Archive for the 'Auckland' Category

Touch of Spice

Posted by Ruth Atherley on May 27, 2011 at 8:58 am

I had the opportunity to learn more about Touch of Spice, New Zealand’s leading luxury lifestyle and concierge company at TRENZ. They provide a wide range of services nationwide to the discerning client.

With offices in Auckland and Queenstown, services offered have expanded to include travel and leisure assistance, event planning, wedding planning, property investment and management and also the well-recognized and world-renowned Touch of Spice Private Villa Collection.

For the leisure market, they promote luxury villas, lodges and private retreats – New Zealand wide – partnered with a personal concierge service, tailored specifically for in-house guests. The specialist team of staff can source the finest wines, locate guests’ favourite flowers, assist with ground arrangements, find the perfect gift and arrange a world-class private chef to prepare an intimate dinner for two.

The Touch of Spice Private Villa Collection features a portfolio of properties of unsurpassed elegance and opulence including exclusive townhouses, luxury penthouses, luxury lodges and private island retreats.

Touch of Spice Weddings provides tailor-made wedding-planning services throughout New Zealand.

Touch of Spice Events offers exclusive and unique event solutions – New Zealand wide.

Franklin Country – Closer Than You Think

Posted by Ruth Atherley on June 14, 2010 at 1:13 pm

Franklin Country is the ultimate lifestyle destination, combining relaxed country living with savvy city style – all just a short drive from Auckland.

Franklin Country is identified by its lush green boundaries and it features olive groves, vineyards and citrus orchards – which means visitors have a lot to taste!!!

There is horse trekking and jet sprinting. There are also a variety of markets, you can picnic in a secluded bay, paraglide over a black sand beach and shop in boutique style stores. I have to say, this sounds like it’s for me!

Franklin Country offers a diversity of experiences and clearly has something for everyone – from kids to parents to favourite aunties (like me!). Considered to be the adventure playground for Auckland, Franklin provides the opportunity to explore breathtaking scenery. And – a little known fact – this is an area that grows onions and potatoes that are exported worldwide.

T.I.M.E. Unlimited Tours

Posted by Ruth Atherley on June 3, 2010 at 11:57 am

T.I.M.E. (To Integrate Maori Experiences) Tours Unlimited was established in 2005 and is a highly innovative tourism company focused on providing outstanding Auckland tours.

They offer Auckland tours, Auckland Maori tours, guided wilderness walks, kayaking adventures, kayak fishing tours (they pioneered this activity in New Zealand) and kite fishing tours (they work with the organization that was first in the world to pioneer it).

They are a Qualmark Endorsed Visitor Activity and also have the designation of Qualmark Enviro Gold as one of the most environmentally friendly tourism businesses in New Zealand. In March 2010, TIME Unlimited Tours also won a global tourism award in conjunction with the United Nations.

At TRENZ, TIME Unlimited launched Auckland Maori Tours and Auckland Maori Day Tours EXTRA.

Horseback Riding at Pakiri Beach

Posted by Ruth Atherley on May 31, 2010 at 10:58 am

I had the privilege of spending time at Pakiri Beach Horse Rides before I left New Zealand. What an exceptional place Pakiri Beach is. It is so beautiful; there aren’t words to describe it.

Laly and Sharley Haddon own and run Pakiri Beach Horse Rides. They are a blended family of both Maori and European descent. Along with their daughter Olivia and son Ben, they are descendents of Te Kiri of Ngati Wai, an ancient Maori chief, and his daughter Rahui and from Scottish, Portuguese and English whalers and settlers.

Pakiri Beach Horse Rides is just 90 minutes from downtown Auckland city, less than two hours from Auckland International Airport and just minutes from Matakana Coast Wine Country. I had the pleasure of stopping into Matakana on the way to Pakiri Beach, what a lovely place. I could live there. It is so charming and friendly; it felt like home two seconds after I had set foot out of the rental car.

Back to Laly and Sharley – their tribe, Ngati Wai, were seafarers. They discovered the Pakiri Beach area after following the call of the whales across the Pacific. Their home is on land that has been handed down through many generations. Here they have gained a lifetime of experience with horses and farming and they love to share the history and legends of this special place with visitors.

Their family farm is known as Taurere; over the northeastern coastal hill country in lower Northland. A true working farm, Taurere carries 200 beef and breeding cattle, 200 Perendale sheep and 127 horses.

Sharley explained to me that they feel strongly about the area they live in and see it as their privilege to be caretakers to the unpopulated, pristine and private Pakiri Beach. It’s 15 km of white sand surf beach touching the majestic Pacific Ocean. Here you will see the rare and endangered New Zealand Dotterels and Fairy Terns, as well as other birds such as the blue heron, the variable oystercatcher and many others.

When you visit Laly and Sharley at Pakiri Beach, you can experience the freedom of this special place on horseback. Their rides cover everything from a relaxed one-hour outing to a full day or longer. It can be tranquil or exhilarating! Whatever suits you.

All of their rides travel along Pakiri Beach and continue through the dunes with breathtaking views of the coastal islands. I was fortunate enough to enjoy a ride with my lovely guide Fiona and my beautiful horse Flame. The beach is spectacular – it’s like a scene out of movie! We also went through groves of ancient Pohutukawa trees, which, Fiona explained, are ablaze with red flowers in the summer. We followed a track through native bush and Nikau palms. I only had a few hours here, but I understand that the longer rides take you through pine forests and over lush green farmland.

It was an exceptional experience and one I will never forget.

Click here to see additional images.

Get Nude In New Zealand

Posted by Ruth Atherley on May 26, 2010 at 7:50 pm

Ok – that got your attention. In fact, the guys at Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ used it to get my attention too. I wonder if they heard about my obsession with Naked Rugby?

Here’s the story: The people at Paradise Motorcycle Tours received an email from a special interest group from the U.S. The group was very specific about what they wanted to do and what they wanted to do it on.

Apparently this group is lead by a woman named Jane. They enjoy riding motorcycles and get naked as often as possible. According to the Paradise Motorcycle Tours guys, they LOVED researching this tour. Their first call was to the police to find out what the group could and couldn’t do. It turns out that nudity is okay in NZ, as long as it’s appropriate and not in front of a school, on a beach or where children are playing…who knew?

The guided tour took place in February 2010 and they rode from Auckland to Christchurch and many places in between. They managed to fulfill their wishes to get naked most days – not while on the motorcycles, I was assured. The group was really happy with their tour. Although, now that I think of it, I wonder if the guides got naked too?

This is a bit of an extreme example, but it showcases how far this company will go to give the client what they want. Paradise Motorcycle Tours offers a range of guided tours using the latest luxury model BMW bikes.

For those of you who want to know more info on the bikes and the incredible range of tours, check out their website.