Skip to Content

PETRINA DARRAH

New Zealand Travel Guide

Road Trips & Itineraries

FREE ITINERARY DOWNLOAD

PETRINA DARRAH

New Zealand Travel Guide

Road Trips & Itineraries

FREE ITINERARY DOWNLOAD

New Zealand Travel Guide

Road Trips & Itineraries

FREE ITINERARY DOWNLOAD

NEW ZEALAND TRAVEL BLOG

Plan your trip to New Zealand, with help from a local

South Island campgrounds worth planning your trip around

Petrina Darrah 1/12/24 Petrina Darrah 1/12/24

South Island campgrounds worth planning your trip around

Read More

Search the whole site

JOIN MY NEWSLETTER

Sign up to get stories and recommendations from the road. No spam, one click unsubscribe.

Built with ConvertKit

follow me on instagram @PETRINADARRAH

The Paparoa Track was so many things I did not expect.

I didn’t expect good weather, and we had three days of sunshine, two beautiful sunsets.

I didn’t expect to be so blown away by the feat of the track; purpose built, it only opened

I spent a night completely alone at this little hut at the end of a path through the mossy forest.

So much moss! A beautiful, enchanted, eerie forest with all that moss, and the wind rattling the tree branches together, and the cold drawing a fog d

For the past few years I’ve been escaping New Zealand in winter. I’m mostly solar powered, and without the warmth and light of the sun, everything feels so much smaller.

But, this year I was here. I got my first set of micro spikes, and

At first I thought it was a family in puffer jackets, four squat figures shuffling along the beach.

The sun wasn’t up yet, and I thought I would be the first one on the beach - the rest of the campground was calm and still, no one around as I

If you like what I do, you can support me by buying me a ‘virtual’ coffee here — this website is truly fuelled by caffeine.

DESTINATION GUIDES

south island

north island
auckland
queenstown

MY TRAVEL ADVICE

new zealand travel guide
new zealand road trips
itinerary consultations

PRACTICAL INFO

about
portfolio
contact
editorial policy

horses on a beach in new zealand

a ship on doubtful sound in new zealand

a rocky coastline in new zealand

a road leading to snowy mountains in new zealand

south island mountains at sunset

PETRINA DARRAH

Petrina Darrah is a freelance travel writer specialising in outdoor adventure travel in New Zealand.

© PETRINA DARRAH 2025

BACK TO TOP ↑