ITINERARY:

Day 1: Arrive Queenstown, New Zealand
Arrive in Queenstown and please catch a taxi to your hotel for the next 6 nights. The remainder of today is free to start exploring this beautiful lakeside town.

Day 2: TSS Earnslaw & BBQ Buffet Lunch
Cruise on Lake Wakatipu on the steamship TSS Earnslaw from Queenstown to Walter Peak. Stop at Walter Peak for lunch and a sheep shearing demonstration. Enjoy a quintessential Kiwi experience – a delicious gourmet BBQ lunch and a farm demo in a stunning lakeside setting.

Your tour starts with a cruise aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw across to Walter Peak High Country Farm. Once there, you can sit back on the lakeside terrace of the Colonel’s Homestead Restaurant and savour the delicious aromas as our chef has the best of local produce, sizzling away on the grill. Our lunch menu has been refreshed with the introduction of our new executive chef, so you'll have a plenty to choose from our seasonal menu – salads, vegetables, succulent meat cooked on the outdoor rotisserie or grill. If you’re vegetarian, don’t worry, you are well catered for too. Then finish your meal with a scrumptious dessert. After your lunch, you can join an entertaining farm demonstration or explore the beautiful lakeside gardens.

Day 3: Hop on Hop off wine tour
Become your own tour guide for a day and enjoy having the freedom to explore the best parts of Queenstown, Arrowtown, and Gibbston Valley without being rushed or constricted by any pre-set schedules.

Enjoy the fun and soak up the amazing sites of Queenstown. No need to make an itinerary and drive yourself, your friendly drivers will look after you and provide you with information on each location. Hop on and off as you please, visit as many destinations as you like, and choose how long you stay at each spot.

Day 4: Small Group Tour to Milford Sound with Cruise
Join a fully-guided, small-group day tour from Queenstown to the world-renowned Milford Sound; the crowning jewel of Fiordland. Highlights of the drive will include Lake Wakatipu, the Devil’s Staircase, the truly majestic mountains of Fiordland, Mirror Lake, the Chasm, and Homer Tunnel. You will also enjoy multiple stops along the way for photo opportunities and Kea bird spotting (the world’s largest alpine parrot).

You will then travel through the mind-blowing Homer Tunnel, emerging as the valley descends sharply down to Milford Sound, with its hundreds of waterfalls cascading into the crystal clear waters beneath.
At Milford Sound, you will take an intimate cruise on a smaller boat that gets right up close with nature and wildlife. Onboard your cruise you will have up-close views of thousands of waterfalls, Mitre Peak, as well as local wildlife, providing you with hundreds of amazing photo opportunities along the way.

Following your cruise, begin the return journey back to Queenstown, stopping again in Te Anau for a quick break. At the end of the day, your guide will drop you back to your Queenstown accommodation, or you can opt to upgrade to a scenic, one-way flight back from Milford instead. Choose this option for the ultimate view over the mountains and region during your return journey and speak to your consultant to book it before you depart.

Day 5: Mount Cook Small Group Adventure
At 3724m, Aoraki/Mt Cook is by no means among the world’s tallest, but with the nearby Mt Cook village just 750m above sea-level, the mountain can be viewed without any acclimatisation whatsoever, so this tour is perfect for people of all levels of fitness.

The guided tour begins with pickups in Queenstown and Frankton, before you then travel through the stunning Kawarau gorge to Cromwell. After making a comfort stop in the quaint township of Omarama (where you have the option to taste one of the best creamy chicken pies in New Zealand), we climb our way through Lindis Pass, one of only 3 alpine roads through the otherwise impassable Southern Alps. As you exit the Pass, you may catch glimpses of the mighty mountain itself; but before arriving there is much more to see, including what many consider one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. Lake Pukaki is one of the bluest lakes you will ever see, and is framed by the backdrop of Aoraki and its brothers in the Southern Alps. The location of several scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Lake Pukaki is a destination in and of itself.

You soon pass the delta where the mountain’s various rivers, creeks and streams converge to form the lake, and the mountain continues to grow steadily in stature and grandeur until the sheer scale of the view makes you feel powerless. Arriving at the alpine village of Mt Cook and the Hermitage – home of the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre – you now have the freedom to explore in whatever way suits your energy levels and budget.

Day 6: Doubtful Sound Wilderness Cruise from Queenstown
Start your South Island adventure to Doubtful Sound with pickup from your Queenstown hotel by coach. Relax during the journey to stunning Lake Manapouri, situated in the UNESCO–listed Fiordland National Park, and ride a ferry across its tranquil waters. Then ascend Wilmot Pass, stopping en route for a photo op of Doubtful Sound, a ribbon of blue meandering between the Fiordland's alpine moss gardens and steep rainforest-laden walls. Board a spacious catamaran at Deep Cove for your cruise of Doubtful Sound.

Ten times larger than Milford Sound, the pristine fjord boasts sun-drenched or mist-shrouded peaks, where waterfalls cascade into the deep blue water below. Keep an eye out for basking New Zealand fur seals, rare Fiordland penguins and bottlenose dolphins that often swim along with the boat.

Day 7: Depart Queenstown.
Please catch a taxi to Queenstown airport for your flights home or for your onward travels.

Please note: The day by day descriptions published are intended as an indicative guide only. Travel by nature is unpredictable. Weather patterns, road conditions, public holidays, travel restrictions and a multitude of other factors may necessitate itinerary changes that ultimately are for the client’s benefit. It is essential that clients are flexible and open minded in this regard.