AAT Kings Southern Spirit Itinerary

Arrive early to get your bearings on a self-guided Christchurch tour. The best way to do that? Aboard the Christchurch Tram. Your journey not only takes you past jaw-dropping attractions but also tells an inspiring story of community spirit in the rebuilding and reinvigoration of the city since the 2010/11 earthquakes. Explore at your leisure. We recommend jumping aboard the Christchurch Tram. This evening, it's time to meet your fellow travellers for a Welcome Reception.

Flights to arrive prior to 4.00pm into Christchurch Airport

Accommodation: Christchurch - 1 Night

Step out with your guide for a deeper dive into ‘The City of Gardens’ before traversing the colourful Canterbury Plains: the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo and snow-capped mountains. 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.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Omarama - 1 Night

Travel onto Oamaru, while its façade is strictly of the Victorian era with ornately decorated grand white stone buildings that once housed upstanding banks, hotels and restaurants, the ‘Oamaruivans’ are certainly not. In fact, they are quite the contrary. Unlike the Victorians they (the locals) are bohemian artisans, creative’s and antiquarians who run ‘out-there’ galleries, museums, shops and venues – it has to be seen to be believed and you'll love it.

Architectural drama awaits in Dunedin. While away the afternoon in atmospheric art-lined alleys or sipping a lager or two in Speight’s Brewery (a national institution). Or venture further afield to discover Larnach Castle, which nods to Dunedin’s Scottish link – it’s known as ‘Little Edinburgh’ for a reason.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Dunedin - 1 Night

If you’ve find yourself humming a Garth Brooks tune en route to Gore, you’re not alone; it's the country music capital of NZ. Invercargill is obsessed with something else: motor vehicles. Tributes to speed legends colour the city. So it's only fitting that you visit Classic Motorcycle Mecca for a tour and Highlight Dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Dinner

Accommodation: Invercargill - 2 Nights

Invercargill is the gateway to the southernmost community in the country. Welcome to Stewart Island, a wild and wonderful drop of land that is 97% national parkland. Naturally, it’s a magnet for endemic flora and fauna, as you’ll discover on a guided Village and Bays tour. 

Meals: Breakfast

You’ve probably already noticed that there’s a lot of farmland here in New Zealand. It’s fitting, then, that you meet southern girl Laura, who will introduce you to the sheep farm where she was born and raised. The Real Country Farm Show, a  experience that offers an authentic taste of what rural New Zealand is like. For every guest, we donate funds to The Fairlight Foundation, Advancing Women in Agriculture. Continue to Queenstown and take the afternoon at your own pace.

Meals: Breakfast, 

Accommodation: Queenstown - 2 Nights

We wouldn’t blame you for using today to linger by the banks of Lake Wakatipu, marvelling at sky-scraping Remarkables. But if you want to venture further afield, we have a few ideas. Top of our list today is an epic journey through Fiordland National Park to Milford Sound/Piopiotahi, carved by waterfalls and a playground for dolphins and seals. There’s a reason why this part of the island has World Heritage status.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Atmospheric Arrowtown was born from gold, and its movie-set-like streets still shimmer today. It’s hard to tear yourself away, but the Alpine country of the Southern Lakes is calling, from Lake Dunstan – pause for juicy stone fruit picked fresh from the tree – to oh-so-blue Lake Hawea and lovely Lake Wanaka, with its shoreline of poplars and willows. Over the Haast Pass, the pretty town of Franz Josef/Waiau, awaits. Get some perspective on an optional Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere flight tour – if the weather behaves, you may even get to land on it. New Zealand tours don’t get much cooler than this.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Franz Josef  - 1 Night

On the wild West Coast, Hokitika may be small in size, but boy is it big in personality, not to mention natural attractions. Wander the windswept coast before discovering the town’s other beauty: pounamu (native greenstone or jade). Steel yourself for Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks and Blowholes; they owe their existence to the thundering surf that will lull you to sleep.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Punakaiki  - 1 Night

After action-packed days, all you need to do today is sit back and enjoy the drama of the Heritage Highway en route to Nelson. Gaze over Buller Gorge – a deep canyon home to New Zealand’s longest swingbridge – and Kahurangi National Park, a place of wild rivers, high plateaus, alpine herbfields and coastal forests. 

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Nelson- 2 Nights

The South Island’s oldest city, Nelson is the ideal starting point for outings through Abel Tasman National Park. This pocket in the north of the island is a beguiling union of golden beaches framed by sculpted granite cliffs. It’s home to one of the country’s most legendary coastal tracks, if you fancy stretching your legs on a hike. Otherwise, drift away on a cruise around the coast, revealing unpeopled bays and dreamy inlets. The choice is yours.

Meals: Breakfast

All aboard the Interislander for a cruise through Queen Charlotte Sound, up the Tory Channel and across Cook Strait, from the South Island to the North, navigating a maze of arms and inlets into New Zealand’s cool little capital of Wellington. End your tour on a high note at a Farewell Dinner with your Travel Director and travel companions. 

Meals: Breakfast, Farewell Dinner

Accommodation: Wellington - 2 Nights

All aboard the Interislander for a cruise through Queen Charlotte Sound, up the Tory Channel and across Cook Strait, from the South Island to the North, navigating a maze of arms and inlets into New Zealand’s cool little capital of Wellington. End your tour on a high note at a Farewell Dinner with your Travel Director and travel companions.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Wellington - 2 nights

Haere rā and Bon Voyage!

Wellington also knows a thing or two about good coffee, and you’ll need a strong one to get you through this morning's sightseeing. You may wish to linger in town, discovering Māori culture at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. It's hard to say goodbye to your tour of the South Island of New Zealand. If you can't bear to leave, we have a few ideas up our sleeves to extend your holiday.

Meals: Breakfast

Flights to depart after 2.00pm from Wellington Airport

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.