New Zealand: North and South Islands at a slower pace

1. Day 1: Arrive in Auckland, an easy drive to Rotorua

   Auckland Airport to Rotorua, about 2 hours 45 minutes with a lunch stop

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Rotorua
   Day 1 details

   Your See Sight Tours guide meets you in the arrivals hall at Auckland Airport (AKL) late in the morning; most flights from North America land early, so there is time for a coffee before we go. Our van has room to stretch out and bags go in the back, so you never lift a case. We head south through the green dairy country of the Waikato and stop for lunch on the way, which breaks the drive into two parts of well under two hours each. Rotorua sits on a volcanic plateau beside its lake, and you notice it before you see it: steam drifts from vents in the parks and the air carries a faint smell of sulphur. Te Arawa, the iwi of this district, settled the lakes here in the 14th century, and have guided visitors to its hot springs since the 1800s. We check in for three nights, so you unpack once for the whole North Island. After a rest, the group meets for a short briefing and a welcome dinner close to the hotel.

   Included

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

   Free time: Late afternoon free to rest after the flight

   Activity: Plan to land by about 10 am. If you would rather arrive the day before, we can book an extra night in Auckland at cost.

   

2. Day 2: Wai-O-Tapu, a free afternoon and an evening at Mitai

   Rotorua to Wai-O-Tapu and back, then Mitai Māori Village

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Rotorua
   Day 2 details

   A gentle start, with breakfast at your own pace and the van leaving at about 9:30. It is about 30 minutes south to Wai-O-Tapu, one of the most colourful geothermal areas in New Zealand. Flat paths and boardwalks lead past collapsed craters and bubbling mud to the Champagne Pool, a hot spring about 65 metres across whose steaming surface fizzes with carbon dioxide and whose rim glows orange from the minerals in the water. The Artist's Palette and the vivid green Devil's Bath are close by. You choose the short loop, about 1.5 km, or the longer one, about 3 km, and there are benches along the way. We are back in town by lunch, and the afternoon is yours: many guests soak in the lakeside mineral pools of the Polynesian Spa. In the evening we join the family who run Mitai Māori Village for a welcome, a waka on a forest stream, a cultural performance and a hāngī dinner cooked in the earth.

   Included

   • Wai-O-Tapu geothermal park with your guide
   • Mitai Māori Village evening with a hāngī dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Polynesian Spa lakeside pools

   Easier option: Walk only the short loop at Wai-O-Tapu, about 1.5 km, to the Champagne Pool and back.

   More active option: The full Wai-O-Tapu loop of about 3 km.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Rotorua

   Activity: Paths are mostly flat gravel and boardwalk. At Mitai, a short evening walk on a lit path leads to the stream; seats are provided for the performance.

   

3. Day 3: Hobbiton in the morning

   Rotorua to the Hobbiton Movie Set near Matamata and back

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Rotorua
   Day 3 details

   About an hour's drive across farmland brings us to the Hobbiton Movie Set, built on a working sheep farm near Matamata for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films and kept as it was left after filming. A local guide walks the group along the lanes of the Shire, past the round, brightly painted doors of the hobbit holes set into the hillsides, the vegetable gardens and Bag End on its rise above the village. The tour lasts about two hours and ends with a drink at the Green Dragon Inn beside the mill and the double-arched bridge. The paths are gravel with some gentle slopes, and there are places to sit. We book a late-morning tour, which avoids an early start, and have a sit-down lunch near Matamata before driving back to Rotorua by mid-afternoon. The rest of the day is quiet: the lakefront and the Government Gardens, with their croquet lawns and the Tudor-style Bath House, are a short walk from the hotel.

   Included

   • Guided tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set with a drink at the Green Dragon Inn
   • Sit-down lunch near Matamata

   Easier option: Stay at the hotel or in Rotorua for the day if Hobbiton does not appeal; your guide suggests what to do.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Rotorua

   Activity: About 1.5 km on gravel lanes with a few gentle slopes, over two hours.

4. Day 4: A short flight to Christchurch

   Rotorua to Christchurch by air

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Christchurch
   Day 4 details

   A slow morning in Rotorua with no alarm. Take a last walk by the lake or around the Government Gardens, then check out at a relaxed hour. Driving from Rotorua to the South Island would take two long days on the road and the Cook Strait ferry, so instead we fly: Rotorua's airport is about 10 minutes from town, and the flight to Christchurch takes under two hours, direct where the schedule allows, otherwise with one change. Your guide checks the bags through and flies with you, and the van meets us on the other side. Christchurch is the largest city on the South Island, rebuilt since the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, and its flat, green centre suits easy walking. We check in for two nights in the middle of town and take a short stroll along the Avon River, where weeping willows hang over the water. The evening is free to rest or try one of the restaurants near the hotel.

   Included

   • Flight from Rotorua to Christchurch, with checked bags
   • Transfers to and from both airports

   Free time: Morning free in Rotorua; evening free in Christchurch

   Activity: Flight times are confirmed with your final itinerary; we pick a late-morning or midday flight.

5. Day 5: Christchurch by tram, garden and punt

   Christchurch: the heritage tram, the Botanic Gardens and the Avon

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Christchurch
   Day 5 details

   We start at about 9:30 with the city's heritage tram, which runs a loop through the centre past New Regent Street, with its pastel Spanish Mission shopfronts, and Cathedral Square. You stay in your seat while the driver tells the story of the city and its rebuilding, and you can hop off and on again with the same ticket. Then we walk a few minutes to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, founded in 1863 inside the bend of the Avon River in Hagley Park. The paths are flat, there are benches everywhere, and the rose garden and the glasshouses are near each other. Late in the morning we take a punt on the Avon: you sit in a flat-bottomed boat while a punter in an Edwardian boater poles it gently under the willows. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the gardens or nearby, and the afternoon is free. Your guide can point you to the Arts Centre, the Riverside Market or the hotel for a rest.

   Included

   • Christchurch heritage tram ride
   • Guided walk in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens
   • Punting on the Avon River
   • Sit-down lunch

   Easier option: Stay on the tram for the full loop and meet the group in the gardens for lunch.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Christchurch

   Activity: About 3 km of flat walking in the morning, with seats on the tram and in the punt. Getting into the punt means one step down, with a hand from the punter.

6. Day 6: Across the plains to Lake Tekapo

   Christchurch to Lake Tekapo via Geraldine, about 3 hours with a lunch stop

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Lake Tekapo
   Day 6 details

   We leave Christchurch at about 9:30 and cross the wide, flat Canterbury Plains, with the Southern Alps rising along the western skyline. The first leg, about an hour and 50 minutes, ends in Geraldine, a small country town where we stop for a sit-down lunch. The second, just over an hour, climbs gently through Fairlie and over Burkes Pass into the Mackenzie Basin, a high tussock plain ringed by mountains. Lake Tekapo appears suddenly, a startling milky turquoise from the fine glacial flour carried in by its rivers. We check in for two nights, then drive a few minutes to the Church of the Good Shepherd, a small stone church built on the lakeshore in 1935, whose altar window frames the lake and the mountains; it is a short, level walk from the car park. Tekapo sits inside the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, and on a clear night we go out with a local astronomer to look at the southern sky.

   Included

   • Sit-down lunch in Geraldine
   • The Church of the Good Shepherd
   • Stargazing with a local astronomer in the Dark Sky Reserve (on the first clear night of the two)

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

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Tekapo

   Activity: In midsummer the sky is not fully dark until about 10:30 pm, so stargazing ends late; we offer it on whichever of the two nights is clearer.

   

7. Day 7: Aoraki/Mount Cook at an easy pace

   Lake Tekapo to Aoraki/Mount Cook Village and back, about 1 hour 20 minutes each way

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Lake Tekapo
   Day 7 details

   We set off at about 9 am along the shore of Lake Pukaki, stopping at the lookout where, on a clear day, Aoraki/Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand at 3,724 metres, stands at the far end of the turquoise water. The road then follows the lake up the valley into Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. At the village we start at the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, where you can sit through films about the mountains and the climbers who learned their craft here before Everest. Then a short, gentle walk on the first stretch of the Hooker Valley Track gives views up to the ice, and you turn back whenever you like; those who want a longer walk carry on to the swing bridges and the lake. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the village, facing the mountain if the cloud allows. We drive back to Tekapo by mid-afternoon, leaving time for the hot pools at Tekapo Springs or a rest by the lake.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Stay in the Alpine Centre and the village while others walk.

   More active option: The full Hooker Valley Track to Hooker Lake: about 10 km return, 3 hours, over three swing bridges.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Tekapo

   Activity: The short walk is about 2 km return on a wide gravel path; mountain weather changes fast, so bring a warm layer.

8. Day 8: Over the Lindis Pass to Wanaka

   Lake Tekapo to Wanaka via Twizel, Omarama and the Lindis Pass, about 200 km and 2 hours 30 minutes

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Wanaka
   Day 8 details

   A late, unhurried start at about 10 am. We drive south across the Mackenzie Basin, past the canals and the southern end of Lake Pukaki, through Twizel to Omarama, a small town known for gliding on the strong mountain air, where we stop for coffee. From there the road climbs to the Lindis Pass, at 971 metres a saddle of golden tussock between Canterbury and Central Otago, with a pull-off at the top for the view. The descent brings orchards and vineyards and then Lake Wanaka, wide and blue below the peaks of Mount Aspiring National Park. We reach Wanaka in time for lunch on your own by the water and check in for two nights. The afternoon is free. The lakefront path is level and lined with benches, and a short stroll along it leads to the willow growing out of the water in Roys Bay, known as That Wanaka Tree, best in the soft light of late afternoon.

   Included

   • Drive over the Lindis Pass with your guide, with stops at Omarama and the summit
   • Short lakefront walk to That Wanaka Tree

   Free time: Afternoon free in Wanaka

   Activity: About 2 km of level lakefront walking, at your own pace.

9. Day 9: A morning on Lake Wanaka, lunch among the vines

   Lake Wanaka by boat, then lunch at a vineyard near town

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Wanaka
   Day 9 details

   No early start today either. At about 10 am we board a small boat for a scenic cruise on Lake Wanaka, sitting under cover or on deck as you prefer, with the skipper pointing out the islands of the lake and the peaks around Mount Aspiring National Park. Boarding is from a jetty with a hand from the crew. We are back ashore before noon and drive a few minutes out of town to a vineyard for a sit-down lunch with a view across the lake to the mountains; Central Otago is known for its pinot noir, and a tasting is there for anyone who wants one. The afternoon is free. You might walk to the shops and cafés of Wanaka, visit Puzzling World on the edge of town, or rest at the hotel. If you are feeling energetic, the loop to the top of Mount Iron takes about an hour and a half and looks over the lake and the Clutha River.

   Included

   • Scenic boat trip on Lake Wanaka
   • Sit-down lunch at a vineyard near Wanaka

   Optional experiences

   • Wine tasting at lunch
   • Puzzling World

   More active option: The Mount Iron loop, about 4.5 km with a steady climb of about 240 metres.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Wanaka

   Activity: Under 2 km of walking unless you choose Mount Iron.

10. Day 10: Over the Crown Range to Arrowtown and Te Anau

    Wanaka over the Crown Range to Arrowtown, then to Te Anau via Kingston, about 3 hours 20 minutes in three legs

    • Drive about 3.5 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Te Anau
    Day 10 details

    We leave Wanaka at about 9:30 and climb the Crown Range Road, the highest sealed main road in New Zealand, with a summit at 1,076 metres. On the way we pass the Cardrona Hotel, built in the gold-rush 1860s, and from the top the road zigzags down with views over the Wakatipu Basin. That first leg is about an hour. Arrowtown is a gold-mining village of the 1860s with a main street of stone and timber shopfronts under old trees. We walk it slowly, visit the restored huts of the Chinese settlement by the river, on a short, level path, and stop for a sit-down lunch. After lunch it is about an hour past Queenstown and along Lake Wakatipu to Kingston, where we stop for coffee by the lake, then about an hour and 20 minutes across the Southland farmland to Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland National Park. We check in for two nights, and the evening is free to walk the flat lakefront path.

    Included

    • The Crown Range Road and the Cardrona Hotel
    • Arrowtown and the Chinese settlement with your guide
    • Sit-down lunch in Arrowtown

    Optional experiences

    • Lakes District Museum in Arrowtown

    Free time: Evening free in Te Anau

    Activity: About 2 km of easy walking in Arrowtown. At about 3 hours 20 minutes in total this is longer than our usual cap, because Te Anau is the only base that keeps Milford Sound to about two hours each way; it is split into three legs of about an hour each, with a long lunch and a coffee stop.

11. Day 11: Milford Sound from Te Anau

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

    • Drive about 4 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Te Anau
    Day 11 details

    We stay in Te Anau for Milford Sound: from Queenstown it is a day of about 12 hours, from here about two hours each way in our own van. The Milford Road is the only road in, so we leave at about 8:30 and split it into short legs. We stop at the Eglinton Valley flats, at the Mirror Lakes on a short level boardwalk, and below the Homer Tunnel, cut through the granite of the Darran Mountains, 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, rising 1,692 metres straight from the water, and close under Stirling Falls. Fur seals bask on the rocks. In heavy rain hundreds of waterfalls pour off the cliffs. We are back in Te Anau by late afternoon for dinner together.

    Included

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

    Optional experiences

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

    Activity: Heavy rain, snow or rockfall can close the Milford Road. If it closes, we take a Doubtful Sound cruise from Manapouri instead, about 20 minutes from Te Anau, and refund any difference. Doubtful Sound is a full day of about 8 to 9 hours (lake cruise, coach over Wilmot Pass, fiord cruise); we tell the group the evening before, and anyone can stay in Te Anau instead.

12. Day 12: Glowworms on Lake Te Anau, then the gondola in Queenstown

    Te Anau Glowworm Caves by boat, then Te Anau to Queenstown, about 2 hours

    • Drive about 2 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Queenstown
    Day 12 details

    A relaxed start. On a morning departure the operator offers, to be confirmed with your itinerary, we cross Lake Te Anau by boat, about 30 minutes, to the Te Anau Glowworm Caves, a young limestone cave system still being carved by a fast underground stream. A guide leads you along walkways and up some steps to a small punt, which glides into a silent grotto where thousands of glowworms hang from the ceiling like a sky full of stars. Anyone who prefers to skip the steps can walk the level lakeside path to the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary, home to takahē, once thought extinct. After a sit-down lunch in Te Anau we drive about two hours back along Lake Wakatipu to Queenstown and check in for the last two nights. Late in the afternoon the Skyline Gondola lifts you, seated, about 450 metres up Bob's Peak for the view over the town, the lake and the jagged Remarkables, best as the light turns golden. The evening is free.

    Included

    • Te Anau Glowworm Caves with the boat across the lake
    • Sit-down lunch in Te Anau
    • Skyline Gondola in Queenstown

    Optional experiences

    • Skyline luge at the top of the gondola

    Easier option: Instead of the caves, walk the level lakeside path to the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary.

    Free time: Evening free in Queenstown

    Activity: The cave visit has walkways, low ceilings and some steps; about 1 km on foot. The gondola is step-free from the base station. Cave departure times vary by season; if no morning sailing runs on our date, we visit the caves on an evening departure on day 10 instead.

13. Day 13: The TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak

    Queenstown to Walter Peak High Country Farm by steamship, and back

    • By boat
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Queenstown
    Day 13 details

    Our last full day starts late and stays on the water. At about 11 am we board the TSS Earnslaw, a coal-fired steamship that has sailed Lake Wakatipu since 1912, for the crossing of about 45 minutes to Walter Peak High Country Farm. You can sit in the saloon, stand at the rail with the mountains all around, or look down into the engine room, where the stokers shovel coal by hand. At the farm, lunch is served in the homestead overlooking the lake and its gardens, and afterwards the farmhands show how a sheepdog works a mob and how a fleece comes off a sheep. We sail back in the middle of the afternoon, and the time until dinner is yours for the lakeside gardens, the shops or a rest. In the evening we sit down together for a farewell dinner in town.

    Included

    • TSS Earnslaw steamship cruise to Walter Peak and back
    • Lunch at Walter Peak High Country Farm
    • Farm demonstration with sheepdogs and shearing
    • Farewell dinner

    Optional experiences

    • Shotover Jet
    • Gibbston Valley wine tour

    Free time: Afternoon free in Queenstown

    Activity: Boarding the Earnslaw is by a gangway; the engine room viewing is down a short flight of steps and is optional.

    

14. Day 14: Depart from Queenstown

    Queenstown to Queenstown Airport, about 15 minutes

    • Drive about 15 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 14 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. The flight out passes close to the mountains, so ask for a window seat. International flights from Queenstown go to Australia, and most journeys home to Canada 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 or have a final flat white in town. If you would like longer in New Zealand, we can book extra nights in Queenstown 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; afternoon flights give you a last free morning.

Wildlife and weather: November to April is the season. Summer days are long and warm, so stargazing at Tekapo starts late; autumn brings golden poplars in Wanaka and Arrowtown. Fiordland is wet all year and the Milford Road can close in heavy rain or snow. Fur seals are often seen in Milford Sound, and takahē at the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary.

• Rotorua3 nights
• Christchurch2 nights
• Lake Tekapo2 nights
• Wanaka2 nights
• Te Anau2 nights
• Queenstown2 nights