Holiday haunts

A short drive past lupins and cabbage trees, beyond a stone fence chicane is Purakaunui, a settlement just over the hill from Dunedin, but ''a million miles away''.

For the 26 families who make the annual Christmas pilgrimage to a 90-year-old fishing village on the Kakanui River, near Oamaru, there are no gaudy Christmas lights on display, no annual re-runs of Mary Poppins on television to suffer and no electricity to cook Christmas lunch - but that is the way they like it, and that is the way they want to keep it.

People don't go to Warrington for a holiday because of what's there.

Bannockburn, an area steeped in golden history, has a special appeal that sees generation after generation of the same families escaping Dunedin and Invercargill to holiday at the local domain. Sarah Marquet went to meet some of those people to find out what brings them back each year.

Once an area bustling with activity during and after the Central Otago gold rush, the Nine Mile historic reserve in the Lindis Valley is now an idyllic riverside camping and picnic spot steeped in heritage. Lucy Ibbotson visited the reserve on Boxing Day.

''Cheap and cheerful''is how a Scottish couple describe the Twelve Mile Delta camping ground just 10km from the hustle and bustle of Queenstown's summer crowds.

Tucked away among mountain beech trees in a scenic bay on the northwest shore of Lake Hawea is a tiny camping spot frequented by a diverse range of people, all with a story to tell. Lucy Ibbotson finds out what makes the Kidds Bush Reserve such a special place for those who camp there.

The pastor, sitting at the table inside the living quarters of the Danseys Pass Holiday Park, confesses at times to being close to sinning.

A change of scenery makes for a good holiday, writes Chris Morris.

Waipori Falls Village has no letterboxes, no shops, no service station and no street names. More importantly for Christchurch couple Jon and Lynette Barfoot, it has no earthquakes.