AAT Kings - Australia & New Zealand Panorama Itinerary

On arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel. This evening join your Travel Director for a welcome dinner - it's a great opportunity to get to know everyone in a unique setting.

Included Meals: Dinner with Wine

Flights to arrive prior to 12 noon into Melbourne Airport

Accommodation: Melbourne - 2 Nights

Get out and see the sights today on a guided walk with your Travel Director discovering the little lanes, arcades, and café society of stylish Melbourne. Discover more of Melbourne with a  tour and walk at Koorie Heritage Trust Gallery. There's time afterwards to explore the city on your own; enjoy an optional experience to Phillip Island to see the nightly ritual of the Penguin Parade (own expense). Or simply relax and watch the world go by.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Go from city to tropics today as you fly north to Cairns, Queensland. On arrival join a private wildlife boat cruise at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures. There will be time to help regenerate the rainforest particular to the Wangetti Valley in which Hartley’s is located. Feel free to join in as much or as little as you wish with this tree planting project and be a part of keeping the World Heritage listed Wet Tropics alive.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Cairns - 3 Nights

Did you know that the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef is home to 1,500 species of fish, 215 different birds, 3,000 molluscs, six of the world’s seven marine turtle species, and 30 species of dolphins and whales are residents? Get ready for an experience of a lifetime when you board a high-speed catamaran and cruise to the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Strap on a snorkel and mask to view this marine menagerie up close and personal. Enjoy a buffet lunch onboard before returning to Cairns

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

If you’re in the habit of getting up early now, you may wish to begin your day with a horizon-bending hot-air-balloon ride over the Atherton Tablelands. Prefer to stay grounded? Sign up for a guided walk through the Daintree Rainforest, or surround yourself with nature riding the Scenic Railway to Kuranda returning on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway (all own expense). Tonight, join your companions for dinner, with native ingredients highlighted at Ochre Restaurant.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

Fly from Cairns to Sydney. The rest of the day is yours to do as you wish. You could walk to the Art Gallery of NSW or to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair for a panoramic views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Ask your Travel Director for evening dining suggestions.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Sydney - 3 Nights

There are legendary Sydney sights, and then there’s the Sydney Opera House – this dramatic building is the reason the word ‘icon’ was made. Go on a guided tour of the shell-shaped structure, then see it from the outside on a sightseeing harbour cruise, also sailing past Circular Quay, Shark Island, jaw-dropping mansions, beaches and parks. Oh, and you’ll get to glide under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. You’ll want to toast your good fortune. Thankfully, we have planned a Be My Guest afternoon of wine tasting at Sydney’s Urban Winery. Cheers to that!

Included Meals: Breakfast

You could spend weeks exploring Sydney. Months even. But you have today, so get set for a wild ride. Your agenda is completely up to you, but we have more than a few ideas. Perhaps a bird’s-eye perspective of the city on a Sydney BridgeClimb? Or take a tour to the Blue Mountains to view the famous Three Sisters (both own expense). This evening, celebrate Sydney at dinner with your travelling companions..

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

New Zealand's adventure capital, Queenstown, awaits. Explore the alpine village and stunning Lake Wakatipu, then enjoy walkable bars and restaurants. Ask your Travel Director for tips.

Meals: Breakfast 

**(airfare is not included and must be booked in addition to this itinerary - please contact us to confirm the most up to date details).

Accommodation: Queenstown - 3 nights

Get a taste of country life combined with good old fashioned southern hospitality as you meet a ‘Southern Girl’ local female farmer at Real Country. On this experience get a feel for life on the farm as you have demonstrations of Horse communication and Working sheep dog mustering. Try your hand at a Stock whip cracking lesson, and feed and interact with the friendly farm animals. Plus, for every guest, we donate funds to The Fairlight Foundation, Advancing Women in Agriculture. Then you'll think you've stepped back in time when you arrive in the former gold-mining village of Arrowtown. Come dusk, cruise across Lake Wakatipu aboard the TSS Earnslaw; the only thing more inspiring than the peaks of the Remarkables that surround is the festive atmosphere welcoming you to Walter Peak High Country Farm, where a gourmet barbecue Highlight Dinner at the Colonel’s Homestead awaits.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Dinner

Explore Queenstown your way! On your free day, we highly recommend either venturing into the end-of-the-earth wilderness that is Milford Sound, to cruise past sheer cliffs, white-capped peaks and waterfalls. Or blissing out on an obligatory wine tour of the Otago region (both own expense). It’s a difficult decision.

Recommended Alternative Excursions are:

Meals: Breakfast 

After touching down in Auckland, you'll board your coach for the drive to Rotorua, the cultural capital, where you will immerse yourself in Maori history and culture.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Rotorua - 2 nights

Your visit to the National Kiwi Hatchery is guided by passionate conservationists and will give you fascinating insights into New Zealand's national bird. Rotorua's landscapes are reminiscent of a sci-fi movie set where mud pops from bubbling geysers and steam rushes skywards. See it first-hand at Whakarewarewa, the world's only living Māori village where people live on a daily basis, using natural geothermal resources to cook, bathe and heat their homes as they have for centuries.

This evening, embark on the Te Po experience at Te Puia. Learn about Learn about Maori history and culture on this guided experience, which includes hangi-inspired cuisine and a cultural performance in a finely carved meeting house. Witness a pōwhiri (traditional welcome), waiata (song), mōteatea (traditional chant) poi and haka. It ends on a high at the Pohutu Geyser, where, armed with a hot chocolate, you'll view one of New Zealand's geothermal wonderlands.

Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Dinner

Today your journey will take you to Waitomo Caves. While cruising cavernous waterways, your route is cast in a magical light by thousands of glowworms. The next thing that glows on your horizon is Auckland. This evening, share the stories of your New Zealand Panorama tour at a Farewell Dinner with your Travel Director and companions at The Grill, celebrating Aotearoa's culinary treasures.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Farewell Dinner

Accommodation: Auckland - 1 Night

Haere rā and Bon Voyage!

Two countries, multiple adventures, an abundance of new friends… Just how do you say goodbye to a journey like this?

Meals: Breakfast

Flights to depart anytime from Auckland Airport

Itinerary Variations:
The provider strives to improve trip itineraries. If improvements can be made, or if circumstances beyond their control make changes necessary, the provider reserves the right to vary itineraries and to make substitutions.