Strolling, floating, or cruising, here are some laid-back ways to make the most of the city.

Bream Head's stunning landscape is just hours from Auckland, writes Andrew Stone.

Bronwyn Sell enjoys a girls' weekend away with a difference - a walk and wine in the Coromandel's Kauaeranga Valley.

New Zealand has placed third in the Top Country category of UK magazine Wanderlust's Travel Awards.

Paul Lewis and Andrew Alderson pick some top spots to swing your clubs.

Scientists using underwater robots have discovered remnants of the Pink Terraces on the floor of Lake Rotomahana, near Rotorua.

Never mind Europe's easy weekend haunts, we have Waiheke Island, writes Kerri Jackson.

The Auckland Anniversary Day regatta has always been a family affair for yachting legend Penny Whiting - while she was being born, her father was on the Waitemata Harbour racing in the very same regatta.

The biggest signing of the Treaty of Waitangi was in the Hokianga. Liz Light visits the site that will host an alternative Waitangi celebration next month.

Follow the wildlife to Tawharanui Regional Park near Matakana, New Zealand's first integrated open sanctuary. It's not just for the birds, as Danielle Wright discovers.

After watching all those yachts on the harbour this weekend you might be itching to get among them. Diana Clement had a go at learning how to sail.

Nature, wildife, culture, history, gorgeous food and a dose of adrenalin - Cate Foster takes advantage of the pleasures of the Bay of Islands.

X marks the spot for eager youngsters in our treasure trove of fossil shellfish and dinosaur bones, writes Alex Tully.

Peter Calder takes a break from creature comforts - and city slickers.

Mitimiti's windswept beauty transports Liz Light to a land - and time - far away.

A driver is being labelled by police as foolhardy for trying to take a bus full of tourists up reputedly the world's steepest street.

Milking cows, riding dirt bikes, sliding in the mud ... The Farm's charm proves irresistible to families, discovers Diana Clement.

Kerri Jackson swaps cocktails for maritime exploration on Wellington's waterfront.

Pack up the tent and the kids and head ... across town. We round up some unexpected campsites right here in Auckland.

Photographer Sarah Ivey, who grew up in the Mackenzie Country, uses her camera to introduce the rugged beauty of a place few New Zealanders have visited.

If you've run out of ideas to keep yourself busy these holidays Julie Harries has a novel idea guaranteed to get the suggestions flowing.

This small Bay of Plenty settlement is a great destination for a long weekend away, finds Diana Clement.

In principle the Conservation Department wants as many of the public as possible to enjoy the estate their taxation maintains. In practice, it is not very good at making that possible.

There's plenty to do on and off a cruise ship, finds Shandelle Battersby, and the attentive staff make cruising even better.

A retired mechanic has modified his car so he can tuck it under his bed.

Paul Rush dives below Raglan's surface to sample its many shore-based attractions.

Liz Light explores Westport; a town that owes its prosperity to the earth's bounty.

A set of "absolutely disgusting" toilets at the entrance to one of New Zealand's best short walks has drawn complaints that they are a blight on tourism.

Handing Department of Conservation campgrounds to private companies to run will turn them into "canvas subdivisions", says Labour's tourism spokesman Kelvin Davis.

Authentic Kiwi baches where you can escape without leaving the city boundaries.