Save up to $267* pp twin share

New Zealand Uncovered

   
Destination:
Auckland, New Zealand
Duration:
16 Nights
Offer ends:
15 December 2024
Valid for travel:
Selected departures between: 15 Oct 2024 - 31 Mar 2025

Details

From north to south, east to west, New Zealand is a country of contrasts. And that’s why we love it. One minute you’re drifting through World Heritage-listed gorges on a Milford Sound/Piopiotahi tour, then next you’re scaling ice on a Franz Josef/Waiau tour. Sometimes there’s a Maori-inspired feast on the menu; at others there’s award-winning wine. Spanning 17 days, two islands and countless attractions – both city and country – this trip to New Zealand is one for the record books.

Was from $10,710* per person twin share
Save up to  $267* per person twin share

Now from $10,443* per person twin share

Highlights
Local Connection
Enjoy an exclusive Be My Guest lunch at the Red Barn, a Waikato working dairy farm.

Cultural Immersion
Māori culture is celebrated across the country, no more so than at Te Pā Tū Māori Experience. Be immersed in art, tradition, culture… and nurturing cuisine.

Make Travel Matter
Hear from the founder about the work being done to address biodiversity needs in the Kaikōura region, by developing a wildlife hospital and conservation centre. Help protect native birds on Pomona Island through a community-based conservation project.

World Class Nature
A limestone landscape of pancake-shaped rock formations, blowholes and surge pools sure have carved out a name for themselves. Punakaiki or Pancake Rocks are West Coasters that are known the world over.

In partnership with:

Inclusions

  • Travel in a fully air-conditioned luxury coach
  • Specialist team of two highly experienced Travel Director and Driver Guide
  • Centrally located premium hotels
  • National Park entrance fees
  • 16 Breakfasts (B), 2 Lunches (L), 1 Afternoon Tea & 11 Dinners (D)
  • Arrival and Departure Transfers

Itinerary

Auckland is the kind of place you could lose yourself in for a couple of weeks. Arrive at your leisure and explore new waterfront precincts, or just ready yourself to meet fellow travellers at dinner.
Hotel: Horizon by SkyCity Auckland 
Included Meals: Dinner with Wine

A little bit of leisure, a little bit of culture – today is one of those days. Peek behind the scenes of maritime racing history on the New Zealand Maritime Museum’s America’s Cup Tour. Your Travel Director then takes you around the city, pausing at Bastion Point for epic photo opportunities.
Hotel: Horizon by SkyCity Auckland
Included Meals: Breakfast

Leave Auckland behind and journey into the countryside for an exclusive family-style Be My Guest lunch in the Red Barn on a working dairy farm. Expect country banter and farm-to-table fare prepared with a lot of love. The next hot spot – in every sense of the word – on your NZ holiday is Rotorua. Visit Te Puia to see and support Maori artisans at work, then continue your Rotorua tour at the steamy Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve, a staggering valley where geysers pop and thermal springs jettison skywards.
Hotel: Millennium Hotel Rotorua
Included Meals: Breakfast, Be My Guest Lunch

Today, choose your own adventure. We have plenty of ideas for the paths you might follow. Tonight, dive deep into Maori culture at Te Pā Tū Māori Experience, an important hub keeping tradition, art and music alive. Oh, and exciting Māori cuisine. Enjoy forest kai horotai (seasonal canapés) and chef choice aperitif, followed by a seasonal three-course dinner.
Hotel: Millennium Hotel, Rotorua 
Included Meals: Highlight Dinner, Breakfast

Say goodbye to Rotorua and hello to the raging rapids of Huka Falls, where 220,000 litres of water barrel over this massive waterfall every second. Your outlook then unfolds into the dreamy landscape of Lake Taupo. Traverse the volcanic Central Plateau to NZ’s cool little capital of Wellington.
Hotel: Rydges Wellington
Included Meals: Dinner with Wine, Breakfast

Your day in Wellington should – must – begin with a coffee. The city is known for its ubercool cafés and with coffee in hand you will head out on city sights tour to take in highlights such as its iconic cable car, parliament, and Mt. Victoria. Your tour ends at Te Papa, the national Museum of New Zealand, where you may choose to visit the groundbreaking exhibitions on offer. Later you may decide on an optional tour. Lord of the Rings fans will rejoice with a special tour and visit to Weta Workshop. Or choose to visit Zealandia's ecosanctuary restoring 225 hectares of forest. Tonight, there are so many restaurants and bars to choose from. Ask us for recommendations or explore at your leisure.
Hotel: Rydges Wellington
Included Meals: Breakfast

This morning cruise the Cook Strait into tranquil Queen Charlotte Sound and continue to Kaikoura, a marine life haven. On arrival be treated to a biodiversity talk from Sabrina Leucht, founder of Kaikōura Wildlife Centre Trust, and learn about the work the trust is doing towards Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, at this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Tonight, dine at Hiku, which celebrates what Kaikōura is all about - kai moana and dramatic sea and mountain scapes.
Hotel: Sudima Kaikoura
Included Meals: Highlight Dinner, Breakfast

Enjoy a relaxed start this morning or sign up for one of several local wildlife experiences available. Sign up for a scenic flight for a bird's-eye view, get up close to dolphins by boat or kayak (both own expense), or sample tasty crayfish at waterside fish-and-chip shops. Follow the coast and Canterbury Plains to Christchurch, home to innovative architecture, art institutions and restaurants.
Hotel: Distinction Christchurch Hotel
Included Meals: Breakfast

From its cardboard-crafted Cathedral to its gold-clad central library, Christchurch has well and truly rebuilt itself since the 2010/11 earthquakes. But South Island locals still cherish a simple life, as you’ll discover over a Be My Guest afternoon tea with retired farmers Angie and Stan Taylor at their home Morelea on the edge of Lake Tekapo.
Hotel: Distinction Mackenzie Country Hotel Twizel
Included Meals: Breakfast, Be My Guest Afternoon & Dinner with Wine

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, before landing in Dunedin.
Hotel: Scenic Hotel Southern Cross
Included Meals: Dinner with Wine, Breakfast

From sheep farms to rugged mountains, today is one of contrasts. Venture into Fiordland National Park toward the South Island’s largest lake and the lakeside town of Te Anau. You'll experience the thrill of jet boating on scenic Lake Manapouri, home to Pomona Island, where native birds are under threat - and this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience is helping to protect them through a community-based conservation project.
Hotel: Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas
Included Meals: Breakfast & Dinner with Wine

Your journey towards Milford Sound/Piopiotahi traverses native rainforest, alluvial flats and meadows, with mirrored lakes, thundering waterfalls, dramatic rocky ranges and millennia-old valleys. Your Milford Sound/Piopiotahi boat tour, cruising through this wild expanse, provides enough drama for an entire travel year – you still have the streets of Queenstown to explore.
Hotel: Millennium Hotel, Queenstown
Included Meals: Breakfast

Adrenaline-junkies may wish to get some perspective on a tour of the gorges of Skippers Canyon. Gourmand at heart? Perhaps a Central Otago wine tour? (Both own expense). Your day ends on a dreamy TSS Earnslaw cruise across Lake Wakatipu, landing at Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet barbecue Highlight Dinner at the Colonel’s Homestead.
Hotel: Millennium Hotel, Queenstown
Included Meals: Breakfast & Highlight Dinner

From Arrowtown’s tree-lined avenues (where you've been visiting a bygone time) to Central Otago’s gleaming lakes, nature rules. Alpine scenery tiers into rainforest along the West Coast, where Thunder Creek Falls and the glacier-studded Mt. Hooker steal the scene. Welcome to the town of Franz Josef, home to Franz Josef Glacier/Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere, which is ideally explored on an optional helicopter flight – you may be able to land and walk across the ice-fall.
Hotel: Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier
Included Meals: Breakfast & Dinner with Wine

Explore the small but lively Franz Josef/Waiau village before venturing to Hokitika, home of New Zealand's native jade greenstone. Then steel yourself for the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes of Punakaiki, a sliver of South Island geology that is as humbling as it is awe-inspiring. After a spectacular day, spend the night at an eco-friendly, waterfront resort.
Hotel: Scenic Hotel Punakaiki
Included Meals: Breakfast & Dinner with Wine

Venture into the Ponaumu Pathway. Embark on a unique self-guided journey, as you make your way through this extraordinary storytelling experience born from a collaboration with the Weta Workshop. We’ve got you sorted for lunch at legendary Monteith’s Brewery. Then all aboard for the scenic TranzAlpine train back to Christchurch, through tunnels and over viaducts, with panoramic views of snow-capped peaks, icy rivers, beech forests, gorges and river valleys.
Hotel: Distinction Christchurch Hotel
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Farewell Dinner

How many travel highs can you pack into a holiday? This itinerary has certainly pushed the boundaries. Now all you have to do is go home and sort through all those photos.
Included Meals: Breakfast

Terms & Conditions

*Conditions apply. Prices correct as at 20 Sep 2024 but may fluctuate if surcharges, fees, taxes or currency change. Offers subject to availability. Agents may charge service fees, rates vary. Payments by credit card will incur a surcharge.  Airfare not included unless otherwise stated. All savings and bonus nights (if applicable) are included in the advertised price. Offers may be withdrawn without notice and are not combinable with any other offers unless stated. Please check all prices, availability and other information before booking. AAT Kings and Helloworld Travel booking terms and conditions apply, see in store for details.

*Save a further 2.5% with the exclusive Helloworld offer on AAT Kings New Zealand Guided Holidays when you use the promotion code HLOSALENZ. Offer valid for sale between Sep 16, 2024 – Dec 15, 2024 for select travel departures from Sep 16, 2024 – Mar 31, 2025. Discounts are subject to availability (for select tours and departures), limited seats, offer may be withdrawn at any time without notice. For new bookings only made through Helloworld Brands. Excludes group and charter bookings. Other standard booking conditions apply. Combinable with selected offers, contact your Helloworld travel agent or speak to our experts for more details. Updated Sep 16, 2024.

From

$10,443* | per person twin share
Save up to $267* pp twin share
Destination:
Auckland, New Zealand
Duration:
16 Nights
Offer ends:
15 December 2024
Valid for travel:
Selected departures between: 15 Oct 2024 - 31 Mar 2025