Southern Spotlight

On arrival, make your way to your hotel. After time to settle in, meet fellow travellers for a welcome reception.

During a city tour of Auckland, highlights include the mind-bending Cathedral, made largely of cardboard, and Turanga, the gold clad central library. From here, your outlook is the Canterbury Plains: the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo, the quaint Church of the Good Shepherd, snow-capped mountains and atmospheric towns. Your Indoor Dark Sky Astronomy Experience at Tekapo, hosted by passionate guides, will forever change the way you see the night sky.

Admire Oamaru's Victorian heritage buildings before you journey further south toward the 'Edinburgh of the South', Dunedin. It's easy to while away the afternoon in the city's atmospheric art-lined alleys. Perhaps venture further afield to discover the wildlife that thrives in this pretty pocket of the country, including fur seals or, maybe visit Speight's Brewery, a New Zealand institution (both at extra expense).

Dunedin's Scottish ancestry is everywhere you look, from the manicured grounds of Otago University to the city's main George Street. Rolling green hills dotted with doe-eyed sheep are replaced by soaring mountains as you weave your way into Fiordland National Park and the South Island's biggest lake and the town of Te Anau. Soak up the serenity – it doesn't get any better than this.

From the moment you step outside today, nature rules. Your route through Fiordland National Park is an intoxicating union of beech forests, alluvial flats, meadows and mirror-like lakes. Gin-clear rivers carve the countryside, with all roads leading to your Milford Sound/Piopiotahi tour. Cruise this World Heritage listed expanse and admire the string of waterfalls that create a misty curtain across sheer escarpments. Breathtaking! Take the next day at your own pace.

Leaving Lake Wakatipu behind, Arrowtown appears on the horizon. We know you'll want to linger in the movie-set-like streets, lined with trees and character-filled boutiques, but Lake Dunstan awaits, as do its orchards. Then there's Lake Hawea followed by Lake Wanaka, with its Instagrammable shoreline of poplars and willows. Head over the Haast Pass to the town of Franz Josef, where, this afternoon you may choose to fly over Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere (at extra expense).

Swap snow for pounamu (native greenstone or jade) in Hokitika. Just when you thought your adventure couldn't get any better, you'll board the TranzAlpine train bound for Christchurch, through tunnels and over viaducts with panoramic views of snow-capped peaks, icy rivers, beech forests, gorges and river valleys.

The tour concludes with your onward journey and no doubt, memories to last a lifetime.