Tour Type: Premium Self Drive Tour
Duration: 12 Days
Tour Starts In: Christchurch
Tour Finishes In: Christchurch
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from NZ $4631 pp
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12 Day Mountains & Glaciers Touring Route:
Tour Inclusions:
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Day
1 |
Arrive Christchurch
"Haere Mai" Welcome to Christchurch - the Garden City. Upon arrival at Christchurch airport, you will be personally met by our representative & transferred in an executive sedan to your accommodation. The remainder of the day is at leisure to explore what Christchurch has to offer. The city has had 2 earthquakes in the last year, and as a result the central CBD district has been damaged. However many of the activites in and around Christchurch are still operating as normal, and there is plenty to experience and see.
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Day
2 |
Spectacular TranzAlpine, Franz Josef Glacier
This morning, you will be transferred to Christchurch Railway Station where you board the TranzAlpine Train, described as "The Great New Zealand Rail Adventure". It is rated one of the top six scenic train journeys in the world. After crossing the huge and fertile patchwork farmlands of the Canterbury Plains, the TranzAlpine winds its way over massive viaducts, through spectacular river gorges and the stunning Waimakariri River valley. It tracks its way up and across the spectacular Southern Alps via the alpine village of Arthur’s Pass situated 737 metres above sea level. On arrival in Greymouth, collect your chosen rental car & drive down the dramatic West Coast, steeped in history dating back to the gold rush era of the 1800's, to the glacier township of Franz Josef or Fox Glacier for our overnight stay. (B)
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Day
3 |
West Coast day of leisure
There’s lots to explore in this area – you can take your own time walking up to the glacier, going to the Okarito Lagoon; or join a guided walk on the glacier, take a heli-hike adventure, or a scenic flight over both glaciers. There’s also quad biking through rainforest and riverbeds or even a half hour drive back down to Fox Glacier & Lake Matheson.
The Franz Josef Glacier hot pools are open for a hot bathe amongst the rainforest!
Let us know if you'd like us to include any of these activities in your itinerary. (B) |
Day
4 |
Siberia Experience - Wanaka
Today, view incredible scenery as you travel past the untouched native forests and pristine lakes of the World Heritage Westland National Park and Haast Pass. At Makarora, begin a 4 hour unique New Zealand wilderness adventure, the Siberia Experience, in the Mt Aspiring National Park. Commence your journey with a 25 minute flight that captures stunning views of the Southern Alps, vast rainforests, hanging valleys & dramatic unspoiled beauty. Land in the Siberia Valley to immerse yourself in nature on this unguided journey amongst natural New Zealand World Heritage wilderness before a rendezvous with your jetboat for a thrilling scenic 30-minute trip back to Makaroa. A short drive brings you to the beautiful, popular lakeside resort of Wanaka. (B)
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Day
5 |
Central Otago, Queenstown
There is time to wander around the popular lakeside township of Wanaka before travelling over the spectacular Crown Range to the historic gold mining village of Arrowtown. On to Queenstown, a beautiful alpine resort regarded as New Zealand's premier holiday destination. (B)
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Day
6 |
Explore Queenstown & its surrounds
The day begins with an exhilarating ride on the world-famous Shotover Jet. Then enjoy two full days to experience this magnificent resort. Surrounded by majestic mountains, Queenstown boasts adventure activities in all forms, from extreme to relaxed exploration. Here you can pan for gold, raft the white water rapids, take a wine trail, fish for trout, play golf or 4WD sheer canyons. It is also a great base from which to explore the Fiordland National Park, gateway to the awesome Milford & Doubtful Sounds. (B) |
Day
7 |
Doubtful Sound Wilderness Excursion
Queenstown is also a great base from which to explore the Fiordland National Park. Today, leave your car behind & board a luxury glass-roofed coach to the Doubtful Sound. Travel along the shores of Lake Wakatipu and through the rolling countryside to Manapouri. Then cruise across the crystal waters of Lake Manapouri to West Arm before boarding a coach and crossing the alpine route of Wilmot Pass through some of Fiordland and Doubtful Sound’s most dense rainforest.
On reaching Deep Cove, board a modern catamaran vessel, the Patea Explorer for a three hour cruise exploring the waterways of this serene and isolated fiord. There is plenty of time available to explore points of interest and view the spectacular alpine scenery including waterfalls, rainforest and mountains all the way out to the Tasman Sea. It is home to bottlenose dolphins and fur seals and when in season, the rare Fiordland crested penguin.
An on board nature guide with specialist knowledge of the region’s history, flora and fauna provides detailed interpretation in English with a roving microphone. On the return cruise, the vessel’s engines are turned off and visitors are treated to the ‘sound of silence’. (B/L) |
Day
8 |
Queenstown - Central Otago, Dunedin
Today you will journey through the historic gold rush routes of Central Otago, passing through the townships of Cromwell, Clyde and Alexandra en-route to Dunedin, the 'Edinburgh of the South'. It is a city of rare charm set amidst a magical landscape edged by the sea. The historical significance of the city dates back to the gold rush era of the 1860's. (B)
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Day
9 |
Dunedin at leisure
Take the opportunity to enjoy the cities cultural riches and its abundant nature and wildlife. If you wish, visit New Zealand's oldest brewery for an entertaining and enlightening heritage tour, enjoy guided Tours of Larnach Castle and the stately home of Olveston House, play Golf at Balmacewan, the oldest golf course in New Zealand and enjoyed by many of the sports greats, both past and present. You could also make the short journey to Otago Peninsula to enjoy seals, the Albatross Colony and visit the Yellow-eyed penguin conservation reserve. (B) |
Day
10 |
Oamaru, Mt Cook National Park
This morning, drive north along the ocean highway to Moeraki Beach with its 60 million year old boulders. On to Oamaru, home to the exquisite Oamaru Stone then travel to the Mt Cook National Park, a World Heritage listed site. Mt Cook is Australasia's highest mountain at 3764 metres. The park covers over 70,000 hectares of breathtaking alpine scenery and is also home to the Tasman Glacier; the longest in the Southern hemisphere (optional Ski-plane & helicopter flights are available subject to weather conditions). (B/D)
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Day
11 |
Tasman Glacier - Christchurch
This morning, you get to experience the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand’s largest, in the most unique way possible. An experienced guide will whisk you away in a stable MAC Boat to explore the melting ice-face of the Tasman Glacier where you will also get to touch & taste 400-year old icebergs that have been carved into the murky waters of the lake*. Later, stop to visit beautiful Lake Tekapo and view the tiny Church of the Good Shepherd, built of local stone and oak in 1935. Leaving the High Country, cross the vast Canterbury Plains to the 'Garden City' of Christchurch. (B)
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Day
12 |
Depart Chirstchurch
Sadly, your holiday is at an end and you deliver your car back to the rental car depot at Christchurch airport today for your onward flight. Here, we bid you a fond farewell and hope you leave with many happy memories of your stay in Aotearoa, New Zealand. (B) |
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*The Glacier Explorer Tour at Mt Cook, does not operate between May-September so is substituted by the Monarch Cruises Peninsula Tour which includes a guided tour of the yellow penguin colony on your free day in Dunedin.
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 $4,631
12 Day Mountains & Glaciers
5
4.0
5
12 Day Mountains & Glaciers Reviews
Tour reviews from past clients of Relaxing Journeys for the 12 Day Mountains & Glaciers. |
Thank you Jarrod for a wonderful New Zealand holiday. Everything was fabulous - the accommodations, travel maps, suggestions & other information, excursions, hotel transfers, distances travelled, included meals .... New Zealand has 'got it together'! The natural landscape is, of course, beautiful and spectacular, but the friendliness of the people, the great food, the endless hospitality as well as the array and availability of activities were somewhat unexpected. Your choice of excursions to include in our itinerary were great. They were ones that we most likely would not have done ourselves. Specifically Doubtful Sound, the glowworm caves in Te Anau, the TranzAlpine train and the Siberia Experience which was a fabulous day! We were quite lucky with the weather, as only one of our excursions was cancelled. We tried over a couple of days to try and reschedule the zodiac glacier tour at Mt Cook, but the weather just would not cooperate. Despite the poor weather at Mt Cook, we viewed all of the 'movies' and the planetarium shows and ate way too much (it was Christmas day though). Jarrod, your suggestion for New Years Eve in Queenstown was also lovely. We had a beautiful evening at Amisfield Winery. Thankyou. Mick and I have been fortunate over the last 15 years to travel quite extensively but we had never made it to New Zealand despite being our close neighbour. We will definitely return to New Zealand, and I have no doubt that we will use Relaxing Journeys again because everything was taken care of. I also have no hesitation whatsoever to recommend Relaxing Journeys. Thank you once again for a relaxing, yet action packed and fun holiday.
Karen & Michael Young (Australia)
Tour Date 22/12/2010 |
We loved our tour, but I thought I would focus on the only two things we thought could be improved. We did not like the hotel at Queenstown so much. Hot rooms, noisy & next to the road. Doubtful Sound although beautiful was quite a challenge to reach, maybe some prior info would have been good so we could choose whether to use a plane to get there.
Ray Franzi (Singapore)
Tour Date 14/12/2010 |
We were impressed by the impeccable service with attention to detail, ease of booking & flexibility of itinerary. I could not have anticipated that a 2 gigabyte memory card would be overwhelmed by such an avalanche of breathtaking photogenic landscaping days before expectation. Perhaps our most exciting feature was the consistently good personalised quality accommodation.
Robin & George Wells (Australia)
Tour Date 16/10/2008 |
Sandy and I have returned safely home after a wonderful time touring New Zealand. We enjoyed many new and unique experiences and already want to return and do some of the things we didn't have time for. The accommodations were excellent service provided was helpful, informative, and insightful. There wasn't one of the excursions that we wouldn't want to do again. We wanted to thank you once again for all your help and suggestions and all that you and Relaxing Journeys did to make this such a memorable time. We have passed your name on to several of our friends and won't hesitate to contact you when we come back for another tour.
Sandy & Jim Harding (United States)
Tour Date 18/12/2007 |
We made it home. Although, I personally feel that the vacation was too short and I could really use another 2 months in the South Island to really see everything! The trip was amazing. I think there was a part of us that was uncertain about how things would turn out, since we, being type A personalities, did not plan everything ourselves. The accommodations were incredible, especially the Heritage in Queenstown. That is truly a top of the line hotel with excellent service. Although the White Morph in Kaikoura was the least impressive (accommodation wise) out of all the places, it was definitely a top grade place for the small community that it represents. In addition, the view from the White Morph was amazing. I captured some amazing sunset and sunrise pictures. I attached my favorite sunset picture to share. All of the activities that were not Weather-ed out were amazing. The Alpine Safari was incredible. Jeff really does a top grade job of providing us with information about the natural habitats and ecology of New Zealand, as well as the Sheep ranching. Although no animals were sighted in Doubtful Sound, the views were amazing. The Real Journeys team has an excellent team and top notch facilities. In Kaikoura, we were able to see one Sperm whale take two dives. Plenty of great pictures there. In Dunedin, we actually found this incredible Penguin encounter group. We used the Elm Wilderness group and actually hiked down to the penguin nesting grounds. One penguin actually walked right next to our entire group on its way up to its nest. My nieces are very pleased with their penguin pictures. Thank you for putting this wonderful vacation together.
Madelaine Yue & Ruth Welch (United Kingdom)
Tour Date 13/09/2007 |
Tour Prices
All tour prices are per person, twin share. |
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| Intermediate Car |
NZ $4,631 |
NZ $4,704 |
NZ $5,771 |
| Full Size Car |
NZ $4,681 |
NZ $4,755 |
NZ $5,821 |
| Mid Size 4WD |
NZ $4,823 |
NZ $4,897 |
NZ $5,964 |
| Full Size 4WD |
NZ $4,905 |
NZ $4,979 |
NZ $6,045 |
| People Mover (MPV) |
NZ $4,947 |
NZ $5,020 |
NZ $6,087 |
| Premium Full Size 4WD |
NZ $5,012 |
NZ $5,085 |
NZ $6,152 |
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.
- International flights to & from New Zealand are not included.
- Single, Triple & Quad prices are available on request.
- If you would prefer a mix of the accommodation listed we can arrange this.
- For families we can also price our premium self drive tours using self catering apartments.
- Our premium B&B's do not cater for children.
- 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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