Now that the kids are back to school and calm is restored, it is the perfect time to consider where you might head to next holidays or even for a long weekend away to break up the school term.

Our family’s new pick of favourite holiday destinations is Rotorua and in fact Freddie (9) claimed that a day of fun in this popular tourist destination was the best day of his life.  High praise indeed and I can completely understand why.
Where else do you see geysers spouting water metres into the air, pools of bubbling mud, take a  mid-winter swim in hot pools, travel in a gondola up a mountain, race a luge and then get within centimetres of our national icon, the kiwi?  An action packed day for sure and this is not even considering the mountain bike trails, winter ice skating at the lake front or getting up close and personal with the animals at the Agrodome.

There is so much to do that you will find you need to be selective about where to spend your time (and dollars) and for us Rainbow Springs was one of our highlights.
We start our Springs visit with the Big Splash.  Here the kids can ride as many times as they like or head into the playground to burn off some excess energy while parents take a break and relax with a coffee.
Once everyone has had their fix, it is then time to visit the nature of the Springs – the bird, reptile and fish life.  With a mix of exotic and native birds plus a regular bird show, Rainbow Springs most importantly has a vital environmental role to play with their Kiwi Encounter programme.

This year Kiwi Encounter celebrates 10 years of nurturing and hatching brown kiwi and taking care of the chicks until they’re strong enough to go back to their natural wild habitat with a good chance of survival.

Kiwi Encounter has grown a lot over the years, from hatching 1 egg in its first season to more than 100 each season.  The team has now welcomed more than 1,200 kiwis into the world and safely released them back to the wild.

The first egg came from the Tongariro Forest Kiwi Sanctuary and now Kiwi Encounter nurtures eggs from 13 conservancies and community kiwi trusts around the North Island.  Only 5% of all kiwis hatched in the wild survive to adulthood with stoats, ferrets and weasels the biggest threat, closely followed by cats and dogs, so the help Kiwi Encounter offers is invaluable.

As part of your ticket entry to Rainbow Springs you can wander through the kiwi house and view kiwis going about their business and also return at night where you will get a chance to see kiwi up close and personal in an outdoor environment as they probe and dig for food and sometimes causing amusement as they quickly scurry around.
Rainbow Springs also runs unique Kiwi Encounter tours where you can view the working kiwi nursery and hatchery.   During the tour you will see each of the stages a kiwi egg goes through before being released in to the wild – incubation, hatching and raising.

These tours are in addition to normal Rainbow Springs’ admission and the entry fee is donated to the National Kiwi Trust.

Kiwi Encounter also hatches eggs laid by its captive birds and has two breeding pairs onsite – soon to be five pairs!  These birds produce eggs most seasons helping populate the NZ Captive breeding programme.

The Kiwi Encounter work relies on charity funding and support from a range of sponsors.  If you would like to help with a kiwi conservation and sponsor a kiwi visit www.rainbowsprings.co.nz

Kai Niue Food Festival is 19-22 September 2014

This event is designed to showcase our extraordinary local foods to the world and to learn from culinary experts’ new ways to prepare, cook and present our food.

Running for 4 days from Friday 19th September to Monday 22nd September 2014 the programme has been designed to appeal to the widest audience and includes Cultural community food events, Junior Chef Challenge, celebrity international chef demonstrations with Robert Oliver, Michael Meredith and Alex Kaihea. food matched with NZ wines, Tropical cocktail parties, culminating in a spectacular gala dinner – all under a tropical sky.

Hurry and book your places for this once in a lifetime culinary adventure and join our party in paradise!

Your Inclusions

4 nights Ocean View Room (twin share), Matavai Resort, Niue.
Tropical breakfast daily
Return airport coach transfers in Niue.
Official Opening Ceremony – Utu Ti Opening.
Kai Makete – Taste of Niue Market.
Taste of Niue Lunch.
Traditional Village Umu Feast.
Cocktails & Canapes at Sunset.
Finalist Buffet Breakfast.
Kai Niue Gala Dinner.

For more information go to KaiNiue.com

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Niue offers a holiday menu experience like no other.

“You won’t find this on many – or any – menus anyplace else in the world,” smiles Kaiika Restaurant owner, Avi Rubin, as he proudly places a sharing platter of the most artistically crafted sushi and sashimi on the table and points out the hero pieces of Cheek of Moonfish Carpaccio.

“Moonfish cheek?” we enquire. “Well, how big is this moonfish? And actually, what is a moonfish?”

No sooner is the question asked than Avi produces a laptop with – you guessed it – pictures of the prized Moonfish, cheeks and all. At an average weight of 100kg you can imagine that yes, there is a little bit of cheek to go around. This creature that dwells at a depth of nearly two kilometres sneaks up to a mere 500 metres during the full moon, and there he can be caught and crafted by Kaiika’s top sushi chef, “Mr Toshi”, into the delicacy that takes pride of place on our platter. Tucking into the four-course Royal Feast at Kaiika we feel like culinary royalty – and at less than $40 a head for more than we could possibly eat we also have a treasure of a take-out for lunch tomorrow.

 Having an Israeli-American owner and a Japanese chef makes Kaiika a bit of a cultural curiosity on the island, but then this tiny coral nation (pop.1400) known as the “Rock of Polynesia” has a reputation for creativity and doing things a bit differently. That’s part of the reason why visitors fall in love with Niue so quickly. Just like the menu at Kaiika, you won’t find the Niue experience on any other holiday menu anyplace else in the world: it is a one-of-a-kind and like no other.

 Be surprised by the tastes of Niue and its array of incredible natural experiences at this year’s inaugural KaiNiue food festival hosted by New Zealand food writer, Helen Jackson: www.kainiue.com

Watch for details on Helen’s exclusive escorted tour to Niue from 19-22 September, 2014.  (departing NZ September 20th)