AAT Kings Spirit of New Zealand Itinerary

Community spirit is strong in Christchurch, as you’ll discover exploring its streets at your leisure. Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers this evening for a Welcome Reception.

Flights to arrive prior to 4.00pm into Christchurch Airport

Accommodation: Christchurch - 1 Night

More of Christchurch is revealed before the colours of the Canterbury Plains spread before you: the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo, snowcapped mountains and atmospheric towns. Your Indoor Dark Sky Astronomy Experience at Tekapo, hosted by passionate guides, will forever change the way you see the night sky. You'll see for yourself it may be one of the quietest spots on the planet, yet it has one of the busiest skies in the universe.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Omarama - 1 Night

Today you will make your way down to the Southernmost New Zealand city, Dunedin. With the rest of your free afternoon you may wish to take part in an optional excursion to see more of the region. Take a Wildlife Cruise out to Otago Peninsula, visit the Speights Brewery – a New Zealand institution  

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Dunedin - 1 Night

Rolling green pastures dotted with wide-eyed sheep are your backdrop to Gore, the country music capital of New Zealand. Invercargill is obsessed with something else: motor vehicles. Tributes to speed legends colour the city. So it's only fitting that you visit Classic Motorcycle Mecca for a tour and Highlight Dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Dinner

Accommodation: Invercargill - 2 Nights

Invercargill is the gateway to the southernmost community in the country. Welcome to Stewart Island, a wild and wonderful drop of land that is 97% national parkland. Naturally, it’s a magnet for endemic flora and fauna, as you’ll discover on a guided Village and Bays tour. 

Meals: Breakfast

You’ve probably already noticed that there’s a lot of farmland here in New Zealand. It’s fitting, then, that you meet southern girl Laura, who will introduce you to the sheep farm where she was born and raised. The Real Country Farm Show, a  experience that offers an authentic taste of what rural New Zealand is like. For every guest, we donate funds to The Fairlight Foundation, Advancing Women in Agriculture. Continue to Queenstown and take the afternoon at your own pace.

Meals: Breakfast, 

Accommodation: Queenstown - 2 Nights

Consider an epic journey through Fiordland National Park to Milford Sound/Piopiotahi, carved by waterfalls and a playground for dolphins and seals? (Own expense). There’s a reason why this part of the island has World Heritage status. You choose today’s path.

Meals: Breakfast

Atmospheric Arrowtown was born from gold, and its movie-set-like streets still shimmer today. It’s hard to tear yourself away, but the Alpine country of the Southern Lakes is calling, from Lake Dunstan – pause for juicy stone fruit picked fresh from the tree – to oh-so-blue Lake Hawea and lovely Lake Wanaka, with its shoreline of poplars and willows. Over the Haast Pass, the pretty town of Franz Josef/Waiau, awaits. Get some perspective on an optional Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere flight tour – if the weather behaves, you may even get to land on it. New Zealand tours don’t get much cooler than this.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Franz Josef  - 1 Night

On the wild West Coast, Hokitika may be small in size, but boy is it big in personality, not to mention natural attractions. Wander the windswept coast before discovering the town’s other beauty: pounamu (native greenstone or jade). Steel yourself for Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks and Blowholes; they owe their existence to the thundering surf that will lull you to sleep.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Punakaiki  - 1 Night

After action-packed days, all you need to do today is sit back and enjoy the drama of the Heritage Highway en route to Nelson. Gaze over Buller Gorge – a deep canyon home to New Zealand’s longest swingbridge – and Kahurangi National Park, a place of wild rivers, high plateaus, alpine herbfields and coastal forests. 

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Nelson- 2 Nights

The South Island’s oldest city, Nelson is the ideal starting point for outings through Abel Tasman National Park. This pocket in the north of the island is a beguiling union of golden beaches framed by sculpted granite cliffs. It’s home to one of the country’s most legendary coastal tracks, if you fancy stretching your legs on a hike. Otherwise, drift away on a cruise around the coast, revealing unpeopled bays and dreamy inlets. The choice is yours.

Meals: Breakfast

Visit the picturesque seaside village of Picton before cruising the tranquil Queen Charlotte Sound. Head across the Cook Strait to Wellington, New Zealand's capital.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Wellington - 1 Night

Today you will travel to Hawkes Bay region and Napier, often regarded as the world's Art Deco Capital. Beautifully preserved 1930s architecture is Napier's special point of difference. Nowhere else can you see such a variety of buildings in the styles of the 1930s - Stripped Classical, Spanish Mission, and above all Art Deco- the style of the 20th Century - in such a concentrated area.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Napier - 2 Nights

Experience The Daily Deco Tour for an insight into how Napier City became the Art Deco capital of the world. This comprehensive tour takes you on an historic timeline, sharing stories and showcasing the transformation and how Napier City and its people were resilient after the infamous 1931 Hawke's Bay Earthquake, rebuilding the city they love into a fabulous and stylish 'time warp' Art Deco!

Meals: Breakfast

This afternoon, explore Te Puia's geothermal valley, and learn about Maori history and culture on this guided experience, including a dinner of hangi-inspired cuisine and a cultural performance in a finely carved meeting house, Te Aronui a Rua. 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

Accommodation: Rotorua - 2 Nights

Today is one of decisions as there is no shortage of activities on offer in Rotorua! Bliss out at Wai Araki Hot Springs & Spa; take the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour. Alternatively discover Rotorua’s spectacular lakes area from the comfort of a fully restored World War II amphibious vehicle, able to travel on land and water. Or view Rotorua beyond the caldera rim and enjoy spectacular views of the stunning hidden lakes district, local geothermal activity and distant volcanoes in this captivating scenic flight. (all at own expense)

Meals: Breakfast

Today your sights are firmly set on New Zealand's national game: rugby. The interactive All Blacks Experience explores an introduction to the game as a part of New Zealand culture.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Auckland - 1 Night

The Bay of Islands is undeniably beautiful, but it also holds a special historical significance: this is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. Your guide, perhaps a descendent of one of the original signatories, will explain the significance.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Bay of Islands - 2 Nights

Trip the light fantastic and head off in whatever direction you please. Perhaps travel up to Cape Reinga/Te Rerenga Wairua via idyllic 90 mile beach. Or glide around on an historic tall ship, cruise to the Hole in the Rock or join a tour of Russell. Ask your Travel Director about optional experiences.

Meals: Breakfast

For a little more northern exposure, make your way to Whangarei, the island’s most northerly outpost and a place where waterfalls meet beaches, galleries meet museums. Explore at your leisure before the commute back to Auckland for your Farewell Dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, Farewell Dinner

Accommodation: Auckland  - 1 Night

Haere rā and Bon Voyage!

Over three weeks, we hope you’ve packed your address book with the names of new friends and your camera with photos. But at the end of the day, it’s the memories that will fuel your flight home.

Meals: Breakfast

Flights to depart anytime from Auckland Airport

Itinerary Variations
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