New Zealand North Island: Bay of Islands, Rotorua and Wellington

Arrive in Auckland

Auckland Airport to your hotel in central Auckland

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Auckland
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

Fly into Auckland Airport (AKL) by early afternoon.

Soir

A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the half-hour drive into the city, where we stay one night close to the waterfront. Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau in Māori, sits on a narrow neck of land between two harbours, the Waitematā to the east and the Manukau to the west, with around fifty volcanic cones scattered across the city. In the late afternoon your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week: what the boat day needs, how the flight and the train fit in, and what to pack for the geothermal valleys. Then we walk along the harbour from the ferry terminal to the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter as the light goes, and sit down together to a welcome dinner. If you land early, the afternoon is yours: the Auckland War Memorial Museum in the Domain, or the short climb up Maungawhau (Mount Eden) for the view.

Compris

• Pick-up at Auckland Airport (AKL)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Evening walk along the harbour to the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter
• Welcome dinner

North to the Bay of Islands and Waitangi

Auckland to Whangārei Falls, then Paihia and the Waitangi Treaty Grounds

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Paihia
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

We leave Auckland after breakfast, around 8 am, ahead of the worst of the traffic, and drive north on State Highway 1 over the Harbour Bridge and through farmland and forested hills. About two hours on, we stop at Whangārei Falls, where the Hātea River drops about 26 metres over a basalt lip into a pool, and walk the short loop to the base.

Après-midi

Lunch is in Whangārei at a café of your choice, at your own cost. Another hour brings us to Paihia, a small town on the shore of the Bay of Islands, our base for two nights. In the mid-afternoon, when the morning coach groups have gone, we cross the bridge to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. A local guide walks us through the grounds: the Treaty House, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840, Te Whare Rūnanga, the carved meeting house, and Ngātokimatawhaorua, a ceremonial war canoe hauled to the water each Waitangi Day. A cultural performance follows, and there is time for the museum.

Soir

The evening is free in Paihia.

Compris

• Short walk at Whangārei Falls
• Waitangi Treaty Grounds with a local guide: the Treaty House, Te Whare Rūnanga and the waka Ngātokimatawhaorua
• Cultural performance and the Waitangi museums

A boat day on the Bay of Islands

Paihia to the Hole in the Rock and Urupukapuka Island, then Russell

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Paihia
• En bateau

Matin

We board in Paihia in the morning and head out past the islands to Cape Brett and Motukōkako, the Hole in the Rock, an island pierced by a tunnel that boats pass through when the sea is calm. Bottlenose and common dolphins are often seen on the way, though never promised, and swimming with them is no longer allowed in the bay. On the way back we stop on Urupukapuka Island for a walk up to a ridge with views over the outer islands, or a swim at Otehei Bay in summer.

Après-midi

The boat drops us in Russell, Kororāreka, once a whaling port and the first European settlement in New Zealand, for a sit-down lunch on the waterfront. Afterwards walk to Christ Church, built in 1836 and still marked by musket balls, or up Flagstaff Hill. Regular passenger ferries run back to Paihia, so come back when you like.

Compris

• Bay of Islands cruise to the Hole in the Rock at Cape Brett
• Stop on Urupukapuka Island
• Sit-down lunch in Russell
• Passenger ferry from Russell to Paihia

Fly south, then Hobbiton and Rotorua

Paihia to Kerikeri Airport, flight to Auckland, then Hobbiton and Rotorua

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Rotorua
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

We leave the hotel around 7:30 am, depending on the flight, for the half hour to Kerikeri's small airport for a morning flight of about 45 minutes to Auckland, with the Bay of Islands below on take-off. Our van and driver meet us at Auckland Airport, and we drive about two hours south into the green dairy country of the Waikato, past Hamilton to the farm near Matamata that holds the Hobbiton Movie Set.

Après-midi

Lunch is first, at the set's café. Then a local guide walks the group through the Shire for about two hours: the hobbit holes cut into the hillside, Bag End above them, the mill and double-arched bridge, and a drink at the Green Dragon Inn at the end. It is about an hour on to Rotorua, where we arrive around 5 pm and stay two nights.

Soir

The evening is free; Kuirau Park, a free public park of steaming pools and mud, is a short walk from the centre.

Compris

• Flight from Kerikeri (KKE) to Auckland (AKL)
• Lunch at the Hobbiton Movie Set
• Guided Hobbiton Movie Set tour with a drink at the Green Dragon Inn

Waimangu Volcanic Valley and a Māori evening

Rotorua to Waimangu Volcanic Valley and back, then a Māori-hosted evening

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Rotorua
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

We drive the 25 km south in the morning and walk down the valley with your guide, about 4 km on a sealed and gravel path that runs mostly downhill: past Frying Pan Lake, which steams across its whole surface, the pale blue Inferno Crater lake, whose water rises and falls on a regular cycle, and the warm stream lined with orange and green algae. A shuttle bus waits at the stops and brings us back up from the lake.

Après-midi

The afternoon is free in Rotorua.

Soir

In the evening we are hosted at a Māori village near the city: a welcome, songs, haka and stories of the people of this place, then a hāngī dinner of meat and vegetables cooked for hours in an earth oven.

Compris

• Waimangu Volcanic Valley walk with your guide
• Māori-hosted evening with a welcome, cultural performance and haka
• Hāngī dinner

Activités en option

• Polynesian Spa hot pools
• Redwoods Treewalk in Whakarewarewa Forest
• Te Puia and the Pōhutu geyser

Taupō and Tongariro, then the train south

Rotorua to Craters of the Moon, Huka Falls and Taupō, then National Park and the Northern Explorer to Wellington

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Wellington
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Soir

After lunch in National Park village, we board the Northern Explorer for about five hours south over the plateau's tall viaducts, reaching Wellington in the early evening.

Compris

• Craters of the Moon geothermal walk
• Huka Falls
• Taupō lakefront
• The drive through Tongariro National Park
• Lunch in National Park village
• Northern Explorer train from National Park to Wellington

Zealandia, Te Papa and the capital

Wellington: Zealandia, Te Papa and the waterfront

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Wellington
• Environ 15 min de route

Après-midi

The rest of the afternoon is yours: ride the red cable car up to the Botanic Garden and walk down through it, or browse Cuba Street.

Soir

In the evening the group meets for a farewell dinner.

Compris

• Zealandia with a sanctuary guide
• Te Papa Tongarewa entry and a guided tour
• Farewell dinner

Activités en option

• Wellington Cable Car to the Botanic Garden
• Weta Workshop tour in Miramar

Depart from Wellington

Your hotel to Wellington Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

The trip ends after breakfast. The morning is free until your transfer: walk the waterfront to Oriental Bay, take a last coffee on Cuba Street, or visit the Beehive and the Parliament buildings, which run free guided tours on most days. Your guide sees the group off at the hotel, and the van takes you to Wellington Airport (WLG), about fifteen minutes from the centre at the edge of Lyall Bay. Wellington has direct flights to Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Australia, so most international connections run through Auckland or Sydney. If you want to keep travelling, the Interislander and Bluebridge ferries cross Cook Strait to Picton on the South Island from here, about three and a half hours across the strait and through the Marlborough Sounds, and our two-island trip continues south from the same city. Book a flight leaving after about 11 am so the morning is not rushed.

Compris

• Drop-off at Wellington Airport (WLG)