Shandelle Battersby: Best of the South

Mt Cook. Photo / Air Safaris

I'm ashamed to admit that, apart from a few holidays with a friend's family to the Marlborough Sounds as a youngster, I didn't visit the South Island until I was well into my 30s. Since then I've tried to make up for lost time, heading down there at least once a year, and now I've been around most of it - and to Stewart Island too.

In a couple of weeks we'll start our Go South series which will feature some of the best destinations in Te Waipounamu. We'd like you to have a say in the series as well so please go to surveymonkey.com/s/gosouth to vote for the South Island experiences that most appeal to you.

You can choose up to 10 activities for each region, and participants will have the chance to win one of five copies of Lonely Planet: New Zealand's South Island guide.

We'll publish the results in an upcoming issue and, who knows, it might inspire you to Go South on your next holiday.

Help our Pacific neighbours

In today's Travel we explore the beautiful Cook Islands which were lucky to escape serious damage as Cyclone Pam slammed its way through the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu to its west. Vanuatu, in particular, suffered widespread devastation, and needs as much aid as possible to ensure enough medical and food supplies get to those in need. Grab a copy of the New Zealand Herald and turn to page 26 in this week's Travel for details on how to donate to Oxfam to help get Vanuatu through this terrible time.