Tour Type: Budget Self Drive Tour
Duration: 16 Days
Tour Starts In: Auckland
Tour Finishes In: Christchurch
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from NZ $2480 pp
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16 Day Discovery Trail Touring Route:
Tour Inclusions:
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Day
1 |
Arrive Auckland
"Haere Mai" Welcome to Auckland. On your arrival in Auckland pick up your chosen car and tour documentation, guides, maps and travel vouchers. You then travel onto your centrally located accommodation. The remainder of the day is at leisure to explore what Auckland has to offer. Stay: Oaktree Motel |
Day
2 |
Auckland – Rotorua
Travel south through lush Waikato farmland, perhaps via Waitomo Caves, on your way Rotorua, a region steeped in Maori culture and history. This evening experience Te Po, Te Puia’s cultural experience. It is a feast of cultural storytelling, entertainment and Maori kai (indigenous food). After a formal Maori welcome, relax and enjoy a performance including the beautiful songs, haka and poi dance. After dinner you will be transported by people movers to enjoy the spectacular lighting of the Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley and hot chocolate. Stay: Six on Union (2 nights) (D) |
Day
3 |
At Rotorua
You have a day free to explore this exciting thermal region – there are many activities to enjoy. Perhaps visit the Agrodome to see a display featuring New Zealand’s various sheep breeds and sheep shearing. Other options include the Buried Village, Polynesian Spa or the Skyline Gondola which offers superb views over city, lake and mountains and for a little excitement why not try a Luge ride while you are there? |
Day
4 |
Rotorua - Napier
Drive south through to Hawkes Bay which is one of New Zealand's largest and longest established wine growing regions to Napier. In 1931 a devastating earthquake nearly levelled this city. It was rebuilt in the style of the times, and is now considered the Art Deco Capital of the world. It is also a region where local produce reigns supreme, from its award-winning wines to the freshest range of quality primary produce you will find anywhere. Overnight in Napier. Stay: Bella Tuscany on Kennedy |
Day
5 |
Napier – Wellington
Pass the many vineyards and orchards of the Hawkes Bay, as you make your way south to our capital city, sprawled over the hills surrounding Wellington Harbour. Overnight in Wellington. Stay: Capital Gateway Motor Lodge |
Day
6 |
Wellington – Picton – Nelson
Cross the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand on the Interislander
Ferry, to the Marlborough Sounds and Blenheim. The 92 km journey takes 3 hours & is one of New Zealand's most iconic tourist experiences. Once on terra firma, continue past vineyards built on rich alluvial plains, which produce world class wines, to Nelson. Stay: Parkside Motel (2 nights) |
Day
7 |
At Nelson
A full day to explore the Nelson area. The nearby Abel Tasman National Park offers opportunities to walk or cruise it’s beautiful coastline. Water taxi companies can provide a personalised mix of sightseeing by boat and track walking. A number of kayaking companies run guided tours from Marahau and Kaiteriteri. |
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Day
8 |
Nelson - Greymouth- Glaciers
Travel through the Buller Gorge to Westport, and down the coast to the famous Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. Continue past Greymouth to the glaciers. We recommend a guided walk to the terminal face of a glacier. Overnight at either Fox Glacier or Franz Joesf township. You may wish to add an extra day here if you wish to hike on the glacier. Stay: Glacier View Motel, Franz Josef |
Day
9 |
Glaciers - Queenstown
Continue south into dense rain forest broken by rugged coastal vistas. Reach Lake Wanaka in the early afternoon. Pass through the rugged Kawerau Gorge to Queenstown for 2 nights. Stay: Sherwood Manor Hotel, Queenstown (2 nights)
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Day
10 |
At Queenstown
A day free for you to enjoy this fabulous Alpine resort. There are dozens of optional activities as well, from thrilling jet boat rides to leisurely lake cruises, 4WD safaris, bungy jumping. We recommend the world famous Shotover Jet boat ride, take a Gondola to the Skyline high above, a tour to the gold mining area of Skippers Canyon or for the adventurous – white water rafting. Alternatively browse in the many shops and galleries. |
Day
11 |
Queenstown - Milford Sound - Te Anau
Drive south following the dramatic southern shores of Lake Wakatipu to reach Te Anau, then travel through pristine beech forests and the Homer Tunnel to Milford Sound. We have included a cruise to enable you to appreciate the majesty of Mitre Peak and Bowen Falls. Return to Te Anau. Stay: Aden Motel. |
Day
12 |
Te Anau - Dunedin
Drive across the Waimea plains towards the farming community of Gore, then travel through the rolling hill country of South Otago to Dunedin. Stay: Adrian Motel, Dunedin. (2 nights) |
Day
13 |
At Dunedin
Known as the ‘Edinburgh of the South’, take time to enjoy the rich historical architecture and abundance of wildlife to be found in this fascinating area. Perhaps you'd like to join a cruise of the beautiful Otago Harbour and Taiaroa Head, along with a scenic bus tour of the Otago Peninsula with Monarch Harbour Cruises. You can also include a guided tour of the award-winning Yellow Eyed Penguin Reserve or Royal Albatross Centre. Enjoy the historic and scenic Taieri Gorge Train excursion or explore the city only a few minutes walk away. Let us know if you'd like any of these activites included in your quote. |
Day
14 |
Dunedin - Twizel
Drive north to historic Oamaru and turn inland. Cross the barren MacKenzie Country to reach the glacial lakes at the foot of the Southern Alps. View the Church of the Good Shepherd dedicated to the early pioneers of the region. Visit Mt Cook National Park, with time to enjoy the scenic majesty of New Zealand’s highest snow capped peaks before travelling around Lake Pukaki to Twizel. Stay: Mountain Chalets |
Day
15 |
Twizel – Christchurch
Travel north across through Fairlie and Geraldine , then across the Canterbury Plains to Christchurch. Overnight in Christchurch. Stay: Antonio's Motor Lodge
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Day
16 |
Depart Christchurch
Return your car at the airport in time to catch your onward flight. |
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Note: This self drive tour can be completed in reverse order, the tour cost remains the same. To view tour prices or to make an enquiry, please click on the Tabs at the top of this itinerary. Top |
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from NZ $2,480
16 Day Discovery Trail
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3.5
5
16 Day Discovery Trail Reviews
Tour reviews from past clients of Relaxing Journeys for the 16 Day Discovery Trail. |
Thanks for the arrangement for my tour to NZ! I had a splendid time driving myself around and discovering NZ's natural wonders! It was a great feeling to be driving amidst great scenery, and being surrounded by mountains, especially during the drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound. I have ranked the cities/towns I visited, and here they are:
Number 1: Queenstown!!!!!
Number 2: Rotorua!!!!
Number 3: Dunedin!!!
Number 4: Franz Josef & Twizel (Tie)
Number 6: Te Anau / Milford Sound
Number 7: Wellington
Number 8: Christchurch
Number 9: Nelson
Number 10: Auckland & Hawkes Bay (Tie)
Not that the last few rankings were bad, because all scored varying degress of over 9 out of 10 when I ranked them. Just that I had less time to explore both Auckland and Hawkes Bay. Tha main problem I had with NZ is that there's just too many things to see and do there, such that I ended up driving late at night in the dark on highways without street lights, because I left my earlier location late. Thankfully, as a solo self-drive, I had the flexibility of taking this risk of driving late into the night. That being said, I ended up missing out quite a bit on the smaller towns to stop at on the way from one place to another. If I get to come to NZ again, I'll probably spend more time on the towns in between. Thanks again for helping to arrange my tour. It was very convenient to show vouchers at the various places, and with the GPS, finding places was easily accomplished! Great job to all!
Florence Loh (Singapore)
Tour Date 04/12/2011 |
Thank you very much for our lovely customised tour around New Zealand. A beautiful country with amazing scenery. Our motels were comfortable and hosts friendly. Here are a couple of hints that we think would improve the journey. On arriving in Rotorua we spoke to our host about our Te Pui night tour and dinner. He recommended that we view the area before nightfall, this was not included in our tour so we paid the extra and viewed before the Te Po. This gave us abetter idea and more informative view of the area. Our next booked activity was in Nelson and we went on the seals and beach walk . Again the tour operator asked why we had not booked to go on the full cruise up the National Park and disembark on the return journey for our walk, we took this option again for a few dollars more. We were very satified with this option. Another point would be travelling from Te Anau to Dunedin we discovered we should have gone the coastal scenic route via Invercargil rather than the advised route via Balcultha, as other travellers we spoke to in Dunedin said the coast route was amazing. Once again thank you for organising our journey we had an amazing time!
Dorothy Brown (Australia)
Tour Date 12/03/2011 |
We thoroughly enjoyed our time spent in New Zealand and would like to thank Jarrod for organising our trip. The itinerary was excellent and we appreciated the details of places that we passed on the way to our acommodation. The maps and leaflets that also came with the itinerary were again very useful! We were very impressed with the accommodation that we stayed in and also the location of each motel. The cars that we hired in each island were easy to drive. We hired a sat nav to use in the cars which proved useful when locating the motels apart from the motel in Auckland - it didn't recognise Newmarket for some reason in the address. It came up with Epsom instead?! We had one minor 'hic up' when we came to hand our car over in the south island - the car hire company was not open (it was passed 9.00 am and we were boarding the ferry at 9.30 a.m) and we didn't know whether we should leave the sat nav in the car or take it with us to the North Island. We took it with us and were told by the hire company in the north that we should have left it in the south island!! And they were going to charge us the cost of sending it back! A minor 'hic up' but it might be useful for others to know what they should do! Thanks again for organising a great holiday!
Imogen & David Hooper (United Kingdom)
Tour Date 02/02/2010 |
Finally I am getting around to letting you know that we had an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS TIME on our NZ holiday. It was indeed RELAXING but also exciting, educational, fattening and fun!! What a beautiful country!! We collected our car (which was upgraded from a medium car to a 4WD Hyundai Tucson) without a problem and managed to work our way around the island to our various accommodations without a problem. The changeover of vehicles at the Ferry Terminals was a very good system. On the whole, 16 days (plus the couple of extra days) was enough to whet our appetites and see what there is on offer in NZ. We had a wonderful time, the vehicles were great and accommodation was fine. The route was well thought out and the package was reasonably priced and suited us well. We would recommend doing the trip the South Island first then the North Island because there was so much on the South Island that when we arrived on the North Island we were quite pleased to take it a bit easier, especially with our time at Rotorua to enjoy our spa etc. We were impressed by how much all the guides and representatives enjoyed and were passionate about their work. They certainly helped us enjoy our stay and feel our entry fees/donations were value for money. We thank you for your all your assistance and recommendations.
Sandra Scanes, Rosiland Bradford & Kathleen McKenzie (Australia)
Tour Date 14/03/2009 |
We returned home safely on Monday afternoon after our month away in NZ & Australia. The NZ leg of our trip exceeded all expectations. The arrangements that were made were excellent and the information pack we received at Auckland airport was extremely good - the vouchers presented no problems and the travel information was very reliable and accurate. We were impressed with the quality of the studio units and the helpfulness of the owners/managers. Invariably, they offered good advice on their locality and provided excellent information for us. It was a completely trouble free trip. We have travelled a lot in our retirement and rarely do we want to re-visit places. NZ, however, will be the exception. The people, culture, scenery were all wonderful experiences and we hope to return before we get too old and arthritic. Many thanks for the organisation - it was great.
Chris & Barbara Brown (United Kingdom)
Tour Date 07/03/2009 |
I found the Discovery Trail Tour a fantastic way to see New Zealand for the first time. It gave us a really good snapshot of a lot of places within a limited time. The accommodation we opted for was the Budget...this was of a really high quality and more than adequate for our requirements. Driving in New Zealand was a real pleasure...I'm just looking forward to my next visit and narrowing the places I want to go to next time from the trip we did. Again, a great way to see New Zealand in a short space of time.
Samantha Morton & Clive Miers (United Kingdom)
Tour Date 23/11/2008 |
Tour Prices
All tour prices are per person, twin share. |
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| Compact Car |
NZ $2,480 |
NZ $2,676 |
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| Intermediate Car |
NZ $2,517 |
NZ $2,712 |
NZ $1,727 |
| Full Size Car |
NZ $2,615 |
NZ $2,811 |
NZ $1,776 |
| Mid Size 4WD |
NZ $2,787 |
NZ $2,983 |
NZ $1,861 |
| People Mover (MPV) |
NZ $2,943 |
NZ $3,139 |
NZ $1,940 |
* 1 & 2 Bedroom motel units are all self catering.
** 2 Bedroom motel prices based on 4 adults travelling.
EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL OFFER
2012 Season Sale! Save 5% off the prices shown on our website, for all 2012 departures. Deposit this month to qualify!
Valid for bookings made with Relaxing Journeys between 1 February 2012 and 29 February 2012
. Subject to availability at time of booking. |
*Terms & Conditions apply to any discounts and/or specials above. Your designated tour consultant will apply the appropriate discounts automatically to your quote and detail any currently applicable 'Exclusive Specials'. |
Self Drive Tour Notes
Prices above are per person & valid till September 2012. |
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- Frequently Asked Questions.
- 2 Bedroom motel prices above are based on 4 adults travelling.
- Some motel studios may not have full self catering facilities. If self catering is required then please request a 1 or 2 bedroom room.
- If a property listed on our itinerary is unavailable at the time of booking we will replace it with a equivalent accommodation, and let you know, to ensure it is to your satisfaction.
- Please note this itinerary was updated 5 July 2011.
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