Now I am not saying that the people of New Zealand are crazy, but since the Kiwis invented bungie jumping and zorbing you do have to wonder. If you are not familiar [...]

My helmet fit securely. The light on my helmet was working. After 15 minutes of trial and error, my wetsuit finally fit with a balance of snugness yet mobility of movement that [...]

This speedboat is braving the choppy seas to go through the “Hole in the Rock” in the Bay of Islands area of northern New Zealand. My somewhat lareger boat did not try [...]

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I wish I had a better picture of the Cathedral in Christchurch, but of course as I stood in front of it I could not imagine it in ruins. From the pictures [...]

Visit New Zealand with the Amateur Traveler: This video shows the Maori culture. Our first visit is the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the nation of New Zealand was formed in a treaty [...]

This is the second photo I have posted of Hot Water Beach on New Zealand’s North Island. This is a beach above a natural hot spring. At high tide you dig yourself [...]

Auckland, New Zealand has a wonderful museum that is nominally about transport and technology but also provides a great look into New Zealand’s history and culture. One thing I particularly enjoyed was [...]

The Amateur Traveler talks to Beth Whitman of Wanderlust and Lipstick about her recent Papua New Guinea. Beth was attracted to this remote country that produced more languages than any other country [...]

This is the  Martha open pit gold mine in Waihi New Zealand. To give you a sense of scale, when the mining is finished it will be flooded to form a 634 [...]