AAT Kings - Highlights of New Zealand & Australia - Itinerary

Settle into your hotel on the banks of the Yarra River and meet your Travel Director for a welcome reception and dinner at the South Wharf riverside pub, The General Assembly restaurant. It's a great opportunity to get to know everyone in a unique setting.

Included Meals: Dinner with Wine

Flights to arrive prior to 12 noon into Melbourne Airport

Accommodation: Melbourne - 3 Nights

Join your Travel Director for a city sights tour that includes a private walk through Melbourne's famous hidden laneways. You'll discover the city's eclectic little lanes, arcades, café society and fascinating street art. There's time afterwards to explore the city on your own. Or, consider an optional experience to Phillip Island to see the nightly ritual of the Penguin Parade. Or simply relax and watch the world go by.

Included Meals: Breakfast

If you’re still getting your Melbourne bearings, linger in town to explore boutiques, galleries, and eclectic suburbs. But if it’s time to venture further afield, you might want to sign up to discover the Great Ocean Road, a stretch of coastline that deserves its reputation as one of the most scenic touring routes in the world.

Included Meals: Breakfast

The rusty red landscapes of Uluru beckon as you leave Melbourne for Ayers Rock Resort, experiencing the rugged desert landscapes while learning about the geological history of Australia. Stopping at the Mt. Conner lookout before arriving at Ayers Rock Resort. In the heart of Australia, Uluru has been home to the Anangu for millennia. You will discover their connection to the land when you arrive in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park at sunset to watch the shifting colours transform the desert. Follow your guide to the perfect perch to capture Uluru as the last of the day disappears, glass of bubbles in hand (of course). Not ready to go home yet? Discuss with your Travel Director the option to elevate your evening with the exclusive Uluru Barbecue Dinner.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Uluru - 2 Nights

The only reason to get out of bed before dawn? For a magical Uluru sunrise. It’s a spiritual place, with stories of the Anangu, caretakers of this remote arid landscape revealed while you tour the base. The red desert follows you to Kata Tjuta, where nature humbles as you walk through the towering domes of this ancient rock formation. Cheers to the end of another amazing day.

Included Meals: Breakfast

The only reason to get up before dawn on your last day in Uluru is to glimpse the kaleidoscopic Field of Light art installation of artist Bruce Munro on an Optional Experience. 50,000 glowing spindles of light blanketing the desert. Clamber to the top of a sand dune to marvel in the morning unfolding over this very special part of the world. Later, an Anangu artist will explain just what makes it so spiritual over an introduction to Western Desert art, introducing totems and symbols important to the region and represented in paintings and installations. Head to your next stop in tropical Cairns.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Cairns - 3 Nights

Cruising with crocs, a scenic railway ride into World Heritage listed rainforest, a wander along the Cairns Esplanade? Today the choice is yours. Celebrate the end of an incredible day at dinner on Cairns’ waterfront at Salt House for regional seafood plucked straight from the ocean, highlighting fresh, local ingredients, and prepared on their custom-built Argentinian wood fired grill.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

The world’s largest living organism, the Great Barrier Reef, never fails to dazzle. Set out on a catamaran to explore a kaleidoscope of colour. Strap on a snorkel or visit an underwater observatory and semi-submersible craft to take in the menagerie without getting your hair wet. A tropical buffet lunch is served onboard before you return to Cairns.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Touch down in Australia’s largest city, and spend time at leisure in the buzzing metropolis of Sydney. Take a stroll along the iconic harbour, visit one of the city’s many bars, pubs, or restaurants, or simply while away the day at the beach. You decide how best to enjoy this bustling city of delights.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Sydney - 4 Nights

Bring your stamina: today is one of innumerable highlights. Go on a tour of the Sydney Opera House, discovering its architectural and performance secrets. If these sails could talk. Then see the city from the water on a Sydney Harbour Highlight Lunch Cruise, enjoying a menu focusing on local food and wine. One icon to another: The world’s most famous beach beckons this afternoon, with your chance to pad along the sand at Bondi with Sydney’s beautiful people.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Lunch

The hardest decision you have to make today: explore more of Sydney, or head to the Blue Mountains World Heritage listed wilderness on a tour (additional cost). The choice is yours.

Included Meals: Breakfast

You could spend weeks exploring Sydney. Months even. But you have today, so get set for a wild ride. Your agenda is completely up to you, but we have more than a few ideas. And ideally a stroll through the Royal Botanic Garden, which offers so many lookouts for sparkling harbour views. This evening, celebrate your tour at a Highlight Dinner at Midden restaurant at the Sydney Opera House. Talk about ending on a high.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Dinner

Haere Mai and Welcome to the 'City of Sails'

Fly across the Tasman Sea this morning to the island nation of New Zealand, and meet your Travel Director for dinner. There is plenty to see and do in Auckland. New Zealand’s largest city is located between two large harbours and 48 extinct volcanic cones scattered over the city are evidence of its volcanic past. They also provide a perfect location for viewing the city! A diversely cultural place, Auckland is a great location for marine adventures, wine tasting, forest walks, and urban sophistication.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

**(airfare is not included and must be booked in addition to this itinerary - please contact us to confirm the most up to date details).

Accommodation: Auckland - 2 Nights

After a relaxed start, set your sights firmly on Auckland's main love: rugby. The interactive All Blacks Experience explores an introduction to the game as a part of New Zealand culture. Afterwards get the lay of the land on a city sightseeing tour including Bastion Point and Mission Bay.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Get ready for a much-anticipated trip to the charming village of Hobbiton. Upon arrival, set off on a guided tour through the 12-acre set. You'll have plenty of time for photo opportunities on the interactive hobbit hole and complimentary drink at The Green Dragon, and the Mill. After a stop for lunch (own expense) continue to Rotorua. This evening, embark upon the Te Po experience at Te Puia. Learn about Maori history and culture on this guided experience, which includes hangi-inspired cuisine and a cultural performance. It ends on a high at the Pohutu Geyser, where you'll view one of New Zealand's geothermal wonderlands.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Dinner

Accommodation: Rotorua - 1 Night

Your destination this morning in Rotorua is the National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa, where you’ll join a Local Specialist for a tour. Learn about the work being done to save this rare native bird, get up close and see kiwi eggs being incubated, the hatching process, and even newly hatched kiwi chicks at this national leader in kiwi husbandry. This experience is not only fun but will give you fascinating insights into New Zealand’s national bird. The feel-good vibes will follow you all the way to Queenstown, the self-proclaimed adventure capital of New Zealand.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Queenstown - 3 Nights

Travel through the rainforest of World Heritage Fiordland National Park, sighting glaciers and mountain ranges. Drive through the hand-hewn Homer Tunnel to the numerous photo opportunities afforded by the Mirror Lake, Pop’s Lookout, Cleddau Valley and the Chasm, Mitre Peak and Bowen Falls before reaching Milford Sound. Sheer cliffs, thundering waterfalls, glaciers and rainforest – if there’s a destination more inspiring than Milford Sound/Piopiotahi in Fiordland National Park, we’re yet to find it. After a cruise here, we’re sure you’ll agree.  Enjoy lunch while you cruise on this wonder of nature. Return to Queenstown this evening.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Explore Queenstown your way! Go wild with a jet boat ride or white water rafting. For the less adventurous there is a wine and garden tour, play a round of golf, or just enjoy wandering through the town and botanic gardens. 

This evening regroup for a Highlight Dinner at the historic Postmasters Cottage.

Recommended Alternative Excursions are:

Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Dinner

Today your journey will take you to Arrowtown, known for its charm, and on to Cromwell, known for its stone fruit. Discover some of the rarest cars in NZ motorsports history during your visit to the Highlands Museum. Continue over the dramatic Lindis Pass before reaching the Starlight Highway and Tekapo's world renowned UNESCO Aoraki McKenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. You’re far from anywhere, which practically guarantees dazzling stargazing.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine

Accommodation: Tekapo - 1 Night

Get an early start to watch the sun rise over the lake or sleep in before heading north through South Canterbury to Christchurch. Take in the sights of a city coming back to life in a whole new way.

New Zealand’s second-largest city and the gateway to the South Island, Christchurch sits on the very edge of the Canterbury Plains and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. 

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Christchurch - 2 Nights

Travel to Hurunui Hills, a hill-country farm in North Canterbury. Enjoy warm Kiwi hospitality with the Bamford Family. Soak up the stunning scenery while you enjoy morning tea, meet the farm animals, and discover what it is like to live off the land on this unique By My Guest experience. Then visit a local vineyard, Waipara Springs Winery, where it's time to relax over a platter-style lunch among the vines. A big day leads to a big evening, joining your Travel Director for with a celebratory Farewell Dinner.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Be My Guest Morning Tea, Lunch, Farewell Dinner

Haere rā and Bon Voyage!

How did three weeks disappear like that? Re-live all the memorable moments on your way home.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Flights to depart anytime from Christchurch 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.