15 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 5 dinners

16

Eating is a big part of traveling. Generally meals are not included in the trip price when there is a choice of eating options, to give you the maximum flexibility in deciding where, what and with whom to eat. It also gives you more budgeting flexibility. Our groups tend to eat together for most meals but there is no obligation to so. Your CEO will be able to suggest favourite restaurants during your trip.

We love checking out what the locals are doing and what makes up their daily routines. In Italy that could be starting the day with an espresso and cornetto standing at the bar in a local café. in Australia it might include an iced coffee and sausage roll by the beach and in Vietnam it could be slurping a steaming bowl of pho sitting on a plastic stool on a busy street corner. Hey, variety is the spice of life!

You must be 18 to travel unaccompanied on a G Adventures tour. For minors travelling with a guardian over 21 years old, the minimum age is 12.

1. Please be aware that wifi and internet access is not as readily available in Australia as in other parts of the world. There are often additional charges to connect to the internet, and speeds may be slower than what you are used to.

2. Over public holidays in Australia and New Zealand (such as Christmas, New Years Day, Easter, and Anzac Day) there may be some limitations of services and disruptions to schedules. In general our tours still operate effectively over public holidays, but there may be closures of optional activities and restaurants, and slight itinerary adjustments in order to provide all tour inclusions.

3. Please note that this tour combines with other G Adventures tours. As such, the staff and some travel companions on your tour may have previously been traveling together with G Adventures, prior to Day 1 of your tour. Likewise, some staff and travel companions may be continuing together on another G Adventures tour, after your trip concludes.

4. ACCOMMODATION NOTE:

Please be aware that properties we stay in with only two stories may not have elevators installed and climbing the stairs with your luggage will be necessary.

CEO (Chief Experience Officer) throughout

The max luggage allowance on domestic flights within Australia & New Zealand is 1 checked bag (20 kgs) and 1 carry-on (7 kgs) per person.

You will be on the move a lot, so our advice is to pack as lightly as possible.

We recommend using a backpack for your convenience, or a medium-sized suitcase if you prefer. Heavy luggage is not recommended for the health of the CEO, who will take a lead in loading the storage trailer. Due to space in the trailer, we will not be able to accommodate more than one piece of main luggage per person. A good size day-pack (20–35L) is also essential to carry your personal gear for the day, as access to luggage between destinations will be limited. This daypack will be used to carry your personal gear for the day, your lunch and a water bottle.

Every traveller is different and therefore spending money requirements will vary. Some travellers may drink more than others while other travellers like to purchase more souvenirs than most. Please consider your own spending habits when it comes to allowing for drinks, shopping and tipping. Please also remember the following specific recommendations when planning your trip.

Walk through Wellington with your CEO for a brief introduction to New Zealand’s capital. Get your bearings in a compact city shaped by its harbour, hills and lively central streets.

Your CEO points out useful places and offers practical suggestions for independent exploration. This is an included orientation walk rather than a specialist guided tour or entry to a museum, giving you a starting point for deciding what to visit.

Browse Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market with your CEO, moving among food stalls and the varied goods sold by its many traders. The visit offers a lively look at the city’s everyday shopping culture rather than a conventional monument stop.

Operating since the nineteenth century, the market remains one of Melbourne’s best-known gathering places. Its produce displays, market calls and busy aisles provide a different perspective on a city celebrated for its food culture.

Climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge on an optional guided experience for elevated views across the harbour and city. The ascent offers a physical encounter with the steel arch that has linked Sydney’s shores since 1932.

From above the roadway, the scale of the bridge and its setting become much clearer. This activity is at additional cost and bookable as an optional tour activity, subject to availability, operating conditions and the provider’s participation requirements.

Fly towards Franz Josef Glacier and explore the ice on a guided heli-hike, combining a helicopter transfer with time on the glacier. Specialist guides and equipment allow visitors to experience an environment that cannot be reached on a conventional valley walk.

The glacier, known as Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere in Maori tradition, lies beside rainforest on the South Island’s West Coast. This activity is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to weather, availability and operator requirements.

Ride a jet boat in the Queenstown area on an optional high-speed water excursion. The activity brings sharp manoeuvres and spray to the rivers or waterways for which the adventure town is known.

Jet boating has a strong New Zealand history and remains one of Queenstown’s signature activities. This experience is at additional cost; the itinerary recommends pre-booking it during checkout, with any later booking subject to availability.

Meet your Chief Experience Officer (CEO) and fellow travellers at a hosted welcome meeting in Sydney. Learn how the small-group journey works, ask practical questions and get to know the people you will be travelling with across Australia and New Zealand.

Your CEO shares local guidance and details of the experiences ahead, from the Red Centre to the South Island. It is a relaxed introduction to the group rather than a formal city tour.

Explore central Sydney on an orientation walk with your CEO, getting your bearings among the city’s busy streets and harbourfront. The walk offers a practical introduction to one of Australia’s most recognisable cities and its mix of waterfront landmarks and neighbourhood life.

Your CEO points out useful places and shares suggestions for exploring independently. This is a short hosted orientation, not an in-depth guided tour or an entry visit to Sydney’s major attractions.

Cross Sydney Harbour by local ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, watching the waterfront unfold from the water. The sailing gives you views of the harbour’s celebrated setting while taking you to a seaside suburb known for its broad beach and relaxed coastal streets.

Your CEO introduces Manly and points out possibilities such as the walk towards Shelly Beach. The ferry crossing is included; any food or independent activities in Manly are your choice.

Walk into Walpa Gorge at Kata Tjuta, where a natural creek runs between two of the formation’s tallest domes. Sheer rock faces rise hundreds of metres above the track, giving a close-up sense of the scale and colours of Australia’s Red Centre.

Kata Tjuta is part of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and holds deep significance for A?angu Traditional Owners. The walk is subject to park guidance and may be changed or cancelled in extreme heat.

Watch Uluru at sunset and sunrise, when changing light brings out different tones in its sandstone surface. These two viewing experiences reveal how dramatically the desert landmark shifts in colour and mood over the course of a day.

Uluru is a living cultural landscape of profound importance to A?angu Traditional Owners, not simply a scenic backdrop. Time at the viewing areas offers space to take in both its physical scale and its enduring presence in the Red Centre.

Explore Uluru on the guided Mala walk with an accredited guide, following a route at the base of the rock through culturally significant surroundings. Walking on foot brings its textured sandstone walls, sheltered spaces and immense scale into sharper focus.

Your guide provides interpretation that helps explain Uluru’s importance to A?angu Traditional Owners. The experience centres on understanding and respecting a sacred place rather than treating it as a viewpoint alone.

Hike through Kings Canyon in Watarrka National Park, choosing between a demanding rim route and a shorter walk through the canyon valley. The longer option climbs steeply to sandstone heights, with views across the canyon walls and the sheltered Garden of Eden area.

The approximately 6 km Rim Walk begins with a substantial ascent; the easier valley option is around 2 km. Both offer a closer encounter with the ancient rock formations of Central Australia.

Follow a local host through Melbourne’s laneways, exploring both familiar and less obvious corners of the central city. Look for street art, compact cafés and small businesses tucked between the larger city streets as you learn about the area’s history.

The laneways capture Melbourne’s distinctive street-level culture: a changing mix of creative expression, independent shops and coffee spots. Your guide helps reveal details that can be easy to miss when walking through alone.

Walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, a broad green space close to the city centre. Follow garden paths past established trees, landscaped plantings and collections drawn from Australia and around the world.

Founded in the nineteenth century, the gardens provide a quieter contrast to Melbourne’s crowded streets and laneways. This included visit is a chance to experience the city’s long-standing connection with public parks and cultivated landscapes.

Join an Indigenous-guided walk through the Daintree Rainforest at Mossman Gorge. Your guide introduces traditional plant uses and bush food sources while explaining the Kuku Yalanji people’s relationship with this tropical environment.

The experience includes demonstrations such as making bush soap and using ochre, as well as a taste of bush tea. It offers cultural interpretation alongside the sights and sounds of one of Australia’s most distinctive rainforest landscapes.

Boat among the Whitsunday Islands from Airlie Beach, travelling through the warm waters of an archipelago within the Great Barrier Reef region. Visit Whitehaven Beach, known for its pale silica sand, and take in the islands’ wooded slopes and sheltered bays.

The outing offers opportunities to swim, snorkel and walk to an island lookout over Whitehaven Beach. In the water, look for tropical fish and coral; what can be seen depends on conditions.

Learn to surf at Byron Bay with trained instructors on one of Australia’s best-known stretches of surf coast. Practise paddling and standing on a wider beginner board before trying to catch waves in the water.

The lesson gives you hands-on time with the skills behind Byron’s surf culture, rather than just watching from the sand. Instruction and practice are part of the included experience; conditions and each traveller’s progress shape the time spent riding.

Take a guided group tour at Guulabaa – Place of Koala near Port Macquarie. Volunteers introduce Koala Conservation Australia’s wild breeding programme and explain its work rescuing, treating and rehabilitating koalas.

Observe resident koalas and hear about the threats facing wild populations. The visit turns a wildlife encounter into a closer look at conservation practice, showing how the centre works to support the future of this Australian species.

Explore the Blue Mountains around Leura and Katoomba, taking in lookouts over the Jamison Valley and views of the Three Sisters sandstone formation. A walk brings you closer to the area’s cliffs and forest, with options for a steeper descent towards the valley floor.

Part of a World Heritage-listed region, the Blue Mountains are known for their layered ridges and extensive eucalypt landscapes. The walking route can be adjusted to suit conditions and ability.

Ride the Katoomba Scenic Railway into the Jamison Valley, descending at a striking angle towards the rainforest below. The steep journey gives a very different perspective on the Blue Mountains from the lookouts above.

Built on a route associated with the area’s mining past, the railway is now a distinctive way to experience its dramatic terrain. The ride is listed among the tour’s inclusions; any additional Scenic World experiences should not be assumed included.

Enter the Waitomo Glowworm Caves and take a quiet boat ride beneath points of blue-green light. The glowworms illuminate the darkness above an underground waterway, creating a view quite unlike the landscape outside.

The limestone caverns formed over millions of years, while visits to Waitomo have a long local guiding history. The boat journey combines the caves’ geology with a close encounter with glowworms found in New Zealand.

Visit a local South Island winery on the journey towards Kaikoura and discover wines produced on site. A wine tasting is listed among the tour’s inclusions, offering a chance to sample the results of the region’s vineyards.

New Zealand’s South Island wine areas are known for cool-climate growing conditions. The stop provides a taste of local production, though the itinerary does not name a particular winery or specify which wines will be poured.

Cruise Doubtful Sound in Fiordland National Park, surrounded by steep forested walls and waterfalls that spill down towards the water. The excursion reaches this remote fiord via a boat crossing of Lake Manapouri and a journey over Wilmot Pass.

From the cruise vessel, watch for dolphins, seals, penguins and birds, without counting on sightings. The scale, isolation and changeable weather make Doubtful Sound a distinctive encounter with New Zealand’s Fiordland landscape.

Visit Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park to take in the mountain and glacier scenery surrounding New Zealand’s highest peak. Stop at the visitor centre to learn about the region and its mountaineering history, including Sir Edmund Hillary’s connection to the area.

Weather permitting, spend time walking one of the park’s short trails for views of its alpine terrain and distinctive plant life. The hiking opportunity depends on conditions and is not a fixed summit trek.

Take an orientation drive through Christchurch with your CEO, getting an introduction to the South Island’s largest city. The short hosted drive helps you understand the city’s layout and identify places you may wish to explore independently.

Known as the Garden City, Christchurch combines established green spaces with a changing urban centre. This is a practical orientation rather than an in-depth guided sightseeing tour or entry to a named attraction.

Go inside the Sydney Opera House on an optional tour to learn more about the performing arts venue beneath its sculptural roof forms. A guided visit offers a closer perspective than the harbourfront views alone.

Jørn Utzon’s design has become an architectural symbol of Sydney, but access and tour routes vary with performances. This experience is at additional cost; the itinerary recommends pre-booking before arrival because tours can sell out, rather than relying on availability during the tour.

Take a jet boat ride on Sydney Harbour for a faster-paced view of the city’s waterfront. The optional outing trades a leisurely crossing for speed, sharp turns and spray on the water.

The harbour’s setting remains the centrepiece, with its shoreline and landmark silhouettes seen from a moving vessel. This experience is at additional cost and bookable as an optional activity on tour, subject to operator schedules and availability.

Watch little penguins return to shore at Phillip Island on an optional excursion from Melbourne. Viewing takes place under managed conditions designed to protect the wildlife as the birds cross the beach towards their burrows.

The nightly return offers an insight into the lives of the world’s smallest penguins and the conservation of their coastal habitat. This excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and the operator’s wildlife-viewing rules.

Travel along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road on an optional day tour from Melbourne. The coastal route offers views of surf beaches, headlands and stretches of southern Australian shoreline.

Built in the early twentieth century, the road is both a scenic drive and a significant piece of regional history. The exact stops depend on the tour selected. This full-day excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability.

Head out to the Great Barrier Reef from Cape Tribulation on an optional marine excursion. Depending on the operator and conditions, a reef trip can offer time in the water to look for coral and tropical fish.

Cape Tribulation sits where rainforest meets the Coral Sea, making a reef outing a striking contrast to the included Daintree walk. This additional trip is at extra cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and weather.

Kayak on the ocean off Byron Bay on an optional guided activity, seeing this stretch of surf coast from water level. Paddling offers a more active perspective on the beaches and headlands than a walk along the shore.

Marine life may be encountered, but sightings depend on season and conditions. This experience is at additional cost; the itinerary specifically recommends pre-booking it during checkout to secure a place on the tour.

Explore a Rotorua geothermal area on an optional visit to see the volcanic activity for which the region is known. Depending on the site chosen, you may encounter steaming ground, mineral-coloured surfaces or hot pools.

Rotorua lies within an active geothermal landscape, and its distinctive sights and sulphur scent are part of the city’s character. This visit is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the itinerary does not specify a particular geothermal attraction.

Go whitewater rafting near Rotorua on an optional guided outing. Paddle as part of a crew while an instructor leads the raft through a river course selected by the local operator.

It is an active way to experience the waterways around a region better known for its geothermal activity and Maori heritage. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability, river conditions and the operator’s safety requirements.

Soak in the thermal pools at Hanmer Springs on an optional visit to the alpine spa town. Warm mineral-rich water offers a slower-paced experience against the backdrop of the surrounding hills.

Hanmer Springs has long been associated with its naturally heated waters, making the pools the town’s defining attraction. Entry is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to opening hours and availability.

See Franz Josef Glacier country from a helicopter on an optional scenic flight. From the air, take in the relationship between ice, mountain slopes and the forested West Coast below.

The flight offers a broad view of terrain that can be difficult to appreciate from the ground. Routes and sights vary by operator and conditions. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and suitable flying weather.

Kayak on a lake in the Franz Josef area on an optional guided outing. Paddling at water level offers a quieter way to experience the West Coast’s forested setting and, when conditions allow, reflections of the surrounding mountains.

The activity contrasts with the area’s helicopter-based glacier options. The itinerary does not specify a particular lake, so the setting depends on the operator selected. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and conditions.

Skydive above the Franz Josef region on an optional tandem experience, taking in the West Coast landscape from high above before the descent. The activity provides a sharp contrast to exploring the area’s rainforest and glacier surroundings on foot.

Views depend on the flight route and weather, and participation is governed by the operator’s safety rules. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and suitable conditions.

Try a bungy jump in the Queenstown area on an optional adventure activity. Under an operator’s supervision, experience the brief stillness before a jump and the sudden movement that has made bungy synonymous with the region.

Commercial bungy jumping has important roots in Queenstown’s adventure-tourism history. The itinerary does not name a specific jump site. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and the operator’s safety requirements.

Ride a gondola above Queenstown for an optional elevated view of the town and its mountain setting. The ascent offers a gentler alternative to the area’s high-adrenaline activities.

From above, the relationship between Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding slopes becomes easier to see. The itinerary does not specify a particular gondola package. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and operating hours.

Take a tandem skydive near Queenstown on an optional adventure outing. The flight and descent offer a high-altitude perspective on the lakes and mountains surrounding this South Island town.

It is one of several active ways to experience a place closely associated with adventure tourism. Views vary with the flight route, while the jump depends on suitable weather. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and operator requirements.

Visit Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington independently to explore exhibitions about New Zealand’s people, cultures and natural world. The national museum offers a deeper look at Aotearoa beyond the city’s streets and waterfront.

Permanent displays and temporary exhibitions vary, so you can shape the visit around your interests. This optional visit is at additional cost where a selected exhibition or experience carries a charge; arrange any ticketed entry while on tour, subject to availability.

Ride the Wellington Cable Car from the central city towards the Botanic Garden area. The short ascent provides a different view of the capital’s steep hills and harbour setting.

The cable car has served Wellington for more than a century and remains both a local transport link and a visitor attraction. This ride is optional, at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to operating hours and availability.

Visit the New Zealand Maritime Museum in Auckland to explore the country’s relationship with the sea. Exhibitions introduce maritime journeys and the vessels and people connected with them.

The museum sits in a city known as the City of Sails, giving its collections a natural connection to Auckland’s waterfront. This independent visit is optional, at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to opening hours and ticket availability.

Take a ferry from Auckland to Waiheke Island for an optional independent outing across the Hauraki Gulf. The crossing offers views back towards the city’s waterfront before reaching an island known for beaches and vineyards.

Waiheke presents a different pace from central Auckland, with coastal scenery to explore at your own discretion. Ferry travel and any island activities are at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to schedules and availability.

Visit Mitai Maori Village in Rotorua for an evening of cultural storytelling, ceremony and performance. Learn about the Te Arawa migration story as it is shared through dance and presentation.

Enjoy a traditional hangi meal, with foods such as kumara, meat and vegetables cooked using heat from the earth. This hosted experience brings food and performance together to introduce aspects of Maori heritage in the Rotorua region.

Search for sperm whales off Kaikoura on an optional whale-watching tour. The coastline’s nearby deep water supports a rich marine environment and makes the town a well-known base for wildlife outings.

A guided trip focuses on observing whales responsibly in their natural habitat; sightings cannot be guaranteed. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability, sea conditions and the operator’s decision to sail.

Join a guided ocean outing near Kaikoura for the chance to swim in waters visited by wild dolphins. The experience takes place in the animals’ natural environment rather than a controlled pool.

Whether dolphins appear or approach swimmers depends entirely on wildlife behaviour and sea conditions. This activity is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and the operator’s safety and wildlife-protection rules.