are some of the best in the world and hotels, while being a lot...
Allyalcock
10.05.2006 ·Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of General: New Zealand
Advantages: Friendly, good luggage allowance, friendly staff Disadvantages: More expensive than many
...Air New Zealand are towards the upmarket end of the non-luxury airlines. Reliable and professional, they aren't by any means the cheapest, but the Economy class is comfortable, the service excellent and gets you where you need to go. Book well in advance for the cheapest fares - if you decide to go at the last minute like we did, it's pricy (around 1700 pounds if you book 2 weeks before you go).
When I went to New Zealand in April 2009, I flew economy class with Air NewZealand. Our route took us from Heathrow to Auckland via Hong Kong, with the return journey starting in Queenstown and a stopover in Los Angeles.
My first encounter with the staff was at the checkin desk in Heathrow. The staff there were polite and friendly. They had an additional member of staff in the queue verifying that we all knew about the new requirements...
...percent of its surface covered by glaciers where you may experience some of the 19 peaks over 3000 metres.
Such is its importance in New Zealand and internationally that it has received recogniition as part of the Te Waipounamu - South Westland World Heritage Area because of its many amazing natural values. In summer seek out the Mount Cook buttercup, its bright, shiny face looks up at you from a rocky bed as do large, white mountain daisies which have been icons of the area for travellers and locals alike over many decades. If you are really lucky you may spy one of the countries rarest birds, the graceful black stilt or its Maori name, kaki. It goes without saying that I do not have personal experience of this little creature, sad to say I have never seen it in the `flesh'.
These peaks and icy caverns have attracted famous...
| 
