New Zealand: A Southern Immersion

Nau Mai Haere Mai ki Ōtautahi — Welcome to Christchurch!

As you arrive in the South Island’s largest city, your private driver awaits to escort you to your Stay. Christchurch, often called the Garden City, blends English heritage with a spirit of resilience and reinvention. Leafy avenues and neo-Gothic architecture sit alongside innovative design and riverside cafés.

This first afternoon is yours to settle in and breathe the southern air. You may wish to stroll the Botanic Gardens, wander along the Avon, or simply relax in the calm embrace of your boutique accommodation.

Note: Check-in time at Stays in New Zealand is typically 3 PM. To help you start your journey in comfort and relaxation, your room is available for guaranteed early check-in on arrival.

This morning, step aboard the legendary TranzAlpine train for one of the world’s most scenic rail journeys. Crossing the fertile Canterbury Plains, the tracks climb through braided rivers, deep gorges, and the snow-clad Southern Alps. Vast windows frame each unfolding scene, a living canvas of New Zealand’s wild heart.

At Greymouth, your private driver awaits to carry you down the rugged West Coast. Pause to admire the turquoise flow of Hokitika Gorge and the canopy views from an elevated treetop walk before continuing south. The coastline is raw and elemental: waves pounding black-sand beaches on one side, rainforest rising steeply on the other.

By late afternoon, you reach Franz Josef, gateway to Glacier Country, where ancient ice descends almost to the rainforest floor. Your Stay here is cocooned in alpine stillness, with dramatic peaks framing the horizon.

Note: Your dedicated private driver/guide will accompany you from today until you’re dropped off at Christchurch Airport for your flight back home, twelve days later.

Begin with a rare, behind-the-scenes encounter at the West Coast Wildlife Centre. Step into the incubation and hatching facility and meet the conservation team safeguarding New Zealand’s rarest kiwi, the rowi, alongside Haast tokoeka. In the quiet of the nursery and nocturnal spaces, you also come face to face with ancient tuatara, guided by experts who bring these living taonga to life.

Then choose how you connect with the landscape:

Private Lake Cruise & Nature Walk
Glide across the mirror-still waters of Lake Mapourika on a private small-group vessel, rainforest and glacier-carved peaks reflecting around you. Moor on the far shore for a brief guided nature walk through lush coastal forest and wetland, an unhurried immersion in Glacier Country’s stillness.

Or

Private Off-Road Buggy Adventure
Venture off-grid with your guide by 5-seater buggy, tracing riverbeds and Jurassic rainforest trails with the Southern Alps towering ahead, an exhilarating backcountry route few ever see.

Note: Please select either the Private Lake Cruise & Nature Walk or the Private Off-Road Buggy at least 60 days prior to arrival. The behind-the-scenes kiwi/tuatara conservation experience is included with both options.

This morning, embark on a breathtaking private journey through one of New Zealand’s most spectacular landscapes. Wind your way past glacier-fed rivers and mirror-still lakes before ascending the dramatic Haast Pass. The road carves through Mount Aspiring National Park, where sheer cliffs, cascading waterfalls, and dense beech forest frame the way.

Emerging into Otago, the land softens into wide valleys and open skies before revealing the alpine calm of Wanaka. Here, mountains cradle a vast blue lake, their snow-tipped peaks mirrored in the still waters. A town of understated charm, Wanaka welcomes you with its blend of alpine vitality and serenity at day’s end.

The morning belongs to you. Wander the tranquil lakefront, take a gentle walk, or visit the Lavender Farm if you wish, your driver/guide is at hand to accompany you.

After lunch, embark on the Wild Hills High Country Safari, an exclusive four-wheel-drive adventure into Wanaka’s surrounding high-country stations. Your guide leads you along rugged backcountry trails, through rolling hills, and into remote landscapes shaped by generations of sheep and cattle farming. Sweeping mountain panoramas and hidden valleys open before you, each carrying the authentic spirit of New Zealand’s pastoral life.

Stories of early settlers, farming traditions, and the land itself bring depth to the journey, with pauses for photographs ensuring time to capture the grandeur of the vistas.

As you leave Wanaka, the land shifts from open valleys to the dramatic sweep of Fiordland. The road unfolds through a sequence of striking South Island landscapes: tracing the shoreline of Lake Dunstan, winding through the rugged Kawarau Gorge, and opening out along the sweeping waters of Lake Wakatipu. South of Kingston, the scenery shifts again as wide valleys and distant peaks signal the approach to Fiordland.

Afternoon reach Te Anau, a quiet township resting on the edge of its vast namesake lake. Here, Fiordland’s stillness takes hold. Wide waters, distant peaks, and skies that stretch endlessly.

Prepare yourself for an unforgettable journey as you leave this morning to Lake Manapouri. You are going on a wilderness cruise on Doubtful Sound, among the top 3 fiords in the world and probably the quietest in the world. Doubtful Sound is a magical fiord that is awe-inspiring with its stunning scenery and untouched appeal.

Your immersive experience begins with a cruise over a picturesque lake, followed by a trip across New Zealand’s most expensive road over Wilmot Pass to reach Doubtful Sound. Be prepared for wildlife encounters with dolphins, fur seals, and perhaps the rare Fiordland crested penguin.

A packed picnic lunch will be served as you board the first boat at Lake Manapouri.

Set out at a leisurely time in the morning with your private driver for the journey to Dunedin. The route carries you east across the Southland plains before curving toward Otago’s dramatic coastline. The road opens into wide horizons before descending into Dunedin, a city shaped by its Scottish heritage and framed by rugged coastal beauty.

Later in the evening, stroll into the Octagon at the city’s heart, lined with historic buildings, lively cafés, and a youthful vibrancy. As evening settles, you may wish to sample some of New Zealand’s finest craft beers, originally brewed by Richard Emerson, the godfather of the country’s craft beer movement, and enjoy them alongside a hearty pub-style dinner.

The morning is yours in Dunedin. Wander at an easy pace or step into the Otago Museum or the Dunedin Public Art Gallery for a quiet immersion in natural history and Pacific heritage.

In the late afternoon, set out on a wilderness tour at Cape Saunders. This exclusive experience takes you through a working farm and private conservation reserves on the remote Otago Peninsula, home to some of New Zealand’s rarest wildlife.

Begin with a rare opportunity to get up close to New Zealand fur seals and sea lions basking on an untouched private beach, where these magnificent creatures go about their lives undisturbed. Following this intimate encounter, your knowledgeable guide leads you via rugged trails to several concealed viewing hides, offering unforgettable sightings of the elusive yellow-eyed penguins in their natural breeding grounds.

This immersive journey blends coastal wilderness, conservation heritage, and intimate wildlife encounters for an authentic Otago Peninsula adventure.

Begin your morning at Dunedin Railway Station and step aboard the historic Taieri Gorge Railway. The train threads through wild ravines, crosses towering viaducts, and winds into sunlit valleys, a living journey through a remote corner of Otago that few ever see.

At Pukerangi, your driver awaits to carry you north along the coastline before turning inland. Pause at Moeraki, where spherical boulders lie scattered across the beach like ancient relics, their presence shaped by centuries of tide and time. The road then follows the Waitaki Valley, climbing past limestone outcrops, wide river plains, and the glacial lakes around Ōmarama, landscapes carved by both water and stone.

Cross the vast Mackenzie Basin, where turquoise lakes mirror snow-clad peaks, and the horizon is dominated by the Southern Alps. By late afternoon, you arrive at Aoraki Mt Cook Village, surrounded by the grandeur of New Zealand’s highest mountains.

Wake to the stillness of alpine air beneath the gaze of Aoraki. Today, the mountain’s realm opens to you in ways both intimate and immense.

Venture onto the terminal lake of the Tasman Glacier aboard a specially designed craft, navigating among drifting icebergs that shimmer in shades of blue and white. This included experience carries you into the heart of New Zealand’s largest glacier, where you can touch crystals broken free from centuries-old ice, holding the raw memory of the glacier in your hands.

For those who wish to see more, a helicopter flight can lift you above the peaks and neve of the Southern Alps, with the possibility of landing on untouched ice. Or take to earthbound paths: the Hooker Valley track leads across swing bridges and alpine streams to a glacial lake beneath Aoraki, offering a walk of rare beauty.

Leave the shadow of Aoraki as the road carries you east across the Mackenzie Basin. Turquoise lakes stretch wide beneath snow-fed peaks before the land softens into rolling hills and golden tussock country.

Pause at Lake Tekapo, where the stone Church of the Good Shepherd stands sentinel on the shore, framing the lake’s vivid hues against the Southern Alps. Continue through fertile farmland and small townships that mark the Canterbury Plains, a patchwork of fields leading toward the coast.

By late afternoon, you arrive in Christchurch, the South Island’s largest city. Here, English heritage blends with modern creativity, leafy gardens meet bold architecture, and the River Avon winds through the heart of a city constantly reinventing itself.

As the curtain falls on your Southern Immersion journey, it’s time to head to the airport. This morning, you’ll be privately transferred to Christchurch airport for your flight back home.

We trust that the tapestry of experiences we’ve woven has left you with lasting memories.

Wishing you a safe and pleasant journey back home.