Tiritiri Matangi Island with 360 Discovery Cruises

Tiritiri Matangi Island is a wildlife sanctuary and one of New Zealand's most important conservation projects. It is located 30km north east of central Auckland and just 4km from the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. It takes around 1 hour to reach the Island with 360 Discovery Cruises. 120 years of farming had seen this 220-hectare island stripped of 94% of its native bush but between 1984 and 1994, volunteers planted between 250,000 and 300,000 trees. The island is now 60% forested with the remaining 40% left as grassland for species preferring open habitat.

As we reach the island we are greeted by the ranger who takes us through some basic safety procedures. It is important not to smoke to prevent fires and collect all rubbish before leaving. The aim of today’s trip is to appreciate the conservation efforts led by The Tiritiri Matangi Island sanctuary, in partnership between the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the community, through the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi, a non-profit community conservation organisation. We are also here to spot as many birds as possible, and we were not disappointed. One of the supporters acts as our guide, telling us about the species and their habitat, and also traditional medicinal plant usage in Maori culture.

Tuis, fantails, wood pigeons, black birds, brown saddlebacks, whiteheads, moreporks and robins are some of the many species found here. Takahes and kiwis can also be found but are harder to spot!

Tui

Wood Pigeon

Morepork owl

The bush walk and vistas are impressive and Tiritiri Matangi makes for a great day out. You will learn a lot about exceptional flora and fauna. Just bring a picnic lunch with you or pre-order one from the company, and don’t forget your binoculars to get a better glimpse of the birds.

GO EXPLORE!

Steph

SkyJump & SkyWalk

The SkyJump. You look at people doing it from 192m below and wonder, how does that feel? Having relished my skydiving and bunjee experiences there was one more adrenaline rush I wanted to try out. So dressed in my fancy blue suit and armed with the camera that will record my fear, I set out to conquer the views of Auckland from above.

Looking good

The activity started back in 2007 when some clever people decided it would be fun to literally jump off the Southern Hemisphere’s tallest infrastructure – the Sky Tower. Safety being the number one concern (you would certainly hope so) and clearly so thanks the heavy machinery (see below), fun is what it’s all about.

Yet another harness check is welcome before I’m told it’s time to go. As I stare below me the scary feeling sets in, and I’m thinking: OK, I have no choice now!

No turning back now!

1,2,3 go and I step off, falling faster than the apple on Newton’s head. As the speed reaches a constant (85km per hour) you can start chilling and enjoying the ride. It may last just a few seconds but the rollercoaster of emotions brought by SkyJump is well worth it. The view is breathtaking, and you should have a go at jumping Matrix style and feel like you’re in a movie!

Watch me jump!

After my jump followed my walk. A quick change of suits from blue to orange and an introduction to my team and we’re back in the lift again for another adventure. Harnessed both at the front and back, we all feel like a bunch of convicts and that helps to break the ice between us. Stepping out onto the platform, it’s windy, and an unnerving feeling creeps in.

Holding on tight!

Ethan, our guide, insists it’s his first day (I’m not buying it) and sets out to challenge us to some aerial tricks. Hands off, walk and look up, and dangle yourself out into the open with your heels of the platform form just a few of them. Needless to say despite my best efforts, I decline in trying and decide to watch my team mates perform. And hats off to them!

Nice trick!

There’s something about walking around at 192m above ground into the open air. But for my part I prefer jumping on all counts. A strange sort of vertigo.

SkyWalk is a great way to sightsee the whole of Auckland – at a bird’s eye view. On a clear day you can see really far, admire the beauty of the Hauraki Gulf Islands and gaze into the Waitemata Harbour. See the Waitakere Ranges and Coromandel Peninsula in the distance. Combining the sights and the fun makes SkyWalk a great attraction, just make sure you’re comfortable with heights!

The team

Thanks to all the team at SkyJump and SkyWalk for an amazing time!

GO EXPLORE!

Steph

HOBBITON - The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

We started our excursion at 7.00 am on Saturday morning with Bush and Beach Express Tour. It was truely Unique, Unforgettable and Authentic tour by their friendly guide - Dawn.

The bus was comfortable and important to mention it was well equipped with first aid box, trash can and all the basic travel related amenities. It took us about an hour before we took a break for coffee. After the break we started heading towards our final destination. Throughout the journey Dawn was giving us information about New Zealand, a bit about Hobbiton and also answering to all our questions. In no time we entered the Hobbit town of Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, Sam.......

We entered lush green farmlands and our private guide was already waiting for us. He was a 90 year old energetic gentleman named Eric. This guided tour gave us interesting information about how the ‘Hobbiton’ movie set was developed and the background regarding how this location was chosen. If you have seen the film or read the book it would make clear sense of what the guide was talking about. 

We got enough time to click pictures with different backgrounds before we went to the Green Dragon Inn for onsite brewed chilled beer. There were about 44 Hobbit holes and interesting to note is that each one was made differently. Unfortunately, I did not take picture of each one of it due to time limitation.

We later went to the Shire’s Rest Café for our afternoon lunch. We were welcomed by their friendly staff who also made sure that we all are having a great time at Hobbiton movie set.

After that we went to the Souvenir shop and every one could use their gift voucher given by Bush and Beach to buy their Hobbiton souvenir. We had a very informative conversation with our guide before we said good bye to him and started heading back to Auckland. 

Everyone was very happy, mesmerised with the beauty of the movie set and amazed to see in real all that they saw in the movie. It was a wonderful experience to be able to actually walk on the movie set. We took a small break on our way back at an ice cream shop. The day was nice and sunny and everyone enjoyed eating ice cream while still lost in the world of Hobbiton. 

If you wish to experience, explore and enjoy this journey of Hobbiton do come and meet us today to book a trip. We will be happy to help you make your journey a memorable one. 

See you soon at 4SightSeeing to book your Hobbit tour.

Reshma

Ferry to Waiheke Island

Thanks to Blue for suggesting me to take a ferry to the stunning Waiheke Island on Saturday.

Fullers run regular ferry sailings from Downtown Auckland to Waiheke Island. Their staff was exceptional and made sure that we had a comfortable and enjoyable ferry ride.

Below were the highlights of my trip

1. The three W’s – Wine + Walk = Waiheke.

2. Spectacular beaches

3. Panoramic views

4. Delicious seafood

5. Olive oil tasting

This is the best way to spend a day away from Auckland, just 40 minutes by ferry. You can rent a car, scooter, and bicycle, take a full day bus pass or just walk around and explore the Island.

Also known as the Island of wine. Its vineyards produce wines of intense varietal flavour, with the freshness and purity of a pristine environment. One must discover Waiheke’s beauty by discovering its wines. They have produced some award winning wines and they are worth trying. Many of the wineries have wine tasting sessions.

I also did the olive oil tasting at Rangihoua estate. I was really impressed with the extensive knowledge of the guide who was a local and explained everything in details. I obviously purchased a bottle of olive oil for using in salads at home and local green herb spread.

Waiheke’s stunning scenery is absolutely unavoidable.

Explore Waiheke at your own pace. There is a lot to do and see. If you need information on how to book a ferry and what all activities can be done on the Island, please do contact our friendly and knowledgeable staff at 4sightseeing. We will make your trip a memorable one.

Some shots from the trip.

Leaving Downtown Auckland

Nau Mai Waiheke

Lush green Vineyards 

Whole bunch of Wineries 

Olive groves

Reshma  

Sulphur City_Flexi Tours

Blue sent me to breathe in the sulphur-rich air of Rotorua & to get the taste of NZ’s most dynamic thermal area with spurting geysers, steaming hot springs and exploding mud pools.

Sulphur city is the most touristed spots on the North Island. I travelled by Flexi Tours. What a fantastic day from the start of the journey to the finish, I would say it is worth every minute and every penny spent. As the name suggests this one day tour is a very flexible plan where you can mix and match activities and create your own itinerary. Out of the 7 different options one can choose any two and I preferred to do Wai-O-Tapu and Skyline Skyrides. Plus you get time to stroll around, sip a cup of coffee and take pictures of beautiful surroundings.

 Flexi Tour makes you feel really special. Our driver was an extremely knowledgeable & friendly guide.Our 4 hours car drive passed by so quickly. He gave us bits of information as and when he could and it was something not really bookish. I would recommend Flexi Tour to anyone who wants to visit Rotorua even for a day or more.As far as the overall experience is concerned you will be surely in safe hands and say it was worth choosing Flexi Tours for your trip.

Lake Rotorua is the largest of the district’s 16 lakes and is – underneath all that water – a spent volcano.

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

Basically it means “sacred waters”. This is one of the most famous of thermal reserves. It has many interesting features like the boiling multi-hued Champagne pool, bubbling mud, stunning mineral terraces and the Lady Knox Geyser which gushes upto 20m for about an hour. 

Some of the interesting Sign boards you will find in Rotorua.

Te Puia is the most polished of NZ’s Maori cultural attractions. Here you can discover the work and methods of many traditional Maori weavers, wood and greenstone carvers. More of these arts are displayed at a gift shopwhich stocks excellent range of arts and crafts.

Te Puia puts on three daily shows and one nightly show of Maori cultural performance everyday.

Skyline Skyrides

Swinging up Mt. Ngongotaha is Skyline Skyrides. This gondola cruises upto a hill top which features panoramic viewsof the lake.At the top there is a restaurant, a cafe and walking tracks around the mountains.On your way back you can either take the luge, come back on a chairlift or take a gondola again to come down the hill. 

Thank you Flexi Tours and Blue for giving this opportunity to explore Rotorua "Flexi-way"

Reshma 

Exploring the City of Sails...

Kia Ora folks,

Blue offered me to take the Hop on Hop off Explorer bus last week. It was a good idea to explore the City of Sails on a random week day. It was a nice sunny day when I started from the Sky Tower. I had always seen this bus in the city packed with travellers from all around the world but it was different feeling for someone like me to be there who has been in the city for quiet sometime. 

This yellow bus takes you to 14 different attractions namely Sky City, Parnell village, Mission Bay, Bastion point, Auckland zoo, Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium, MOTAT etc....Since I had seen most of these, I prefered to hop off at the Zoo and take my time exploring this beautiful animal kingdom which I had not done before.

 If you are new to the city and you have less time I think it is the most cost effective way to explore, getting on the bus and completing the two circuits will be a quick way to get the glimpse of the very best that Auckland has to offer. I found the commentary in the bus very interesting. It was relevant and engaging. Our bus driver was very friendly and gave us more information about each place at each stop.

I have visited many zoos in the past including the San Diego Zoo in California or the Bannerghetta Zoo in Bangalore. But there was something special about this place. They have New Zealand's largest collection of native and exotic species.There are a number of fantastic guided tours available.There are 3 cafés around the Zoo's grounds, my personal recommendation is the burger and french fries, it was yummy.

This is a great day out for all ages.Make sure you visit the newest addition to the zoo "Te Wao Nui" which houses 50 of New Zealand's natural treasures including the iconic Kiwi bird and the mountain parrot Kea.I hope you liked reading and looking at the pictures just like me who enjoyed being there.

Reshma.

Grumpy's 'Hot as' Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland guided tour

Grumpy was perfectly on time when he came to collect me from the i-Site for my guided tour to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, as part of his 'Hot as' tours. His personality is infectious - with so much charisma, Grumpy takes a humourous approach to our sightseeing trip. He tells us stories of the places we drive past, offering a great insight into the area.

Sculptured out of volcanic activity and thousands of years in the making, Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) is considered to be New Zealand’s most colourful and diverse geothermal sightseeing attraction. The Champagne Pool below measures a fifth of a hectare!

Champagne Pool

My visit begins by watching the eruption of the Lady Knox Geyser - At 10.15am each day there is the opportunity to learn the history and mechanics of the Lady Knox Geyser during a presentation by an informed guide in the natural ampitheatre. It provides a unique opportunity to see a geyser in eruption to heights of 10 to 20 metres. 

Lady Knox Geyser

There are a multitude of different couloured pools due to the rich minreal content of the reserve. There are also boiling mud pools, craters and lakes to be seen.

Mud pools

Wai-O-Tapu is the perfect place to discover the beauty and rawness of the earth. Walks through the valley range from 30-75 minutes. Thanks to grumpy acting as our guide I was able to make the most of out my day!

Yogi

Rotorua, Hobbiton and PolynesianSpa-FlexiToursNZ

The tour starts with visiting Hobbiton movie set in Matamata.

 
I looked around the movie set with tour guide and a cat living in Hobbiton.

It took about 1 and half hour to get to the "Green Dragon".

We got half an hour to enjoy some drinks and foods. 
And at there, I tried "Ginger Beer".

The next stop was Te Puia in Rotorua.

 I had Maori traditional Chicken Hangi as a lunch.








For freetime in Te Puia, I could see a Kiwi at Kiwi House,

poping Mudpool

 and splushing Geyser.

  

 

Visiting Maori Arts and Crafts Institute was interesting.
I could see men are carving and women are weaving.

Before I leave Rotorua, I went to PolynesianSpa.
Hot pool is very good place to be relaxing.

I enjoyed the whole day and if I have another opportunity to go to Rotorua,
I would like to try Luge.

Nao Tsukuda

FEELING THE HEAT AT HELLS GATE

Hell's Gate. Not a place that sounds very appealing at first. Well let's be honest. Your feet are 2.5km away from the Earth's hottest point, and Maori tribes used the hot pools to get rid of their enemies' body (complete disintegration through cooking which took just 2 days) back in the day. 

With this gruesome introduction, let me take you through this 'Beast' of a geothermal reserve, extending over 50 acres.

During the early 1900's, playwright George Bernard Shaw visited the area and decided that the reserve should be known as the Gateway to Hell. He subsequently named a number of the hot pools (some, I admit with crazy names, such as 'The Children'). Although the English name was adopted instantly, 700 years ago it took the name of Tikitere. A young princess, Hurutini, threw herself in the hot boiling pools in protest of her husband's lack of respect. Her mother found her the next day, and cried out 'aue e teri nei tiki' - here lies my precious one, Tikitere.

Interestingly, it must be noted that although the pools are very close together, each have their own sources which vary in size, temperature and content. It is not impossible that a source of fresh water lies directly beside a pool of sulphur.

What is impressive about Hell's gate is its sheer rawness. There are so many different things going on too, proving an ideal name depicting its chaos. Features include mud pools, sulphur baths, hot lakes, mud volcanoes ..

Unsuspectingly, we arrive on a quiet forest path. We are now under Tane's watch, the red autumn tree shades reminding us of the inferno below. Kahahi Falls below is the largest hot water fall in the Southern Hemisphere. Its temperature is approximately 40 degrees,  they were used by the warriors to bathe and cleanse themselves of the blood of battle when they returned.

Hell's gate gives us more information about its name:

'The full name of the falls is “O Te Mimi O Te Kakahi” which is translated into “the urine of Kakahi”. Urine is well known as a salve for scratches, although sulphur does the trick too.

The other reason why this site is of importance to Rotorua Maori was that the Tohunga or Medicine man for the tribe would bring the new born baby boys to these falls and dedicate the boys to the God of War.  This ceremony which was very similar to a Christian Baptism took place in the hollowed area directly below the middle waterspout'.

Trying on the mud is our guide Ray, who never misses an occasion to entertain!

Fresh clean mud, black and white. Hell's Gate not only provides arthritis patients with their mud but have turned it into a fantastic beauty product including scrubs and masks. After a lovely walk I have a go at carving, but my attempt isn't too great, I have to give the Master Carver his own photo spot, he helped me finish my piece.

I decide it's time to relax, and what a better way to end your day by jumping into a mud pool and sulphur bath. It's hard being an explorer I tell you :-)

See the beast for yourself! The great team at Hell's Gate await you. Have a day like me through the Hell's Gate Special Combo. Take in the madness - then relax!

Ask 4SightSeeing for more details. Hell's Gate operate free shuttles to and from Rotorua.

Steph