Sunday Star Times Travel

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators.However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

Choosing the right cruise for your personality

With so many cruises on offer to a seemingly endless list of destinations, it can be daunting to know where to start when it comes to picking a voyage. Cruise Lines International Association master and House of Travel Kāpiti Coast owner shares her top...

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

Small ship luxury meets culinary excellence

For lovers of refined travel, culinary art, and immersive exploration, Oceania Riviera is charting a course that will leave a mark on the cruising world. Making its highly anticipated debut in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific, this...

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

Paradise, Perfected

Royal Davui’s stunning glow up

At The Ends Of The Earth

Remote luxury in Fiordland

Below: Beetlejuice The Musical is running in Melbourne until September. CREDIT: MICHELLE GRACE HUNDER

Right: Juliette Sivertsen looks out over Yardie Creek in Western Australia. CREDIT: JULIETTE SIVERTSEN Ithink I’ve found Australia’s best-kept secret. In northern Western Australia lies the Ningaloo region, a World Heritage area marked by fiery red...

Welcome

Alofaaga Blowholes are one of Savai’i’s top natural wonders. CREDIT: BROOK SABIN

Sydney uncovered: The city’s best secret bars, beaches and bites

Seventy Years Of Magic

When Walt Disney began dreaming of building a theme park in the early 1950s, the concept was ridiculed. At the time, amusement parks were typically dirty, chaotic places with cheap rides and little attention to detail or storytelling. Disney dreamed...

BONITA GRIMA Travel Writer

Ihave just finished a teak-carving session with local artisans in the woodcarving village of Bungamati in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. Wandering through the labyrinth of backstreets, we spy many hidden treasures, but none so striking as the elderly couple...

Northern New South Wales: The under-rated coastal region Kiwis need to visit

Check-in

The Greytown Festival of Christmas is a beloved month-long celebration that transforms the historic Wairarapa village into a sparkling mid-winter wonderland. This year it’s on from June 27 to July 26 and the theme is Christmas Carnival. Festival...

Breathe In, Let Go

Silence is sacred in Bali. It’s marked every year with Nyepi; one whole day where the buzzing island of five million goes quiet to acknowledge the new year and to have time for self-reflection. But for those seeking something more, an hour northwest of...

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

Riding High In Melbourne

Attending Melbourne’s Spring Carnival

A New Era Of Elegance

Bracing myself under a bucket of icy water, my hand lingers on the rope that will tip it over. The spa enclave that houses the jacuzzi and ice contrast shower is enveloped in a tiny canyon of ferns, which feels utterly private apart from the white...

Welcome

The passage to the top of New Zealand’s tallest mountain isn’t what you’d call an accessible outdoor adventure. Reaching the summit of the maunga is a formidable challenge for experienced mountaineers, demanding a high level of fitness and significant...

Princess Panama Canal Cruise from The Big Apple to Los Angeles

Enjoy an unforgettable Panama Canal cruise paired with stays amidst New York’s iconic skyline and the laid-back glamour of Los Angeles. Embark on an unforgettable 22-night adventure, starting in the electrifying city of New York. Spend two nights...

South Africa’s got game: Unmissable experiences on an off-season safari

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

I

na Stuff Travel poll last year 40% of respondents said they prefer to head away for longer than three weeks, with 24% leaning towards a 1-2-week holiday and 21% of travellers preferring a 2-3-week escape. Only 5% of respondents favoured mini holidays...

I

’ve been fortunate to visit most corners of our Pacific backyard – including in-depth Lonely Planet research trips to the Cook Islands and Niue – but the Solomon Islands was off my radar until recently. With just one brief stop in Brisbane, getting...

Plane to Pillow

It’s been seven years since my longest flight, 14.5 hours from Singapore to London, so I’m nervous about what adding another three hours will do for my sanity and sleep deprivation. With an almost 10-hour layover, the flight to Doha is only part of the...

BUTLER SERVICE ON SILVER NOVA

Welcome

How do you plan an adventure? Do you prefer the familiarity of a favourite destination or are you drawn to fresh territory on the map? While there’s something special about revisiting regions, I’m more inclined to step out of my comfort zone and...

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

How to explore the Hawaiian Islands from New Zealand

A holiday in Honolulu is just one flight away with direct flights available on Air New Zealand and Hawaiian Airlines. But how do you explore Hawai‘i’s other islands? Darragh Walshe, tourism director at Hawai‘i Tourism Oceania, shares some tips. Flying...

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

The Pinnacle Of Elegance

Iwas converted to cruising a few years back when I realised how well it catered to my inherent preference to take it easy, but I didn’t think a Disney voyage was for me. As an adult with no children walking this Earth or interest in animated flicks, I...

Islands On A Shoestring

Airlie Beach is an entry point to the Whitsundays, 74 islands off the central coast of Queensland where life slows down and the Great Barrier Reef reveals itself in stunning patches of coral and schools of technicolour fish. Luxury abounds across the...

How to have the ultimate four-day break in New York

48 HOURS IN DALLAS ● MEKONG CRUISING ● KOREA’S DEMILITARISED ZONE

South Pacific Jewel

Feel like you know the South Pacific? Think again, unless you’ve been to a tiny island called Niue. It’s got a population of about 1700, making it one of the smallest countries on the planet. The nation essentially sits on the tip of an ancient extinct...

Soaking Up The Scenery

Lee and I continue our caravan travels around the motu in go-slow and local mode. Municipal swimming pools are proving a real boon for bathing but I’ve also taken to swimming outdoors all year round. Auckland writer Annette Lees is an inspiration. In...

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

Calm In The Wild

Visit Yellowstone National Park in summer, and you’ll be, literally, one in a million. Stop by in winter to see Old Faithful blow, that old geezer of a geyser, and you’ll be one of a few. Native Americans have called this area home for at least 11,000...

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

Eat, Stay, Play

The largest of the Cook Islands makes for an easy tropical holiday. The laidback paradise is just four hours from Auckland and there’s no need to change your New Zealand dollars. EAT Rarotonga has so many great places to eat, from fine-dining...

Car-ismatic Kyushu: Spectacular driving around Japan’s third-largest island

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

In The Spotlight

Where did you go and for how long? Odhrán and I spent a month in Ireland in June, combining family visits with a bit of adventure before we headed off on tour for five months. What was the occcasion? The primary reason for our trip to Ireland was to...

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

HOW WE TRAVEL

Because it is important for our journalists to have first-hand experience, it can be necessary to accept assistance from travel operators. However, we never promise positive coverage in return.

Welcome

Tokyo is without a doubt my favourite city in the world. With a population of more than 14 million, it can be daunting for first-time visitors, but the city is so well connected that once you get the hang of the train system, nowhere is too hard to get...

Picture-perfect Paradise

The place Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora. The space On the five-and-a-bit-hour flight from Auckland to Tahiti, I rewatched the 2011 film Crazy, Stupid, Love. Because, Ryan Gosling. At one point, Gosling takes off his shirt, to which his incredulous...