New Zealand Highlights - 2009
Tour Code: NZH
17 Day Trip
Per person rates from:
$4340 West Coast
Rate includes discounts. Some taxes, fees additional. Read More.
Terms and Conditions
Departures available through December 2009.

NOTE: Departures prior to October 4 operate a 16-day itinerary.
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Mitre Peak, Milford Sound
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Tour Overview Trip Itinerary Dates & Prices Accommodations Tools & Tips
Trip Itinerary
DAY 1 & 2 USA - Auckland
Depart for Auckland, New Zealand, on the other side of the international date line.
DAY 3 Arrive Auckland
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
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 Tane and a traditional Maori Hangi feast and concert.
Breakfast and Highlight Dinner Included
DAY 5 Rotorua
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
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
Explore Wellington for yourself this morning before we visit Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. 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 Allan Scott Wines, which has developed its own reputation as a Marlborough icon.
Breakfast and Highlight Dinner Included
DAY 8 Kaikoura - Christchurch
On the way to Kaikoura we pass the Grassmere Salt Works with a chance to 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
We begin the day with a ride on the Christchurch Tram. Continuing our travels we see Lakes Tekapo and 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).
Breakfast and Dinner Included.
DAY10 Dunedin
We see the Waitaki Hydro Power Scheme, Benmore Dam and the white limestone buildings of Oamaru. A Dunedin city tour, then your afternoon is at leisure – maybe take a Wildlife Cruise, a Cadbury Factory visit or ride the Taieri Gorge Railway.
Breakfast and Dinner Included
DAY 11 Dunedin - Te Anau
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
Be awe-struck 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 handmade Homer Tunnel. Mirror Lakes, Pop’s Lookout. Claudu Valley and The Chasm. Mitre Peak. Bowen Falls. Cruise on Milford Sound. We travel over the Devil’s Staircase along the shores of Lake Wakatipu back to Te Anau. On arrival in Queenstown we’ll do an orientation tour. Our dinner option is the Skyline Restaurant on Bob’s Peak, via the Southern Hemisphere’s steepest Gondola! A bonus Kiwi Haka Maori Show makes for a top night - if you so choose!
Breakfast Included
DAY 13 Queenstown 'Free Time'
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
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 Franz Josef - Punakaiki Franz Josef (Islands), New Zealand
Explore Franz Josef Glacier – take an optional flight (weather permitting) or a glacier hike! Then we depart for Hokitika, home of the native greenstone (jade) for a factory visit and jewellery demonstration. It’s on to our waterfront hotel at Punakaiki, where we’ll view the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes.
Breakfast and Dinner included.
DAY 16 TranzAlpine - Christchurch
Enjoy time at leisure before travelling via Greymouth to Arthur's Pass where we'll board the TranzAlpine, one of thetop 6 train journeys in the world, to travel through the Southern Alps to Christchurch.
Breakfast and Dinner Included.
Day 17 - Depart Christchurch Christchurch, New Zealand
Explore Christchurch yourself. Make the most of this city, famous for its gardens, until we transfer you to Christchurch Airport for your onward journey.
Breakfast Included.