Itinerary
This 9-day itinerary takes you to world famous spots in the South Island.
We meet in Christchurch and head south for a special lunch at Akaunui homestead, a 117-year-old country home where we dine on wonderful fresh produce prepared by our hosts, Di and Ian Mackenzie.
We continue through the spectacular Mackenzie Country for sweeping vistas of tussock lands, glacial lakes and the Southern Alps. We can’t miss the Church at Lake Tekapo and the unreal turquoise blue Lake Pukaki before arrival at Aoraki/Mt Cook village. We celebrate our arrival with dinner at The Hermitage.
Aoraki/Mt Cook is our highest mountain and “home ground” of the most famous Kiwi of all, Sir Edmund Hillary. Enjoy a short walk in this alpine wonderland. Continue to Omarama, over the Lindis Pass and through the rugged Kawarau Gorge and Gibbston Valley to Queenstown – our home for three nights.
We follow the shores of the great lakes Wakatipu and Te Anau into the mountains and waterfalls of Fiordland National Park. We cruise on Milford Sound dominated by iconic Mitre Peak and home to seal colonies and dolphins. A magnificent scenic flight back over the Southern Alps to Queenstown ends this fantastic day.
Today is yours to make the most of the infinite number of activities Queenstown has to offer.
Your Kiwi guide can help you choose: a jet boat ride on the Dart River in Lord of the Rings scenery, wine tasting at vineyards, e-biking or cruising on the heritage steamship TSS Earnslaw on Lake Wakatipu, and many more.
We call into picturesque Arrowtown where gold mining history comes alive beside the Arrow River. From the Crown Range we take in the last views of the Wakatipu basin. We stop for refreshments at historic Cardrona Hotel before arriving at Edgewater Resort, our lakeside hotel in Wanaka. Enjoy a walk or bike along the lakefront trail.
We drive beside lakes Hawea and Wanaka and into the mountain and river scenery of the Haast Pass. There are short walks in the beech forests to waterfalls and coastal scenery at Ship Creek to enjoy. Lush rainforest lines the road as we head north to Fox Glacier, Lake Matheson and on to Franz Josef.
The morning is free to walk to Franz Josef Glacier lookout, take an optional helihike or flight onto the Glacier, or cruise out on Okarito Lagoon in search of the rare Kotuku, White Heron.
In Hokitika meet the carvers of the treasured Pounamu (greenstone) before reaching Papamoa National Park and Scenic Hotel Punakaiki, our home for two nights.
See the Pancake rocks, blowholes, limestone cliffs, karst rock formations and river valleys of subtropical rainforest. Further up the coast historic Denniston Plateau gives an insight into the lives of early coal miners and their families.
Walk to an isolated beach and the seal colony at Cape Foulwind or enjoy a favourite option, the glow worm cave at Charleston before returning down the coast road to Punakaiki. Celebrate our adventures over dinner tonight at the Scenic Hotel.
Leaving the West Coast we drive up the Otira Viaduct, a spectacular cantilevered road, to the alpine beech forests and river scenery of Arthur’s Pass National Park.
We stop to take short walks in the forest and to the massive rock formations at Kura Tawhiti Castle Hill. The dramatic landscapes make a fitting finale to your adventure. We descend Porter’s Pass and leave the mountains behind, crossing the Canterbury Plains to Christchurch.
