Tour New Zealand's Natural Splendour
Tour Highlights:
- Local Connection - You’ll not only meet the Weston family for morning tea, but also get exclusive access to the stables where a record-breaking motorcycle was designed.
- Cultural Immersion - Discover and celebrate NZ’s Indigenous heritage at Tamaki Māori Village, where cultural traditions are revealed through performance and food.
- Insider Knowledge - World Heritage listed Milford Sound is so big, it can be overwhelming. Your in-the-know guide provides perspective.
- Sustainable Footprints - Help ensure the future of rare kiwi birds when you visit the National Hatchery, an important breeding place for NZ’s icon.
- 9 nights accommodation
- 9 Full Breakfasts
- 2 Be my guest morning tea
- 2 Lunch
- 1 Farewell Dinners
- 2 Highlight Dinner
- Travel by luxury coach
- Experienced Travel Director and Driver Guide
Day 1 - Welcome to Auckland
Welcome to the City of Sails. On arrival in Auckland you will be transferred to your hotel (flights to arrive prior to 4pm). Take some time to relax or venture out and start exploring New Zealand’s largest city before meeting your Travel Director and fellow travellers for a welcome reception.
Day 2 - Auckland
If you didn’t get your city bearings yesterday, you will on an Auckland tour today. Have your camera poised as you reach Mission Bay, a dreamy waterside suburb where the blues patchwork to the horizon. Click! Then get snap happy once again at Bastion Point and the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial, offering epic vistas over Auckland and its harbours. Click, click, click! Want some tips on how to spend your free afternoon in New Zealand’s largest city? How about going behind the scenes of the All Blacks, arguably the world’s most legendary rugby team?
Day 3 - Auckland - Rotorua
You could be forgiven for thinking Rotorua’s landscapes are a sci-fi movie set. Mud pops and jettisons from bubbling geysers, and steam rushes skywards from cracks in the Earth. The surrounding forest is a fertile habitat for New Zealand’s national bird, being protected and bred at the National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa. The cute-as-a-button, cotton-ball kiwi is under threat in the wild; at the hatchery, passionate conservationists reveal how they are saving the population, one incubated egg at a time. Tonight, dive deep into Indigenous culture and traditions at Te Pā Tū Māori Experience. Enjoy a forest kai horotai (seasonal canapés) and chef choice aperitif, followed by a seasonal three-course dinner.
Day 4 - Rotorua - Auckland - Queenstown
Lance O'Sullivan, a retired champion jockey, and his wife Bridgette invite you to an exclusive Be My Guest morning tea at the Red Barn, on their working dairy farm in the Waikato district. Expect country banter and have a go at the forgotten art of butter churning. The feel-good vibes that endure will follow you all the way to Queenstown, the self-proclaimed adventure capital of New Zealand. It makes perfect sense – there are ski fields, white-water river and bridges strapped with bungy cords wherever you turn. And then there’s the dining scene; Queenstown is home to some of the country’s most awarded restaurants. Whether you’re in the mood for bulging burgers or lakeside tapas, ask us for recommendations on this leg of your Queenstown New Zealand tour.
Day 5 - Milford Sound/Piopiotahi Cruise
Bring your stamina and sense of adventure – things get a little wild today. Nature rules as you skirt Queenstown’s gleaming Lake Wakatipu, and traverse the Devil’s Staircase to Te Anau, the alpine gateway to World Heritage listed Fiordland National Park. Once you’ve paused to admire the drama at Mirror Lakes, Knobs Flat, Hollyford Valley lookout and Cleddau Valley, you’ll begin to understand why Rudyard Kipling called this the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’. You haven’t even seen Bowen Falls or Milford Sound/Piopiotahi yet… The best Milford Sound/Piopiotahi cruise sees you in the company of an eagle-eyed guide, who not only knows the immense geological history of the region, but can also point out sun-baking fur seals and playful dolphins.
Day 6 - Queenstown
Take today’s Queenstown New Zealand tour at your own pace. Like things fast and furious? Feel the wind in your hair on a high-octane jet boat ride, perhaps. Prefer to be able to talk (and drink wine) while you cruise? Glide across Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet barbecue lunch in a dreamy alpine setting. Wherever you wander, be sure to save space for tonight’s Highlight Dinner at Postmasters Café, a historic Arrowtown cottage replete with picket fence and Instagrammable gardens.
Day 7 - Queenstown - Lake Tekapo
Whether pinot noir grapes or cherries, things grow well in the fertile Central Otago region of the South Island. Get a taste for the area’s plump stone fruit at the stall of a local orchard. Mountain drama – including views of Aoraki/Mt. Cook – is your backdrop en route to Lake Tekapo, with water so turquoise it looks like a Renaissance painting. This part of the country is ravishing and remote; the lack of light pollution means dazzling Southern Hemisphere stargazing at UNESCO World Heritage listed Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. It’s handy to have an astronomer in your company to decode the constellations of the Milky Way. If there was ever a NZ experience that put life in perspective, this is it.
Day 8 - Lake Tekapo - Christchurch
The Canterbury region of the west coast is a rustic union of grassy plains, mirror-like lakes and snow-capped mountains, the kind of landscape that you might see on postcards. Arrive into the beautiful English city of Christchurch for a guided visit. The city is not only rebuilding itself after the devastating 2010/11 earthquakes, but is changing the way architects think about design. Case in point the mind-bending Transitional Cathedral, made largely of cardboard, and Turanga, the gold-clad central library.
Day 9 - Christchurch
Travel north through rolling countryside to Hurunui Hills, a hill country farm in North Canterbury. Enjoy warm Kiwi hospitality with the Bamford Family, who have been farming at Hurunui since 1884 with six generations focused on producing premium Merino sheep, wool and Angus cattle. Soak up stunning scenery while enjoying morning tea, meet the farm animals & discover what it is like to live off the land on this unique By My Guest experience. Continue to a local vineyard, Waipara Springs Winery, where it's time to relax and enjoy a platter-style lunch among the vines. A big day leads to a big evening joining your Travel Director and travel mates for a celebratory Farewell Dinner featuring produce from the Canterbury region.
Day 10 - Farewell from Christchurch
Your New Zealand holiday concludes this morning after breakfast. Your flights can depart any time today, and you will be transferred to Christchurch Airport.
Please note: This itinerary may be subject to change.
Travel dates are from January to March in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Below pricing is based 06 September 2024 Departure
- Twin Share - from 6,691 per person
- Single traveller - from $8,378 per person
Call our local travel team on 1300 414 198 to secure your seat NOW!
The accommodation you will enjoy on this tour includes:
- The Grand by SkyCity
- Millennium Hotel, Rotorua
- Millennium Hotel, Queenstown
- Peppers Bluewater Resort Lake Tekapo
- Distinction Christchurch Hotel
Flight Information:
- Day 1 - Flights to arrive prior to 4pm into Auckland Airport
- Day 4: Internal Flight required AKL – ZQN - Flight number: NZ623
- Day 10 - Flights to depart anytime from Christchurch Airport
Fitness Requirements:
- Low level of fitness required
What to Bring:
- Comfortable walking shoes
- Sunglasses, sunscreen and hat
- Water bottle
- Camera
- Jacket in cooler months
This holiday deal has expired.
Want to find an alternative? Search for another holiday here or contact us.