New Zealand: the grand tour of both islands, Auckland to Queenstown

1. Day 1: Arrive in Auckland

   Auckland Airport to central Auckland, about 40 minutes

   • Drive about 42 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Auckland
   Day 1 details

   Your See Sight Tours guide meets you at Auckland Airport (AKL), or at the hotel if you arrive a day early, and we drive about 40 minutes into the city. Auckland is built across a narrow isthmus between two harbours and around some fifty small volcanic cones, and the hotel sits close to the waterfront, so a first walk along the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter needs no transport. The afternoon is free to rest after the long flight; if you have energy, the Auckland War Memorial Museum in the Domain has one of the strongest Māori and Pacific collections in the country, or you can take the lift up the Sky Tower for a view over the Hauraki Gulf. At about 6 pm the group meets for a short briefing on the route, the weather swaps and what to pack for the boat days. Then we walk to a welcome dinner nearby, the first of five dinners together on the trip.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Auckland Airport (AKL)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in Auckland

   Optional experiences

   • Auckland War Memorial Museum
   • Sky Tower

   Free time: Afternoon free in Auckland

   Activity: Plan to land by early afternoon. If you would rather arrive the day before, we can book an extra night in Auckland at cost.

2. Day 2: North to the Bay of Islands

   Auckland to Whangārei Falls, then Paihia

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Paihia
   Day 2 details

   We leave Auckland at about 9 am, after the morning traffic, and head north over the harbour bridge into Northland. The first leg, about two hours, ends at Whangārei Falls, where the Hātea River drops 26 metres over a basalt lip into a green pool; a short loop path leads to the bottom and back. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Whangārei, by the town basin. The second leg is just over an hour through rolling farmland to Paihia, on the shore of the Bay of Islands, a drowned river system with more than 140 islands, where Māori and European histories first met. We arrive by mid-afternoon and check in for two nights near the waterfront. The rest of the day is free: walk the beach, or take the passenger ferry across the bay to Russell, once a whaling port, for an early evening drink on its waterfront.

   Included

   • Whangārei Falls short walk
   • Sit-down lunch in Whangārei

   Optional experiences

   • Passenger ferry to Russell

   Easier option: View Whangārei Falls from the top platform, a few steps from the car park.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Paihia

   Activity: About 1 km of walking at the falls, with some steps to the bottom of the loop.

3. Day 3: Waitangi and a cruise among the islands

   Paihia: the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, then a cruise on the Bay of Islands

   • Drive about 12 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Paihia
   Day 3 details

   We walk or drive the few minutes to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds at opening, before most visitors arrive. This is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the British Crown and Māori chiefs in 1840, and the entry includes a guided tour of the grounds and a cultural performance in the carved meeting house, Te Whare Rūnanga. You see the Treaty House, the museum and Ngātokimatawhaorua, a ceremonial war canoe about 35 metres long, kept in its shed on the shore. After lunch on your own, we board a half-day cruise out among the islands of the bay toward Cape Brett and the rock arch of Motukōkako, the Hole in the Rock, with dolphins often seen on the way; in calm seas the boat passes through the arch. If the sea is too rough to sail, we take the Russell ferry and walk up Flagstaff Hill instead. We are back in Paihia by late afternoon, and the evening is free to eat along the waterfront.

   Included

   • Waitangi Treaty Grounds with a guided tour and cultural performance
   • Half-day Bay of Islands cruise to the Hole in the Rock

   Optional experiences

   • Passenger ferry to Russell

   Easier option: Stay on the covered deck of the boat; the Treaty Grounds paths are wide and mostly level.

   More active option: Walk back from Waitangi to Paihia along the shore, about 2 km.

   Free time: Lunch hour and evening free in Paihia

   Activity: If the sea is too rough to cruise, we take the Russell ferry and walk to Flagstaff Hill instead, and refund the difference.

4. Day 4: A short flight, then on to Rotorua

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

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Rotorua
   Day 4 details

   Driving straight from the Bay of Islands to Rotorua takes about five and a half hours, so we break it with a short flight. After a relaxed breakfast we drive about 25 minutes to Kerikeri Airport and fly to Auckland, under an hour in the air; your guide checks the bags through and flies with you. A van meets us at Auckland Airport and we head south across the Waikato, the dairy country of the North Island, with a sit-down lunch on the way so the road time splits into two legs of well under two hours. Rotorua sits on a volcanic plateau beside its lake, and steam drifts from vents in its parks. Te Arawa, the iwi of this district, settled the lakes in the 14th century. We check in for two nights by mid-afternoon, and the late afternoon is free: Kuirau Park, a short walk from town, has boiling mud pools and hot springs along a free path.

   Included

   • Flight from Kerikeri to Auckland, with checked bags
   • Sit-down lunch on the way to Rotorua

   Optional experiences

   • Polynesian Spa lakeside pools

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Rotorua

   Activity: Flight times are confirmed with your final itinerary; we choose a late-morning departure.

   

5. Day 5: Te Puia, the redwoods and a hāngī

   Rotorua: Te Puia, the Whakarewarewa Forest and an evening with a Māori host

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Rotorua
   Day 5 details

   We start at Te Puia in the morning, in Te Whakarewarewa geothermal valley on the edge of town, before the day's tour coaches. A local guide leads the walk past boiling mud and silica terraces to Pōhutu, the largest active geyser in the Southern Hemisphere, which usually erupts several times an hour. The same site holds the national schools of carving and weaving, where you can watch students at work, and a nocturnal house with kiwi. After lunch on your own in town, we drive five minutes to the Whakarewarewa Forest, planted with Californian redwoods a century ago, and walk the Redwoods Treewalk, a path of suspension bridges strung between the trunks about 12 metres above the ferns. The late afternoon is free to rest or soak in the lakeside Polynesian Spa. In the evening a Māori host welcomes the group for a cultural performance and a hāngī dinner cooked in the earth.

   Included

   • Te Puia with a local guide, including Pōhutu geyser and the carving and weaving schools
   • Redwoods Treewalk in the Whakarewarewa Forest
   • Evening cultural performance and hāngī dinner with a Māori host

   Optional experiences

   • Polynesian Spa lakeside pools
   • Skyline Rotorua gondola and luge

   Easier option: Skip the Treewalk and stay on the flat forest floor paths, or rest at the hotel.

   More active option: A forest loop in the Whakarewarewa Forest of about 5 km after the Treewalk.

   Free time: Lunch and late afternoon free in Rotorua

   Activity: About 4 km of walking in the day; the Treewalk bridges sway a little and have a few steps up to the first platform.

   

6. Day 6: Wai-O-Tapu, Huka Falls and into Tongariro

   Rotorua to Wai-O-Tapu, Huka Falls and Taupō, then Whakapapa in Tongariro National Park

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Whakapapa
   Day 6 details

   An early start, at about 8 am, so we reach Wai-O-Tapu, about 30 minutes south, as it opens. First the Lady Knox Geyser, which is set off each morning at about 10:15, then the walk past collapsed craters to the Champagne Pool, a hot spring about 65 metres across that fizzes with carbon dioxide inside an orange rim, and the bright green Devil's Bath. Next comes Huka Falls, where the whole Waikato River squeezes through a narrow chute of rock and pours, ice-blue, into a pool. Lunch is a sit-down meal on the lakefront in Taupō, beside the largest lake in the country, which fills the caldera of an ancient volcano. In the afternoon we drive along the lake and up onto the volcanic plateau to Whakapapa Village, inside Tongariro National Park, a dual World Heritage area. Below Mount Ruapehu, the guide leads a loop walk to Taranaki Falls before dinner on your own at the village, where there are only a few places to eat; the guide books a table.

   Included

   • Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and the Lady Knox Geyser
   • Huka Falls
   • Sit-down lunch in Taupō
   • Guided walk to Taranaki Falls in Tongariro National Park

   Easier option: Instead of Taranaki Falls, walk the short Ridge Track or visit the national park visitor centre in the village.

   More active option: The full Taranaki Falls loop, about 6 km and 2 hours, with some steps.

   Free time: Evening free at Whakapapa

   Activity: About 3 km at Wai-O-Tapu on gravel paths and boardwalk, plus up to 6 km at Taranaki Falls. Mountain weather changes fast; bring a warm layer. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing needs a second night here, which we can add on a private trip.

   

7. Day 7: Down the island to Wellington and Te Papa

   Whakapapa to Wellington via Taihape and the Kāpiti Coast, then Te Papa

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Wellington
   Day 7 details

   This is one of three days that run a little over our four-hour cap: Whakapapa to Wellington is about 4 hours 30 minutes, and there is no shorter road between the volcanoes and the capital. We split it into three legs. We leave at about 8:30, with Ruapehu behind us, and drive through the high country to Taihape for a coffee stop. The second leg crosses the Rangitīkei and Manawatū plains to the Kāpiti Coast for a sit-down lunch facing the sea and Kāpiti Island. The last leg, about an hour, brings us into Wellington, the capital, set around a deep harbour below steep green hills. We check in near the waterfront by about 3 and walk with the guide to Te Papa Tongarewa, the national museum, where general entry is free; we focus on the Māori and Pacific galleries and the story of the land. Later, ride the cable car to the Botanic Garden for the view.

   Included

   • Sit-down lunch on the Kāpiti Coast
   • Te Papa Tongarewa with your guide
   • Wellington Cable Car

   Optional experiences

   • Zealandia ecosanctuary
   • Mount Victoria lookout

   Easier option: Rest at the hotel after the drive and visit Te Papa on your own before it closes.

   More active option: Walk down from the top of the cable car through the Botanic Garden to the city, about 2 km.

   Free time: Evening free in Wellington

   Activity: About 3 km of walking on city streets and in the museum. At about 4 hours 30 minutes of driving in three legs, this is longer than our usual cap.

8. Day 8: Across Cook Strait to Kaikōura

   Wellington to Picton on the Interislander ferry, then Picton to Kaikōura

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Kaikōura
   Day 8 details

   We board the Interislander ferry in the morning for the crossing of about three and a half hours to the South Island. The first hour crosses the open water of Cook Strait, which can be lively; the last hour winds through Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound, drowned valleys of the Marlborough Sounds with forested ridges dropping straight into the water, best seen from the outside deck. We land in Picton early in the afternoon and have lunch on your own by the harbour while the guide collects the South Island van. Then it is about two hours south through the vineyards of the Awatere valley and down the coast road, rebuilt after the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, where the mountains meet the sea. We stop at Ōhau Point, where New Zealand fur seals haul out on the rocks below the road. Kaikōura sits on a peninsula under snow-capped ranges; the evening is free to try the local crayfish. If weather cancels our sailing, we take the next one or fly from Wellington to Blenheim.

   Included

   • Interislander ferry from Wellington to Picton
   • Ōhau Point fur seal colony

   Free time: Lunch in Picton and evening free in Kaikōura

   Activity: Little walking today. If the ferry is cancelled by weather, we take the next sailing or fly Wellington to Blenheim and rejoin the van.

   

9. Day 9: Whale watching, then Christchurch

   Kaikōura by boat, then Kaikōura to Christchurch

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Christchurch
   Day 9 details

   Off Kaikōura the continental shelf drops into the Kaikōura Canyon, more than a kilometre deep close to shore, and the cold, rich water draws sperm whales to feed year round. We take a morning whale-watching trip of about three hours on a purpose-built catamaran; the crew use hydrophones to find whales as they surface to breathe, and dusky dolphins, fur seals and albatrosses are often seen on the way. Trips are cancelled when the sea is rough, so your guide checks the evening before; if it does not run, it is refunded and we walk the Kaikōura Peninsula Walkway to the seal colony at Point Kean instead. Lunch is on your own in town. In the early afternoon we drive about two hours twenty south through the hill country of North Canterbury and across the plains to Christchurch, arriving in time for an evening walk along the Avon River from the hotel.

   Included

   • Whale-watching cruise off Kaikōura

   Easier option: Sit inside the boat's cabin; you are called outside when a whale surfaces.

   More active option: The Kaikōura Peninsula Walkway clifftop section, about 6 km, before we leave.

   Free time: Lunch in Kaikōura and evening free in Christchurch

   Activity: People prone to seasickness should take a remedy before boarding; the swell can be noticeable even on calm days.

   

10. Day 10: Christchurch on foot, then Lake Tekapo

    Christchurch city walk, then Christchurch to Lake Tekapo via Geraldine

    • Drive about 3 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Lake Tekapo
    Day 10 details

    A morning on foot with your guide in Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island, rebuilt since the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. We start in Cathedral Square, where the damaged stone cathedral is being restored, and walk to the Transitional Cathedral, built with cardboard tubes and a triangular stained-glass window, then through the Arts Centre to the Botanic Gardens inside the bend of the Avon. At about 11 we drive out across the Canterbury Plains, with the Southern Alps along the western skyline, to Geraldine for a sit-down lunch. The afternoon leg climbs through Fairlie and over Burkes Pass into the Mackenzie Basin, a high tussock plain, to Lake Tekapo, milky turquoise from the glacial flour in its rivers. We check in for two nights, visit the stone Church of the Good Shepherd on the shore, and on the clearer of our two nights go stargazing with a local astronomer in the Dark Sky Reserve.

    Included

    • Guided walk in central Christchurch, the Transitional Cathedral and the Botanic Gardens
    • Sit-down lunch in Geraldine
    • The Church of the Good Shepherd
    • Stargazing with a local astronomer in the Aoraki Mackenzie Dark Sky Reserve (one clear night of two)

    Optional experiences

    • Tekapo Springs hot pools

    Easier option: Skip the stargazing, which starts late in summer, and have an early night.

    Free time: Late afternoon free at Lake Tekapo

    Activity: About 4 km of flat walking in Christchurch. In midsummer the sky is not fully dark until about 10:30 pm.

    

11. Day 11: The Hooker Valley below Aoraki/Mount Cook

    Lake Tekapo to Aoraki/Mount Cook Village and the Hooker Valley Track, and back

    • Drive about 3 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Lake Tekapo
    Day 11 details

    We leave at about 8 am, because the cloud usually builds over the peaks by early afternoon. The road runs along Lake Pukaki, where on a clear day Aoraki/Mount Cook, at 3,724 metres the highest mountain in New Zealand, stands at the far end of the turquoise water; we stop at the lookout. In Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park we walk the Hooker Valley Track with the guide, about 10 km return on a mostly flat gravel path and boardwalk, crossing three swing bridges over the glacial Hooker River to the lake at the foot of the Hooker Glacier, where icebergs often float below the mountain. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the village. The Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre tells the story of the climbers who trained here before Everest. We drive back to Tekapo by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours for the hot pools or a walk up to the Mount John summit.

    Included

    • Lake Pukaki lookout
    • Guided walk on the Hooker Valley Track
    • Sit-down lunch in Aoraki/Mount Cook Village
    • Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre

    Optional experiences

    • Scenic flight over the Tasman Glacier (weather permitting)
    • Tekapo Springs hot pools

    Easier option: Walk to the first swing bridge and back, about 3 km, or the Kea Point track, then meet the group in the village.

    More active option: The full Hooker Valley Track to Hooker Lake, then the Mount John summit walk at Tekapo in the late afternoon.

    Free time: Late afternoon free at Lake Tekapo

    Activity: About 10 km and 3 hours on the full track, with little climbing. In rain or high wind we walk the sheltered Tasman Glacier lake viewpoint track instead.

    

12. Day 12: Down the Waitaki to Oamaru and Dunedin

    Lake Tekapo to Omarama, the Waitaki valley, Oamaru and Moeraki, then Dunedin

    • Drive about 4.5 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Dunedin
    Day 12 details

    Another day over our cap, about 4 hours 30 minutes on the road, because the Waitaki valley is the only direct route from the Mackenzie Basin to the east coast and Dunedin. We leave at about 9 and break the drive into three legs. The first runs past Lake Pukaki and through Twizel and Omarama, then down the Waitaki valley past its chain of hydro lakes, to Oamaru on the coast. Here we stop for a sit-down lunch and a walk through the Victorian precinct, a harbourside quarter of warehouses built from the local cream limestone in the 1870s and 1880s. The second leg, about 35 minutes, reaches Moeraki, where large spherical boulders lie on the beach, eroded out of the mudstone cliffs. The last leg, about an hour, brings us into Dunedin, a city founded by Scottish settlers, by late afternoon. The evening is free.

    Included

    • Oamaru Victorian precinct walk
    • Sit-down lunch in Oamaru
    • Moeraki Boulders

    Easier option: View the Moeraki Boulders from the top of the beach path.

    Free time: Evening free in Dunedin

    Activity: About 3 km of easy walking. At about 4 hours 30 minutes of driving in three legs, this is longer than our usual cap. The boulders are best near low tide; we adjust the order of stops to the tide on the day.

13. Day 13: Albatrosses on the Otago Peninsula, then the Catlins

    Dunedin to Taiaroa Head and back, then Dunedin to Nugget Point and Owaka

    • Drive about 4 h
    • Breakfast and dinner
    • Stay in Owaka
    Day 13 details

    The road along the Otago Peninsula follows the harbour edge for about 45 minutes to Taiaroa Head, at its tip, the only mainland breeding colony of royal albatrosses in the world. At the Royal Albatross Centre a ranger takes the group up to the observatory to watch the nesting birds, which have a wingspan of about three metres; in the right wind you see them glide in from the sea. The observatory closes early in the nesting season, so on early November dates we visit the Orokonui Ecosanctuary instead. We drive back past the Flemish-style railway station and head south on the coast road into the Catlins, a corner of forest, farmland and wild coast that most tours skip. At Nugget Point a path along the ridge leads to the lighthouse, with sea stacks below and fur seals on the rocks. We stay the night in Owaka, the small main town of the Catlins, and have dinner together, as places to eat are few here.

    Included

    • Royal Albatross Centre with a ranger-led observatory visit (Orokonui Ecosanctuary on early November dates)
    • Nugget Point lighthouse walk
    • Dinner in Owaka

    Easier option: Watch from the lower part of the Nugget Point track; the walk to the lighthouse has a few rises. At the albatross centre, the exhibition hall is step-free if you skip the observatory stairs.

    Free time: Lunch in Dunedin is on your own; late afternoon free in Owaka

    Activity: About 3 km of walking. The albatross observatory has stairs and closes for part of the early breeding season, roughly mid-September to late November; on an early November date we visit the Orokonui Ecosanctuary instead.

14. Day 14: Through the Catlins to Te Anau

    Owaka to Purakaunui Falls and Curio Bay, then Invercargill and Te Anau

    • Drive about 5 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Te Anau
    Day 14 details

    The third longer day, about 4 hours 45 minutes in all, because the only way out of the Catlins toward Fiordland runs along the coast and through Invercargill, and staying on the coast is what makes the region worth the detour. We break it into three legs with stops. The first is short: a walk of about 20 minutes through beech and tree-fern forest to Purakaunui Falls, which drop over three wide steps of rock. Then we continue to Curio Bay, where at low tide the stumps and fallen logs of a fossilised Jurassic forest lie on the rock platform, and yellow-eyed penguins sometimes come ashore. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Invercargill, the southernmost city in New Zealand. The last leg, about two hours, crosses the Southland plains to Te Anau, on the shore of the largest lake on the South Island and at the edge of Fiordland National Park. We check in for two nights; the evening is free.

    Included

    • Purakaunui Falls walk
    • Curio Bay fossil forest
    • Sit-down lunch in Invercargill

    Easier option: View Curio Bay from the boardwalk viewing platform instead of stepping onto the rock shelf.

    Free time: Evening free in Te Anau

    Activity: About 2 km of walking. At about 4 hours 45 minutes of driving in three legs, this is longer than our usual cap; it is what lets us stay two nights in Te Anau for Milford Sound.

15. Day 15: Milford Sound from Te Anau

    Te Anau to Milford Sound on the Milford Road, a cruise on the fiord, and back

    • Drive about 4 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Te Anau
    Day 15 details

    We base ourselves in Te Anau for Milford Sound because from here it is about two hours each way, rather than the 12-hour return day from Queenstown. We leave at about 8 am and split the road into short legs: the open flats of the Eglinton Valley, the Mirror Lakes on a short boardwalk, and the Homer Tunnel, before the road drops steeply to the sea. On a cruise of about two hours, with lunch on board, you sail the length of the fiord to the Tasman Sea beneath Mitre Peak, which rises 1,692 metres straight from the water, and close under Stirling Falls; fur seals lie on the rocks and dolphins are sometimes seen. After rain, hundreds of temporary waterfalls stream off the cliffs. On the way back the group can stretch their legs at the Chasm, where the Cleddau River has carved bowls into the rock. Dinner together in Te Anau. If the Milford Road is closed that morning, we switch the same day to a Doubtful Sound cruise from Manapouri, 20 minutes away.

    Included

    • Milford Road with your guide, stopping at the Eglinton Valley and the Mirror Lakes
    • Milford Sound cruise with lunch on board
    • The Chasm walk
    • Dinner in Te Anau

    Optional experiences

    • Scenic flight from Milford Sound back to Te Anau or Queenstown (weather permitting)

    Easier option: Stay with the van at the Chasm car park; the boardwalk stops are short and level.

    More active option: Key Summit, about 3 hours return from the Divide, if the group agrees to swap it for the Chasm and weather allows.

    Activity: Heavy rain, snow or rockfall can close the Milford Road. If it is closed when we set out, we switch that day to a Doubtful Sound cruise from Manapouri, a full day of about 8 to 9 hours; if neither can run, the cruise is refunded. There is no second attempt on day 16, because the round trip takes most of a day.

16. Day 16: Along Lake Wakatipu to Queenstown

    Te Anau to Queenstown via Kingston, then the Skyline Gondola

    • Drive about 2 h
    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Queenstown
    Day 16 details

    A slow morning in Te Anau, free to walk the level lakeside path to the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary, where takahē, a flightless bird once thought extinct, live in large enclosures. We leave at about 11 for the drive of about two hours across Southland farmland to Kingston at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu, then along the lake under the Remarkables to Queenstown. We check in for the last two nights near the lakefront and have lunch on your own in town. In the late afternoon the Skyline Gondola lifts the group about 450 metres up Bob's Peak for the view over the town, the lake and the jagged ranges around it, best as the light turns golden. The evening is free; Queenstown has the widest choice of restaurants on the trip.

    Included

    • Skyline Gondola up Bob's Peak

    Optional experiences

    • Skyline luge at the top of the gondola
    • Te Anau Glowworm Caves (morning, if a sailing runs)

    More active option: Walk up the Tiki Trail to the top of the gondola instead of riding, about 1 hour of steady climbing.

    Free time: Morning free in Te Anau; lunch and evening free in Queenstown

    Activity: Little walking unless you choose the Tiki Trail. The gondola is step-free from the base station.

17. Day 17: Arrowtown and a free afternoon in Queenstown

    Queenstown to Arrowtown and back, then free time

    • Drive about 48 min
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Queenstown
    Day 17 details

    In the morning we drive about 25 minutes to Arrowtown, a gold-rush village of the 1860s whose main street of stone and timber shopfronts lies under old sycamores and oaks. The guide walks the group through the town to the restored huts of the Chinese settlement beside the Arrow River, where miners recruited from Guangdong lived after the first rush. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Arrowtown, and we are back in Queenstown by early afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is yours, because this is the town where people most want to choose their own activity: a jet boat in the Shotover River canyon, the bungy at the Kawarau Bridge, a sailing on the steamship TSS Earnslaw, a wine tasting in the Gibbston Valley, or simply a walk around the lakeside Queenstown Gardens. In the evening we sit down together for a farewell dinner in town.

    Included

    • Arrowtown and the Chinese settlement with your guide
    • Sit-down lunch in Arrowtown
    • Farewell dinner in Queenstown

    Optional experiences

    • Shotover Jet
    • Kawarau Bridge bungy
    • TSS Earnslaw cruise
    • Gibbston Valley wine tasting

    Easier option: Stay in Queenstown for the morning and meet the group for dinner.

    More active option: The Queenstown Hill walk in the afternoon, about 3 hours return with a climb of about 500 metres.

    Free time: Afternoon free in Queenstown

    Activity: About 2 km of easy walking in Arrowtown.

18. Day 18: Depart from Queenstown

    Queenstown to Queenstown Airport, about 15 minutes

    • Drive about 15 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 18 details

    A last breakfast with the lake and the Remarkables outside the window, and no rush to leave. Queenstown Airport (ZQN) is about 15 minutes from the hotel, and your guide drives the group out at times agreed the evening before, so nobody waits at the airport for hours. International flights from Queenstown go to Australia, and most journeys home to Canada and the United States connect through Auckland or an Australian city; book a domestic connection with time to spare, as weather can delay flights in and out of Queenstown. If your flight leaves later in the day, the hotel can usually store your bags while you walk the lakefront once more. If you would like to see the West Coast glaciers, or simply stay longer, we can book extra nights in Queenstown or quote a private extension before you fly home. Your guide sees you to the terminal before saying goodbye.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Queenstown Airport (ZQN)

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 11 am.

Wildlife and weather: November to April is the season. December to February is summer, with long days and the busiest roads; March and April are calmer, with autumn colour in Central Otago. Whale watching off Kaikōura runs year round, with sperm whales most often seen, but trips are cancelled in rough seas. Royal albatrosses nest at Taiaroa Head, and fur seals are common at Kaikōura, Nugget Point and Milford Sound. Fiordland is wet all year, which is when its waterfalls are at their best.

• Auckland1 night
• Paihia2 nights
• Rotorua2 nights
• Whakapapa1 night
• Wellington1 night
• Kaikōura1 night
• Christchurch1 night
• Lake Tekapo2 nights
• Dunedin1 night
• Owaka1 night
• Te Anau2 nights
• Queenstown2 nights