Highlights

• All inclusive
• Luxury coach travel
• 3 – 4 star accommodations
• Hotel porterage (we’ll handle your luggage for you!)
• Welcome Reception

Inclusions

• Accommodation – Christchurch – Distinction Christchurch Hotel (1 Night), Twizel – MacKenzie Country Hotel (1), Dunedin – Scenic Hotel Southern Cross (1), Te Anau – Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas (1), Queenstown – Millennium Hotel Queenstown (2), Franz Josef – Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier (Douglas Wing) (1), Punakaiki – Ocean View Retreat Punakaiki (1), Christchurch – Distinction Christchurch Hotel (1)
• Meals – 9 Full breakfasts, 1 ‘Be My Guest’ Afternoon Tea, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner, 4 Dinners with wine, 1 Highlight dinner, 1 Farewell dinner
• US Domestic Flights – (Not included, but can be added to your quote)
• Day Tours – Christchurch: City Sights Tour; Mackenzie Country Sightseeing; Waitaki Hydro Power Scheme; Te Anau: Lake Manapouri Boat Ride, Milford Sound Cruise; Queenstown: Orientation Tour, Cruise on Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak High Country Farm; Historic Arrowtown Village; Cromwell Local Orchard; Hokitika Greenstone Factory tour; Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes; Greymouth: Monteith’s Brewing Company tour; Scenic Journey on the TranzAlpine
• Transfers – Airport to Hotel and Hotel to Airport
• All Taxes and Fuel Levies (Except where noted)

Tour Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to Christchurch

At once forward-thinking and fun, Christchurch is the kind of city you could lose yourself in for a week – or more. You have this afternoon, so make the most of it. We recommend riding the rails on the vintage Christchurch Tram, a narrated hop-on, hop-off experience that loops around town, your energetic host pointing out historic architecture and new developments that have popped up since the 2010/2011 earthquakes. Freshen up because it’s time to meet your fellow adventure-seekers over a couple of wines at a Welcome Reception.

Hotel Distinction Christchurch Hotel

Day 2: Christchurch – Twizel

If you didn’t get your bearings yesterday, you certainly will on today’s Christchurch tour, taking in the city’s record-breaking Transitional Cathedral – who knew you could build a church from cardboard and not much else? – as well as past the gilded library, gleaming like an architectural beacon. The buildings of the city fade into a patchwork of farms as you ease across the Canterbury Plains toward Morelea. Here, Angie and Stan Taylor welcome you to their home with a slap-up Be My Guest afternoon tea and tales about life on the land. And this land is truly dramatic, backdropped by powdery mountains and cut with turquoise lakes, none quite as pretty as Lake Tekapo, on its banks the stone-hewn Church of the Good Shepherd. It’s like someone has taken the glasses off your nose and cleaned them for the first time.

Hotel MacKenzie Country Hotel

Breakfast, Be My Guest Afternoon Tea & Dinner with wine included

Day 3: Twizel – Dunedin

More water awaits on day three, your journey following the Waitaki River to mighty Benmore Dam; it powers 300,000 New Zealand homes. You’re en route to the city of Dunedin, replete with rolling green meadows and grand stone castles. It kind of feels like you’ve been transported to Scotland – small wonder it’s known as the ‘Edinburgh of the South’. With this afternoon at your leisure, we recommend a cruise to spot penguins and fur seals along the Otago Peninsula, or perhaps a visit to Speight’s Brewery – a New Zealand institution that makes everything from a fragrant Old Dark to a crisp Apple Cider. And pretty much everything in between. There’s always Larnach castle to explore. While it may not have the history of Scotland’s grand estates, it’s got a fascinating, and at times dark, history of its own.

Hotel Scenic Hotel Southern Cross

Breakfast & Dinner with wine included

Day 4: Dunedin – Te Anau

This morning, travel through lush green pastures, crossing sheep-filled farming land. New Zealand is internationally known for its sheep farming, and these are sights many visitors to this country recognize as typically ‘New Zealand’. You are sure to find the perfect sheep photo here! As your journey continues, the rolling, grassy hills once again turn back into heavily forested, rugged mountains, and you meander your way up into the Fiordland National Park to the South Island’s biggest lake and the town of Te Anau. This afternoon, you will hear and learn about the conservation efforts of the Pomona Island Charitable Trust which aims to restore the largest inland island in New Zealand to its natural state. Get up close to the islands on a boat ride on Lake Manapouri. Stop in some quiet and tranquil spots, to soak up the amazing surrounds, spot a few trout, and learn about the unique environment and fascinating history. This evening you have the opportunity to head out across the lake to the Glow Worm Caves for a tour (optional – at own expense). Tonight, enjoy dinner at your hotel.

Hotel Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 5: Te Anau – Queenstown

Today is one of those days where you will want to have your camera battery charged and ready to go! After leaving Te Anau, you will journey through the Fiordland National Park and out to Milford Sound on one of the most scenic roads you could hope for. Travel through native rainforests, beech forests, alluvial flats and meadows. You will stop at Mirror Lakes where, as the name suggests, you can see the stunning mountain scenery perfectly reflected in the waters of the lakes. Then on to the Homer Tunnel, man’s attempt to master the sheer rocky ranges, still left rough-hewn around the edges. As you emerge out the other side of the tunnel, you are presented with one of the world’s most dramatic alpine drives, down through the Cleddau Valley. You will have a stop at the Chasm, where the roaring Cleddau River has carved its way through solid rock, and then it’s on to Milford Sound, where you will cruise the waters of this natural wonder. Your cruise meanders down the sound, taking in the Bowen and Stirling Falls as they plummet from glacial hanging valleys sharply into the sea, and the sheer pinnacle of Mitre Peak, rising from the deep waters of the fiord. From the spectacular scenes of Milford Sound, you will travel on to the beautiful sights of Queenstown. An orientation tour skirting around the shores of Lake Wakatipu, takes you into the city center.

Hotel Millennium Hotel Queenstown (2 nights)

Breakfast included

Day 6: Queenstown

Explore Queenstown your way, choose from a range of optional sightseeing experiences. You could choose to ride the Shotover Jet, or take a gondola to Bob’s Peak. Perhaps take a minibus tour through spectacular Skippers Canyon or immerse yourself among the boutique vineyards and spectacular scenery of Central Otago on a Boutique Wine tour. After a day of activity, enjoy a peaceful evening cruise across Lake Wakatipu aboard the TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet barbecue highlight dinner at the Colonel’s Homestead. Then enjoy an entertaining after-dinner farm show providing a glimpse into high-country farm life. On the cruise back to Queenstown, join a sing-along or a dance across the polished wooden floors of the Earnslaw.

Breakfast & Highlight dinner included

Day 7: Queenstown – Franz Josef

This morning you will leave the alpine wonderland of Queenstown behind, and begin the passage through Central Otago and out to Westland. On the way out of the Queenstown region, you will stop and visit the faithfully restored gold mining settlement of Arrowtown. As you amble down the beautiful tree-lined avenues, past the 19th century wooden buildings, you will feel like you have stepped into a movie set. From here you will travel over to Cromwell, situated next to the sparkling pristine waters of Lake Dunstan, where you will stop in at a local orchard for a taste of some of the town’s delicious stone fruit. Following an ancient greenstone trail, you will travel over Haast Pass, marking a change from the alpine scenery of the Southern Lakes, to the rainforest marvel of the wild West Coast. View the sheer drop of Thunder Creek Falls and the grand sight of Mt Hooker, flanked on three sides by extensive glaciers. Your final destination for today is the extraordinary rivers of ice that make up Franz Josef Glacier. You may want to get up close and personal with the glaciers on a helicopter flight. Your flight will hover over the snow face and may land high up in the valley so that you can walk across the ice fall – subject to weather conditions (optional Experience, own expense). Tonight, enjoy dinner with wine at your hotel.

Hotel Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier (Douglas Wing)

Breakfast & Dinner with wine included

Day 8: Franz Josef – Punakaiki

Consider an optional experience helicopter flight over the glaciers, or you may wish to take a stroll through the small but lively Franz Josef village. Then it’s time for an exhilarating adventure among temperate rainforest giants on the West Coast Treetop Walkway, followed by a visit to Hokitika, home of the native greenstone (jade) for a factory visit and jewelry demonstration. Later, travel to Punakaiki to view the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. You’ll spend the night in an eco-friendly resort, right on the waterfront. This evening enjoy dinner with wine at your hotel, while watching the surf thundering at your doorstep!

Hotel Ocean View Retreat Punakaiki

Breakfast & Dinner with wine included

Day 9: Punakaiki – Christchurch

Enjoy a leisurely start this morning before you travel to Greymouth. Here you will join a brewery experience at Monteith’s Brewery where you will be guided through the traditions and heritage of this national icon. You will get to experience and taste ever changing and innovative brews before enjoying a pub style lunch. Later you will board the TranzAlpine train to Christchurch city. This spectacular train journey dates back to 1914 and is rated as one of the world’s most scenic train trips. The train forges through tunnels and over viaducts with panoramic views of snow-capped peaks, icy rivers, beech forests, gorges and river valleys. This evening join your Travel Director and Driver, and your new-found friends for a farewell dinner.

Hotel Distinction Christchurch Hotel

Breakfast, Lunch & Farewell dinner included

Day 10: Farewell Christchurch

Your holiday concludes this morning after breakfast. You’ll be transferred by private car to Christchurch Airport for your onward flight.

Breakfast included