Tag: New Zealand Travel

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Shopping Two of New Zealand's Best Farmers' Markets: What to See, Smell and Taste

Where: 55 Melmore Terrace, Cromwell, Otago, New Zealand, 9342
December 21, 2011 at 4:06 PM | by | Comments (0)

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:

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Ninja Plane? This Air New Zealand 777 Gets Painted Jet Black

December 19, 2011 at 8:40 AM | by | Comments (0)

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.

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Project Re:Start Brings (Colorful) Retail Back to Christchurch

Where: Cashel Street, Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
December 13, 2011 at 4:25 PM | by | Comments (0)

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.

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Tap, Tap, Tap and You're All Checked In on Qantas

Where: Australia
December 13, 2011 at 10:49 AM | by | Comments (0)

Last year, Qantas changed the feel of the airport experience with their Next-Generation check-in. Thanks to the introduction of towers—each around 5' tall—where you check in with a simple swipe of a membership card, passengers in Qantas domestic terminals are having an overall quieter, less-hectic experience. There's not even the need for a boarding pass, since the bar code on the frequent flyer card is the paperless replacement.

When launched, we told you The Red Kangaroo was on the forefront of this technology, trialing in a few cities around Australia before introducing it, practically, across the entire domestic system in 2010. Ticket counters have been replaced with traditional kiosks for those who do not have a smart-chip card, but the number of towers outnumber the kiosks. We have had the chance to use this innovation and think it's pretty amazing, not only because of the technology but also for its efficiency and massive help on cutting down the time from airport door to plane door.

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Five Foods You've Just Got to Try in New Zealand

December 6, 2011 at 10:29 AM | by | Comments (0)

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.

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Air New Zealand Kills Off Their Viral Video Puppet. Literally.

December 5, 2011 at 2:04 PM | by | Comment (1)

Air New Zealand's new viral media campaign asks fans and followers to solve the murder of Rico, their obnoxious creepster of a puppet, by playing an online game.

The rat-like character, you'll remember, had been slowly making the transition merely sleazy to borderline rapey over a series of videos. Apparently the airline's creatives ran out of ideas, so they killed him.

The game is a Clue knockoff in which players are asked to determine which celebrity killed Rico where with what etc etc. The story is that Rico was killed at a Hollywood house-warming party, and so many of his former interviewees apparently make appearances. There's also some kind of prize which includes economy airfare to LA, a hotel stay, Universal Studios and Disney vouchers, and some other stuff. We're unsure whether "not playing the game at all" because "you really don't care" makes you eligible, but the rules and conditions spell everything out.

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Where to See (and Swim With) the World’s Smallest Dolphins and Penguins

November 29, 2011 at 12:39 PM | by | Comment (1)

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.

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Gotta Get Away? Air New Zealand Now Lets You 'Grabaseat' for Cheap

November 29, 2011 at 8:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

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.

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The Who, What, Where, and Why of the Air New Zealand Wine Awards

November 16, 2011 at 10:46 AM | by | Comments (0)

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.

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Flying 14 Hours in Air New Zealand's Snazzy New White 'Spaceseat'

October 4, 2011 at 4:34 PM | by | Comment (1)

And now a dispatch from DJ Max Graham, who's somewhere off in the world...

I spent 36 hours with Air New Zealand recently; that's 14 hours in the infamous Skycouch on the way to Auckland from LA, many hours in assorted airport lounges, and 14 hours back, where I was lucky enough to be upgraded to Business the new Premium Economy called "Spaceseats." This is my review of that second leg.

First off, Air NZ gets it. Not only are they pushing the boundaries of the in-flight experience with completely innovative and unique products, but their staff are simply excellent. The small country has a pride you can feel in the flagship airline’s staff, and smiles were all around.

I was extremly excited to try the “Spaceseat” on the new Boeing 777-300ER and ended up with a bulkhead window and no one beside me. Right away I felt as if I was accidentally in business class, hoping nobody catches me. There’s no way this is just an economy product! But it is. Bottled Water, pillow and blanket greeted me as I entered my pod.

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Lindsay Lohan Stars Opposite Air New Zealand's Creepy Puppet Rico. Hilarity Ensues.

August 2, 2011 at 11:30 AM | by | Comments (3)

By our count this is the third or fourth round of viral Air New Zealand ads with their overtly sexual spokespuppet Rico, and the second time we're posting about him. The first time around we dubbed him a creepster, awarded him no points, and asked God to have mercy not only on his soul, but also on the souls of the creatives who did the ads and the focus group participants who found the videos funny.

The overarching concept is that Rico keeps talking about how awesome New Zealand is, except he explains himself by saying dirty things like "I love her bush—it's amazing," "I can feel her wind—she's blowing you," and "you can lick the crack." Get it? Because he's a felt hand puppet with fangs, but he says things that are sexual. How could this idea get any better, you might wonder. By having Lindsay Lohan guest star opposite Rico. Obviously.

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Chile's Puyehue Volcano Eruption Grounding Flights Across Australia and New Zealand

June 13, 2011 at 8:49 AM | by | Comments (0)

Well this is getting kind of tired. In March Big Ash Problems caused by erupting volcanoes grounding flights throughout Japan. Then in May it was Europe's turn, with the ash cloud from Iceland's Grimsvotn eruption disrupting air travel first in Scotland and then in other parts of the continent.

Now the Puyehue volcano in Chile has blown its top. First the ash cloud first wrecked havoc on Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Then over the weekend it traveled across the Pacific and shut down airports from Melbourne to New Zealand. With some flights still grounded indefinitely, 2011 is shaping up to be even worse than 2010, the year of vengeful air travel volcano gods.

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