Nya Zeeland

The slow-paced East Cape is a unique and special corner of New Zealand. It's a quiet place, where everyone knows everyone, and community ties are built on rural enterprise and a shared passion for the ocean. Horse riding, tractors on the beach, fresh fish for dinner – it's all part of daily life here.

Picturesque Te Anau is the main gateway to Milford Sound and three Great Walks: the Milford, Kepler and Routeburn Tracks. Far from being a humdrum stopover, Te Anau is stunning in its own right. The township borders Lake Te Anau, New Zealand's second-largest lake, whose glacier-gouged fiords spider into secluded forest on its western shore. To the east are the pastoral areas of central Southland, while west across Lake Te Anau lie the rugged mountains of Fiordland.

Auckland är kanske Nya Zeelands största stad men huvudstaden Wellington har något alldeles speciellt. Här är 9 anledningar varför man älskar Wellington.

Hawke Bay, the name given to the body of water that stretches from the Mahia Peninsula to Cape Kidnappers, looks like it’s been bitten out of the North Island’s eastern flank. Add an apostrophe and an ‘s’ and you’ve got a region that stretches south and inland to include fertile farmland, surf beaches, mountainous ranges and forests. With food, wine and architecture the prevailing obsessions, it’s smugly comfortable but thoroughly appealing, and is best viewed through a rosé-tinted wine glass.

Drömmer du om Cooköarna? – vi guidar dig rätt bland paradisöarna i Söderhavet för boende, mat och favoriter man inte får missa!

Greymouth is the largest town on the West Coast and the region's 'Big Smoke'. For locals it's a refuelling and shopping pit stop, for travellers it's a noteworthy portal to tramping trails. Arriving on a dreary day, it's no mystery why Greymouth, crouched at the mouth of the imaginatively named Grey River, is sometimes the butt of jokes. But with gold-mining history, a scattering of jade shops, and worthy walks in its surrounds, it pays to look beyond the grey.

The Wairarapa is the large tract of land east and northeast of Wellington, beyond the Tararua and Rimutaka Ranges. It is named after Wairarapa Moana – otherwise known as Lake Wairarapa, translating as 'sea of glistening waters'. This shallow 80-sq-km lake and the surrounding wetland is the focus of much-needed ecological restoration, redressing generations of livestock grazing. Fields of fluffy sheep still abound, as do vineyards and the associated hospitality that have turned the region into a decadent weekend retreat.

Two words immediately spring to mind when Kiwis think of their seventh-largest city: 'Scotland' and 'students'. The 'Edinburgh of the South' is immensely proud of its Scottish heritage, never missing an opportunity to break out the haggis and bagpipes on civic occasions. In fact the very name Dunedin is derived from the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh – Dùn Èideann – and the city even has its own tartan.

The pot of gold at the end of Milford Hwy (SH94) is sublime Milford Sound (Piopiotahi). Rising above the fiord’s indigo water is Mitre Peak (Rahotu), the deserved focal point of millions of photographs. Tapering to a cloud-piercing summit, the 1692m-high mountain appears sculpted by a divine hand.

The Auckland supercity sprawls 90km north of the CBD to just past the point where SH16 and SH1 converge at Wellsford. The semirural area north of Auckland's suburban sprawl encompasses beautiful beaches, regional parks, tramping trails, quaint villages and wineries. Plus there are excellent opportunities for kayaking, snorkelling and diving. Consider visiting on a day trip from Auckland or as a way to break up your trip on the journey north.