The director and actor is part of a new push to promote the country. Video / 100% Pure New Zealand
Below dramatic sandstone cliffs and through a tunnel hand-carved through rock, Taika Waititi likes to clamber to his favourite hidden beach in New Zealand: Tunnel Beach in Dunedin.
The Kiwi film-maker turned Hollywood director heavyweight has given the secluded spot at the bottom of the world his top rating, adding to the beach’s previous rankings as New Zealand’s best hidden beach.
Dunedin's Tunnel Beach is one of Kiwi film legend Taika Waititi's favourite places. Photo / Getty Images
According tonews.com.au, Waititi said: “The little beach with the little secret tunnel with the steps that you go down is amazing.
“I like the little hidden-away places where you have to walk to get to them,” said the Kiwi whose directing and acting credits include Boy, Jojo Rabbit and Marvel films Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Waititi’s revelation comes with a list of other recommendations for the country’s best spots.
While in South Island, he told news.com.au: “There are so many places that I love in New Zealand: out of Queenstown and up into the valleys where you can go horseriding, Sam Neill’s vineyard and Clyde’s Two Paddocks vineyards.
“Those areas I really love and are fantastic.
“The bottom of the South Island, Otago, with all the rolling hills looks like those old landscape paintings of New Zealand.
“The light is very specific, it feels like there are two or three suns out all at the same time from different angles. I love the light in New Zealand, in particular in those areas.”
And while Tunnel Beach is the hidden spot he loves the most, his favourite place “of all time” is his idyllic hometown of Waihau Bay.
Taika Waititi grew up in Waihau Bay on the East Coast. Photo / Stephanie Holmes
For Travel - Nov 24
When it comes to where Waititi likes to eat, a string of restaurants in Auckland’s central suburbs are his go-to spots:
He listed Italian gem Osteria in Parnell, wine bar Lilian and cafe Honey Bones, Ponsonby Rd stalwarts Prego and SPQR.
“Prego is an institution. Same with SPQR. Those are two solid choices. And Honey Bones, my favourite place,” he said of the cafe which has the same owners as Lilian.
Lilian in Auckland's Grey Lynn is one of Taika Waititi's favourite places to dine out. Photo / Babiche Martens
Earlier this week, the Herald reported that Waititi’s enthusiasm for New Zealand has seen him sign on to a Tourism New Zealand campaign There’sNo Place Like It On Earth promoting Aotearoa to North America.
Starring in an advert that shows off beautiful South Island scenery, a scenic flight over Mount Tarawera, dolphin-watching in Kaikōura and wine-tasting in Auckland, the 30-second clip will feature around the second season of Waititi’s show Our Flag Means Death.
Jade Daniels, Taika Waititi and Jackie van Beek in the new Tourism NZ campaign There's No Place Like It On Earth. Photo / Supplied
The show, which Waititi stars in alongside Kiwi comedy legend Rhys Darby, is filmed in some iconic New Zealand spots including West Auckland’s Bethells and Piha beaches and the Bay of Islands in the Far North.
