Travelpack

Highlights: Christchurch - Twizel - Dunedin - Te Anau - Queenstown - Franz Josef/Waiau - Punakaiki

Itinerary:
Tue 22 Oct 24 - Welcome to Christchurch
At once forward-thinking and fun, Christchurch is the kind of city you could lose yourself in for a week or more. You have this afternoon, so make the most of it. We recommend riding the rails on the vintage Christchurch Tram, a narrated hop-on, hop-off experience that loops around town, your host pointing out historic architecture and new developments that have popped up since the 2010/2011 earthquakes. Time to meet your fellow adventure-seekers over a Welcome Reception.
Hotel: Distinction Christchurch Hotel

Wed 23 Oct 24 - Christchurch - Twizel
If you didnt get your Christchurch bearings yesterday, you certainly will on todays city tour, taking in the record-breaking Transitional Cathedral who knew you could build a church from cardboard? The buildings of the city fade into a patchwork of farms as you ease across the Canterbury Plains toward Morelea. Here, Angie and Stan Taylor welcome you to their home with a slap-up Be My Guest afternoon tea and tales about life on the land. And this land is truly dramatic, backdropped by powdery mountains and cut with turquoise lakes, none quite as pretty as Lake Tekapo, on its banks the stone-hewn Church of the Good Shepherd.
Hotel: MacKenzie Country Hotel
Included Meals: Breakfast, Be My Guest Afternoon Tea, Dinner with Wine

Thu 24 Oct 24 - Twizel - Dunedin
Oamaru has a rich history and proud heritage, enriched by passionate and perhaps quirky locals. Explore the shops, galleries and traditional crafts within some of the Southern Hemisphere's most complete Victorian streetscapes. Youre en route to Dunedin, replete with rolling green meadows and grand stone castles. It kind of feels like youve been transported to Scotland small wonder its known as the Edinburgh of the South. Afternoon at your leisure, we recommend a visit to Speights Brewery a New Zealand institution. And pretty much everything in between. Theres always that castle to explore Larnach may not have the history of Scotlands grand estates, but its just as pretty in our humble opinion. A NZ holiday must.
Hotel: Scenic Hotel Southern Cross
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

Fri 25 Oct 24 - Dunedin - Te Anau
Leave Dunedins pastoral sheep-farming countryside behind as you venture into World Heritage listed Fiordland National Park, a place of yawning gorges and gem-like glaciers, and azure lakes so large they have their own islands. Case in point Pomona Island, where a charitable trust of passionate volunteers works to restore flora and fauna. With your help. Take a thrilling jet boat ride down the Waiau River to Lake Manapouri and if that's not enough water for one day, you may choose to cruise to the iconic Glowworm Caves. Can we tempt you?
Hotel: Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

Sat 26 Oct 24 - Te Anau - Queenstown
Nature rules again today, from the moment you depart Te Anau and begin your journey deep into the heart of Fiordland National Park. Think native rainforests, beech forests, alluvial flats and meadows; Mirror Lakes perfectly reflecting mountain scenery; and precipitous lookouts holding guard over alpine rivers. And this is just the entre. The main course is your Milford Sound/Piopiotahi tour, where you cruise in the company of dolphins that frolic under the torrent of mighty Bowen and Stirling Falls, and gaze at misty escarpments so sheer they appear to cleave off the edge of the Earth. Youre in the company of a naturalist who knows every nook and cranny of this mighty cavern and will point out flora and fauna you would have never spotted on your own.
Hotel: Millennium Hotel, Queenstown
Included Meals: Breakfast

Sun 27 Oct 24 - Queenstown Free Time
Take today at your own pace. Like things fast and furious? Feel the wind in your hair on a high-octane jet boat ride, perhaps. Prefer wine to get your heart started? See why Central Otago makes some of the worlds most raved about cool-climate pinots on a cellar door tour. Wherever your daily wanderings take you, reunite with your companions come dusk to glide across Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw, your barbecue Highlight Dinner served on the grounds of Walter Peak High Country Farm.
Hotel: Millennium Hotel, Queenstown
Included Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Dinner

Mon 28 Oct 24 - Queenstown - Franz Josef/Waiau
In the shadow of the Remarkables, Queenstown is pretty spectacular. But it has some stiff good-looks competition from neighbouring Arrowtown, with its movie-set tree-lined avenues and 19th-century buildings that once housed gold-rush fortune-seekers. Things grow well in this verdant countryside, from cherries to pinot grapes and all manner of stone fruit. Prepare for a flavour explosion. The next explosion is a visual one as you arrive in the town of Franz Josef/Waiau, home to Franz Josef Glacier/K Roimata o Hine Hukatere. Get some perspective of this immense ice fall on an optional helicopter flight you may even get to land on it.
Hotel: Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

Tue 29 Oct 24 - Franz Josef/Waiau - Punakaiki
Explore the small but lively Franz Josef/Waiau village before venturing to Hokitika, home of New Zealand's native jade greenstone. Then soak in the natural surroundings as you head to Punakaiki to view the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, where waves thunder through cracks in the Earth. This is the soundtrack that lulls you to sleep at tonights eco-resort.
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

Wed 30 Oct 24 - Punakaiki - Christchurch
Wine may steal the scene across much of New Zealand, but at legendary Monteiths Brewery, beer rules. Sip your way through a tasting paddle of XPA, IPA, lager and pale ale because, hey, youre not driving to the station where your TranzAlpine train awaits. Just as well lunch is included. This is one of those experiences where the journey matters just as much as the destination, as you sweep through tunnels and over viaducts with panoramic views of snow- capped peaks, icy rivers, beech forests, gorges and river valleys. What a way to end a day.
Hotel: Distinction Christchurch Hotel
Included Meals: Breakfast, Farewell Dinner, Lunch

Thu 31 Oct 24 - Farewell from Christchurch
Wait, the last 10 days flew by. Return home with new friends, a full SD card on your camera and even more memories.
Included Meals: Breakfast

Prices & Departures:
Deposit: £1200pp
✅Y38257 London Heathrow from £6309pp

Terms & Conditions:
Based on 2 adults sharing

Offer Includes

Meal Plans