10-Day South Island Traditional Highlights

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Like a patchwork quilt made with every shade of green, the Canterbury Plains lie serenely between the mountains and the sea. Today, you'll make your way across them as you travel from Christchurch to Punakaiki via Arthur's Pass and Castle Hill.

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You'll begin the day with a visit to the historical gold mining town of Hokitika. Historic Hokitika is a place to appreciate the fascinating history of the west coast. Hear about the shipwrecks, gold miners and pounamu hunters. You'll then continue the journey to the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, two of New Zealand largest glaciers. Upon arrival at Franz Josef, you'll head out on a helicopter tour to view and appreciate the towering ice formations and vastness of the glaciers from above.

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Today, you'll leave Franz Josef behind and head off to Mount Aspiring National Park en route to Queenstown. Named for Mount Aspiring, one of New Zealand's highest peaks, this park is a dreamland of mountains, glaciers, river valleys and alpine lakes. Here, you'll embark on the most exciting half-day Jet Boating adventure in New Zealand beneath the spectacular scenery of Glaciers and Lord of the Rings film locations, into Mount Aspiring National Park. Afterwards, you'll continue to Queenstown.

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In the morning, you'll travel past the Eastern shores of Lake Wakatipu to Fiordland National Park. En route, you'll have the choice to stop in the Gibbston Valley to visit some of the wineries, known as one of New Zealand's top wine regions. Nestled on the edge of a lake, Te Anau is the perfect town to base yourself from to visit Milford Sound. The picturesque township is the main visitor base for the glacier-carved wilderness that is Fiordland National Park.

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Today, you'll join your expert nature guides on a special cruise that takes you closer to the natural beauty of Milford Sound. You'll get closer on the longest cruise in the Milford Sound and learn about the unique wildlife, geology and history from the expert nature guides. In the afternoon, you'll have the option to experience a mysterious underground world of rushing water before drifting in silent darkness on a glowworms cave tour!

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From the Fiordland National Park, the journey will take you back to the East Coast of the South Island. The splendour of many of its public buildings reflects Dunedin's economic and cultural pre-eminence in Victorian New Zealand. Today, Dunedin has a rightly deserved reputation as one of the best-preserved Victorian and Edwardian cities in the Southern Hemisphere. Flanking the southern edge of Dunedin's extensive harbour, Otago Peninsula is simply spectacular.

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Today, this wildlife tour caters for small groups providing a glimpse into the world of tourism and conservation working in a symbiotic relationship for the benefit of the wildlife providing absolutely unrivalled viewing of estuarine and marine wildlife. The private conservation area ensures exclusivity with brilliant opportunities to photograph hooker's Sea lions, yellow-eyed penguins, blue penguins, a breeding colony of New Zealand fur seals and other sea bird colonies such as albatrosses.

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Today, you'll set off from Dunedin to make your way to Mount Cook National Park. On the way, you'll stop at the Moeraki Boulders as you drive along the North Otago coast. Moeraki is now most famous for its boulders; mysteriously spherical stones scattered across a beach. Upon arrival in Mount Cook Village, you'll have the option to visit the Tasman Glacier lake for a fascinating glacial encounter on a cruise. Late in the evening, you'll head out on a Lake Tekapo stargazing adventure.