FASCINATION NEW ZEALAND - SUPERIOR, PRIVATELY GUIDED ROUND TRIP Great days

Day notes

Welcome to New Zealand!

Your tour guide will meet you at the airport and take you to your first accommodation. On the way, you will get to know the "City of Sails", as Auckland is also called. Afterwards, you can either walk along the harbour or stroll through the shopping centres in the city centre. A visit to the War Memorial Museum or the Sky City Tower is also recommended.

We recommend dinner at the Brazilian Wildfire Restaurant. This restaurant, located on the harbour, offers you a special culinary experience. If you prefer a dinner with spectacular panoramic views of New Zealand's largest city, we recommend a visit to the rotating Orbit Restaurant in the Sky Tower (all activities optional).

Day notes

You leave the big city of Auckland and drive over the harbour bridge along the hibiscus coast to Matakohe and can visit the popular Kauri and Pioneer Museum (optional). In the afternoon you reach the Waipoua Kauri Forest, where the gigantic kauri trees can be found alongside the typical tree ferns. These are not only among the mightiest conifers on earth, but also among the oldest in natural history. After a tour of the forest, you continue via Opononi to the natural harbour of Hokianga. The strong westerly wind regularly leaves behind large masses of sand, which pile up into imposing dunes at the entrance to Hokianga Harbour. Your journey continues to Paihia in the Bay of Islands.

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Design today according to your wishes. You can take a trip along Ninety Mile Beach to Cape Reinga, the tip of the North Island. Or you can take a boat trip through the islands of the Bay of Islands, New Zealand's subtropical paradise. An interesting historical excursion is a visit to the Treaty House in Waitangi, where the peace treaty between the Maoris and the English was signed in 1840 and still has great significance in the coexistence of both cultures today. We recommend the Dolphin Eco Experience. This tour gives you the opportunity to swim and snorkel with dolphins in their natural environment. If you are lucky, you will encounter bottlenose dolphins, as well as other dolphin species, baleen whales, killer whales, seals, fish and penguins. You will also travel to some remote islands and gain an insight into this historically important region of New Zealand (all activities optional).

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After breakfast, say goodbye to your warm hosts. On your way to Whakatane, we recommend a stopover in Matamata (optional). During a 2-hour guided tour, you will discover the real Middle Earth here and visit the film set of the "Lord of the Rings" and the "Hobbit" trilogies, which might be better known to you as the "Shire". During your tour you will see the Hobbit Caves, The Green Dragon Inn and many other highlights.

The journey continues via the "avocado town" of Katikati and the harbour town of Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, the main kiwi growing area. Finally, you will reach your destination for the day, Whakatane, where you will see White Island, an extremely active volcano rising out of the sea under a constant cloud of smoke. The town, shaped by Maori history, lies directly on the sea with its beautiful harbour.

Day notes

Today is at your leisure. Your guide will be happy to help you with activities. 

Rotorua is not only the centre of Maori culture, but also famous for its geothermal activity. Geysers, steaming lakes and rivers, bubbling mudholes and multi-coloured hot mineral springs known for their healing properties can be admired here.

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland: Visit the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, known for boiling mud pools, white sinter terraces, geysers and bubbling lakes. With its "Painter's Palette, Devil's Inkwell and Champagne Pool", it is the most colourful of the thermal areas. The main attraction is the Lady Knox Geyser, which erupts up to 20 metres high every morning (10:15 am). Such a geyser is formed where superheated deep water enters a groundwater reservoir, heats it up and partially causes it to boil. As a result, steam suddenly shoots upwards in metre-high water fountains.

In the evening we recommend a visit to a Maori village with participation in a marae (traditional Maori gathering place). Here you will be welcomed with a traditional challenge at the gate of the marae and then experience the rituals of the Maori. After the concert at the meeting house you are invited to "Hangi", an earth oven meal. The meal is cooked in an earth cave on glowing stones.

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Today you will drive to Ohakune. On the way, a stop at the foaming Huka Waterfalls or the Craters of the Moon Geothermal Park is worthwhile.

You will then drive along Lake Taupo to Tongariro National Park. This is defined by three sister volcanoes, Ruapehu (2797 m), Tongariro (1967 m) and Ngauruhoe (2291 m), and a landscape of black ash, brown dusty desert and mountain streams lined with native beech trees. Many Maori sagas and legends surround the three mountains. In 1991, the national park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and two years later also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Several scenes from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy were shot in Tongariro National Park. Mount Ngauruhoe is featured as Mount Doom in the film.  You will spend the night here with a view of the volcanoes in Ohakune, at the foot of Mt Ruapehu.

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The three partly still active volcanoes of the Tongariro National Park form the backdrop of your drive along the Desert Road. The drive through barren steppe country, surrounded by peaks up to 2700 m, brings you to the green, fertile farm areas of Rangitikei and Manawatu. The journey continues along the Kapiti Coast to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.

Day notes

Your tour guide has a free day today.

Here you can visit the Parliament, stroll along the promenade or explore the National Museum "Te Papa" (entrance free). The funicular takes you to the Observatory, Botanical Gardens and viewpoint over the harbour, while you can enjoy a magnificent view of New Zealand's capital from the lookout mountain Mt. Victoria. In the evening we recommend a visit to Zealandia. With a local guide, you will take a short hike through the park and see various animals, which only become active in the evening hours. With a bit of luck, you may even see the kiwi bird, an endangered flightless bird and also the national symbol of New Zealand (all activities optional).

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In the morning, board the Interislander ferry that takes you to Picton on the South Island. You will sail across the Cook Strait and through the Marlborough Sounds, an area of "drowned" valleys formed by the geological subsidence of a low mountain range. Steep ridges, which today protrude as narrow peninsulas between deep inlets, still bear witness to the original mountains.

From Picton you will be transferred by boat (unaccompanied by your tour guide) to your idyllic accommodation in the Marlborough Sounds. Situated directly on the water, you will discover a world without roads and everyday noise, which guarantees pure relaxation. In this unique atmosphere you will enjoy a delicious dinner at the end of the day.

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A boat transfer will take you back to Picton, where your tour guide will be waiting for you. You will then continue south along the east coast. You will first reach Blenheim in the Marlborough Plain. Viticulture in this region began in the 1970s when Montana Wines was looking for new land. The composition of the soil, high sunshine duration, a long autumn and cold winter are excellent conditions for a first-class wine, especially Sauvignon Blanc.

Your journey then continues along the wild and romantic coast to Kaikoura. Sperm whales regularly occur here, attracted by the abundant food supply of the warm ocean currents. You can also observe fur seals lying on the rocks along the highway here, and with a bit of luck, even dolphins acrobatically jump out of the water.

Day notes

In the morning you have the opportunity to join a whale watching tour (optional). The journey continues into the hinterland, along little-used forest roads and over the alpine Lewis Pass and dense southern beech forests to the west coast. On your way, you will pass through the harbour town of Greymouth and a landscape characterised by grazing and forestry, as well as historic gold mining areas.

You will then reach your destination for the day, Hokitika, situated at the mouth of the river of the same name. The town is primarily the centre for processing greenstone, the very hard, New Zealand jade, which is turned into beautiful pieces of jewellery here.

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Your journey continues to Ross, a forgotten old gold mining village. Ross is said to stand on 700 million dollars in gold. All the more reason that this area is once again attracting numerous adventurers. You then continue into the glacier region of the Southern Alps, whose highest peaks rise abruptly to an altitude of 3500m south of Hokitika. As a natural weather barrier, the high mountain ridge is responsible for one of the most extreme precipitation regimes. Above the snowline, large masses of ice accumulate, forming fast-flowing valley glaciers. The Franz Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier - unique in temperate latitudes - push down to a height of 300 m above sea level.

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This morning you will have the opportunity to see the Franz Josef Glacier up close. Take a helicopter flight followed by a hike on the glacier. Or take a hike through the Glacier Valley.

Today you can take a morning hike to Lake Matheson near the village of Fox. This lake is also known as "Mirror Lake", because in good weather New Zealand's highest mountain, Mount Cook, is reflected in the water.

The journey continues through the Westland National Park, which has been declared a "Natural Heritage of Humanity". Over the Haast Pass, climate and watershed of the Southern Alps, past the high mountains of the Aspiring National Park and the deep glacial lakes Hawea and Wanaka, you reach the fantastically situated holiday resort of Wanaka.

The area is dominated by Mt Aspiring (often referred to as New Zealand's Matterhorn) and its fascinating glacier-carved wilderness. Surrounded by unwooded, grass-covered mountains, it is a holiday destination for New Zealanders. This area is a hiker's paradise with trails of varying length and difficulty.

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Today your tour guide will take you to Te Anau. Fiordland - New Zealand's largest and also most undeveloped national park. Hardly any landscape embodies the term wilderness better than Fiordland. In the west, 14 fjords penetrate deep into the primeval forests of a rugged alpine world like overlong ocean tongues. Not far away, snow-capped mountain peaks rise above alpine grass mats to 2700 metres. You drive to Te Anau, the gateway to this World Heritage Site, and spend the night there.

Day notes

Today you will take an excursion to the famous Milford Sound. Milford Sound is the most developed of the fjords and has been called the eighth wonder of the world.

You first drive along the spectacular Milford Road. At the Homer Tunnel you often see the cheeky keas, the only mountain parrots in the world. Once in Milford, you board an excursion boat that takes you on a cruise along Milford Sound. The ship follows the course of the fjord and glides out to the Tasman Sea. Enjoy the wild and romantic scenery, which is dominated by almost vertical mountain walls.

Alternatively, a trip on the less developed Doubtful Sound is also possible.

Afterwards you leave Te Anau and cross the wide plains of Southland, known for deer farming. You will pass vast pastures full of sheep and cattle feed crops, but also native rare tussock grass. Along Lake Wakatipu, the journey continues to Queenstown, often referred to as the "St Moritz of the South Seas". Due to its beautiful mountain location on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, the small holiday resort of Queenstown has developed into the popular tourist centre of the South Island. The elongated lake stretches between steeply rising mountain ranges.

Day notes

Your tour guide has another free day today.

There is much to experience and discover in Queenstown, New Zealand's adventure city. Today is at your leisure.

Take a trip on the steamship "TSS Earnslaw" and cross Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak Station. Here you can also get a barbecued lunch on request and join a farm tour. Alternatively, explore Queenstown's wild hinterland by jeep, with an experienced off-road driver. Learn about the gold rush past as you drive over hill and dale through the rough terrain of Skippers Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of New Zealand". Lord of the Rings tours to the filming locations are also available. Other recommended activities: Skyline Gondola, Shotover Jet and Dart River Safari (all activities optional).

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Today you drive north along the east coast. In the small settlement of Moeraki, stop to see the mysterious 'Moeraki Boulders' - round rock formations scattered along the beach that fascinate visitors. The journey then continues north through the limestone town of Oamaru into the province of South Canterbury. This region is one of the most intensively farmed areas in New Zealand. As you approach the Southern Alps, you will experience an impressive change in vegetation. The shores of turquoise Lake Pukaki are an ideal vantage point for viewing Mt Cook with its 3754m peak, New Zealand's highest mountain. At nearby Lake Tekapo you can visit the secluded 'Church of the Good Shepherd'.

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Today you will leave the three-thousand metre peaks of the Southern Alps and experience another spectacular change of vegetation. You will first reach highland farms, which differ from lowland farms in their livestock operations. The drive then continues through the Canterbury, the fertile heart of the South Island, where vast expanses of farmland stretch out like a patchwork quilt. The final destination is Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island.

Here you can take a walk through the beautiful botanical gardens and visit the Art Gallery. In the evening we recommend the "Tram Dinner". Here you dine in style in the restored historic tram, in an air-conditioned carriage while you get to know the city on a sightseeing tour (all activities optional).

Day notes

Your New Zealand tour ends today. Your tour guide will drive you to the airport. We hope you have enjoyed your trip and wish you a safe onward or homeward flight.