AAT Kings New Zealand Vista 26/27

Auckland never fails to turn on the charm, as you’ll discover while exploring the city before meeting your fellow adventure-seekers. Peruse waterfront precincts filled with yachts or hit up the CBD to discover local designers. Turns out Kiwi creativity is surging. This evening, your Travel Director will welcome you and will brief you on your tour.

Staying in:

• Holiday Inn Express Auckland City Centre (1 night)

Tonight, delve deep into Maori culture and traditions at Te Puia. The Te Pō Indigenous Experience begins with an exhilarating cultural performance that takes place in a beautifully carved meeting house, Te Aronui a Rua. Afterward, enter the geothermal valley on a waka (electric shuttle) and discover one of New Zealand’s most magnificent geothermal wonderlands – featuring dramatic geysers, bubbling mud, and beautiful native bush. Enjoy a hot chocolate, seated on a naturally heated rock terrace overlooking the powerful Pōhutu Geyser. Then enjoy a delicious buffet dinner of locally sourced cuisine and an authentic Māori twist in each dish.

Staying in:

• Ibis Rotorua Hotel (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

We’re leaving you up to your own devices today. But have plenty of North Island tour travel tips, depending on your mood. Want a bit of down time? Bliss out at Wai Araki Hot Springs & Spa. Hobbit fans will want to take advantage of the opportunity to tour the sights featured in The Lord of the Rings movies at Hobbiton. These beautiful landscapes are not only a bucket list tour for Hobbit fans, but a gorgeous countryside getaway. The choice is yours.

Staying in:

• Ibis Rotorua Hotel (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast

A staggering 220,000 litres of water thunder over Huka Falls’ 11-metre high escarpment every second. It creates quite the calamity. From here, the road ahead unfolds in a broad panorama of Lake Taupo, its waters so vivid and blue they resemble an Ice Mint. Traverse the Kapiti Coast to New Zealand’s cool little capital, Wellington, where there are so many restaurants and bars to choose from, you’ll need a guidebook. Wait, you have an in-the-know Travel Director to talk to.

Staying in:

• James Cook Grand Chancellor (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast

Forget everything else you have to do today and focus on one thing: getting a cup of Wellington’s amazing coffee. The city is known for its uber-cool cafes, designed to fuel you through a session at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand (entrance fee applies). Wellington sightseeing done and dusted: onwards to the interisland ferry for a cruise across Cook Strait, from the North Island to the South, through a maze of arms and inlets into the sleepy seaside village of Picton.

Staying in:

• Picton Beachcomber Inn, Picton Yacht Club (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast

There aren’t many beaches more dramatic than the sands of Kaikoura. Bonus points if you spot a sea lion or sperm whale frolicking offshore, Kaikoura is the marine wildlife centre of New Zealand. Talk to your Travel Director for tips on the essential restaurants to dine in tonight – Christchurch has reinvented itself in more ways than one.

Staying in:

• Ibis Hotel Christchurch (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast

From its devastating 2010/11 earthquakes, Christchurch has become one of the most forward-thinking cities in the world when it comes to design. Case in point the mind-bending Transitional Cathedral, made largely of cardboard, and Turanga, the gold-clad central library. This Christchurch tour is as eye-opening as it is educational. From here, your outlook is the Canterbury Plains: the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo, snow-capped mountains and atmospheric towns. Your Indoor Dark Sky Astronomy Experience at Tekapo, hosted by passionate guides, will forever change the way you see the night sky. You'll see for yourself it may be one of the quietest spots on the planet, yet it has one of the busiest skies in the universe.

Staying in:

• Distinction Heritage Gateway Hotel (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

Your visit to Clyde will have your camera clicking non-stop. This charming historic town may be small, but it’s full of character, with its town centre designated as a historic precinct, featuring buildings from its gold mining past now transformed into cafes and shops. Next, head to Gore, the Country Music capital of New Zealand, before continuing to Fiordland National Park and stunning Te Anau, nestled on the shores of the South Island’s largest lake. Immerse yourself in the serenity - this is as good as it gets.

Staying in:

• Distinction Luxmore Hotel (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

From the moment you step outside today, nature rules. Your route through Fiordland National Park is an intoxicating union of beech forests, alluvial flats, meadows and mirror-like lakes. Gin-clear rivers carve the countryside, with all roads leading to Milford Sound/Piopiotahi. Venture out into the pristine fiord on an included sightseeing cruise for awe-inspiring scenery with towering cliffs, tumbling waterfalls and abundant wildlife. Seals, penguins and the New Zealand alpine parrot, the Kea are a common sight.

Staying in:

• Distinction Luxmore Hotel (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast

Today on your New Zealand tour, travel the aptly named Devil's Staircase. Winding along the edge of Lake Wakatipu, the Devil’s Staircase from Kingston to Queenstown is a breathtaking stretch of road with a combination of lake and Mountain views. Visit the historic gold rush village of Arrowtown, where you can wander the streets, lined with trees and character-filled boutiques, then continue to Queenstown for your two-night stay in the adventure capital of New Zealand. Tonight, glide across Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet barbecue dinner and farm show.

Staying in:

• Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

Take today at your own pace; you won’t be lost for things to do in Queenstown. Like adventure? Feel the wind in your hair on the high-octane jet boat ride, perhaps. There’s a reason why Queenstown is known as the "Adventure Capital of the World". Nature lover? Discover some of New Zealand’s feathered friends at a wildlife centre.

Staying in:

• Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast

Journey past shimmering Lake Hawea and through Haast Pass with its powerful waterfalls and dramatic mountain backdrops to the pretty town of Franz Josef/Waiau.

Staying in:

• Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

Swap white at Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere for green at Hokitika: the pounamu (native jade) found here is the stuff jewellery dreams are made of. Just when you thought your adventure couldn’t get any better, you’ll aboard the TranzAlpine train bound for Christchurch, through tunnels and over viaducts with panoramic views of snow-capped peaks, icy rivers, beech forests, gorges and river valleys.

Staying in:

• Ibis Hotel Christchurch (1 night)

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

Two islands, two weeks. It’s remarkable what you can see when you have the right people guiding you.

Meals included: Breakfast