Based on our recent experience eating our way through New Zealand, the country’s food scene is bursting at the seams not only with talented chefs discovering the agricultural bounty of their island nation, but also farmers' markets where the producers and purveyors of all these fabulous foodstuffs are peddling their wares and showing off the best of what they grow.

To find out just where all these tasty products are coming from and to meet some of the growers, we stopped by two of the country’s best known weekend farmers’ markets at opposite ends of New Zealand: ]]> EricRosen 2011-12-21T16:06:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/18/234011/74

If a black airplane lands at night, do you even see it land at all? Okay that was kinda stupid, but all words pale in comparison to the awesomeness of the newest Boeing 777-300ER to be delivered to fun-loving Air New Zealand. It's the All Blacks-edition jet, the second plane in AirNZ's fleet to be outfitted in the black livery that's an ode to the rugby team All Blacks. One could even say the color is jet black.

The 777 is fresh off the Boeing assembly line in Everett, WA and lucky to start its life as the pimpest-looking plane in the sky. It's actually the largest plane painted noir, as the old Playboy DC-9 is long gone and AirNZ's other black metal is the smaller Airbus A320, confined to domestic itineraries. But this baby—this one with its three classes (four if you count the Skycouch)—this one is also flying further, like to LAX and London from Auckland.]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-19T08:40:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/12/185321/18

While much of the “red zone” in the city center of Christchurch remains empty of people (save for the demolition crews checking the abandoned buildings that still make up a large part of the area), we came across a little rehabilitation project right at the edge that’s bringing life and color back to the devastated city, Project Re:Start.

Project Re:Start is kind of like a pop-up mall made up of purpose-built, brightly colored shipping containers that have been arranged and stacked along Cashel Street and converted into shops and cafes. The project was financed with NZ$3.36 million from a the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal fund.]]> EricRosen 2011-12-13T16:25:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/6/01123/7049

New Zealand is more than the kiwi fruit. In fact, most of the country's unique foods elude most people unless you make the long journey way down under.

On our own recent long visit to the South Island, we discovered more and more chefs are putting New Zealand’s unique foodstuffs on display in creative (and delicious) ways...including these five New Zealand foods you should try on your next visit.]]> EricRosen 2011-12-06T10:29:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/28/21941/394

Jaunted special contributor Eric Rosen drops us a line from way, way down under...

There’s nothing new about swimming with dolphins these days; it seems like you can hang out with the aquatic mammals pretty much anywhere from Australia to the Bahamas. But during a recent visit to check out post-quake Christchurch, I drove an hour outside the city to the Frenchified hamlet of Akaroa on the craggy Banks Peninsula to swim with some pretty special aquatic life: the world’s tiniest marine dolphins and wild penguins.

Akaroa is a winding hour-long drive southeast of Christchurch through the hills of the Banks Peninsula, where some of the earliest settlements on New Zealand’s South Island were founded. Akaroa actually lies quite near the center of this bulbous landmass, but it’s on the water because its harbor was formed by the collapse of an enormous mega-volcano eons ago.]]> EricRosen 2011-11-29T12:39:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/29/02050/917

Take a pinch of premium airline and a dash of low-cost carrier and the end product will be low airfares with a whole lot of confusion. This week, Air New Zealand launched a new fare on domestic services by using a little of this recipe. They're calling it grabaseat™ and, by the looks of it, ANZ is attempting innovation by offering cheap prices so long as you're willing to abide by tighter rules.

grabaseat™ is ANZ's solution to budget carriers, but isn't offered on all flights. The fare is so basic it only allows for 7kg (15 lbs.) of carry-on baggage; anything over that will be a further charge. Since most of these fares are offered on flights that don't even have overhead compartments—in the case of their Beechcraft—the 7 kilo limit might make boarding a bit easier. If flying with nothing but a camera isn't your idea of fun, then you will have to cough up about $10 US to check a bag.]]> jetflyboy 2011-11-29T08:45:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/15/02621/571

Harvest may be over in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere, but south of the equator they’re headed into spring, and in New Zealand, that means it’s time for the Air New Zealand Wine Awards, the biggest, most prestigious wine competition on the country. And yes, it’s sponsored by an airline.

6.5 MILLION GLASSES OF WINE

We’ve already explained just what makes Air New Zealand’s wine program so unique—including the fact that the airline takes its role as an ambassador of all things New Zealand very seriously, leading its top brass back in 2004-2005 to make the decision to serve only New Zealand wines (except Champagne and Port) on its planes, and that it serves over 6.5 million glasses of NZ wine a year, making it the largest single server of New Zealand wines in the world.]]> EricRosen 2011-11-16T10:46:33-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/