Thomas Bywater is a Travel Journalist and Multimedia Producer for New Zealand's Herald, specialising in New Zealand adventure travel and Antarctic tourism
I’m Thomas Bywater, Travel Writer and Digital Producer for the NZ Herald. Traversing ice fields in Patagonia and diving the Great Barrier Reef in an electric submarine - there have been a few life-changing trips since joining the NZ Herald in 2018. I graduated with a degree in English from the University of Aberdeen in 2012, which has taken me to a variety of places including a stint working as a digital editor for The Sunday Times in London. I got into travel writing in a roundabout way. After roles with a radio station in Leipzig, theatre restorations and film productions in Prague and Jaipur - it was clear, I don’t stand still for long. Since 2021, I’ve been based out of Christchurch and a bit closer to New Zealand’s Antarctic Gateway. It’s an adventurous part of the world, which I love, and an endless inspiration for stories. Its influences have fed into my podcast Detour: Antarctica, for which I interviewed the first person born on the continent and explorers who were victims of a prank involving two 500-year-old arrowheads. Adventures for your earbuds, go check it out!
DoC approves decade-long Ruapehu deal to save ski season 'for years to come'
DoC gives the local Ohakune business collective the green light for the 2024 ski season.
Take a Coromandel holiday approved by science*
*Side effects may include sunburn and ice cream cravings. Always read the label.
New Zealand’s top 10 'hospitable' small towns, cities and regions?
Airbnb uses AI and website revamp to help target rural listings across the country.
DoC starts voluntary booking system for New Zealand's busiest day walk
DoC urges trampers to book ahead this summer, to protect the popular national park.
Ruapehu the winner of school holidays ski forecast as Aussies end disastrous season early
Skiers are heading to the slopes for the start of the September holidays. Will the snow?
Sky Waka’s no-refund policy leaves Ruapehu visitors hanging
Opened in 2019, the Sky Waka is a 1.8 km cable car in the Tongariro National Park.
'Bittersweet' birthday for ski fields: Parties, ploughs and discount passes
There are bumper birthday celebrations at a couple of ski fields this week.
End of an era: Royal favourite Huka Lodge to close for 8-month refurb
The favourite lodge of rock stars and royalty is to take its last guests in April.
Kākāpō wild in Waikato for first time in 60 years
Four of the world's rarest flightless parrots have been rehomed on mainland New Zealand.
Tongariro Great Walk opens for booking: Is DoC's IT system back on track?
Great Walk bookings reopen four months after “incredibly frustrating” IT meltdown.