Your 13-day New Zealand adventure begins on the South Island in Christchurch. From here, you will travel to Lake Tekapo, driving along the shoreline of the azure Lake Pukaki and stopping at Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park for an incredible view from New Zealand’s highest peak. The Church of the Good Shepherd, built in 1935, is where you will finish your day and is the perfect place to embrace the peace and tranquility of Lake Tekapo and the surrounding snow-capped mountains. Continue south through Oamaru, past the unusually large and smooth Moeraki Boulders at Koekohe Beach, until you reach the harbour city of Dunedin, set in and around a volcanic crater formed between 16 and 10 million years ago.
Your journey presses on to Lake Te Anau, where you will spend a night before your expedition through Fiordland National Park. You will eventually reach Milford Sound and embark on a cruise along the full-length of the fjord, through the towering mountain ranges, cliffs, and waterfalls before heading to Queenstown for two nights. You will have two days to enjoy Queenstown at leisure, including a buffet lunch 450 m above the city at Bob’s Peak via the Skyline Gondola. Your final two and half days on the South Island will take you across Haast Pass to the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers before returning to Christchurch on the world-renowned TranzAlpine rail journey.
Your North Island adventure begins with a scenic voyage on the Interislander ferry from Picton to Wellington. Continue north to New Zealand’s largest lake, Lake Taupo, and take in the roaring Huka Falls. You will then have two nights in Rotorua to fully embrace New Zealand’s Māori culture and explore the town’s geothermal geysers, mud pools, and boiling lakes before travelling to the village of Waitomo. Explore the glow worm skies, crystal tapestries, and limestone formations found in the Waitomo Caves before journeying to Auckland, where you will enjoy a farewell dinner to conclude your New Zealand adventure.