• 16 Breakfast (B)
• 7 Dinner (D)

• Medium level of fitness required

• Day 1: Flights to arrive prior to 4.00pm into Auckland AirportDay 17: Flights to depart anytime from Christchurch Airport Airport to Hotel transfers are available to purchase on request. Flights to and from your tour are not included in the tour price.

• Comfortable walking shoes Warm layers Sunglasses, sunscreen and hat Water bottle Camera

See Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere from a panoramic viewpoint, taking in the glacier’s mountain setting on the South Island’s West Coast. The view offers a sense of the steep terrain through which the ice descends.

Glacier views vary with weather and changing conditions. Even from a distance, the contrast between ice, rock and the surrounding temperate rainforest reveals what makes this part of the West Coast so distinctive.

AAT Kings

Explore the Waitangi Treaty Grounds with a guide and experience a Maori cultural performance at one of New Zealand’s most significant historic sites. See the carved meeting house and the immense ceremonial waka, or canoe.

Here, Maori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The visit offers insight into the treaty’s enduring place in New Zealand’s history and identity, against the coastal backdrop of the Bay of Islands.

Descend into the Waitomo Caves on a guided tour, exploring limestone chambers shaped by water over millions of years. A boat carries you through a dark underground waterway beneath the delicate light of thousands of glowworms.

The glow comes from the larvae of a species native to New Zealand. Seen from the quiet of the boat, their blue-green lights create a striking contrast with the caves’ ancient rock formations.

Cruise Cook Strait from Wellington to Picton, travelling between New Zealand’s North and South Islands by water. Watch the open strait give way to the branching waterways and wooded shores of the Marlborough Sounds.

More than a ferry transfer, this crossing is a chance to appreciate the country’s coastal geography from the deck. The sheltered inlets approaching Picton provide a scenic contrast to the wider waters of the strait.

Join a guided indoor astronomy experience in Tekapo, hosted by local specialists who bring the southern night sky into focus. Learn about the stars and celestial features visible from this part of New Zealand.

Tekapo lies within the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, established to protect exceptionally dark skies. The indoor format makes the experience accessible regardless of the weather, while explaining why this high-country region matters to astronomers and stargazers.

Cruise Milford Sound/Piopiotahi through a fiord framed by sheer cliffs and forested slopes. From the water, look for tumbling waterfalls and wildlife, including seals; sightings of other species depend on conditions.

Carved by glaciers and set within Fiordland National Park, the fiord is one of New Zealand’s defining landscapes. Rain can make its waterfalls particularly dramatic, adding movement and sound to the towering scenery around the boat.

Cross Lake Wakatipu aboard the TSS Earnslaw, a historic steamship, to reach Walter Peak High Country Farm. Enjoy a gourmet barbecue dinner and a farm show in a lakeside setting across the water from Queenstown.

Launched in 1912, the Earnslaw is part of the region’s transport heritage. The combination of a steamship voyage, high-country hospitality and a working-farm presentation offers a distinctive perspective on life around the lake.

Discover Hokitika’s connection to pounamu, New Zealand greenstone, in a West Coast town known for its jade craft. Look for the varied colours and forms of the stone that local makers turn into carvings and jewellery.

Pounamu holds deep significance in Maori culture and is valued for both its beauty and the meanings carried by carved pieces. Hokitika’s setting near West Coast rivers makes it a fitting place to encounter this material and its craftsmanship.

Travel to Te Rerenga Wairua/Cape Reinga at the northern tip of New Zealand, with a route that takes in the long sweep of Ninety Mile Beach. Expect broad coastal views and a sense of the Northland landscape’s scale.

Cape Reinga is a place of profound significance in Maori tradition, associated with the departure of spirits. This optional excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour; its precise route may depend on local conditions.

Cruise among the Bay of Islands on an optional scenic outing that includes lunch and a visit to the well-known Hole in the Rock. From the water, appreciate the region’s sheltered bays, island-dotted horizons and changing coastal views.

The natural rock opening is one of the bay’s best-known landmarks; access and sailing conditions depend on the weather. This optional cruise is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join a tour of Russell to learn about the settlement of the Bay of Islands. Explore the story of this small coastal town, whose streets and waterfront preserve a connection to New Zealand’s early colonial period.

Russell played an important role in the region’s nineteenth-century history, when the bay was a busy meeting point for Maori and European visitors. This optional tour is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Unwind at Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa on Rotorua’s lakefront, where geothermal waters offer a restful way to experience the region’s natural warmth. Choose a spa visit if you would prefer relaxation to a more active excursion.

Rotorua’s thermal landscape has long shaped local life and visitor experiences. This is an optional activity at additional cost, bookable on tour; available facilities and treatments depend on the option selected.

Visit Hobbiton Movie Set in the Waikato countryside and see the pastoral setting used in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. Its Hobbit holes and rolling green hills make the location recognisable even beyond the screen.

The set’s appeal lies in the detail of the film-making as well as the surrounding landscape. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; visit arrangements depend on availability.

Feel the speed of a Queenstown jet boat ride, an optional outing for travellers drawn to the region’s adventure-sport reputation. Skim across the water and experience the close-up scenery from a fast-moving craft.

Jet boating has strong roots in New Zealand, where the technology was developed for navigating shallow rivers. This activity is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the route and operating conditions depend on the excursion available.

Discover native birdlife at Kiwi Park in Queenstown. This optional wildlife visit offers an opportunity to learn about New Zealand’s feathered species, including the elusive kiwi, in a dedicated conservation setting.

Many native birds face threats from habitat loss and introduced predators, making conservation an important part of their story. Kiwi Park brings that story into focus for visitors. The experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Take an optional scenic flight over Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere for an aerial view of ice, mountain ridges and the West Coast’s steep terrain. In suitable conditions, the flight may include a glacier landing.

Seeing the glacier from above reveals its position within a much larger alpine landscape. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; flights and any landing are subject to weather and operational conditions.

Pause at a panoramic viewpoint above Huka Falls to watch the Waikato River surge through a narrow rocky channel and spill into a pool of vivid blue. The sound and force of the water are as memorable as its colour.

Around 220,000 litres of water pass through the falls each second. This short scenic visit reveals the scale of a natural landmark near Lake Taupo without requiring a walk into the gorge.

See the sights of Wellington on a city tour that introduces New Zealand’s compact, harbour-side capital. Its steep hills, waterfront and closely packed streets give the city a character distinct from the country’s larger urban centres.

The tour offers an orientation to a place known for its creative culture and café life. Set between a sheltered harbour and surrounding hills, Wellington is also the gateway to the Cook Strait crossing.

Explore Christchurch on a city sights tour focused on a city reshaped by the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. See examples of its inventive rebuilding, including the distinctive Transitional Cathedral and Turanga central library.

The cathedral’s unusual use of cardboard tubes and the library’s contemporary design speak to different responses to the city’s changing needs. Together, they offer a window into Christchurch’s resilience and evolving architectural identity.

View the Church of the Good Shepherd beside the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo. Its modest stone form sits against a wide landscape of lake and mountains, making it one of the Mackenzie Basin’s most recognisable sights.

Built in 1935, the church honours the region’s early farming families. Its setting, rather than its size, gives the visit its appeal: a quiet point of human history within the South Island’s expansive high-country scenery.

Explore Clyde’s historic precinct, where preserved buildings recall the Otago gold rush. The small town’s streets offer opportunities to photograph heritage facades and see how former gold-mining-era buildings now house cafés and shops.

Clyde grew during the nineteenth-century search for gold in Central Otago. Its compact centre retains a sense of that period, making this a characterful stop for travellers interested in the region’s settlement history and architecture.

Walk the streets of historic Arrowtown, a former gold-rush settlement near Queenstown. Heritage buildings, mature trees and small shops give the village an intimate atmosphere beneath the surrounding Central Otago hills.

Arrowtown’s past is closely tied to the nineteenth-century gold discoveries that drew miners to the region. A visit lets you appreciate that history at street level while exploring a place that has retained much of its original village character.

Board the TranzAlpine train for a rail journey across the South Island toward Christchurch. Look out across river valleys, gorges and beech forest as the train passes through tunnels and over viaducts beneath the Southern Alps.

The route turns a crossing of the island into a scenic experience in its own right. Panoramic views reveal the changing scale and texture of the landscape, from rugged mountain country to the plains approaching Christchurch.

Gather with your fellow travellers for an included farewell dinner and drinks in Christchurch. This hosted meal provides a chance to share favourite moments from the journey in a relaxed setting.

It is a social experience rather than a sightseeing visit: time to reflect on the contrasts of New Zealand’s two islands, from geothermal landscapes and fiords to coastal towns and alpine scenery, with the people who travelled alongside you.

Discover Maori culture and Rotorua’s geothermal landscape at Te Puia. Experience a cultural performance in the carved Te Aronui a Rua meeting house, explore the geothermal valley with a guide and see the powerful Pohutu Geyser.

The experience includes a buffet dinner of locally sourced, hangi-inspired cuisine. Traditional performance, food and the sounds of steaming ground bring together living Maori heritage and the natural forces that have shaped this region.

Take in the dramatic coast at Kaikoura Beach and watch for marine wildlife offshore. Mountains rise close to the shoreline here, creating a striking setting for a scenic stop and a chance to scan the water.

Kaikoura is celebrated for its rich marine environment; seals may be seen along the coast, while whale sightings are possible but never guaranteed. This is a shore-based viewing opportunity, not a whale-watching cruise.