About Us
A family affair
Trip Ideas NZ is a family-run organisation founded by Douglas Paul, with contributions from his partner Melanie Tollemache and their daughters Wyoming and Indigo. To create the most extensive online resource of NZ travel suggestions, we have the best excuse to keep driving backroads looking for adventures.
We believe that a love of nature is contagious, and our aim with Trip Ideas is to share that love with you. Whether you are fellow Kiwis looking to establish a stronger connection with the whenua or international travellers exploring the unique ecosystems and geography of Aotearoa, New Zealand, we hope to offer some insight, inspiration and ideas to get you started.
Despite being set up in 2019, the germ of the project started decades earlier on family road trips around these motu we call home. In those days, the best resource for such trips was a detailed paper map, and our family spent many holidays following small dotted lines demarcating hiking tracks in remote swathes of native bush. Today, we share our wealth of experience and love of the outdoors with you via high-quality info on where to go and how to get there. Check out our Journal to see our most recent trips, or navigate by region in the North Island and South Island. You can also contact us directly with questions, comments, or suggestions.
Thank you for taking the time to look around Trip Ideas NZ. We hope to cross paths with you on an alpine hiking track or sandy beach soon.
Our contributors
Many people have contributed to Tripideas.nz on our journey, and we are delighted to welcome Mike Bilodeau as an ongoing contributor writer.
Mike is a storyteller with a passion for slow travel and the environment. He will ensure that our Journal stays fresh and interesting. He writes authentic, narrative-driven content for sustainably-minded tourism and adventure travel.