Aotearoa - untamed
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The latest travel stories to fuel your next adventure.
22 October 2026
Planning to see both islands of Aotearoa in one epic trip? At Stray, Auckland to Christchurch is one of our favourite journeys to share, taking in glowworm caves, steaming geothermal valleys and volcanic peaks in the north, then golden beaches, the wild West Coast and the snow-capped Southern Alps in the south....
01 September 2026
Stray trips are built so the logistics disappear: private transport, hand-picked places to stay, activities booked as you go and a crew who handle the details. This page covers how it all works, from the seats to the payments. Stray is more than a bus. Depending on the trip you'll travel by private coach, train, boat and even tuk tuk, and because our vehicles are private, we go where the big coaches don't and stop when there's a reason to: bathroom breaks, meals, viewpoints and spontaneous photo stops included....
01 September 2026
New Zealand is one of the world's great working holiday destinations, and not just because the scenery makes every day off feel like a highlight reel. Seasonal and working holiday jobs are generally easy to find, the volunteering scene is world-class, and the whole country is compact enough to explore before you decide where to settle for a season. This guide covers the three things every working traveller needs sorted: the visa, the job, and the plan....
01 September 2026
The bottom of New Zealand saves the biggest drama for last. Fiordland is a world of sheer granite walls, rainforest and thousand-metre waterfalls, crowned by Milford Sound, the place Rudyard Kipling reputedly called the eighth wonder of the world. And beyond the mainland's southern tip, across Foveaux Strait, lies Stewart Island: a glimpse of what New Zealand looked like before people arrived, where the roads run out after 20 kilometres and the kiwi roam in daylight. Here's the full guide to going deep south....
01 September 2026
Mackenzie Country is where the South Island goes big: a high, wide basin of impossibly turquoise lakes, golden tussock and the tallest mountains in New Zealand, all under some of the clearest, darkest night skies on the planet. Two stops anchor it. Lake Tekapo, a tiny lakeside town with hot pools and a hilltop observatory, and Aoraki Mount Cook, the 3,724-metre giant at the head of the valley. Here's how to make the most of both....
01 September 2026
Wānaka is Queenstown's chilled-out little brother: a charming mountain town of around 8,000 people on the shore of one of the most beautiful lakes in the country, with all of the adventure and none of the queues. Summer means lake days and big hikes; winter turns it into the gateway to Treble Cone and Mt Aspiring National Park. It's also home to the most photographed tree in New Zealand, a maze that's been confusing people since 1973, and a skydive with Mt Cook on the horizon. Here's the full guide....
01 September 2026
Queenstown didn't ask to be called the adventure capital of the world; it earned it. This alpine town of 28,000 on the shore of Lake Wakatipu invented commercial bungy jumping, perfected the jet boat, and stacked more adrenaline per square kilometre than anywhere on the planet, all framed by the Remarkables mountain range and a healthy amount of Lord of the Rings scenery. And when the adrenaline runs out, the town keeps going: legendary burgers, $5 beers, ice bars and a nightlife that outperforms cities ten times its size. Here's the full rundown....
01 September 2026
The West Coast is the South Island at its wildest: a long, narrow strip of rugged coastline and rainforest squeezed between the Tasman Sea and the Southern Alps, where just 33,000 people share the space with fur seals, rare kiwi and two of the most accessible glaciers on earth. This is the stretch of the trip where the scenery does the talking. Here's everything worth stopping for, from the seal colonies of Cape Foulwind to the ice caves of Franz Josef and the skydive over Fox....
01 September 2026
The east coast of the South Island pairs two places that couldn't be more different, or work better together. Christchurch, the Garden City, has rebuilt itself into one of New Zealand's most interesting urban stories: street art, laneway bars and a food scene born from reinvention. Two and a half hours north, tiny Kaikōura sits between mountains and a deep ocean trench that brings giant sperm whales within sight of shore all year round. Here's how to do them both properly....
01 September 2026
The top of the South Island is where New Zealand turns the brightness up. This is the sunniest corner of the country: golden beaches, turquoise water, world-famous sauvignon blanc and the most beautiful of New Zealand's Great Walks, all packed into one compact region. Most travellers arrive by ferry into Picton, wind through Nelson, and end up barefoot in Marahau at the edge of Abel Tasman National Park. Here's everything worth doing along the way....
01 September 2026
Squeezed between green hills and a harbour at the bottom of the North Island, Wellington packs a lot of personality into a very walkable space. New Zealand's capital runs on flat whites, craft beer and film-industry magic, and for most Stray travellers it's either the last hurrah of the North Island or the first taste of it. Here's how to make the most of the world's coolest little capital....
01 September 2026
Some of the best things in the King Country happen where you can't see them from the road. Beneath the green farmland of Waitomo lies a largely uncharted network of limestone caves lit by millions of glowworms. And at the end of an unsealed road deep in the hills, a 7,200-acre high country farm called Blue Duck Station has quietly become the stop Stray travellers rate above everywhere else in New Zealand....
