New Zealand Wonderland

Lose a day crossing the International Dateline but regain it when you return.

Kia Ora and Welcome to New Zealand! Upon arrival in Auckland at 4:00am, you will be met transferred to your hotel for immediate occupancy of your rooms. The remainder of the day is at your leisure. The city of Auckland with a population of almost one million, is the main gateway city to New Zealand. The dominating feature of the Auckland cityscape are the graceful lines of the Harbour Bridge, the sparkling waters of Waitemata Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf. Auckland is a cosmopolitan city with lovely boutiques, fine shops and restaurants. Overlooking Auckland’s celebrated Rose Gardens, your hotel is close to the “Old World” charm of Parnell Village’s shops and restaurants. At 5:00pm this evening, enjoy an informal cocktail party in “The Rose Room”.

Travel by coach to Muriwai Beach along the Hibiscus Coast and visit a colony of Australasian gannets, continue to the Wenderholm Reserve and Straka’s Refuge in Waiwera. 

Accommodation: Golden Sands Beachfront Motel

Transfer to Gulf Harbour and board the ferry to Tiritiri Matangi Island. This island is home to some of New Zealand’s rarest birds such as the North Island saddleback, the little spotted kiwi and the flightless Takahe once thought to be extinct. You will be met by a DOC officer who will take you on a private guided walk along the Wattle Track to the lighthouse. After a morning tea stop at the lighthouse, you are free to explore the other boardwalks on the island. Ferry back to Auckland and coach transfer to Thames 

Accommodation: Richmond Court (wing) at Brian Boru Hotel

New Zealand estuary and mud flats are the “winter” homes to many Northern Hemisphere shore birds. Godwits, curlews and sandpipers of many species congregate here. In addition the wrybill, a New Zealand endemic, congregates in the Firth of Thames near Miranda where we will spend the morning shore bird watching before we travel to the Pauanui/Whangamata area. Enjoy a guided tour of Opoutere Beach and surrounds with local naturalist guides, Doug Johansen and Jan Poole. The Wharekawa Wildlife Refuge in Opoutere is the breeding ground of the endangered New Zealand dotterel and variable oystercatcher.

Guided day tour along the coast to Matata Lagoon and Lake Rotoma. Walk to Tarawera Falls and continue by coach to Rotorua. New Zealand’s highest city located in a volcanic crater, approximately 305metres (1000ft) above sea level. Nick-named “Sulphur City”, Rotorua has the most energetic thermal activity in the country with boiling mud pools, gurgling hot springs, and gushing geysers. It is also known as the cultural capital for the Maori people of New Zealand. 

Accommodation: Devonwood Manor

Begin your morning sightseeing tour of this thermal region with a visit to Waiotapu Reserve. Walk past hot springs, mud pools and steaming geysers such as the Lady Knox Geyser which spouts off (with a little prompting) punctually at 10:15am each morning and gushes until noon. Other interesting features include the large, effervescently boiling Champagne Pool, craters and blowholes, colourful mineral terraces and other rock formations. Your afternoon will be at leisure – why not try one of the traditional Polynesian Thermal baths. This evening, you are guests at a traditional Maori Hangi and concert at the Rakeiao Marae (a Maori community house).

Travel Southwest to Waitomo. At the famous Waitomo Glow Worm Caves and Grotto, step into a boat and glide silently beneath the canopy of thousands of starry lights. The lights are actually a type of gnat larvae, which have luminescent organs producing a soft, greenish light. We continue travelling South to Tongariro National Park, New Zealand’s first national park created in 1887. Your accommodation, at the base of Mr Ruapehu, is reminiscent of a European alpine lodge built in timber with exposed beams with cosy open-fires. It is a central base for walks in Tongariro National Park.

All day hiking/walking around Mount Tongariro. With its collection of mighty (and still active) volcanoes, this national park is one of the most interesting and spectacular in the country. The department of Conservation offers many walks and treks graded for all fitness levels.

Head south today via Raetihi to the River City of Wanganui, and then continue through the farming townships of Bulls and Marton before following the scenic Horowhenua coastline to Waikane, the gateway to Kapiti Island.

Like Tiritiri Matangi Island, Kapiti Island is noted for its prolific birdlife. Access to this island is extremely limited and special permits have been arranged for the group. You will be met by a DOC ranger who will give the group a brief talk on the island. This little island is one of the birthplaces of the modern conservation movements and has been a protected wildlife reserve since 1897. Red-crowned and Yellow-crowned Parakeets are relatively common here as are a number of songbirds that are now rare or extinct on the mainland. It is also a very important marine reserve with excellent diving & snorkelling sites.

Drive to the capital city of Wellington to catch the 9:30 am InterIsland ferry to Picton across the Cook Strait. The ferry offers an excellent “platform” to observe shearwaters, albatross (wind permitting) and petrels. Follow the spectacular Marlborough coastline to the city of Christchurch, known as the most as English city outside England. The city designed in Britain in the mid 1800s as a model Anglican settlement, laid out in a grid pattern, and centred on the beautiful Cathedral. Christchurch, is the South Island’s largest city with a population of approximately 300,700 people.

This morning, enjoy a brief Christchurch city tour on your way through the Port Hills to Lake Ellesmere where, if you are lucky you can see the native pukeko bird. Continue to New Zealand’s only French settlement, the quaint little township of Akaroa. Enjoy a bite to eat at one of the many seaside cafes. At 1:30pm board a nature cruise on Akaroa Harbour, an extinct volcanic crater, takes in the harbour’s wildlife, including Hector’s dolphins, seals, little blue penguins and many other seabirds. The harbour offers some sensational cliffs and sea caves. Return to Christchurch.

This morning transfer to the Christchurch train station to board the Tranz Alpine Train. This scenic journey offers incredible diversity and beauty. We cross the fertile farmlands of the Canterbury Plains, wind our way through the stunning Waimakariri Gorge, pass over massive viaducts, and travel through New Zealand’s greatest mountain range – The Southern Alps. We overnight in the small settlement of Arthurs Pass in the heart of Arthurs Pass National Park. Once settled into the Wilderness Lodge we will seek out the local flock of Keas, a large raucous endemic parrot. The Wilderness Lodge is sited on the historic 2,500 hectare high-country Cora-Lynn Station. Surrounded by 200 hectares of native Beech forest and tussock grasslands and a small lake, it invites guests to experience high-country ecology and wildlife.

From Arthurs Pass, we continue by coach through the lush beech forest that is indicative of the rugged West Coast.  Keep your eye out for the Kaka, another large endemic parrot, and first cousin to the Kea. Enroute to Fox glacier, we visit the White Heron (Kotuku) Sanctuary at Whataroa. Travel by jetboat to see the nesting sites along the Waitangi-Tanoa River.  A DOC officer will also give the group an interpretative talk along the boardwalks in the sanctuary.

Continue along the West Coast and depart Fox Glacier for the Moeraki Wilderness Lodge. Set in the heart of a 2.7 million hectares South West New Zealand World Heritage area, few places can match its beautiful natural setting. Its very remoteness is its prime feature, giving access to a pristine area of New Zealand including 1,000 year old native trees, rare Fiordland crested penguins and elephant seals (in season), or fur seals all year around. 

Accommodation: Moeraki Wilderness Lodge

Today is a free day to enjoy all the activities at the Lodge. There are many nature walks through the rainforest, along the spectacular coastal area, remote Cascade Valley and the glaciers; fish for brown trout on guided canoe trips; or go on a guided wilderness horse trek, jet boat trip or glacier and Milford Sound scenic flights. One of the birds we hope to locate here is the Fiordland Crested Penguin. Your tour leader can tell you more than you wish to know about penguin biology.

Travel by coach over the spectacular Haast Pass and along Lake Wanaka. Two endemic songbirds we may spot enroute are the Rifleman and the Yellowhead. Rugged, snow-capped mountains towering over the deep blue waters of Lake Wakatipu, fringed by poplars and weeping willows form the backdrop to Queenstown - probably New Zealand’s most spectacular and popular resort town.

Accommodation: A-Line Hotel

Begin your trip to Te Anau and Manapouri by travelling along the shores of Lake Wakatipu, one of New Zealand’s prettiest lakes. At Manapouri, a 75-minute cruise will take you across the island studded waters of Lake Manapouri. Upon disembarking a coach will descend you to the depths of a remarkable Powerhouse at West Arm. Climb the heights of Wilmot Pass as the panoramic view of Doubtful Sound unfolds before your eyes. A cruise affords you a spectacular view of the Fiord as was seen by the earliest explorers. Cruise the length of Fiord right up to the 1200 foot cliffs and thundering waterfalls. As you turn around where the Fiord meets the Tasman Sea, you’ll see how this majestic fiord, hidden at first, unfolds before you. The captain is an expert at seeking out playful schools of dolphins, fur seals basking on the sunny rocks, and crested penguins parading on the rocky ledges of Rolla Island.

Accommodation: Quality Hotel Te Anau

Depart Te Anau by coach for Invercargill. Here you will board a small aircraft aboard Southern Air for the flight to Stewart Island. Upon arrival on Stewart Island you will be transferred to your hotel. Tonight, weather permitting, a special expedition in search of the elusive Kiwi bird, the one bird species that symbolises New Zealand.

Free day to explore this unspoilt wilderness island. Stewart Island is an ornithologist’s delight. Apart from the many seabirds that breed here, bush birds such as tuis, parakeets, kakas, bellbirds, fernbirds, kiwis and dotterels are more easily seen here than most other parts of the country.

A special treat today is a boat tour to Ulva Island. As soon as you get off the launch the air comes alive with the songs of tuis and bellbirds. Due to the absence of predators it has become a haven for many of New Zealand’s native birds such as the kakariki and Kereru (native pigeons). The weka can sometimes be spotted, as are the Fiordland crested yellow-eyed and little blue penguins.

Fly to Invercargill then board a coach to travel through sheep country to Dunedin. Dunedin, the Edinburgh of the South is a charming Scottish style city. Dunedin lies on a sweep of green hills at the head of the magnificent Otago Harbour. There is a distinctive Scottish feeling about Dunedin - not surprising as the name is Celtic for Edinburgh. The wealth generated by the gold fields in 1861 allowed Dunedin to build a fine range of stone houses and public buildings. "The Octagon" is the centre of the city and around which the city is shaped. Tonight enjoy a farewell dinner in the South Pacific’s only castle, Larnach Castle.

This morning travel along the Otago Harbour to Taiaroa Heads to see the only mainland home of one of the largest seabirds, the Royal Albatross. This is nesting season and you will find both parents sharing the incubation duties that last about 11 weeks. We also see the rare yellow-eyed penguin. Later this afternoon transfer to the Dunedin airport to connect with your flights home.