View Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere from a panoramic viewpoint and take in the steep-sided landscape of New Zealand’s West Coast. The glacier’s setting brings ice, mountains and temperate rainforest into striking proximity.

Its Maori name recalls a legend associated with the glacier. A viewpoint visit offers a chance to appreciate both the scale of this dynamic alpine environment and the cultural stories connected to it; the visible extent of the ice varies with conditions.

• 8 Breakfast (B)
• 5 Dinner (D)

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

• Day 1: Flights to arrive prior to 4.00pm into Christchurch AirportDay 9: 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.

• Medium level of fitness required for this New Zealand South Island trip.

AAT Kings

Explore Christchurch on a city tour that reveals how the South Island’s largest city has rebuilt since the 2010–11 earthquakes. View the Cardboard Cathedral, an innovative structure conceived as a temporary place of worship, and Turanga, the central library.

Turanga’s gold-toned exterior and the cathedral’s unconventional materials show two responses to a changed urban landscape. Together, they make Christchurch’s story of recovery visible in its streets and public buildings.

Ride the TranzAlpine train across the South Island towards Christchurch. From your seat, watch the landscape change through river valleys, beech forests and mountain country as the railway passes through tunnels and over viaducts.

The route crosses the Southern Alps, offering panoramic views of gorges, rivers and snow-capped peaks. Travelling by rail gives you an unhurried perspective on terrain that has long shaped journeys between New Zealand’s West and East Coasts.

Take a high-speed jet boat ride in Queenstown, where powerful manoeuvres and wind-in-your-hair travel make the waterways part of the adventure. It is an active way to experience the setting that helped earn the town its adventure-capital reputation.

Jet boating has strong New Zealand roots: the technology was developed to navigate shallow rivers. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director about the available ride and departure details.

Fly over Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere for an aerial view of the ice and the rugged alpine terrain above the West Coast. From the air, the glacier’s crevasses and its position among the Southern Alps become easier to appreciate.

This is a distinct perspective from the included panoramic viewpoint visit, revealing the wider mountain landscape around the glacier. The optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; scenic flights are subject to suitable weather and availability.

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over welcome drinks in Christchurch. A hosted tour briefing introduces the journey and gives you a chance to get acquainted with the people sharing it.

The gathering offers an introduction to a city reshaped by the 2010–11 earthquakes. Christchurch’s inventive rebuilding forms a distinctive backdrop to the start of your South Island travels.

View the Church of the Good Shepherd beside the turquoise water of Lake Tekapo. The small stone church sits against a backdrop of open country and Southern Alps peaks, making it one of the South Island’s most recognisable scenes.

Built in 1935, the church commemorates the pioneers of the Mackenzie Country. Its modest scale and lakeside setting invite a closer look at the region’s pastoral heritage as well as its mountain landscape.

Discover the southern sky through Tekapo’s Indoor Dark Sky Astronomy Experience, hosted by local specialists. Explore astronomical ideas and the celestial sights that make this part of New Zealand a destination for stargazers.

Lake Tekapo lies within the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, recognised for protecting its exceptionally dark night skies. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience connects that conservation effort with a deeper understanding of the universe, without depending on clear weather.

Explore Clyde’s historic town centre, where buildings from Central Otago’s gold-rush era now house cafés and shops. Its compact streets offer time to notice the town’s preserved architecture and photograph details from its mining past.

Gold drew settlers to the district in the nineteenth century, leaving a character that remains evident in Clyde’s designated historic precinct. The visit offers a human-scale contrast to the lakes and mountains of the surrounding landscape.

Cruise Milford Sound/Piopiotahi for close-up views of sheer cliffs, waterfalls and the deep waters of this Fiordland inlet. Watch for wildlife as the vessel travels through scenery shaped by ancient glaciers.

Part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage area, the fiord is known for its rainforest-clad walls and waterfalls that become especially dramatic after rain. Seeing its scale from the water is the defining feature of this South Island experience.

Wander the streets of historic Arrowtown, a former gold-rush settlement near Queenstown. Tree-lined lanes, preserved buildings and small boutiques make the village rewarding to explore on foot.

Arrowtown grew during the nineteenth-century Otago gold rush, and its surviving streetscape retains a sense of that period. The visit offers a distinctive look at the region’s settlement history, away from Queenstown’s lakeside bustle.

Cross Lake Wakatipu aboard the TSS Earnslaw, a historic steamship, to reach Walter Peak High Country Farm. Enjoy a gourmet barbecue dinner and farm show in a lakeside setting framed by Queenstown’s mountains.

Launched in 1912, the Earnslaw evokes an earlier era of travel on the lake. At Walter Peak, the farm presentation brings the South Island’s rural traditions into focus, pairing a working-farm experience with an atmospheric journey across the water.

Visit Kiwi Park in Queenstown to discover some of New Zealand’s native birds, including the elusive kiwi. A wildlife-focused visit offers a different perspective on a town better known for mountain scenery and adventure activities.

Kiwi are flightless, mostly nocturnal birds and an enduring symbol of Aotearoa New Zealand. Learning about native species and their conservation adds context to the island landscapes explored on this tour. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.