Essential New Zealand

Arrive into the wonderful city of Singapore and transfer to the four-star M Hotel City Centre. Occupying a great location in Singapore city centre, our hotel offers a warm welcome and a range of services alongside comfortable, contemporary accommodation.

Known as ‘the crossroads of Asia’, Singapore is a city where east meets west; a cosmopolitan melting pot with an inspirational identity. This morning, enjoy a tour of this wonderful city. Included is a stop at Merlion Park with impressive views of Marina Bay. See the historic Civic District, Thian Hock Keng Temple and the fabulous orchid gardens set within Singapore’s botanical gardens. Return to the hotel where the rest of our day is free to spend as we please.

A day at leisure in Singapore until it’s time to leave for our evening flight to Auckland. Perhaps explore the impressive Gardens by the Bay or enjoy high tea at Raffles.

If flying with Qantas & Emirates, your flight will transfer via Australia before arriving into Auckland. On arrival, transfer to the Grand Chancellor Hotel, where we spend our first two nights in New Zealand. At the hotel, we meet our local Coach Captain, who will be our driver and guide during our time in New Zealand’s North Island.

This morning, we take an orientation tour of the city. Known as the ‘City of Sails’, Auckland is New Zealand’s most populous city, with a beautiful waterside setting and a landscape dotted with volcanic hills. We drive along the stunning coastline of the famous Waitemata Harbour. In the distance we see Rangitoto Island, a dormant volcano, dominating the horizon. Our afternoon is free to spend as we please. Perhaps take a scenic sailing trip in Auckland’s harbour to enjoy the beautiful sunset, with a three course dinner on board.

Our travels today commence with a drive over the impressive Waitemata Harbour Bridge. Journey past dairy farms and rolling hills as we make our way north. We visit Parry Kauri Park in Warkworth before travelling further north to Whangarei Town Basin, a picturesque international yachting marina on the Hatea River. Arriving in the stunning Bay of Islands we head to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Known as the 'Birthplace of the Nation', Waitangi is where in 1840 the British and Maori chiefs signed the Treaty. Enjoy a guided tour of this special place and a Maori cultural performance. We will also savour a Maori hangi dinner here, a culinary tradition where food is cooked using heated rocks buried in a pit oven. Our home for the next three nights is the Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands, located in the picturesque seaside town of Paihia.

Although our day has been left at leisure, we have the opportunity to join a fantastic optional trip to Cape Reinga. This full day excursion visits the northern tip of New Zealand, where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. The area holds special spiritual significance in Maori tradition, as the place where Maori spirits return to their traditional homeland, Hawaiiki-A-Nui, via the roots of a lone (and still standing) 800-year-old pohutukawa tree. Highlights of today’s tour include magnificent coastal landscapes, the Te Paki sand dunes and a drive along Ninety Mile Beach.

We travel south this morning via Auckland as we make our way to the world-famous thermal region of Rotorua. The next two nights are spent at the Millennium Hotel Rotorua, in the heart of New Zealand's rich Maori culture. Later, we dine together at our hotel.

Our sightseeing this morning takes us via Rotorua’s famous Bath House, a Tudor-style building within the Government Gardens. We continue to Te Puia, home to the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve, with its geysers and boiling mud pools. Enjoy a guided tour to learn more about the unique landscapes, as well as visiting the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, where young students learn traditional crafts, including wood and stone carving. Our afternoon is free to relax at your leisure.

This morning we make our way to Auckland airport for our flight to Christchurch, where we stay tonight at the centrally-located Distinction Hotel. Considered the most English of New Zealand cities, following the 2011 earthquake, Christchurch has undergone a rebuild to reconstruct the city centre. Enjoy time at leisure to explore the city, including the Botanic Gardens, founded in 1863 with the planting of an English oak tree.

Today we embark on one of the most stunning drives in New Zealand, as we head towards the imposing Southern Alps. We climb the mighty Southern Alps, where at every turn, spectacular views of the chiselled alpine landscape take our breath away. From Arthur’s Pass, we make the spectacular descent of the western side. Our travels continue, taking us alongside striking wild scree-scarred terrain, with the forests of Crimson Rata and Kahikatea. We pass lakes Lanthe and Mapourika before entering Westland National Park and reaching the Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier for our next two nights.

Today is left completely free to absorb the beauty of Franz Josef. For those that so wish, we drive into the valley of the Franz Josef Glacier, where we will have the opportunity to walk through the rainforest and enjoy views of the steep glacial valley. Weather permitting we may also take an optional scenic flight (at an additional cost) over the glacier and the awe-inspiring Alpine region.

Incredible scenery today as we travel across the Haast River Bridge and via Clark Bluff along one of the most exciting scenic roads ever built. Travel along the shores of Lakes Wanaka and Hawea as we enter New Zealand’s Central Otago region. We continue via Lake Dunstan, created by the mighty Clyde hydro dam in 1994. Later in the afternoon we reach beautiful, cosmopolitan Queenstown, and our home for the next three nights, the Millennium Hotel Queenstown or the Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown Lakefront.

Queenstown overlooks Lake Wakatipu, framed by an incomparable alpine scene. Poplars and willows surround the lakefront and the lake seems to glisten every shade of blue. This morning, we take a tour to visit the nearby historic mining town of Arrowtown. The heart of its history is Buckingham Street, a procession of small-town heritage buildings that stretch into a tree-lined avenue of tiny miners’ cottages. Be sure to try a cream tea in one of the quaint tea rooms. The afternoon has been left free to take advantage of the incredible variety of activities available in and around New Zealand’s most glamorous alpine resort. Alternatively, take a leisurely cruise across Lake Wakatipu aboard the vintage steamboat TSS Earnslaw, visiting Walter Peak Homestead and a sheep shearing show before returning to Queenstown.

A day is free for you to explore Queenstown at your own pace. For a relaxing experience, follow Queenstown’s wine trail, an enjoyable day excursion of wine tasting and sightseeing. The thrill-seekers amongst us may wish to try the Shotover Jet – an exhilarating boat ride amongst the crags and boulders of the Shotover River canyon. For a more serene experience maybe stroll by the lakeside or take a gondola ride to the top of Bob’s Peak for a magnificent panoramic view of Queenstown.

This morning, after a hearty breakfast, we say goodbye to Fiordland. A scenic drive takes us via Mossburn and Lumsden to Gore. Fresh, green farm scenery will accompany us to Balclutha, which has a distinctive arched concrete bridge. Known as the ‘Edinburgh of the South’, Dunedin is South Island’s second largest city and is considered New Zealand’s architectural heritage capital, with its lovingly-restored Victorian and Edwardian buildings. We spend our next two nights at the Scenic Hotel Dunedin City.

This morning we enjoy a sightseeing tour taking in the city’s neo-Gothic churches, town hall, opulent theatres, and other 19th century buildings. We have time to admire the beautifully-landscaped trees and plants of Dunedin Botanical Gardens and the historic buildings of Otago University and the famous Dunedin Railway Station, before we have time at leisure this afternoon. You may choose to join an optional cruise excursion, discovering the wildlife of the Otago Peninsula, which boasts the world’s only mainland colony of Royal albatross.

This morning, our travels take us north. We stop at Hampden Beach to witness the geological curiosities known as the Moeraki Boulders, huge spherical boulders which are scattered along the beach, whilst others can be seen emerging from the sandstone cliffs. Each boulder weighs several tonnes and is up to two metres in diameter. According to Maori legend, the boulders are gourds washed ashore from the great voyaging canoe Araiteuru, when it was wrecked upon landfall in New Zealand hundreds of years ago. Scientists explain the boulders as calcite concretions formed about 65 million years ago. The soft mudstone containing the boulders was raised from the seabed around 15 million years ago and waves, wind and rain are uncovering them one by one. Our next stop is Oamaru, where we stroll through New Zealand’s best-preserved Victorian streets. Later in the day we arrive at the Distinction Mackenzie Country Hotel in Twizel.

On leaving Twizel, we head northeast to the turquoise-tinted Lake Pukaki, which gains its colour from the melting water of the Tasman glacier. If we are lucky with the weather, we may see the Southern Alps and the mighty Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain. We also stop at the Church of the Good Shepherd on the shores of Lake Tekapo. Later, descend from the Mackenzie Country over Burkes Pass to the Canterbury Plains and travel through small townships like Geraldine to Christchurch. We spend our final two nights in New Zealand at the Distinction Hotel Christchurch, taking a short orientation tour this afternoon.

Today is free for you to relax and explore Christchurch on our final day in New Zealand. You may choose to join our optional excursion later today, enjoying a unique dinner experience on board one of the city’s heritage trams.

All good things must come to an end, and this morning we transfer to Christchurch Airport. Dependent on your choice of airline, your flight will either connect via Australia and Dubai, if flying with Qantas or Emirates, or Singapore if your chosen airline is Singapore Airlines.

Breakfast is served shortly before our arrival, bringing an end to our Magnificent New Zealand tour.