Whether you’re searching for rare birds, colourful coral gardens, sites of military significance or unique cultural experiences, you’ll find them on this 18-day New Zealand Geographic and Heritage Expeditions voyage in 2026 through Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu with a soon-to-be-announced special guest.
Designed for more active travellers looking to explore the remote waterways, coves and coastlines of the Marlborough Sounds, this special five-day New Zealand Geographic and Heritage Expeditions voyage on the 18-berth Heritage Explorer gives guests the opportunity to trek sections of the Queen Charlotte track, discover the rich whaling history of Perano, and learn about the conservation success stories of Motuara and Blumine Islands. A special guest will be announced in the coming weeks.
In 2024, Naomi Arnold slogged her way up Te Araroa, walking from Bluff to Cape Reinga over about nine months. Here, 100 kilometres into her odyssey and deeply unsure about her capacity to finish it, she tackles Southland’s notoriously boggy Longwood Range.
Hit the road - and make it electric.
Three pot plants, a barbecue and four bikes—we load up Toyota’s fully electric car for a classic southern summer roadie.
In writing about the impacts of tourism on the Cook Islands (page 58) Rachel Reeves has impeccable pedigree: her step-grandfather, the late Harry Napa, opened the first private accommodation on the islands. The Kiikii Motel, aimed at travellers on a budget, went up on Rarotonga’s southern coast a decade or so before Rachel was born—years before the international airport, now five kilometres down the road, was up and running. People laughed at Harry for thinking such a project could possibly pay off, Rachel says. But the motel was the first of dozens. Rachel herself, now 36, didn’t get roped in to answer phones or change sheets the way her cousin did—she grew up in California—“but when I went to Rarotonga as a kid we spent a lot of time at the motel, swimming at the pool.” Harry’s pictured here with his wife, Rachel’s beloved grandma, Pauline Napa. Pauline relished hosting tourists, Rachel remembers; she especially loved watching visitors light up as they spent time in Rarotonga. Regular guests became friends, popping over for dinners at Pauline and Harry’s place. Now, with Harry’s children at the helm, the motel is still packed every summer.
Dave Hansford, Potton & Burton, $79.99 & A Wild Life: Photographs from the Backcountry of Aotearoa, Shaun Barnett, Potton & Burton, $59.99
Every winter, tens of thousands of New Zealanders fly to the Cook Islands. For them, it’s a week in the sun. But what does the influx mean for the islands?
Scientists build a 2000sqm high-tech playground. Kids go berserk.
Queenstown, Wānaka and the surrounding region have set an audacious goal of becoming carbon zero and creating a regenerative visitor economy by 2030. Right now it might look impossible, but the district remains determined.
Venture down some of New Zealand’s roads less travelled.
Two pieces in this magazine were put together on Te Araroa, the walking track that stretches the length of New Zealand. German photographer Dirk Nayhauss hit the trail in 2022 and into 2023, documenting trees for the photo essay on page 10. And this summer, for the blue carbon feature on page 32, journalist Naomi Arnold wrote about seagrass regeneration, popping into public libraries to work as she walked from Bluff to Arrowtown. “It was the windiest month in Southland since 1970,” she says. “A lot of Oreti Beach sand ended up embedded in my face.”
Our trees, through the steady lens of German photographer Dirk Nayhauss.
For RealNZ, exploration, education and conservation are intertwined.
New Zealand Geographic and Heritage Expeditions invite readers to experience some of New Zealand’s most remote southern shores on our next special voyage. Departing on March 1 2024, the eight-day itinerary combines three amazing destinations - Stewart Island, Fiordland and The Snares - into one journey, with ex-director general of DoC and renowned conservationist Lou Sanson joining as our onboard expert.
Gather your wits, caver, and brace yourself for a squeeze. No other moment epitomises the caving experience than writhing headlong through a space too small for your body—this one just 35cm at its widest. In the uncompromising embrace of limestone, the caver must control their mind as much as their body, and push through.
The landscape underground rivals that above in every way. At Twin Waterfalls, two cascades tumble through a cavern and then join the main flow of the river. The water is clear, but the limestone opalescent under lights.
Harwood's Hole connects to Starlight Cave after a series of tortuous squeezes and rocky descents. Suddenly the caver is surrounded by stars—a galaxy of tiny flecks of glass-like mica embedded in the rock that reflect the torchlight. The last stretch is a scramble around the river, a long wade out to the mouth of the cave, and the relief of warm air and daylight.
Shorty's Terror is enough to frighten the hardiest soul. The massive cave narrows to a tube and the cave floor descend into unfathomably deep water, leaving the caver no option but to cling to the roof, walk on the walls, brace above the thrashing river. Meanwhile the pressure difference from one side of the mountain to the other creates a gale-force wind the howls through the passage, which then narrows to a 'squeeze'. It's sensory overload, and not in a good way.
After climbing out of the Starlight Cave, there are two options for cavers—huck your gear up the rockfall and walk for kilometres, or take a tin pigeon. We opt for the second option, which requires the pilot to expertly balance the machine with one skid on a rock while gear and cavers are loaded... keeping a weather eye out for tumbling boulders coming down the rock fall.
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