• 13 Breakfast (B)
• 5 Dinner (D)

• Medium level of fitness required.

• Day 1: Flights to arrive prior to 4.00pm into Christchurch AirportDay 14: Flights to depart anytime from Auckland 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 Sunglasses, sunscreen and hat Water bottle Warm layers  Camera

View Huka Falls from a panoramic viewpoint near Taupo. Watch the Waikato River squeeze through a narrow channel before surging into a churning pool of blue-white water.

The falls are a striking expression of the North Island’s volcanic landscape and powerful waterways. A viewpoint lets you appreciate both the colour of the river and the force of water moving through the gorge.

AAT Kings

Ride the TranzAlpine train across the South Island, watching river valleys, gorges and beech forests give way to the snow-capped Southern Alps. Tunnels and viaducts carry the railway through terrain that would be difficult to appreciate from the road.

Settle in for wide mountain views and the shifting colours of glacial rivers on one of New Zealand’s best-known scenic rail journeys.

Explore Hokitika, a small West Coast town associated with pounamu, the greenstone prized in Maori culture. Its streets and local craft traditions offer a glimpse of life on a coastline shaped by rivers, rain and the nearby Southern Alps.

Hokitika also preserves traces of the region’s gold-rush history. This town visit brings a cultural dimension to the South Island’s dramatic mountain and glacier scenery.

View Franz Josef Glacier, or Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere, from a panoramic viewpoint near Waiau. Look toward the ice and the steep, forested valley that makes this part of the West Coast so distinctive.

The glacier descends from the Southern Alps into a temperate rainforest environment, an unusual meeting of landscapes. Its Maori name connects the ice to a story of loss and remembrance.

Cruise Milford Sound/Piopiotahi beneath steep, glacier-carved cliffs in World Heritage-listed Fiordland National Park. Watch for waterfalls spilling down dark rock faces and take in the scale of the peaks rising directly from the water.

This nature cruise brings you into one of New Zealand’s most dramatic fiord landscapes, where frequent rain feeds cascades and dense forest clings to the slopes.

View the Church of the Good Shepherd beside turquoise Lake Tekapo, with the Southern Alps rising beyond the water. The small stone church provides a memorable focal point in the open Mackenzie Basin landscape.

Built in 1935, it commemorates the region’s pioneering families. The lake’s distinctive colour comes from fine rock particles carried in glacial meltwater, creating a vivid contrast with the surrounding mountains.

Explore Christchurch’s city sights with your Travel Director, including the Transitional Cathedral and Turanga central library. See how inventive architecture has helped reshape the city centre since the 2010–11 earthquakes.

The cathedral’s prominent cardboard-tube structure and the library’s gold-toned exterior express different responses to renewal. Together, they tell a story of resilience, community and contemporary design in New Zealand’s Garden City.

Discover Wellington’s city highlights in New Zealand’s compact, harbour-side capital. Get a feel for its waterfront setting and the lively streets that have earned the city a reputation for cafés and culture.

Wellington’s position between steep hills and the harbour gives it a character quite different from the country’s larger cities. This city orientation provides a useful introduction for anyone wishing to explore further independently.

Share farewell drinks with your Travel Director and travelling companions in Auckland. This hosted gathering offers time to reflect on the places and experiences encountered across New Zealand’s two main islands.

It is a sociable close to the guided tour in the harbour city known as the City of Sails, bringing the group together without the formality of a scheduled sightseeing visit.

Fly above Franz Josef Glacier, or Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere, for an aerial perspective on its ice, mountain valleys and surrounding rainforest. If weather and operating conditions permit, the flight may include a glacier landing.

Seeing this landscape from above reveals the scale of the Southern Alps and the glacier’s steep descent toward the West Coast. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; flights are weather-dependent.

Experience a high-speed jet boat ride in the Queenstown area, skimming across the water with mountain scenery around you. It is an active alternative for travellers drawn to the region’s adventure-sports culture.

Jet boating has strong roots in New Zealand, where the shallow-water craft was developed for navigating rivers. The precise route and operator are not specified. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Discover New Zealand’s birdlife at a Queenstown-area wildlife centre. Spend time observing feathered species and learning more about the wildlife that makes the country’s ecosystems distinctive.

New Zealand’s long isolation produced an unusually varied birdlife, making a wildlife visit a thoughtful contrast to Queenstown’s high-adrenaline activities. The itinerary does not name a particular centre or guarantee specific species. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore vineyards around Queenstown and sample wines from Central Otago, a region especially associated with Pinot Noir. Discover how its inland climate shapes the character of the wines produced here.

Vineyards set among dry hills and alpine scenery give this tasting opportunity a strong sense of place. The itinerary does not specify individual wineries or a fixed tasting format. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit Larnach Castle on the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin. Explore a nineteenth-century landmark built for businessman William Larnach and discover the ambition behind its elaborate interiors and commanding setting.

Often described as New Zealand’s only castle, the property offers a window into colonial-era wealth and family history. Its elevated position also gives it a distinctive sense of place. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Seek out wildlife around Dunedin’s coastal surroundings, with the chance to learn about species such as albatrosses. An organised wildlife outing offers a closer look at the habitats beyond the city’s historic streets.

The Otago Peninsula is noted for its seabirds and rugged shoreline, though sightings depend on conditions and the activity selected. The itinerary does not specify an operator or route. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Soak in the thermal waters at Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa in Rotorua. Take time to enjoy a restorative experience in a city where geothermal heat rises visibly through the landscape.

Rotorua’s hot springs are closely tied to the region’s volcanic activity. Wai Ariki offers a spa setting for experiencing that natural warmth; specific treatments are not stated as included. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join a guided tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set and step among the familiar Hobbit holes and landscaped paths created for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. Hear stories about how the setting was made for the screen.

Set amid rolling Waikato farmland, Hobbiton turns a working rural landscape into a detailed version of the Shire. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over drinks in Christchurch. The hosted briefing introduces the journey across New Zealand’s South and North Islands and gives you a chance to ask practical questions.

It is a relaxed first gathering in the Garden City, where historic streets sit alongside buildings created during the city’s renewal following the 2010–11 earthquakes.

Take in the alpine scenery of Haast Pass and the Southern Lakes, where mountain slopes frame the striking blue-green water of Lake Hawea and Lake Dunstan. The changing landscape reveals the contrast between the wet West Coast and inland Otago.

Pause at the Jones Family fruit stall near Lake Dunstan, a chance to sample the stone fruit grown in this region’s sunnier climate.

Cruise Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw, a coal-fired steamship, to Walter Peak High Country Farm. Enjoy lake and mountain views before sitting down to a gourmet barbecue dinner.

A farm show introduces the working traditions of a New Zealand high-country property. Together, the steamship crossing and rural evening offer a distinctive way to experience Queenstown beyond its adventure-sports reputation.

Visit Oamaru to see its tree-lined streets and pale limestone buildings, reminders of the town’s nineteenth-century prosperity. Spend time discovering its historic public gardens, among New Zealand’s oldest.

The local limestone gives Oamaru’s heritage architecture a character unlike that of many other South Island towns. Its gardens add a quieter, green counterpoint to the grand facades.

Join a guided indoor Dark Sky and astronomy experience in Tekapo. Learn about the night sky and the conditions that make the Mackenzie Basin an important place for stargazing, whatever the weather outside.

The region lies within the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, established to protect its exceptionally dark skies. This experience connects scientific discovery with a landscape renowned for its wide horizons.

Sail aboard the Interislander through Queen Charlotte Sound and Tory Channel before crossing Cook Strait between New Zealand’s two main islands. From the vessel, watch wooded hills, sheltered inlets and open water unfold around you.

More than a connection between Picton and Wellington, this crossing offers a water-level view of the intricate Marlborough Sounds and the sea passage separating the South and North Islands.

Explore the Waitomo Caves and glide by boat through a limestone cavern illuminated by thousands of glowworms. In the darkness, their tiny lights form a constellation-like canopy above the water.

The glowworms are native to New Zealand, while the cave formations have developed over immense spans of geological time. The quiet boat ride makes this a close encounter with one of the country’s most distinctive natural phenomena.

Take in Auckland’s harbours from the lookout at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. See why New Zealand’s largest city is known as the City of Sails, with boats scattered across its waterways.

The museum stands in Auckland Domain, a prominent green space above the city. This viewpoint offers a sense of Auckland’s unusual setting between the Waitemata and Manukau harbours; museum entry is not specified as part of the visit.

Discover Dunedin’s drinks-making scene with an optional brewery or gin distillery experience. The choice offers a chance to learn about local production and sample a drink in a city with a strong sense of craft and character.

Dunedin’s Scottish-influenced heritage provides a fitting backdrop for its contemporary brewers and distillers. The itinerary does not name a venue or specify what tastings are included. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand’s national museum on Wellington’s waterfront. Its exhibitions offer perspectives on the country’s people, natural environment and history, including Maori culture.

Te Papa is an inviting way to deepen your understanding of the places visited across New Zealand. The tour information notes that an entrance fee applies; this visit is therefore presented as optional, at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Look for marine wildlife from Kaikoura Beach, where mountains meet a rugged stretch of Pacific coast. Keep an eye on the shoreline and offshore waters for seals and other wildlife; sightings are never guaranteed.

Kaikoura is celebrated for its rich marine environment. Deep water close to shore supports an abundance of sea life, making even a coastal pause an opportunity to appreciate the area’s distinctive ecology.

Explore Te Puia’s geothermal valley with a guide, discovering steaming ground and the Pohutu Geyser. Learn about Maori history and culture through a performance in the carved meeting house, Te Aronui a Rua.

The Te Po experience concludes with hangi-inspired cuisine. Geothermal activity and living cultural traditions come together here, offering a deeper understanding of Rotorua than its dramatic landscape alone can provide.