Street food in Washington DC: A delicious history, New Zealand Herald, Feb 25, 2020
Winter in Canada: To travel by snowmobile, snowshoe or husky, New Zealand Herald, Nov 19, 2019.
Ski tricks and chill in sub-zero Canada, New Zealand Herald, June 11, 2019
Hard times on an ‘easy’ Bolivian mountain, New Zealand Herald, May 28, 2019
Yucatan Peninsula – Cover story of Travel, New Zealand Herald, December 5, 2017
Cliffhanger – Travel, New Zealand Herald, November 21, 2017
First World Problems satire – Travel, New Zealand Herald, September 7, 2017
Italy’s Pompeii: No Place For Prudes – Travel, New Zealand Herald, November 9, 2016
The Darrans: A leap of Faith – Travel, New Zealand Herald, October 12, 2016
Argentina: The tip of fear and wonder, Travel, New Zealand Herald, September 8 2016
Wellington by foot – a walker’s guide to New Zealand’s capital, cover story, SilverKris Magazine, June 2016
Tanzania: Animal Attractions – Travel, New Zealand Herald, April 9 2016
Nepal: Crossing the Khumbu – Cover story in Air Asia travel magazine travel3sixty, April 2016
A gruelling three-week hike over the three mountain passes of the Khumbu Valley, home to Mt Everest and the most beautiful mountains in the world
Nepal: The Unpaved Road to Nirvana – Published in Travel, New Zealand Herald, February 2016
Dust Angels – Cover story in the Travel, New Zealand Herald, December 1, 2015
An uncensored version of this story can be viewed here.
Peru: Remote ruins still mystify – New Zealand Herald, June 10, 2015
Morocco: Marrakech in the raw – New Zealand Herald, May 29, 2015
My bowel runneth over – New Zealand Herald, May 27, 2015
Machu Picchu: Ancient Palace of Lost Souls – New Zealand Herald, February 26, 2015
Chile: A beige-colourd Mars – New Zealand Herald, August 21, 2014
Chasing The High – Cover story, Travel section, New Zealand Herald, August 20, 2014
India: Spellbound by the sights – New Zealand Herald, December 4, 2013
Vietnam: Biting the Love Bug – New Zealand Herald, Sept 25, 2013
China: A soft spot for sizzled spaniel – New Zealand Herald, July 12, 2013
Off road in the real Fiji – New Zealand Herald, May 2, 2013
Couch-surfing: The cheapest places to stay – New Zealand Herald, November 14, 2012
Buenos Aires, home of the tango – New Zealand Herald, August 2, 2012
The tango, more than any other dance, is true to that famous saying: “Dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire.”
A Quick Philippines Pit-Stop – New Zealand Herald, September 14, 2011
Philippines: Recipe for Digestive Disaster – New Zealand Herald, June 22, 2011
(Many of the older links no longer work since the New Zealand Herald revamped their website – apologies)
Romancing the Masai – New Zealand Herald, November 24, 2010
Will Derek Cheng give up his modern luxuries for a more simple life with a Masai maiden? Sadly, love is not in the air this time.
Cape Kidnappers: A golfer’s dream – Weekend Magazine, New Zealand Herald, August 24, 2010
To play on the greatest golf course in the country – which is also named in the top 20 in the world – there’s usually some competency test to weed out the sort of golfer who would lose nine balls in less than a full round. But as a guest of the lodge at Cape Kidnappers, I found myself on the course without even a question of my actual ability.
Bolivia: An otherworldly wander – New Zealand Herald, June 3, 2010
A trip through the strange landscapes of the altiplano region in south west Bolivia
Bolivia: Boning up on history – New Zealand Herald, June 3, 2010
A visit to a centuries- old necropolis in the middle of the desert in south west Bolivia
The Remarkables: Softly softly in the wild – New Zealand Herald, April 29 2009
An outdoors trip passing a few serene days in an isolated high country station near Queenstown, New Zealand, so remote that access is by helicopter.
Japan: Naked ambition – to not die of shame – New Zealand Herald, January 14 2009
An attempt to onsen (traditional Japanese bathing in hot springs) turns into trying not to embarrass myself
Japan: Vast city where giants do battle – New Zealand Herald, January 25 2008
A visit to several spectacles in Japan leaves an impression of a city running at a frenetic pace, while watching the locals makes you feeling fashionably inferior and left wondering what would win in a fight between Sincerity and Courtesy.
A raw taste of Japan’s heart – New Zealand Herald, December 2 2007
“Frighteningly scarce, brutally slaughtered – and utterly delicious. When on foreign soil, one should be open to – or even seek out – local cuisine, but can this alone justify wolfing down a serving of minke whale in a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan?”
Fear and lurching in Queenstown – New Zealand Herald, October 10 2007
Launching into a canyon-swing, hang-gliding among mountain ranges, parasailing over a vast lake – the ways to test your instinct for self-preservation in the adventure-tourism town of Queenstown are plentiful and varied.
Line up for the taming of the quadbike – New Zealand Herald, August 29 2007
A quadbike adventure just outside of New Zealand’s tourist town of Kaikoura offers a dramatic change of pace from small-town hospitality and luxury “tree-house” accommodation.
Giddy whirl of the ocean’s dance club – New Zealand Herald, August 23 2007
Trying to attract dolphins while swimming in the ocean becomes all the more intriguing after learning that they’re into sex as much as we are.
Vanuatu – Seduced by sea city – New Zealand Herald, May 5 2007
A snorkel in rarely-visited waters off one of Vanuatu’s many uninhabited islands is like wandering through the world’s most exciting and ethnically-diverse cities.
Vanuatu’s legal high that leaves tastebuds reeling – New Zealand Herald, February 28 2007
An intimate kava experience: “It numbs everything the instant it touches your lips and moves down your throat. You have to drink the entire bowl because, I assume, the taste is so disgusting you wouldn’t have the willpower to down it sip by sip.”
Bush lore learned the hard way – New Zealand Herald, October 26 2006
What not to do when you go hiking and, if you happen to ignore all the rules, how to walk at night through the bush with only a cellphone display panel to light the way.
To the lighthouse – New Zealand Herald, August 5 2006
A 20km hike over undulating terrain is rewarded with a beautifully delapidated lighthouse at track’s end. How could we not break in and have a look around?
Snuggle up and enjoy the flight on Air New Zealand’s new Boeing 777 – New Zealand Herald, November 10 2005
Testing the new business premiere seats on Air New Zealand’s new toy is a treat, even if saving the plane’s furniture seems to be more important than the passengers’ safety.
Preparing for take-off – New Zealand Herald, October 12 2005
A strict instructional lesson precedes the sensation of engine-free flying in a glider over Western Australia.
The Canterbury Tales – New Zealand Herald, July 23 2005
What can you do when Mt Hutt skifield tries to show-off its new toys, but there’s no snow to play on? Go bungy-jumping, of course.
Derek Cheng Media - Climb | Travel | Repeat 