Go to extremes

It's time to hang up the skis and leap into New Zealand's other adrenaline sports. Steve McKenna straps himself in for a heart-racing tour.

Snow-cloaked mountains, rolling green hills, plunging valleys - you know the drill: New Zealand is a stunningly picturesque place.

Whether you travel by car, coach or campervan, you are guaranteed to capture some beautiful sights.

By pushing yourself that little bit further, perhap

Arrivals set to shake up the travel industry

The travel industry is getting a shake-up with some new arrivals, a departure and a rapidly growing online customer base.

And the big changes are not over yet, according to some major players.

US heavyweight Expedia launched its New Zealand website last week, while a new local player Mondo has just opened its first stores and online agency Zuji announced it would shut down its local online site.

Expedia New Zealand and Australia managing director Arthur Hoffman said the travel market here was worth about $25 billion each year but only about 5 per cent was done online, compared to about 60 per cent in the UK and US.

Expedia.co.nz Launches in New Zealand

Expedia, Inc. , the world's leading online travel company, today announced the launch of its New Zealand website -- http://www.expedia.co.nz -- a full-service travel booking site designed specifically to meet the needs of New Zealand travellers.

"New Zealand is a very important market in the Asia Pacific region, worth over USD$17bn in 2007(1), so we know Kiwis just love to travel," said Arthur Hoffman, managing director of Expedia.co.nz(TM). "We are very excited to help New Zealanders research, plan and book their perfect holiday with all the benefits of Expedia's global product range, competitive prices, and in-depth travel and destination information."

Expedia.co.nz has an unprecedented product range including over 75,000 hotels, flights from all major airlines, car rental companies and over 3,000 activities and attractions around the world.

New Zealand in a fortnight

We are planning to visit some friends in Sydney, and having gone all that way, are looking to then spend a couple of weeks touring New Zealand. We prefer to be in a group (so that we might make some new friends), but do you know of a good tour of the country that would show us the highlights? We prefer to travel out of peak season, but before it gets too cold.

Air New Zealand earns its queer wings

It is nigh impossible to resist a man in uniform. Especially if he's performing a cabaret while flying your festive "Pink Plane" straight from the sunny shores of San Francisco to the legendary Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia. The February 26th flight, following what promises to be a memorable "Get-Onboard -Girlfriend" pre-takeoff fete at San Francisco International Airport, is even gay-tuning the inflight entertainment. Drag queens and pink cocktails will stalk the aisles as gay-themed movies, music, and contests fill the 14-hour adventure.

Bungee in New Zealand

QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand — I stepped to the edge of the launch platform and poked my head over the side. I could see the tops of trees around an opening a couple of hundred feet below, where the rock face of the mountainside sloped almost straight down. The view sent a slight shiver down my spine and set off a flutter at the bottom of my stomach. "You don't need to see where you're going," the guy tending the bungee site called "The Ledge" advised calmly in his New Zealand accent. "Are you ready?"
I've heard that some first-timers stall at this point and think things over, but this was no time for thinking.