Under the Southern Skies

Arrive in Auckland and transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is free to explore the City of Sails or enjoy a leisurely meal overlooking Viaduct Harbour.

Collect your rental car this morning and begin your journey to Rotorua for a 2-night stay. This evening a cultural experience is included at Te Pā Tū, where you’ll discover Maori song, culture, and seasonal kai (cuisine) within a forest Pa (village). The seasonal menu is aligned to the maramataka (Maori lunar calendar) and includes a traditional hangi.

Enjoy a free day to explore Rotorua’s geothermal highlights, from bubbling mud pools and spouting geysers to relaxing hot pools. After dark you’ll explore the beautifully lit Redwoods Forest Treewalk, which ascends 20 metres to wind around century old trees. Suspension bridges offer a unique perspective over the ferns below and leafy canopy above, illuminated by lanterns and light features. Next make your way into a 70-metre cave filled with a very different light feature – 1000s of tiny glowworms!

Travel to Ohakune, on the edge of Tongariro National Park, for an overnight stay at Night Sky Cottage. The region is known for its striking volcanic landscape and also offers spectacular night skies, with dazzling views of the Milky Way.

Continue south to Martinborough, known for its boutique wineries which you’ll have plenty of time to visit during your 2-night stay. It’s also at the heart of the Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve, which you’ll explore on an included 90-minute guided experience at the Star Safari Observatory. Enjoy storytelling and science as you discover the nebulae, star clusters, and shimmering galaxies of the southern skies.

Travel via New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington to board the ferry across Cook Strait to South Island. Keep watch for dolphins and other marine life on the scenic 3-hour crossing. On arrival in Picton continue by road to Blenheim, in the heart of the Marlborough wine region.

Follow the coast road south to Kaikoura, known as New Zealand’s whale watching capital. You may wish to take a cruise in search of the mighty sperm whales, swim with dolphins or take a helicopter flight over the snow-capped Kaikoura Ranges. The Kaikoura Dark Sky Reserve is particularly special as it helps protect local seabirds like the endangered Hutton’s shearwater from light pollution, which can affect their breeding habits. Your accommodation tonight is in a secluded PurePod just outside Kaikoura, designed to maximise your views of the stars above.

Drive the short distance to Christchurch for a 2-night stay in the city’s historic Observatory building, now a boutique hotel. During your stay in Christchurch a cultural walking tour is included, offering the chance to explore the city’s laneways and riverside through the eyes and traditions of a local Maori guide.

Heading inland you’ll approach the soaring mountains and dazzling glacial lakes of the Southern Alps. An overnight stay at Tekapo includes an astronomy experience at the Mt John Observatory, located in the heart of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest International Dark Sky Reserve. Expert astronomers will take you deep into the cosmos, exploring constellations, planets, and star clusters. They’ll share insights from both Māori and Western knowledge systems, giving you a whole new perspective on our night skies.

Follow the shores of beautiful Lake Pukaki as continue towards New Zealand’s highest mountain, Aoraki/Mt Cook. You’ll have time to set out on one of the many nearby hiking trails, take an optional scenic flight or cruise amongst icebergs on a glacial lake. The views are spectacular by day, and equally dazzling by night as you remain in the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve.

Travel back out to the east coast today to Dunedin. The city offers a unique blend of Scottish heritage, Gothic architecture, and exceptional wildlife viewing on the nearby Otago Peninsula, where you can spot yellow-eyed and little blue penguins, New Zealand fur seals, sea lions, royal albatross and a wealth of other marine birds.

Enjoy a leisurely drive along the beautiful and little-visited Catlins Coast for a 2-night stay. Allow plenty of time for scenic walks and photo stops, as the route is scattered with trails, waterfalls, and view points. Don’t miss the Nugget Point Lighthouse, perched on a rocky peninsula to gaze out over the swirling Southern Ocean. You’ll also have time to explore the Catlins Forest Park, Koropuku Falls, fascinating Curio Bay with its fossilised forest and the chance to see Hector’s dolphins and yellow-eyed penguins, and Slope Point – the South Island’s southern tip.

Make your way to Bluff, where’s you’ll park up your car before boarding the Stewart Island ferry as a foot passenger. Cross the Foveaux Strait to arrive at the little settlement of Oban, where you’ll spend the next 2 nights. This evening enjoy exclusive access to spot kiwi in the Mamaku Point Conservation Reserve, a thriving natural habitat for native flora and fauna. During your guided tour you’ll listen out for the calls of the morepork and blue penguin, and search for the largest of New Zealand’s iconic kiwi species, the Stewart Island brown kiwi (tokoeka). Don’t forget to look up too – Stewart Island/Rakiura is the southern-most Dark Sky Sanctuary in the world, offering exceptional stargazing. The next day you’ll have time for a lie-in before exploring the trails, bush and beaches of Stewart Island at your leisure.

Head back across the Foveaux Strait this morning. From Bluff, drive to Manapouri where a catamaran will transport you across Lake Manapouri. Arriving at West Arm you’ll traverse the breathtaking Wilmot Pass by coach and board your overnight boat. The cruise will explore the length of Doubtful Sound, out to the Tasman Sea, with a naturalist at hand to tell you about the resident wildlife. Weather permitting, hop into a kayak or tender boat for a closer look at the shoreline, and enjoy the ‘Sound of Silence’ long after the day-trippers have departed.

After breakfast you’ll disembark and transfer back to Manapouri. From here it’s a scenic 3-hour drive via Queenstown to the settlement of Glenorchy, situated at the head of Lake Wakatipu. Surrounded by towering mountains, this stunning location is also home to New Zealand’s newest Dark Sky Sanctuary, Tahuna Glenorchy. Enjoy a 2-night stay at the beautiful Headwaters Eco-Lodge, with time to indulge in a range of optional activities from jet-boating on the Dart River to horse-riding, helicopter sightseeing, wine-tasting and more.

Make your way to Queenstown where you can drop off your rental car at the airport in time for your onward flight. Or speak to our team about extending your stay in New Zealand – why not explore the West Coast Glaciers and Abel Tasman National Park before heading home…