Flights To Fancy

The Winery Queenstown: Taste 80 Fabulous Wines In The Heart Of Town

Wine glass on wooden table

Where are all my fellow wine lovers at? Have I got a treat in store for you! I stumbled on The Winery Queenstown quite by accident and I’m sure glad I did. Queenstown was the third stop on our road trip through New Zealand’s stunning South Island and we had three nights in town. The Hubs and I were aimlessly wandering through Queenstown one sunny afternoon when he popped into The Oakley store for a ‘quick look’. I love the man to bits, but I knew there would nothing quick about his look so I let him do his thing while I browsed around for a bit on my own. I didn’t get far because two doors up I spotted a sign promising the opportunity to taste test 80+ wines inside. Who could possibly resist that?

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4 Te Anau Restaurants You Should Try On Your Next Visit to New Zealand

Te Anau Restaurants: The Moose Garlic Bread

I popped into several Te Anau restaurants before deciding where to eat during our two days in town. Most restaurants in Te Anau are either on the main street (Town Centre) or on the lake shore (Lakefront Dr). While Te Anau is not a big town, there is still enough variety to please the palette during your stay. Read on for all the details…

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Winnies Queenstown Pizza Bar Will Satisfy Your Gourmet Pizza Cravings

Winnies Queenstown Pizza Exterior

Queenstown in New Zealand’s Stunning South Island has no shortage of fine dining establishments, but sometimes the only thing that can satisfy your hunger pangs is a really good pizza. Luckily when you are in The Adventure Capital Of The World, Winnies Queenstown has you covered. Winnies Gourmet Pizza Bar has been serving up pizza in Queenstown ‘since forever’ and is well worth a visit. Read on for all the details of my Queenstown pizza fix …

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Amazing Short Mount Cook Walks Under 2 Hours For Lazy Hikers

Mount Cook Walks: Hooker Valley Track

They call it hiking in the US, rambling in the UK, bush walking in Australia and tramping in New Zealand. No matter where you are from on this great big blue planet, or what you call it, there is something supremely satisfying about walking amid nature. Mount Cook in New Zealand’s stunning South Island is the perfect place to swap skyscrapers for soaring mountains, gridlocked traffic for gurgling rivers and pounding the pavement for perambulating on natural paths. There are a tonne of Mount Cook walks to choose from and you don’t need to hike 46,000 kilometres for 12 hours straight to get up close and personal with nature. I’m not the most active person in the world (working on that!), but I didn’t want to miss out and I thoroughly enjoyed our jaunts along the Hooker Valley Track and Tasman Glacier Walk. If you are like me, these short Mt Cook hikes will satisfy your inner Bear Grylls without requiring hospitalisation. Read on for all the details …

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Hotel Montreal Christchurch: A Fabulous Christchurch Luxury Hotel

Hotel Montreal Christchurch Exterior

What do you look for in a Christchurch luxury hotel? When I recently visited the Garden City in New Zealand’s stunning South Island I had a very clear set of deliverables for my accommodation. First and foremost, a king size bed for optimum sleep quality was paramount. Secondly, being in the heart of the Christchurch city was essential for our brief stay. And thirdly, I wanted a spacious sitting area for a pre-dinner drink with a friend. The Hotel Montreal Christchurch ticked every box and then some. Read on for all the details …

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Cathedral Cove Kayak Tours is the Best Experience in the Coromandel

Fash Packing by SFH: Cathedral Cove Kayak Tours - Kayaks on Hahei Beach

New Zealand is renowned for it’s spectacular natural beauty. Often the South Island is considered the headline act but if you think the North has nothing to offer you have obviously never been to the Coromandel Peninsula. Cathedral Cove kayaking is a must-do in New Zealand. The Coromandel tempts visitors with mild temperatures, pure white sand beaches, impossibly clear aquamarine waves, craggy cliffs and dramatic rock formations. Mother Nature has a wicked sense of humour and makes her most special creations just inaccessible enough so only the truly dedicated get to enjoy their majesty. Getting from Whitianga to Cathedral Cove is a little tricky but kayaking Cathedral Cove is well worth the effort. Cathedral Cove can only be reached by foot or boat and the best way to get there is with Cathedral Cove Kayak Tours. The paddling is easy, the guides are knowledgeable and the scenery is breathtaking. What are you waiting for? Read on for all the details …

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New Zealand Road Trip: 7 Day North Island Itinerary

Fash Packing: New Zealand Road Trip 7 Day North Island Itinerary - Title

I have been to New Zealand’s North Island once before, but it was only for three days and I barely had time to acclimatise before I was boarding a plane home. I left vowing to return. While The Hubs was in the South Island for a ski about 20 yeas ago, he has never been to the North, so we were both really looking forward to exploring this wonderfully diverse region on our 7 day New Zealand Road Trip. New Zealand is a small country, but there is much to see and we knew we would never be able to fit everything into our week. We forced ourselves to be really precise with our itinerary and deliberated endlessly to achieve the perfect balance between not doing enough and being in the car for 10 hours a day watching the world whiz by the window. I have no issue creating a run sheet that has every waking hour planned in 15 minute increments but The Hubs needs to have some down time. The FOMO monster raised her ugly head more that once during our planning sessions as I attempted to convince my man that we could indeed squeeze in ‘just one more’ activity and STILL have plenty of time to relax. In the end, we created an itinerary to explore Auckland, The Coromandel Peninsula, Rotorua, Waitomo and Hamilton that suited us both. Read on for all the details …

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Emirates A380 International Business EK418 SYD-AKL

Fash Packing: Emirates A380 Business Class Review - Bar

I love luxury travel but I begrudge paying top dollar for it. This blog is dedicated to experiencing the champagne lifestyle on a beer budget and using your frequent flier points wisely is one of the best money saving hacks there is. That’s exactly what we did for our recent trip to New Zealand. We blew a heap of points to fly across the Tasman on Emirates A380 Business Class for nix. Was it worth it? Read on for all the details …

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