New Zealand End to End — Fourteen Nights from the Bay of Islands to the Glaciers

You are met at Auckland Airport and transferred to your hotel. Auckland is built across a narrow isthmus between two harbours, which is why it is called the City of Sails, and the waterfront is an easy walk from most city hotels. The rest of the day is free to recover from the flight. · Auckland

You leave Auckland and travel north to Paihia in the Bay of Islands, a subtropical stretch of coast scattered with islands and inlets. The drive takes most of the day through Northland farmland and forest, and the rest of the day is free once you reach Paihia. · Bay of Islands

A free day on the bay. Two optional excursions are commonly taken here — a cruise out to the Hole in the Rock at Cape Brett, or a day north to Cape Reinga along Ninety Mile Beach. Neither is included in this package, and both are arranged and paid for locally if you want them. · Bay of Islands

After breakfast you travel from Paihia south through Auckland and on to Rotorua, a full travel day down the upper North Island, arriving in the evening. · Rotorua

A half-day tour of Rotorua taking in Te Puia and its thermal valley of geysers and boiling mud pools. You then travel to Rainbow Springs to see trout and native wildlife, and on to the Agrodome sheep show. Rotorua sits on an active geothermal field and you will smell it before you see it. · Rotorua

You travel back towards Auckland with a visit to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves on the way, admission included, ending with the silent boat ride beneath the glow worms. You continue to Auckland and check in during the late afternoon. · Auckland

You transfer to Auckland Airport for your flight south to Christchurch, crossing from the North Island to the South. Airfare on this sector is not included. You are met on arrival and transferred to your hotel, with the rest of the day free. · Christchurch

No touring is scheduled today. Christchurch is flat and walkable, with the Botanic Gardens and the Avon River running through the centre. The day is yours, and anything you arrange is at your own cost. · Christchurch

You cross the Canterbury Plains into glacial blue lakes and tussock-covered hills, reaching Mount Cook in the middle of the day. Optional scenic flights over the snowfields operate here at your own cost. You then continue south to Queenstown. · Queenstown

No touring is scheduled today. Queenstown is New Zealand's adventure capital and sits on a lake ringed by mountains, so the day is easy to fill or easy to do nothing with. Anything you choose to arrange is at your own cost and is not part of this package. · Queenstown

An early start along the shore of Lake Wakatipu and through Te Anau into Fiordland. The road runs through beech forest beneath steep mountains and finally through the Homer Tunnel, cut straight through rock, to reach the water. You board a catamaran and cruise Milford Sound past Mitre Peak before returning to Queenstown. · Queenstown

You travel through the Kawarau Gorge past Lake Dunstan towards Wanaka, stopping at Makarora before crossing the Southern Alps through the Haast Pass. At Knights Point the road reaches the Tasman coast, and you continue past Lakes Moeraki and Paringa into the glacier country. · Franz Josef

No touring is scheduled today. The glacier here descends into temperate rainforest, an unusual pairing anywhere in the world. Optional activities can be arranged locally at your own cost and are not included in this package. · Franz Josef

You continue up the West Coast through Hokitika to Greymouth, where you board the TranzAlpine train. The line climbs from the coast through river gorges and valleys and across the farmland plains of Canterbury before reaching Christchurch — widely held to be one of the world's great rail journeys. · Christchurch

Breakfast at the hotel, then check out and a transfer to Christchurch Airport for your onward flight. Christchurch is the South Island's main gateway. Your onward flight is not part of this package, so allow the check-in time your airline requires. If your flight leaves later, ask the hotel about storing luggage.