• New Zealand’s unspoiled natural scenery
• Auckland sightseeing and harbor cruise
• Geothermal Rotorua
• Art Deco walking tour in Napier
• TranzAlpine train excursion
• Two-night Franz Josef stay, with guided walk through the glacier valley
• Scenic Doubtful Sound excursion
• Outdoor mecca of Queenstown

Days 1 & 2: Depart U.S. for Auckland, New Zealand

Day 3: Arrive Auckland We arrive in New Zealand’s largest city early this morning and transfer to our hotel, where our rooms are ready for early check-in. After time to relax and freshen up, we take a casual walking tour of the area around our hotel. This evening we attend a briefing on the journey ahead, followed by a welcome dinner. D

Day 4: Auckland This morning we tour cosmopolitan Auckland, an eminently livable city. One of only a few world cities straddling two harbors on separate bodies of water, Auckland offers an abundance of natural beauty. A highlight of our tour is the visit to the Auckland Museum, with its prized collections of Maori and Pacific Islander art and artifacts (Auckland has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world). After lunch at a local restaurant, we embark on a cruise around glittering Auckland Harbour. We return to our hotel early this afternoon; the remainder of the day is free for independent exploration. Dinner tonight is on our own. B,L

Day 5: Auckland/Rotorua En route to Rotorua today, we stop at Ruakuri Caves to see the unique glowworms that illuminate the underground grottoes and caves. Late this afternoon we visit Te Puia Thermal Reserve and Maori Cultural Centre for a traditional hangi dinner and performance. B,D

Day 6: Rotorua With its geysers, bubbling mud pools, and hot thermal springs, Rotorua ranks as a geothermal wonder, as well as a center of indigenous Maori culture (Maoris comprise 40% of Rotorua’s population). We encounter this intriguing town on a morning tour that includes a visit to Paradise Valley Springs, which offers an up-close look at New Zealand’s biodiversity, with native flora, a freshwater stream that’s home to wild trout, and wildlife, including alpaca, llama, and wallabies. The park also features a variety of birdlife. Then we drive to the National Kiwi Trust, dedicated to rehabilitating injured kiwis, New Zealand’s national bird. B

Day 7: Rotorua/Napier Today we set out for one of New Zealand’s celebrated wine regions: Hawke’s Bay and the seaside city of Napier. We sample the local terroir at a wine tasting and lunch at Church Road Winery, one of the country’s oldest and most acclaimed. Reaching Napier after lunch, we embark on a guided walking tour of the city’s 1930s Art Deco architecture. After an earthquake leveled the city in 1931, it was rebuilt in “Deco” style; today, Napier ranks as one of the most authentically Art Deco cities in the world. Dinner tonight is on our own. B,L

Day 8: Napier/Wellington We travel today to New Zealand’s capital of Wellington, stopping along the way at a private farm where we learn about the country’s vital sheep farming industry. We see the sheep dogs at work and watch a sheep-shearing demonstration then enjoy a barbecue lunch. We continue on, reaching Wellington late this afternoon. Dinner tonight is on our own in this city known for its vibrant restaurant scene. B,L

Day 9: Wellington We encounter this genial waterfront city on the southern end of the North Island on this morning’s tour featuring a ride on the historic Wellington Cable Car for panoramic views of the city and harbor. We also visit acclaimed Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum with interactive exhibits spanning art, history, native cultures, and the natural environment. Then the remainder of the afternoon is free to explore as we wish, perhaps to stroll along bohemian Cuba Street, visit the Wellington Zoo, or wander the lively waterfront area. We dine together tonight at a local restaurant. B,D

Day 10: Wellington/Christchurch Today we fly south to Christchurch, New Zealand’s “Garden City.” Highlights of our city tour include the Botanic Gardens, the “green heart” of Christchurch dating to 1863; and Cathedral Square, for 150 years the beating heart of Christchurch and site of Christchurch Cathedral. This afternoon is at leisure to explore independently; we dine tonight at our hotel. B,D

Day 11: Christchurch/Franz Josef Early today we embark on one of the world’s great rail journeys aboard the TranzAlpine train: along the open farmland of the Canterbury Plain, through the foothills of the Southern Alps; then into the snowcapped peaks themselves. We travel across steel girder bridges above deep gorges and through tunnels on our journey to Arthur’s Pass, where we board a motorcoach for the scenic drive to the village of Franz Josef, reaching our hotel this afternoon and dining there tonight. B,D

Day 12: Franz Josef In Westland National Park this morning, we encounter one of New Zealand’s most spectacular sights: Franz Josef Glacier, the mass of ice that descends from the frigid upper reaches of the Southern Alps to a rainforest at sea level. With a local guide we take a walk through the glacier valley, where we have spectacular views of this natural wonder. Then we visit the West Coast Wildlife Centre with its rare kiwi birds, an animal linked so closely to New Zealand that its residents are known colloquially as “Kiwis.” This afternoon is free to enjoy the splendid surroundings as we wish. We dine tonight at our hotel. B,D

Day 13: Franz Josef/Queenstown Traveling to Queenstown today, we stop first in the lakeside resort of Wanaka for lunch on our own then in the Central Otago region at a local winery for a private tasting and tour of the wine cave. Late this afternoon we reach Queenstown and our hotel, where we dine tonight. B,D

Day 14: Queenstown/Doubtful Sound More scenic overload is in store on our full-day excursion to Fiordland National Park and Doubtful Sound, one of New Zealand’s top attractions. We travel by boat across Lake Manapouri then by coach over Wilmot Pass to reach the “Sound of Silence,” as Doubtful is called for the remarkable serenity that prevails here and in the surrounding mountain peaks, rainforest, and waterfalls. This enchanting woodland may seem familiar to moviegoers: director Peter Jackson filmed The Lord of the Rings’ Fangorn Forest here. Among the wildlife we may see on our three-hour catamaran cruise: dolphins, fur seals, Fiordland crested penguins, and even whales. Surrounding us: rugged mountain peaks, rainforest, waterfalls. After this exhilarating excursion we return to Queenstown early this evening; dinner is on our own. B,L

Day 15: Queenstown Today is at leisure to enjoy this outdoor mecca with a spectacular setting on Lake Wakatipu as we wish. Options abound, from jet boating and fly fishing to art gallery hopping or riding the Skyline gondola for outstanding views of this unusually scenic city. Tonight we celebrate our New Zealand adventure over a farewell dinner at a local restaurant. B,D

Day 16: Depart for U.S. We depart this afternoon for the airport and our return flights home. B

Please note: This trip involves full days of sightseeing and significant amounts of walking on stairs and uneven surfaces. You should be in good physical condition to enjoy the tour to its fullest.

B = Breakfast included L = Lunch included D = Dinner included

• Round-trip air transportation from listed cities; all flights within itinerary
• 13 nights’ accommodations in Superior First Class and First Class hotels
• 25 meals: 13 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 8 dinners
• Extensive sightseeing as described, including all entrance fees
• Services of an Odysseys Unlimited Tour Director
• Private motorcoach transportation throughout your trip
• Luggage handling for one bag per person
• Gratuities for local guides, dining room servers, airport and hotel porters, and all drivers
• $100 frequent traveler credit towards your next Odysseys Unlimited tour ($200 after 3 tours; $300 after 10 tours)

2023 Tour Dates & Prices
including international airfare and all taxes, surcharges, and fees

Please call if your city is not listed or for land only prices. Prices are per person based on double occupancy and include airline taxes, surcharges, and fees of $479, which are subject to change until final payment has been made.

Single travelers please add $1,495. Your $475 deposit is fully refundable up to 95 days before departure. All 2023 tour prices above (excluding airline taxes, surcharges, and fees) are guaranteed.

Airline upgrades (subject to availability) on round-trip Trans-Pacific flight: Business Class – $5,995 per person; Premium Economy – $2,495 per person

A visa is required for this tour. Odysseys Unlimited will provide information about visa requirements upon reservation.

2024 Tour Dates & Prices
including international airfare and all taxes, surcharges, and fees

Please call if your city is not listed or for land only prices. Prices are per person based on double occupancy and include airline taxes, surcharges, and fees of $479 which are subject to change until final payment has been made.

Single travelers please add $1,495. Your $475 deposit is fully refundable up to 95 days before departure. All tour prices above (excluding airline taxes, surcharges, and fees) are guaranteed.

Airline upgrades (subject to availability) on round-trip Trans-Pacific flight: Business Class – $6,395 per person; Premium Economy – $2,695 per person

A visa is required for this tour. Odysseys Unlimited will provide information about visa requirements upon reservation.

Christina Thompson
Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All
In this endearing, offbeat memoir, Christina Thompson effortlessly alternates tales of mostly disastrous early encounters with the Maori (she’s an anthropologist) and the story of the love of her life, Seven, the Maori she married. Her title is taken from what “Darwin said that Cook said the Maoris said at that interesting moment when Europeans first appeared.” What probably actually transpired on that fateful day in 1769 at the Bay of Isles was more complex.

Peter Oettli
Culture Smart! New Zealand
A concise, well-illustrated and practical guide to local customs, etiquette and culture.

Eyewitness Guides
Eyewitness Guide New Zealand
This superb illustrated guide to New Zealand from the Eyewitness series features color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a region-by-region synopsis of the country’s attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry.

National Geographic Maps
New Zealand Adventure Map
A detailed map at a scale of 1:1,000,000, printed on handy tear- and water-resistant paper.

Louis Leland
A Personal Kiwi-Yankee Dictionary
Take this book with you on your trip to help you untangle the sometimes perplexing and colorful local idioms.

K. T. Harawira, T. R. Buxton (Introduction)
Beginner’s Maori
A guide to the Maori language, written for the traveler looking for an introductory foundation to the language, culture and traditions of the Maori people.

John Chambers
A Traveller’s History of New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands
A brisk portrait of New Zealand and its culture, economy and society, this concise history also covers the settlement of the
Pacific Islands.

David Hackett Fischer
Fairness and Freedom
Pulitzer Prize-winner Fischer compares the politics of America and New Zealand, posing the question: is it possible to be both fair and free? Despite its focus on politics and fairness, the book is thoroughly enjoyable and, in its own way, a travelogue.

H.G. Robley
Maori Tattooing
A new unabridged edition of the classic illustrated sourcebook on Maori tattooing (moko), first published in 1896. The author pays scrupulous attention to the intricate patterns, design and cultural meaning of traditional Maori tattoos.

Annie Potts
New Zealand Book of Beasts, Animals in Our Culture, History and Everyday Life
This engaging scholarly work explores New Zealanders’ relationship with native fauna: how New Zealanders have nurtured, glorified, cherished, demonized and devoured the nation’s animals.

Paul Theroux
The Happy Isles of Oceania
The peripatetic author flies off to Australia and New Zealand with a kayak and ends up exploring much of Melanesia and Polynesia, including Tonga, Fiji and the Marquesas, in this wickedly funny, wide-ranging tale.

Frank McLynn
Captain Cook, Master of the Seas
McLynn re-creates the remarkable voyages that took the famous navigator from his native England to the remote Pacific, showing him to be a brave and brilliant seaman, who transcended his humble beginnings as a deckhand and triumphed through courage, talent and good fortune.

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Slipping Into Paradise, Why I Live in New Zealand
In this far-ranging travelogue, Masson (who wrote a series of books on the emotional lives of animals) combines his travels and tales with history, riffs on the Kiwis, nature and society.

Samuel Butler, Peter Mudford (Introduction)
Erewhon
Butler’s classic Victorian novel inspired by his experiences in 1860s New Zealand. A satirical account of a journey to an upside-down country at the end of the world, where sick people are thrown in jail and murderers are taken to the hospital.

Lloyd Jones
Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance
Originally published in 2002, this sensuous novel is set in rural New Zealand and spans the end of World War I to the present day. Brought together by their obsession with the tango, two couples experience the trials of true love and the power of storytelling.

Katherine Mansfield
Stories
The three marvelous, long stories in this collection constitute the beginnings of a novel based on Mansfield’s childhood in Wellington.

Keri Hulme
The Bone People
Set on the South Island, this powerful novel brings together three troubled individuals who represent Maori and European traditions in contemporary New Zealand.

Eleanor Catton
The Luminaries
Murder and mystery in 19th-century New Zealand. This epic and intricately constructed tale — spinning out over 800 pages — is set during the wild days of the 1866 gold rush on the west coast on South Island. It’s just over Arthur’s Pass from where Catton was raised in Christchurch.

Herbert Guthrie-Smith, William Cronon (Introduction)
Tutira, The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station
First published in 1921, this loving account of the ecology of New Zealand focuses on Guthrie-Smith’s 40,000-sheep shearing station on the shores of Lake Tutira in the Hawke’s Bay region of the North Island.

Julian Fitter
A Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand
A comprehensive and compact guide by longtime resident Julian Fitter featuring 600 color photographs, range maps and species descriptions.

Mark Carwardine
Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises
In the trademark graphic Eyewitness style, this sturdy guidebook colorfully describes the world’s cetaceans with numerous illustrations, range maps, fluke drawings and a few paragraphs on each species.