Pages tagged with: tourism

From the late 19th century the expanding rail network opened up exciting leisure and tourism opportunities for ordinary New Zealand families. New Zealand Railways promoted rail holidays through bright, attractive posters and its own popular monthly magazine.

Air New Zealand and Qantas began offering sightseeing flight over the Antarctic in February 1977.

As a modern society began to evolve in New Zealand in the early twentieth century, a new concept of 'leisure time' began to emerge

Even before systematic colonisation began in 1840, New Zealand had been promoted in British publications as a wild, scenic, romantic wonderland – and a place of extremes.

The Erebus disaster was mainly caused by an unfortunate, late change in flight path and the white-out conditions in Antarctica.

From the early days of rail, excursion and special trains gave people new opportunities to visit beaches, lakes, parks, racecourses and shows.

For most second-class travellers, travelling the main trunk meant a long, sleepless journey on hard-backed seats, struggling to find 'elusive comfort with the NZR pillow'.

As well as day excursions, from the mid-1890s New Zealand Railways offered special deals for travellers taking longer rail journeys over the Christmas and Easter holiday periods.

In 1920 New Zealand Railways established it own Railways Studios – the country’s first outdoor advertising studio. The studios produced posters, pamphlets, maps and pictorial postage stamps promoting the services of New Zealand Railways.

This romantic view of Lake Taupo shows what is now part of the Tongariro National Park and a World Heritage Cultural Landscape.

During the inter-war years no other monthly magazine matched New Zealand Railways for its commitment to promoting a popular literary culture in New Zealand.

In 1890 when the kauri timber industry threatened to wipe out Northland kauri forest, 3.34 hectares were set aside by the government, and James Trounson, an early settler, added 386 hectares.

John Barr Hoyte produced this sketch in the 1870s at a time when few Europeans visited Lake Waikaremoana.

Frying-pan Crater at Waimangu erupted so violently in 1917 that it destroyed the tourist accommodation.

The main trunk provided a boost to New Zealand's fledgling tourist industry, including the Chateau Tongariro, which opened in 1929. As this poster proclaims, the Chateau was 'Best reached by rail'.

The Waitomo Caves were reserved in 1906, and they remain a major and significant tourist attraction.

The Whanganui River was developing a reputation as 'the Rhine of the Pacific' by the late 19th century.