AAT Kings - Australia & New Zealand Panorama Itinerary

 
1

Welcome to Melbourne!

On arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel. This evening join your Travel Director for a welcome dinner - it's a great opportunity to get to know everyone in a unique setting.

Included Meals: Dinner with Wine

Accommodation: Melbourne - 2 Nights

Melbourne

2

Melbourne's Famous Hidden Laneways Tour

Join your Travel Director for a city sights tour that includes a private walk through Melbourne's famous hidden laneways. You'll discover the city's eclectic little lanes, arcades, café society, and fascinating street art. There's time afterward to explore the city on your own, enjoy an optional experience or simply relax and watch the world go by.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Laneways Melbourne

3

Fly to Cairns & Crocodile Adventure

This morning you will be transferred to Melbourne Airport for your flight to Cairns, Queensland. On arrival join a private wildlife journey at Hartley's Crocodile Adventures. Enjoy a boat cruise and encounter koalas, wallabies, birds, crocodiles and more! This evening is free for your to choose from the numerous restaurants that Cairns has to offer.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Cairns - 3 Nights

croc

4

Great Barrier Reef Cruise & Snorkel

Get ready for an experience of a lifetime - aboard a high-speed catamaran and cruise out to the Great Barrier Reef. You can snorkel and view this natural living wonder up close (equipment provided) or stay dry and explore the stunning reef from the comfort of a semi-submersible craft, just one metre underwater. Enjoy a tropical buffet lunch before you return to Cairns.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

snorkel

5

Cairns at Leisure

Today is a free day to do as you choose.

If you’re in the habit of getting up early now, you may wish to begin your day with a horizon-bending hot-air-balloon ride over the Atherton Tablelands. Prefer to stay grounded? Sign up for a guided walk through the Daintree Rainforest, or surround yourself with nature riding the Scenic Railway to Kuranda returning on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. Tonight, join your companions for dinner, with native ingredients highlighted at Ochre Restaurant on the waterfront. 

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with wine

Cairns

6

Cairns to Sydney in time for a Dinner Cruise

This morning you'll fly to Sydney!

On arrival, there's time to relax at your hotel or explore this exciting city before boarding a Magistic Dinner Cruise. Enjoy a contemporary two course a la carte meal and the mesmerizing views of Sydney at night. You'll pass magnificent waterfront homes, beaches and parklands, and all the main harbour attractions including the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

Included Meals: Breakfast - Dinner with Wine

Accommodation: Sydney - 3 Nights

Sydney
Sofitel Sydney Wentworth offers a luxury escape without equal. Ideally situated in the heart of central Sydney’s business and shopping districts, this hotel is conveniently located 500 metres from the nearest ferry, train and bus stops and only minutes from famous Sydney attractions like the Opera House, Circular Quay, The Rocks and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Sofitel WentworthSydney

7

Sydney Highlights

Discover the highlights of beautiful Sydney with a driving city tour.

If there was ever a place that slipped from the pages of a fairy-tale, Wendy’s Secret Garden at Lavender Bay is it. Overlooking Sydney Harbour, this pocket of floral paradise is explained by a local volunteer – did you know this was once unused wasteland? Your visit provides a contribution to the ongoing maintenance of the enchanting garden.

Explore Sydney’s inner west and enjoy a lunch with the locals at the pub. Then drive through Newtown to Batch Brewery where you will take part in a masterclass and learn how they combine creatively inspired limited release batches with sustainable practices.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Opera House

8

Sydney Free Day

Today is free for you to do as you choose. Why not take a day trip to the spectacular Blue Mountains for fresh mountain air and stunning scenery. You’ll visit the charming village of Leura, see the famous Three Sisters rock formation and visit a Wildlife Park to get up close and personal to some of Australia’s cuddly native animals.

If you’ve always wanted to climb Sydney Harbour Bridge, today could be your chance on a thrilling ‘Bridge Climb’. Dinner tonight is beside Sydney Harbour. Because can you ever get enough?

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Blue Mountains

9

Fly to Queenstown

It's time to say Hoo Roo Australia and Kia Ora New Zealand as you fly to Queenstown’s adventure capital. Take in its alpine, mountain town vibe, where the evening is free for you to enjoy one of its many lakefront restaurants and bars. Why not try some of the famous New Zealand lamb with a Pinot Noir from the local Otago wine region?

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Queenstown - 3 nights

Queenstown

10

Get the feel for real country life...

Flying over New Zealand, the first thing you’ll notice is that there’s a lot of farmland. It’s fitting, then, that one of the first people you’ll meet is southern girl Laura, who will introduce you to the sheep farm she was born and raised on. Think sheep mustering and whip cracking as well as the chance to feed and pet the farm animals. Then you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time when you arrive at former gold-mining town of Arrowtown. Come dusk, cruise across Lake Wakatipu aboard the TSS Earnslaw; the only thing more inspiring than the peaks of the Remarkables that surround is the festive atmosphere welcoming you to Walter Peak High Country Farm, where a gourmet barbecue at the Colonel’s Homestead awaits.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Dinner

walter peak

11

Queenstown at Leisure

Explore Queenstown your way! Go wild with a jet boat ride or white water rafting. For the less adventurous there is a wine and garden tour, play a round of golf, or just enjoy wandering through the town and botanic gardens. 

Recommended Alternative Excursions are:

Routeburn Day WalkHighest Bungy JumpExplore Arrowtown

Wine Tasting Central Otago      

Biking Skippers Canyon      Round at Millbrook Golf Resort
Earnslaw Steamboat Cruise  Dart River Jetboat Safari      

Gibbston Valley Wine Trail


Meals: Breakfast 

Jet Boat Queenstown

12

Fly to Auckland

Today we depart the adventure capital of New Zealand Queenstown and head north to the City of Sails, Auckland. This evening, why not dine at one of the many eateries on Federal Street, a hotspot for food lovers right on your doorstep. With an impressive accolade of awards between them, there is something to suit every taste at Federal Street.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Auckland - 1 night

A lavish hideaway resting high above the bustling night life of the city streets below. A place of understated luxury, bursting with warmth, where those seeking excitement can revel in the elegant sophistication of this uniquely intimate refuge. Centrally located surrounded by excellent eateries and nightlife.
The Grand by SkyCity

13

Auckland to Rotorua

Today is set to sparkle – quite literally – as thousands of bright green and blue glowworms light up your next destination: the cavernous Ruakuri Cave at Waitomo. From overhead attractions to those below the ground… this evening your Highlight Dinner is prepared in an earthen Hangi at Te Puia. Your meal, succulent meats and vegetables, hot chocolate and steamed pudding, is served while you overlook the spectacular geothermal valley. Cap it off with a moving Māori cultural performance in the beautifully carved meeting house, Te Aronui a Rua. It’s an insightful and fun evening that will surely leave you with a newfound understanding and love for New Zealand.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Highlight dinner

Accommodation: Rotorua - 2 nights

Rotorua
This 4.5 star deluxe property is perfectly situated next to mystical Lake Rotorua and is just a brief stroll from the City centre, close to many restaurants and bars. The hotel offers world class residential style accommodation that is suitable for those travelling on business and for leisure. Restaurant Nikau offers a good range of evening menu choices, from the Restaurant's famous Nikau Burger to fine dining options, while the Brassiere Poolside Restaurant is the perfect place to start your day with an alfresco style breakfast beside the geothermal heated pool.
Millenium Hotel Rotorua

14

Rotorua

Cute and cuddly, NZ’s national bird, the kiwi, is also endangered. Go behind the scenes on a working kiwi nursery and hatchery to learn how breeding programs are helping the population thrive. The natural drama reaches boiling point at Whakarewarewa, a geothermal reserve and the country’s only living Māori village, home to famous Pohutu Geyser and the bubbling beauty of mud pools. You’ll cap off your day joining your Travel Director and companions for a Farewell Dinner at Poco Tapas & Wine, where the menu is designed for sharing.

Meals: Breakfast, Farewell Dinner

Auckland Viaduct Harbour

15

Bon Voyage

Haere rā and Bon Voyage!

Bid farewell to your epic Antipodean adventure as you are transferred to Auckland Airport for your onward flight.

Meals: Breakfast

Bon-voyage

Notes

Itinerary Variations – the provider strives to improve trip itineraries. If improvements can be made, or if circumstances beyond their control make changes necessary, the provider reserves the right to vary itineraries and to make substitutions. 

Included Highlights

  • Insider Knowledge

Ever wondered how the Sydney Opera House was crafted, and which performers have taken to the stage? Go behind the scenes with a local expert. 

  • Local Connection

Farm life is a thing for many New Zealand locals. Meet Laura, who will teach you about life on the land on her South Island estate. 

  • Cultural Immersion

Kiwis celebrate their heritage at every chance possible, as you’ll discover at Te Puia, where your dinner comes with an eye-opening performance revealing New Zealand’s Maori heritage. 

  • Sustainable Footprints

Operation Nest Egg may sound like it’s from a Bond movie, but it’s actually a way that the National Kiwi Hatchery is helping boost the population of kiwi birds in the wild. Your visit helps. 

  • Wildlife & Nature

Cairns is a place two World Heritage Sites meet: The Wet Tropics of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. Bring your sense of adventure to explore both.

Inclusions

  • Specialist team of two highly experienced Travel Director and Driver Guide
  • Local Specialists (Guides)
  • Centrally located premium hotels

Dining 

  • 14 Full Breakfasts
  • 1 Lunch
  • 4 Dinners with Wine
  • 2 Highlight Dinners
  • 1 Farewell Dinner
  • 1 Be My Guest Lunch

** Required Internal Flights: are to be purchased in order to fulfil the itinerary and are NOT included in the land content price - please contact us to confirm these details and any other itinerary updates

  • Day 1: Flights to arrive prior to 12:00pm into Melbourne Airport
  • Day 3: Melbourne to Cairns VA1291 (Required Internal Flight)
  • Day 6: Cairns to Sydney VA1418 (Required Internal Flight)
  • Day 15: Flights to depart after 2:00pm from Auckland Airport
  • Airline schedules may change at short notice. Please consider possible flight disruption when booking your flights.​

Fitness Requirements

  • Low level of fitness required

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Profile picture for user Tracy
What Tracy says about this tour: This trip offers great value with the chance to see both Australia and New Zealand in the great company of like minded travellers and the expertise of your Guide and Driver. Discover World Heritage Great Barrier Reef and world famous Sydney Opera House. Enjoy the alpine resort of Queenstown and soak in the geothermal springs of Rotorua. There is so much on offer on this expertly guided 15 day trip.
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The price is based on current exchange rates but is only an approximation. Please contact us for a final price