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 – Punakaiki Resort (1), Christchurch – Distinction Christchurch Hotel (1)
• Meals – 9 Full breakfasts, 1 ‘Be My Guest’ Afternoon Tea, 1 Lunch, 5 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; Church of the Good Shepherd; 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; Central Otago Lakes; West Coast Sightseeing; West Coast Treetop Walkway; Hokitika Greenstone Factory tour; Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes; Greymouth: Monteith’s Brewing Company tour; Scenic Journey on TranzAlpine
• Transfers – Airport to Hotel and Hotel to Airport
• All Taxes and Fuel Levies (Except where noted)

Tour Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to Christchurch

Welcome to Christchurch, New Zealand’s Garden City. Take some time to relax or explore independently. You may like to step back in time to a grand era of transport and relax on the Christchurch Tram as it takes you around the ‘must-see’ central attractions. The tram drivers provide a live commentary throughout the loop, identifying points of interest, historic architecture and the changes the city is under-going since the 2011 earthquake (optional experience – own expense). This evening, meet your fellow traveling companions and your Travel Director for a welcome reception at your hotel.

Hotel Distinction Christchurch Hotel

Day 2: Christchurch – Twizel

This morning enjoy a Christchurch city sights tour, see how Christchurch is rebuilding after the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, and pop into the Transitional Cathedral in Latimer Square, the temporary home of the ChristChurch Cathedral. It is the world’s only cathedral made substantially of cardboard! Next, travel over the patchwork countryside of the Canterbury Plains to soak up some spectacular sightseeing. Visit Morelea, the home of Angie and Stan Taylor, for a be my guest afternoon tea and hear about a lifetime spent farming in New Zealand. Later, view the little stone-hewn Church of the Good Shepherd, and the bronze statue of a collie dog, the touching tribute to the sheepdogs which helped develop the Mackenzie Country. Your day finishes in the heart of the Mackenzie Country in Twizel. Tonight, enjoy dinner at your hotel.

Hotel MacKenzie Country Hotel

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

Day 3: Twizel – Dunedin

Your day starts with a journey along the Waitaki River, which marks the boundary between the regions of Canterbury and Otago, and with its large catchment it is an ideal source of hydro-electric power. The Benmore Dam holds back New Zealand’s largest artificial lake, and when the Benmore Power Station was opened in 1965 it was the largest power station in New Zealand. Even today, it is still the second largest, and generates enough electricity each year for about 298,000 average New Zealand homes. From the Waitaki Valley you will then travel through to the township of Oamaru, with its stately tree-lined streets and its famous white limestone buildings. As well as shipping limestone to the bigger cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin for construction of their Town Halls and various churches, Oamaru locals made sure that their own town represented the best in limestone building the mid-late 1800’s had to offer. This afternoon you will make your way down to the Southernmost New Zealand city, Dunedin also known as the Edinburgh of the South. With the rest of your free afternoon you may wish to see more of the region with an Optional Experience. Perhaps take a Wildlife Cruise out to Otago Peninsula, visit the Speights Brewery – a New Zealand institution or journey out to the gorgeous Larnach Castle – New Zealand’s only castle. Tonight, enjoy dinner at your hotel.

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 with wine 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. It is a day of gorgeous lakes, as after Dunstan, you will travel further into Central Otago and view the vivid blue waters of Lake Hawea, followed by Lake Wanaka, where the shoreline is charmingly lined by poplars and willows. 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. Our 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 jewellery 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 Punakaiki Resort

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 with wine.

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