Spirit of New Zealand

Dozens of lakes, rivers and waterfalls. Just as many beaches. A good dose of Māori history and culture. Glaciers, gorges and bubbling geysers. Wine, wonderful food and wildlife. It sounds like the recipe for the best New Zealand tour ever. We haven’t even touched on the forward-thinking cities and atmospheric towns you’ll encounter on a Christchurch tour, Wellington tour, Bay of Islands tour... And so much more. Pack your stamina.
Highlights

Explore Abel Tasman National Park, At World Heritage-listed Fiordland National Park, waterfalls, ancient escarpments and dolphins await.

Day 1 / Welcome to Christchurch

Community spirit is strong in Christchurch, as you’ll discover exploring its streets at your leisure. We recommend jumping on the tram to tour Christchurch and discover how the city has rebuilt itself since the 2010/11 earthquakes. Look out for the Transitional Cathedral, made largely of cardboard, and Turanga, the gold-clad central library.

Day 2 / Christchurch - Omarama

More of the city is revealed on a Christchurch tour before the colours of the Canterbury Plains spread before you: the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo, snow-capped mountains and atmospheric towns. It’s quite the backdrop for the stone-hewn Church of Good Shepherd. Opt to take in the drama from afar on a scenic flight over Mount Cook and the Southern Alps, Franz Josef and Fox glaciers. Could the start of your New Zealand guided tour be any more epic?

Day 3 / Omarama - Dunedin

Easing through the Waitaki Valley, you’re en route toward New Zealand’s oldest public gardens. They lie in the pretty town of Oamaru, known for its stately tree-lined streets and limestone buildings. Architectural drama of a different kind awaits in Dunedin. While away the afternoon in atmospheric art-lined alleys or sipping a lager or two in Speights Brewery (a national institution). Or venture further afield to discover Larnach Castle, which nods to Dunedin’s Scottish link – it’s known as ‘Little Edinburgh’ for a reason. In truth, it could also be known as ‘Little Galapagos’: fur seals and penguins thrive in this part of the South Island.

Day 4 / Dunedin - Invercargill

Rolling green pastures dotted with wide-eyed sheep are your backdrop to Gore. Fun fact: this is the country music capital of New Zealand. Invercargill is obsessed with something else: motor vehicles. Tributes to speed legends colour the city, telling the story of everyone from Burt Munro to Bill Richardson – his shed full of classic vehicles is the largest private collection of its type in the world.

Day 5 / Stewart Island

Wild, wide and wonderful, Stewart Island’s rugged coastline cuts a dramatic form in the Southern Ocean. It’s largely untouched – 97% is national parkland – which means that endemic flora and fauna (including a menagerie of birds) thrive here. But don’t take our word for it. Meet the locals on a tour through valleys and bays. Later you may choose to take a cruise out to wildlife sanctuary Ulva Island, or furher explore Stewart Island by E-bike.

Day 6 / Invercargill - Queenstown

You've probably already noticed that there's a lot of farmland here in New Zealand. It's fitting, then, that you meet southern girl Laura, who will introduce you to the sheep farm she was born and raised on. Continue to Queenstown and take today at your own pace.  Continue to Queenstown and take today at your own pace. Like things fast and furious? Feel the wind in your hair on the high-octane Shotover Jet, perhaps, twisting and revving along Queenstown's Shotover River. There's a reason why Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of the country. Wine aficionado? Sip your way through surrounding vineyards. Tours of the South Island don't get much tastier than this. There's also an afternoon cruise on Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet barbecue dinner.

Day 7 / Queenstown

We wouldn’t blame you for using today to linger by the banks of Lake Wakatipu, marvelling at sky-scraping, snow-tipped Remarkables. But if you want to venture further afield, we can point you in the right direction. A spot of bungy jumping at the place it was born, perhaps? Or an epic journey through Fiordland National Park for a Milford Sound tour. This yawning gorge was carved by waterfalls, wind and weather. It’s the natural playground for dolphins and New Zealand fur seals. There’s a reason why this part of the island has World Heritage status.

Day 8 / Queenstown - Franz Josef

We know you’ll want to linger in Arrowtown’s movie-set-like streets, lined with trees and character-filled boutiques and restaurants. But the Alpine country of the Southern Lakes is calling, from Lake Dunstan – pause for juicy stone fruit picked fresh from the tree – to oh-so-blue Lake Hawea and lovely Lake Wanaka, with its Instagrammable shoreline of poplars and willows. Over the Haast Pass, Franz Josef Glacier, a white-out of snow and ice, shimmers like a gem. Get some perspective on an optional flight over this natural wonder – if the weather behaves, you may even get to land on and tour Franz Josef Glacier. Trips to New Zealand don’t get any cooler than this.

Day 9 / Franz Josef - Punakaiki

There aren’t many communities on the wild West Coast, Hokitika is one, and boy does it make the most of its setting. Wander the windswept coast before discovering the town’s other beauty: pounamu (native greenstone or jade). In Māori tradition, it’s bad luck to buy this sacred stone for yourself; flutter your eyelids at your loved one. Prepare yourself for Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks and blowholes; they owe their existence to the thundering surf that will lull you to sleep.

Day 10 / Punakaiki - Nelson

Sit back and relax – that’s all you have to do today as you ease along the Heritage Highway toward Nelson. Press your nose against the glass as your coach weaves through Buller Gorge – a deep canyon home to New Zealand’s longest swingbridge – and Kahurangi National Park, a place of wild rivers, high plateaus, alpine herb fields and coastal forests.

Day 11 / Nelson

Sleep in or work up a sweat – today is completely at your leisure. We have a few ideas up our sleeve, of course. Lace up your hiking shoes and head off on a bushwalk, or sit back on a boat and soak up the silence of Abel Tasman National Park. This pocket in the north of the island inspires calm, its golden beaches framed by sculpted granite cliffs that all unite to create one of the country’s most legendary coastal tracks.

Day 12 / Nelson - Wellington

Swap wheels for water aboard the Inter-islander for a cruise through Queen Charlotte Sound, up the Tory Channel and across Cook Strait, from the South Island to the North, navigating a maze of arms and inlets into New Zealand’s cool little capital of Wellington. Bring your appetite – the city is known for its oh-so-cool restaurants and bars. Ask us for tips before your  day in Wellington  kicks off tomorrow.

Day 13 / Wellington

After a strong coffee – take your pick of Wellington cafes; they’re all excellent – it’s time to choose your own adventure. Stroll through Te Papa, the city’s mindboggling museum, or tour Parliament. Peter Jackson fans will have their sights set firmly on a Lord of the Rings movie tour or visit to Weta Workshop, where special-effects wizards work their magic creating goblins and dinosaurs for blockbuster films. It’s a bit like heaven for movie geeks.

Day 14 / Wellington - Napier

After a devastating earthquake in 1931, Napier completely rebuilt itself in just two years. The end result is architectural Nirvana, a city home to the world’s greatest concentration of Art Deco, Spanish Mission and Stripped Classical buildings, in a gelato of colours and forms. If these walls could talk… instead, get the lowdown from your in-the-know local guide on a Napier tour.

Day 15 / Napier - Rotorua

The road ahead unfolds in a broad panorama of Lake Taupo, the largest (and perhaps bluest) of its kind in the country – it feeds thundering Huka Falls, which you’ll hear well before you see. It’s a landscape almost as otherworldly as Rotorua, where mud pops and jettisons from bubbling geysers, and steam rushes skywards from cracks in the Earth. Tonight, Maori culture and traditions are in the spotlight at Te Puia. Your journey starts with a guided tour including the Māori Arts & Crafts Institute, followed by a hangi dinner overlooking the geothermal valley, and a Māori cultural performance in the meeting house, Te Aronui a Rua.

Day 16 / Rotorua Free Time

Today is Rotorua tour day of many decisions, but with plenty of tips available from your Travel Director. Want a bit of down time? We wouldn’t blame you for simply blissing out at in the steamy thermal springs at Rotorua’s Polynesian Spa. Soak your travel weary limbs, or have a masseuse treat your muscles to a makeover. Animal lover? Go behind the scenes on a working kiwi nursery and hatchery to see how these endangered animals are cared for.  Hobbit fans will want to take advantage of the opportunity to tour the sights featured in The Lord of the Rings movies at Hobbiton.

Day 17 / Rotorua - Auckland

From New Zealand’s longest waterway, the Waikato River, to its largest city: welcome to Auckland, the ‘City of Sails’. You’ll understand how it got its moniker when you glimpse yachts gliding around its two harbours. But today your sights are firmly set on the city’s other love: rugby. As part of your Auckland tour you’re kicking about at the interactive All Blacks Experience. You’re serenaded with a performance of the haka, before journeying through the sporting team’s remarkable history via various displays and presentations.

Day 18 / Auckland - Bay of Islands

140 – that’s how many droplets of land ringed by turquoise sea comprise the Bay of Islands, your tour destination de jour. It’s undeniably beautiful, but it also holds a special historical secret: this is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, between Captain William Hobson and Māori chiefs. Your guide, perhaps a descendant of one of the original signatories, will explain the significance of the site, while pointing out the world’s largest ceremonial war canoe and a carved meeting house.

Day 19 / Bay of Islands

If there’s a travel destination that inspires wanderlust, the Bay of Islands is it. Today, trip the light fantastic and head off in whatever direction you please. Perhaps travel up to Cape Reinga, the very top of New Zealand, via idyllic Ninety Mile Beach. Or glide around on an historic tall ship, enjoy local drops on a wine tour of the region, or join a tour of Russell and learn more about the settling of the Bay of Islands.

Day 20 / Bay of Islands - Auckland

For a little more northern exposure, make your way to Whangarei, the island’s most northerly outpost and a place where waterfalls meet beaches, galleries meet museums. It’s like the country in a tantalising snapshot – a union of nature and forward-thinking culture. Explore at your leisure before sinking back into your seat for the mesmerizing commute back to Auckland.

Day 21 / Farewell from Auckland

Over three weeks, we hope you’ve packed your address book with the names of new friends and your camera with photos of New Zealand’s most inspiring attractions. But at the end of the day, it’s the memories that will fuel your flight home. Trips to New Zealand don’t get any more epic than this.