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Camping at its best at the DOC campsites

If you want to enjoy the country and enjoy the many regional and national parks of the North Island and the South Island, you can spend your nights in the amazing DOC campgrounds. DOC (Department Of Conservation) manages the nature reserves of New Zealand and allows you to spend your nights in beautiful locations for around $10 NZD per night.

These campsites are often in some of the best locations around the country – in national parks, alongside the Great Walks and in tranquil and secluded spots. They are quite basic, offering ‘back to nature’ style accommodation and facilities – that’s why they’re so cheap. A full list of campsites by region can be found on the DoC website. Here are some of our favourites:

Rerewhakaaitu, Brett Road – Rotorua

Camp on the shores of Lake Rerewhakaaitu. Take binoculars for bird watching. There is good fishing, swimming and walking nearby.

Address :
Rerewhakaaitu Lake is 29 km south of Rotorua. Turn the state highway 5 on State Highway 38, thenRerewhakaaitu Road. Follow Brett Road, Awaatua Bay.

Website: www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/conservation-campsites-by-region/bay-of-plenty/rotorua-lakes/rerewhakaaitu-brett-road/
Price: $6 per adult per night – unpowered site
$3 per child (5 – 17) $0 – child (0 – 4)

Curio Bay Camping Ground (featured image)

DOC Campsite Curio Bay offers a magnificent view of the Catlins in the South Island. By the sea, the site offers the basic facilities. Curio Bay is known for its surfing beaches and for Hector dolphins who regularly play with the surfers. The terrain offers 75 tent pitches without electricity and 25 sites with power and a dump station. Kitchen and laundry facilities available.

Address : 601 Waikawa-Curio Bay Rd, Tokanui 9884
Telephone : 03-246 8897
Price : starts from $11 – $20 per night / per person
Reservations preferred.

Cascade Creek in Fiordland

From this campsite you can enjoy a wonderful view of the mountains and fjords. A stream runs through the middle of the camp. You can also enjoy outdoor activities such as fishing, or a one-hour walk that will take you to the picturesque Lake Gunn. This location is ideal to prolong the experience of a cruise in the fjords, or before reaching the beautiful region of turquoise lakes.

Address : Cascade Creek – DOC Campsite Fiordland,
Adjacent to SH 94, 76 km north of Te Anau
Website: www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/conservation-campsites-by-region/fiordland/northern-fiordland/cascade-creek/
Price: $6 per adult per night – non powered site

Matata Conservation Campsite – Eastern Bay of Plenty

The Matata campsite is a paradise for fishermen and nature lovers. This DOC campsite is right next to the Matata wildlife sanctuary. An impressive number of birds are found here and you can see them through many viewing points put in place by DOC. There are also many walks inside the park.

Address :
Off Arawa Street in Matata township, head across the causeway to the campground, 200 m
Website: www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/conservation-campsites-by-region/bay-of-plenty/eastern-bay-of-plenty/matata/
Price : 6NZ$/night per adult, unpowered site.

Fantail Bay Campsite – Coromandel

Fantail Bay is a small campsite surrounded by large Pohutukawas. The rocky beach is ideal for lovers of fishing and diving.

Address :
From Coromandel take Colville Road for 22 km to Whangaahei Junction, then turn left and follow the signs to Port Jackson Road for 28 km. Tel : +64 7 866 6685
Website : www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/conservation-campsites-by-region/coromandel/fantail-bay/
Price : 10NZ$/night, per adult, unpowered site.

7 Ways to Experience Sydney Like a Local

The city of bridges, most awe-inspiring skyline and a melting pot of tourist activities. Ask any Sydney-sider and he will proudly say he lives in the most beautiful city in the entire world. Splashed by the great Pacific Ocean on the right and fenced with a massive Blue Mountains range on the left, this place truly has it all, and is as such on everyone’s bucket list.

While this is something you could read in any other tourist guide, we’re here to take you on a walkabout and show you some of the more and less mainstream places us locals really hand out at on a regular day off.

Head Straight to the Beach

You didn’t travel all that way not to walk barefoot on one of the most beautiful sandy beaches in the world – but careful now, Bondi beach is not just about lying in the sun, working on your tan. Oh no, if you want a true Down Under experience, you have to dip your toes into the fresh ocean water. And not just to swim, but fight the big waves that come crashing into the shore. Still, if you’re looking for a secluded corner to gather your thoughts, there’s no better place than Milk Beach, right above the Hermit Point.

Climb the Tower Eye

Maybe walking through the overcrowded streets can make you feel like this is just another jam-packed American-like city; that’s why every local will send you straight to the Observation Deck at the Sydney Tower Eye, as it gives you a bird’s eye view of the place. Standing exactly 268 meters above the ground will make you feel like you have Sydney right there, at the palm of your hand. Furthermore, if you’re looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, be sure to book a table at a 360 Bar and Dining, restaurant known for its spectacular view of… well, everything.

Keep Your Feet Firm on the Ground

If heights are not your cup of tea, Sydney boasts a number of exciting walking tours along the harbor. You can start from Potts Point, stop at the Royal Botanic Gardens, a heaven for city wildlife. Then move on to The Rocks, this city’s oldest neighbourhoods, and continue on to Tumbalong Park. Yet, you will need to refresh yourself in a modern Blackbird cafe, known for its vibrant atmosphere and delicious Australian dishes (and the best Oreo cheesecake ever!).

Take a Ferry Boat Ride

After this little break, walk to Darling Harbour and hop on a ferry ride which enables you to see the harbour from a completely different perspective. From Sydney Theatre Company, Opera House and Harbour Bridge, straight to the famous Taronga Zoo. This harbour-side flora and fauna attraction represents a home to 340 animal species and endless photo opportunities.

Go Out in Style

Admiring the Opera House architecture from the quay or a cruise ship is one thing, but getting the tickets to a live show would be an out-of-this-world experience. There’s always something interesting on the repertoire, no matter the genre you prefer.

However, as we understand you cannot forget about the price tag, instead of the Opera House, we could direct you towards the Museum of Sydney on Bridge Street – a modern building preserving some of the most ancient archaeological findings of the continent.

Stay Out in the Fresh Air

Although Sydney’s wining and dining scene should not be missed out on, every local will recommend taking an afternoon off to visit Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. Escape the sound of a busy restaurant and hectic traffic, pack up a picnic basket, a couple of tuna fish sandwiches and a bottle of wine; place your plaid blanket on the grass and enjoy, jet again, an outstanding view of the harbor. You know what else Sydney-siders do when they come here? Play a little count the weddings game, because that’s how many happy couples you’ll see passing by.

Be Young and Wild and Free

Certainly, Sydney is one of the most sophisticated places in the world, but it doesn’t mean you can’t loosen up a bit, go out and have the night of your life. What locals do is start with drinks in Darlinghurst and head to one of the night clubs in George Street. From the 80 Proof on the south, to Star Bar at the corner of Wilmot Street, you can dance the night away with the music of your choice – there’s a little bit of something for everyone.

So… What’s it going to be first?

Peter Minkoff is a travel writer at VoiceBoks and MediaPA magazine from NZ. Beside writing he worked as a travel journalist for many publications around UK & AU. Follow Peter on Twitter for more tips.

Tasmania Calling: Best Summer Festivals This Year

If you plan to visit Australia, or more specifically Tasmania, this summer, you’re in for a treat. This summer will see many different events, festivals and celebrations organised all over the place and you’re sure to find something to your liking.

Festivale

Towards the end of the summer, City Park in Launceston comes to life, as people from all parts of the world flock to attend Festivale. A quarter of a century ago, a street party was organised and little did the organisers know about the success that would ensue.

This event, now featuring not only music, but food and drinks as well, is organised at the time of the year when the weather conditions are supposed to be perfect for an outdoor festival. So, if you’re anywhere near Launceston around the weekend when the event is organised, make sure you check this festival out. You most certainly won’t regret it.

MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival

The MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival is organised every two years and if you’re planning to visit Tasmania in February 2017, you’re in luck. Hobart’s waterfront will once again be host to hundreds of wooden boats of various sizes, used for different purposes. The owners and manufacturers are all there, willing to chat to visitors about their prized possessions.

Of course, there’s much more to the festival than just boats. Music, food and drinks from Tasmania, races and exhibitions all add to the overall vibe of the event. The best part is that it’s all free of charge!

Getting around

Once you’ve sorted out your accommodation, you need to look at the transportation options. Apart from taking a bus or flying from one place to another, now you can also get a free car or campervan. As it is a one-way rental, once you’re done travelling from one festival to another, you can simply leave the vehicle at one of their subsidiaries. An increasing number of young people are doing this in an attempt to save as much money and be able to attend as many festivals as possible.

As you can see, there’s so much that Tasmania has to offer in terms of summer festivals. There are also many smaller ones, held at many towns in the region, so you just need to check local tourist organisations for more information. What is guaranteed though is that you’ll have a whale of time down under this summer.

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Wooden Boat Festival

7 Secrets for Planning a Truly Amazing Picnic

There are few people who don’t like picnics, especially when the weather is nice. Not many things are better than enjoying nature in company of those you love, with fine and carefully prepared food and drinks.

Unlike those from the past, present-day picnics don’t feature furniture, silver cutlery and servants running around in an attempt to please their masters. Everything is less formal, but that doesn’t mean that it’s less enjoyable. Even if you don’t have much time to organise every single detail, you can still have a great time.

Several things can turn a picnic into a memorable event and here are some tips you might want to consider when planning your own picnic.

Choose location and company

Two of the three most important elements of every picnic (the third one being food and drinks) are most definitely the venue and people you’re planning to invite. You need to start from choosing a suitable, if not perfect, location and those you’d like to keep you company. Your choice when it comes to these two element has profound implications on the food and drinks you’ll be preparing.

As we said, most people simply love picnics, which means that you’re not likely to have your invitation turned down by anyone, especially friends. Now, when it comes to location, you can choose anything from your not-so-inspiring backyard or a slightly-more-inviting local park to the-most-popular beach or a mountain campsite.

Depending on your company, certain solutions might be preferable to others. For example, if you’re planning to have a lot of young kids, you need to find a place with enough toilets or secluded places where they can do their business. Some people insist on having running water in the vicinity of their picnic spot, which really narrows down the options.

Carefully choose the time

Depending on the time of the day you choose, you’ll need to bring different clothes and some other gear. For example, if you want to have breakfast, you can count on a chilly morning, but you can expect the temperature to rise. On the other hand, if you start in the afternoon and plan to continue late into the evening, you might need to light a fire or grill to warm up or prepare some camping food for everyone.

Try to please you guests

Your guests are likely to be happy to have been invited, but their delight doesn’t have to end there. Namely, if you take their needs or penchants into account, you may pack various things to help them enjoy the event even more. For instance, an elderly guest is likely to appreciate a folding chair, while kids can never have enough of various balls, hoops, or almost any toys for that matter.

Sitting is important

A lot of time is spent sitting during a picnic, which is why you need to bring a beach towel, old tablecloth, mat or blanket. A woven mat is particularly convenient if you’re picnicking on a beach, since it keeps the sand out of the food. Of course, if your car is big enough, folding chairs are an excellent option, too. If you are looking for other seating options, check out this interesting piece.

Food

The number of people and their preferences are the most important factors influencing the decision regarding the food you’ll bring. Generally speaking, you need some food that you can easily eat from a plate you’re keeping on your lap or out of a wrapper.

Desserts are usually not a problem, especially if you choose pies or tarts from a bakery or homemade cookies. Sandwiches are another popular option, but their popularity is contested by the increasing popularity of salads. Whatever you choose, you don’t need to complicate too much.

Drinks

This is an extremely important thing to get right, since if you are somewhere far from any store, you might have problems if people don’t have enough of their favourite drink. And in case you feel like experimenting, you can even throw a genuine cocktail party. Here are some picnic-friendly mixes to tickle your fancy.

What you mustn’t forget to pack, though, is water. Bottled water is getting more expensive, and since you’d be needing plenty of it, using a good water filter and filling your water bottles is not only more convenient, but also much cheaper and earth-friendly than buying bottled water.

Other things to pack

Since you’ll be spending time in nature, you need some sort of insect repellent, sunscreen, napkins, matches and hand sanitisers, to mention just a few items. Those more prepared also pack a first-aid kit with bandages and plasters.

Also, you need to collect all leftovers, paper or plastic plates and cups, since you don’t want to leave any food behind. For that purpose, you need to bring enough plastic bags and aluminium foil or containers with lids. Wet wipes are useful for cleaning hands, while garbage bags help you clean the whole place up and leave no mess behind.

So, if you follow these tips, you’re likely to have an amazing time. Sure, there might be some insects attracted by your food, annoying passers-by inspecting the content of your basket, or Frisbees ending up in food after they knock over several bottles or cups, but, on the other hand, there might be none of that, but just a group of loving people, enjoying their time together.

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Exploring New Zealand on the Cheap: The Ultimate Backpacker’s Guide

If you are an avid backpacker looking for a genuine summer adventure, New Zealand is the perfect destination for that. The land of scenic landscape, rocky mountains and lovely beaches will leave you speechless the moment you arrive. Since it has so much to offer, you should put on a backpack and start exploring. For a truly unique experience, you need to be prepared and informed, so here’s what you need to know.

Where to Start?

The most breathtaking beauties of New Zealand are at the South Island, which means that you should save the best for last. Therefore, start exploring the land of many unspoiled areas from North (the Coromandel Peninsula and the Bay of Islands, to name a few) to South. This way you can cover everything and leave the highlight of your trip for its ending. As you slowly progress towards the South, you will feel your excitement building up, so imagine how you will feel when you finally experience the best of the best that New Zealand has to offer.

How About a Free a Car?

You’ll have a lot of places to visit and a variety of activities to try out, so if you find it hard to keep up with the bus or train schedules or you are not particularly keen of hitchhiking, now there’s an option for free one-way car rentals in New Zealand, allowing you to go wherever you want and whenever you want. You can visit some secluded areas which you wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise, and you’ll have a completely different experience if you’re behind the wheel, not having to organise your trip to someone else’s schedule, but create one that actually works for you.

Where to Stay?

There’s a variety of different options when it comes to accommodation, but you should keep one thing in mind – stay away from the chain hotels. These hotels aren’t budget-friendly, which means that you’ll spend a lot of money and be broke by the time you reach the middle of your trip. Instead, you can find motels, hostels and resorts with self-contained accommodation, both in North and South, that are much more affordable, but equally comfortable. You can also go for AirBnB, which is a great opportunity to save money, and meet new and interesting people who can give you tips on which places to visit.

Buy a New Zealand Sim Card

While exploring New Zealand, you should use one of their operators to cut down on the roaming expenses. You should find the one with the best offer when it comes to the international calls and the Internet packages (assuming that you’ll keep in touch with your friends and family). You can inform yourself prior to your travel, pick one of the three operators and not worry about it when you arrive to the country.

Try Bungee Jumping

If you’ve always wanted to do something daring and exciting, New Zealand is the perfect choice for you. You shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do a bungee jump while you’re there, so make sure to put this on your to-do list. Since you’ll probably arrive in Auckland, you won’t have to go far for such experience. Just visit the Auckland Harbour Bridge, take a deep breath and jump! Your heart will be racing, you’ll be afraid and you’ll love it! Since it’s summer, you can try a jump with a river dip – you won’t be cold! And if you are looking for a more private experience, Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown is what you are looking for.

Don’t Miss Mountain Biking

It won’t be difficult to find mountain track where you can try this activity, but Rotorua, located on the North Island, is the centre of the mountain biking in New Zealand. It’s really simple – just rent a bike, and take a day to explore the trails in the Whakarewarewa Forest. This is a great opportunity to enjoy the scenic landscapes and get yourself in shape!

Summer time is the perfect period for exploring the natural beauties of New Zealand. Instead of retreating to your home, pack your bags, get your free car and go on the trip of your lifetime.

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How to care for your car windows

We all love that new car smell and that beautiful experience of sitting in a new car and looking at the world through those wonderful windows.

Everything looks pretty and vibrant. Like wearing a pair of new glasses and the world just looks clearer. But as time progresses, the world doesn’t seem so vibrant anymore.

Everything looks obscure as the sun light bounces off the windows. Cars function well when they are cleaned, oiled and maintained well. Car windows need to be cleaned too.

They need more than just cleaning, they require other requirements that help keep the windows in good condition.

To help your car windows last longer and have the same quality and effect it did when you first bought it you must follow some basic requirements.

Wash them regularly

There is more than just dirt sticking to your car windows especially the rear window. Water residue and even bird droppings get stuck on your glass and can obstruct your view of the world outside.

You can still get that view back. All you’ve got to do is clean your windows with a high quality cleaner. You will need to clean them both inside and out and this helps restore your windows clarity, removes all the dirt out of the way and helps it last longer.

New wiper blades

Wipers wear out over time and can cause minimal damage to the windows. The metal edges can cause scratches on the windscreen that will be irreparable.

wiper-blades

You need to replace the wipers as soon as you begin to notice that they are wearing out or they develop a tear in the rubber of the wipers.

You first begin to notice this when there are streaks on your windscreen or a little of the rubber comes loose.

Safe distance

One of the first principles we learn when we start driving is to keep a safe distance between the car ahead of us as well as the one behind us.

The cars in front of us can spin gravel onto your windscreen and rear window that can chip or crack it.

They can even chip the paint of your car. There are instances when there is a crack or chip in the windscreen that can cause a glare that will bounce off the windscreen and can be dangerous to you as well as those on the road. The only way is to replace the windscreen altogether.

Repair them right away

The best thing to do for any damage is to repair it right away. The chips caused by differing stones of different sizes can impact your window in a bad way, causing your car windows to chip or crack.

windscreen-chip-repair

The smallest of craters formed can create air to flow in and spread the crack on to a bigger surface. And so if this is left unrepaired, it can be dangerous as well as pricey to fix later on. Repairing a chip is better than an entire windscreen or window.

Avoid sunlight

Whenever possible, avoid parking in direct sunlight. Temperatures can be a major contributing factor for the shattering of the windscreen and/or rear windows.

The chips and cracks can spread and can cause more damage to the car. Parking in the shade is the best option available that can help prevent damage.

About the author:

Darren Pay and Justin Oakes head A1Windscreens, and are known to offer services for car windscreen replacement and repair. Their years of expertise coupled with the latest technology makes them one of the best professional services for car window replacement and tinting windows in Melbourne.