New Zealand Tour Package

Day 1: Arrival In Auckland (No Meal)

Arrive at Auckland Airport you will be met and take a private transfer to your staying hotel. Auckland is New Zealand's largest city, set between two harbors with gentle sandy shores on the east coast and black sand, wild surf beaches on the west coast. Home to sheltered, sparkling blue waters dotted with beautiful emerald islands. (Optional: sky tower, Orbit restaurant sky tower, Auckland harbor dinner cruise, Weta workshop unleashed tour)

Day 2: Auckland – Hobbiton – Rotorua (Breakfast)

Today’s coach tour takes you through the rolling green hills to the iconic Hobbiton Movie Set. See where the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were filmed as your tour guide shares behind the scenes tales. You will see sights like Hobbit Holes, the Mill, and The Green Dragon Inn, and learn how farmland was transformed into a living, breathing piece of Middle-earth. After exploring Hobbiton, tuck into a delicious lunch in the Party Marquee before continuing to Rotorua. (Optional: Wai Ariki hot springs and spa)

Day 3: Rotorua (Breakfast, Dinner)

Rotorua is surrounded by a fascinating geothermal landscape with its unique steam vents, spouting geysers and bubbling mud pool set alongside freshwater lakes and majestic native forests. Visit Rotorua’s most popular geothermal parks on a small group tour. At Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, the amazingly colourful hot springs and moon like landscapes are key features along with the famous Lady Knox geyser eruption. At Waimangu Volcanic Valley, you will learn about the Mt. Tarawera eruption which blew open this spectacular, bush covered, geothermal park. This evening you’ll be transported to Te Puia for an Indigenous Evening Experience including a buffet dinner and cultural performance. The evening culminates with hot chocolate and pudding on the geyser terrace. (Optional: skyline gondola ride with buffet lunch)

Day 4: Rotorua – Christchurch (Breakfast)

Depart on your domestic flight to Christchurch. (Air ticket not included, approximately 2 hours flight). Christchurch is set between the deep blue Pacific Ocean and the mighty snow capped Southern Alps. This is a vibrant, ever-changing city with inner city parks and gardens delightfully interwoven by the meandering Avon River. (Optional: Christchurch tram dinner, Christchurch tram tour, punting on the Avon River)

Day 5: Christchurch – Greymouth (Breakfast)

You will be transported to the Christchurch Railway Station for the Tranz Alpine train crossing the vast expanses of the Canterbury Plains, through the dramatic gorge of the Waimakariri River to Arthur Pass National Park. On arrival in Greymouth, you will be met and transferred to the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes for a short self-guided walk to view the fascinating pancake-shaped rock formations before being transferred to your hotel.

Day 6: Greymouth – Franz Josef (Breakfast)

This morning, you will be transferred to Shantytown Heritage Park for a sense of what it was like to live in New Zealand during the gold rush before returning to Greymouth for your transfer to Glacier Country. The temperate climate at a low altitude makes Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers among the most convenient to visit in the world. Steep valleys bear scars from where glaciers have retreated and advanced over millennia and here, the ice age is still underway.

Day 7: Franz Josef – Queenstown (Breakfast)

Today you will be transferred through wilderness towns, waterfalls and river scenery on the journey to Queenstown. Magnificent vistas and majestic mountains dominate this compact alpine resort town and with such an expansive natural physical environment. (Optional: skyline gondola ride)

Day 8: Queenstown (Breakfast)

Magnificent vistas and majestic mountains dominate this compact alpine resort town and with such an expansive natural physical environment it is not surprising that Queenstown has been described as the Adventure Capital of the World. (Optional: Glenorchy & Paradise Explorer Tour, Arrowtown Wanaka Highlights Tour)

Day 9: Queenstown – Milford Sound – Queenstown (Breakfast, Lunch)

Fiordland is one of the world’s last great wildernesses. Today's stunning tour takes you past mirror lakes and waterfalls into Milford Sound, carved by ice age glaciers and famously described as the eighth wonder of the world. On arrival, board your vessel for a cruise of the fiord surrounded by towering mountains and cliffs that plunge into the sea. Feel the refreshing spray of a waterfall as you cruise close to sheer rock faces before returning to shore. After a big day out, reflect on memories of a lifetime on your coach return to downtown Queenstown.

Day 10: Queenstown – Mt. Cook – Tekapo – Christchurch (Breakfast)

Today travel through the stunning Kawarau Gorge and fruit and wine growing region of Cromwell. The journey follows beautiful Lake Dunstan and meanders through the dramatic Lindis Pass. Travel the vast plains of the Mackenzie district, alongside magnificent turquoise blue lakes, framed by Aoraki Mt. Cook and the spectacular Southern Alps to Mt. Cook Village where you have some free time. Depart from Mt Cook it’s not hard to see why many Lord of the Rings scenes were filmed nearby. Make a stop close to the popular Church of the Good Shepherd sitting in solitude on the banks of Lake Tekapo before continuing through the amazing countryside to Christchurch.

Day 11: Departure From Christchurch (Breakfast)

Hotel check out. At scheduled time, meet at hotel lobby for private departure transfer to Christchurch Airport. (Optional: Antarctic Centre)