14 Day AAT Kings New Zealand Vista 25/26

Auckland never fails to turn on the charm, as you’ll discover while exploring the city before meeting your Travel Director and fellow adventure-seekers for a Welcome Reception.

Staying in:

• Holiday Inn Express Auckland City Centre (1 night)

After a morning of sightseeing, set your GPS for the Waikato River to Waitomo Caves. Here, your cruise route is cast in a magical light by thousands of glowworms. It’s a landscape almost as otherworldly as Rotorua, where mud pops and jettisons from bubbling geysers, and steam rushes skywards from cracks in the Earth. Tonight, delve deep into Māori culture and traditions at Te Puia. The Te Pō Indigenous Experience begins with a delicious buffet dinner of locally sourced cuisine and an authentic Māori twist in each dish. Following dinner, view an exhilarating cultural performance that takes place in our beautifully carved meeting house, Te Aronui a Rua.

Staying in:

• Ibis Rotorua Hotel (1 night)

We’re leaving you up to your own devices today. Bliss out at Wai Araki Hot Springs & Spa. Hobbit fans will want to take advantage of the opportunity to tour the sights featured in The Lord of the Rings movies at Hobbiton. The choice is yours.

Staying in:

• Ibis Rotorua Hotel (1 night)

A staggering 220,000 litres of water thunder over Huka Falls’ 11-metre high escarpment every second. It creates quite the calamity. From here, the road ahead unfolds in a broad panorama of Lake Taupo, its waters so vivid and blue they resemble an Ice Mint. Traverse the Kapiti Coast to New Zealand’s cool little capital, Wellington.

Staying in:

• Travelodge Wellington (1 night)

Wellington is known for its uber-cool caf��s, designed to fuel you through a session at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. Onwards to the Interislander for a cruise across Cook Strait, from the North Island to the South.

Staying in:

• Picton Beachcomber Inn (1 night)

There aren’t many beaches more dramatic than the sands of Kaikoura. Bonus points if you spot a sea lion or sperm whale frolicking offshore, Kaikoura is the marine wildlife centre of New Zealand. Talk to your Travel Director for tips on the essential restaurants to dine in tonight – Christchurch has reinvented itself in more ways than one.

Staying in:

• Wyndham Garden (1 night)

View the sights of the city including the mind-bending Transitional Cathedral, made largely of cardboard, and Turanga, the gold-clad central library. From here, your outlook is the Canterbury Plains: the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo, snow-capped 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.

Staying in:

• Heritage Gateway Hotel (1 night)

Oamaru may have supplied other NZ cities with limestone, but it kept some for itself – and the result is glorious leafy streets with grand 1800s buildings that stand proud before you journey further south toward Dunedin. It’s easy to while away the afternoon in ‘little Edinburgh’s’ atmospheric art-lined alleys. Or venture further afield to discover the wildlife that thrives in this pretty pocket of the country – fur seals and penguins among them.

Staying in:

• Scenic Hotel Dunedin City (1 night)

Dunedin’s Scottish ancestry is everywhere you look, from the manicured grounds of Otago University to the city’s main George Street. Rolling green hills dotted with doe-eyed sheep are replaced by soaring mountains as you weave your way into Fiordland National Park and the South Island’s biggest lake and the town of Te Anau. Soak up the serenity – it doesn’t get any better than this.

Staying in:

• Distinction Luxmore Hotel (1 night)

There are some travel days that blaze into your memory. Today is one. Your route through Fiordland National Park is an intoxicating union of beech forests, alluvial flats, meadows and mirror-like lakes. Gin-clear rivers carve the countryside, with all roads leading to Milford Sound/Piopiotahi. Cruising this World Heritage listed expanse will give you goosebumps, a string of waterfalls creating a misty curtain across sheer escarpments.

Staying in:

• Copthorne Hotel and Resort (1 night)

Queenstown is known as NZ’s adventure capital for good reason. But don’t take our word for it. Feel the wind in your hair on the high-octane jet boat ride. Nature lover? Discover some of New Zealand’s feathered friends at a wildlife centre. Wherever you wander, make sure you’re back in time to glide across Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet barbecue Highlight Dinner.

Staying in:

• Copthorne Hotel and Resort (1 night)

After departing the movie-set-perfect streets of Arrowtown, discover Lake Dunstan, surrounded by orchards where you’ll pause to refuel on flavour-packed stone fruit. Then there’s Lake Hawea followed by Lake Wanaka, with its Instagrammable shoreline of poplars and willows. Over the Haast Pass, Franz Josef Glacier/Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere sparkles like a gem.

Staying in:

• Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier (1 night)

Swap white at Franz Josef Glacier/Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere for green at Hokitika: the pounamu (native jade) found here is the stuff jewellery dreams are made of. Just when you thought your adventure couldn’t get any better, you’ll aboard the TranzAlpine train bound for Christchurch, through tunnels and over viaducts with panoramic views of snow-capped peaks, icy rivers, beech forests, gorges and river valleys.

Staying in:

• Wyndham Garden (1 night)

Two islands, two weeks. It’s remarkable what you can see when you have the right people guiding you.