| Trip Itinerary |
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| DAY 1 & 2 USA - Auckland |
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| Depart for Auckland, New Zealand, on the other side of the international date line. |
| DAY 3 Arrive Auckland |
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We’ll transfer you from the airport to your hotel. Check in and the rest of the day is Auckland, your way. This evening, a welcome Drink and Dinner with your Tour Director and travel companions.
Dinner Included |
| Day 4 Auckland - Rotorua |
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We travel along the Waikato River to the Waitomo Caves for a guided tour of the amazing Glow Worm Grotto. Then on to Rotorua. Soak up views of Lake Rotorua on our orientation tour.Tonight experience The Realm of Tãne and a traditional Maori Hangi feast and Concert.
Breakfast and Highlight Dinner Included |
| DAY 5 Rotorua |
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Sparkling wine aboard the Lakeland Queen kicks off our Lake Rotorua breakfast cruise. Then it’s the Agrodome Sheep Show followed by a guided tour of Te Puia and the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve. In the afternoon relax or explore, it’s ‘Free Time’.
Breakfast Included |
| DAY 6 Rotorua - Wellington |
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From the mountains to the sea. View the Huka Falls. Visit Taupo and drive along the shores of its lake. Travel through the alpine scenery of Mt. Ruapehu. Tongariro National Park. Manawatu. The Kapiti Coast. On our Wellington city sights tour see the city from Mt. Victoria.
Breakfast and Dinner Included |
| DAY 7 Wellington - Blenheim |
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Explore Wellington for yourself this morning before we visit Te Papa, New Zealand’s National Museum. Later we’ll cruise the Cook Strait into tranquil Queen Charlotte Sound. The seaside village of Picton is next, then Blenheim and a city orientation tour. We’ll enjoy a tour, dinner and tasting at Montana Winery, one of New Zealand’s best winemakers.
Breakfast and Highlight Dinner Included |
| DAY 8 Kaikoura - Christchurch |
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On the way to Kaikoura we pass the Grassmere Salt Works and see New Zealand Fur Seals at Ohau Point. Explore Kaikoura your way – maybe take a Scenic Whale Watching flight. We head to Christchurch through the Canterbury Plains. A city orientation tour ensures you maximize your ‘Free Time’.
Breakfast Included |
| DAY 9 Mt. Cook |
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| We begin the day with a ride on the Christchurch Tram. Then you’re free to go shopping or relax. Continuing our travels we see Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, visit the Church of the Good Shepherd and soak up the spectacular alpine scenery of Mt. Cook National Park. Perhaps take a scenic flight over Mt. Cook (weather permitting). |
| DAY10 Dunedin |
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En route to Dunedin we see the Waitaki Hydro Power Scheme, Benmore Dam and the white limestone buildings of Oamaru. A Dunedin city tour, then spend the afternoon as you wish – maybe take a Wildlife Cruise, a Cadbury Factory visit or ride the Taieri Gorge Railway.
Breakfast and Dinner Included |
| DAY 11 Dunedin - Te Anau |
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First up we take a guided tour of New Zealand’s only castle – Larnach Castle and its gardens. Time out in town then we head off across rich fertile, sheep-filled farming land on the way to Te Anau, on the shores of Lake Te Anau, the South Island’s largest. Tonight you can choose to see the Te Anau Glow Worm Caves.
Breakfast and Dinner Included |
| DAY 12 Milford Sound |
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Super highlight day! Be awestruck by the magnificence of the Fiordland National Park, not only a World Heritage Park but also New Zealand’s largest. Amazing photo opportunities await as we see rainforest, ancient glaciers, mountain ranges and the hand-made Homer Tunnel. Mirror Lakes, Pop’s Lookout. Claudu Valley and The Chasm. Mitre Peak. Bowen Falls. Milford Sound. We travel over the Devils Stair Case along the shores of Lake Wakatipu back to Te Anau. At Queenstown we’ll do an orientation tour and take a group photo. Our dinner option is the Skyline Restaurant on Bob’s Peak, via the Southern Hemisphere’s steepest Gondola!
Breakfast Included |
| DAY 13 Queenstown 'Free Time' |
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Explore action adventure Queenstown your way. Take it easy with wine or garden tours. Or go wild with jet boat rides or white water rafting. Just be back in time for dinner and a sheep shearing demonstration at Walter Peak Sheep Station. We travel there and back across Lake Wakatipu via the TSS Earnslaw, New Zealand’s oldest steamship.
Breakfast and Highlight Dinner Included |
| DAY 14 Queenstown - Franz Josef |
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Today experience Arrowtown, the sensational stone fruit of Cromwell, Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea, Lake Dunstan. Haast Pass, Thunder Creek Falls. A small rainforest walk. Then the ‘pièce de résistance’ - Franz Josef Glacier – the world’s most accessible, and still advancing, glacier. If you need to see more - take an optional scenic flight!
Breakfast and Dinner Included |
| DAY 15 TranzAlpine - Christchurch |
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First stop, Hokitika, home of the native greenstone (jade), for a factory visit and jewellery demonstration. Up the coast to Greymouth then view the fascinating Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. At Arthur’s Pass we’ll board the TranzAlpine – one of the world’s top 6 train journeys and travel through the stunning and picturesque Southern Alps to Christchurch.
Breakfast and Dinner Included |
| DAY 16 Depart Christchurch |
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Explore Christchurch on your own. Make the most of this city, famous for its gardens, until we transfer you to Christchurch Airport for you onward journey.
Breakfast Included |
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