Contrasts of Australia and New Zealand Tour [QCANA] - About New Zealand
 
 
18 Days: Contrasts of Australia and New Zealand Tour [QCANA]
Starting at
$5,675

Available Tour Dates

2017

Dec 7*, 14*, 21*, 28*

2018

Jan 4*, 11*, 18*, 25*
Feb 1*, 8*, 15*, 22*
Mar 1*, 8*, 15*, 22*
Apr 5*, 19*
May 17*
Jun 7*
Jul 5*
Aug 16*, 23*
Sep 6*, 20*
Oct 4*, 18*
Nov 15, 22, 29*
Dec 6, 13, 20*, 27

2019

Jan 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Feb 7, 14, 21, 28
Mar 7, 14, 21
*Seasonality supplements apply

Highlights

  • All inclusive
  • Fully escorted luxury coach travel
  • 4 – 5 star accommodations
  • Hotel porterage (we’ll handle your luggage for you!)
  • Welcome Reception

Inclusions

  • Accommodation – Melbourne – Crowne Plaza Hotel Melbourne (2 Nights), Cairns – Hilton Hotel Cairns (3), Sydney – Hyatt Regency Darling Harbour (3), Auckland – The Cordis (2), Rotorua – Millenium Hotel Rotorua (1), Christchurch – Novotel Christchurch (1), Franz Josef – Te Waonui Forest Retreat (1), Queenstown – Millennium Hotel Queenstown (3), Christchurch – Novotel Christchurch (1)
  • Meals – 17 Full buffet breakfasts, 1 ‘Be My Guest’ lunch, 3 lunches, 2 ‘Be My Guest’ dinners, 3 Dinners with wine, 3 Highlight dinners
  • US Domestic Flights – (Not included, but can be added to your quote)
  • International Flights – Los Angeles to Melbourne, Christchurch to Los Angeles (Not included, but can be added to your quote)
  • Internal Flights – Melbourne to Cairns, Cairns to Sydney, Sydney to Auckland, Rotorua to Christchurch (Not included, but can be added to your quote)
  • Day Tours – Melbourne: Colonial Tramcar Restaurant dinner, Hidden Laneways tour; Cairns: Wildlife Adventure, Great Barrier Reef Cruise; Sydney: Dinner Cruise, City Sights Tour; Auckland: City Sights Tour, Waitemata Harbor Cruise; Boat Tour through Waitomo Glowworm Cave to Rotorua; Rotorua: Tamaki Family Marae, Hangi Feast, Rainbow Springs Nature Park, Agrodome; Scenic Rail Journey on the TranzAlpine train through the Southern Alps; Franz Josef: Glacier Walk; Milford Sound Cruise
  • Transfers – Airport to Hotel and Hotel to Airport
  • All Taxes and Fuel Levies (Except where noted)

Tour Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to Melbourne

On arrival you will be transferred to your hotel. This evening join your Travel Director and fellow travelers for a welcome reception and dinner on board the famous Colonial Tramcar Restaurant. It’s a great opportunity to get to know everyone in a unique setting.

Hotel Crowne Plaza Hotel Melbourne (2 nights)

Dinner with wine included

Day 2: Melbourne

Join your Travel Director for your city tour including 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. Then there’s time to explore the city on your own.

Breakfast included

Day 3: Melbourne – Cairns

Say farewell to Melbourne as you fly to Cairns. On arrival join a private wildlife journey at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures. Enjoy a boat cruise and encounter koalas, wallabies, birds, crocodiles and more! This evening is free for your to choose from the numerous restaurants that Cairns has to offer.

Hotel Hilton Hotel Cairn (3 nights)

Breakfast included

Day 4: Cairns

Today is a free day to do as you choose. A great option is the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway to Kuranda. Be amazed as you travel over and through World Heritage rainforest, explore quaint Kuranda village and later board the Kuranda Scenic Rail for this historic rail journey. If you’d prefer to spend the day relaxing by your hotel pool or sitting back at a local café you can do that too! In the evening re-join your traveling companions for a Be My Guest dining experience at Tjapukai Cultural Park. Hear dreamtime stories, witness a high impact dance performance and enjoy dinner with your local host to the sounds of the didgeridoo.

Breakfast & Be My Guest Dinner included

Day 5: Great Barrier Reef

Get ready for an experience of a lifetime – board a high speed catamaran and cruise out to the Great Barrier Reef. You can snorkel and view this natural living wonder up close (equipment provided) or stay dry and explore the stunning reef from the comfort of a semi-submersible craft, just one meter underwater. Enjoy a tropical buffet lunch before you return to Cairns. Breakfast & Lunch included

Day 6: Cairns – Sydney

Depart Cairns and fly to Sydney. On arrival there’s time to relax before boarding a sunset highlight dinner cruise. Enjoy a two course à la carte dinner and the mesmerizing views of Sydney at night. You’ll pass magnificent waterfront homes and all the main harbor attractions including the Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House.

Hotel Hyatt Regency Darling Harbour

Breakfast & Dinner with wine included

Day 7: Sydney

Kick off this highlight day of sightseeing on a guided tour of Sydney Opera House with a local expert. Later board your coach to see the Royal Botanic Gardens and visit Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair. Your destination is Bondi Beach for an iconic Australian experience. You’ll be greeted by a local surf lifesaver before lunch at an Aussie institution, the Returned Servicemen’s Club, with its views over the Pacific Ocean. Your host will take you on an exclusive tour through Australia’s oldest surf lifesaving club to learn about the history of Bondi and surf lifesaving. This afternoon if you want to see Sydney from above, take the climb of your life on Sydney Harbour Bridge ‘BridgeClimb’ (own expense).

Breakfast & Lunch included

Day 8: Sydney

Today is free for you to do as you choose. Why not take a day trip to the spectacular Blue Mountains for fresh mountain air and stunning scenery. You’ll visit the charming village of Leura, see the famous Three Sisters rock formation and visit a Wildlife Park to get up close and personal to some of Australia’s cuddly native animals. If you’ve always wanted to climb Sydney Harbor Bridge, today could be your chance on a thrilling ‘Bridgeclimb’. This evening, join your Travel Director and fellow travelers for a dinner on the harborfront.

Breakfast & Dinner with wine included

Day 9: Auckland

It’s farewell to Australia as you fly to Auckland, New Zealand. This evening meet your Travel Director for a highlight dinner at ‘Eight’ at The Langham. Your personal degustation is prepared for you from the freshest, quality ingredients, including mouth-watering seafood and delicious desserts.

Hotel The Cordis (2 nights)

Breakfast & Highlight dinner included

Day 10: Auckland

A morning city sightseeing tour is followed by a cruise on Waitemata Harbour. Later, you’ll have time to explore the city.

Breakfast included

Day 11: Auckland – Rotorua

Join a guide for a boat tour through the Waitomo Glowworm Grotto. Continue to Rotorua where a Maori guide will accompany you at Te Puia Thermal Reserve. This evening feel the thrill of a heart-pounding wero (challenge) from a Maori warrior during a Powhiri, a ceremonial welcome at a By My Guest experience at the Tamaki Family Marae. Journey into the village and gain a cultural insight into life in New Zealand before European settlement. Feast on succulent meats and vegetables cooked in a hangi, the traditional Maori method of cooking in the earth.

Hotel Millenium Hotel Rotorua

Breakfast & Be My Guest Dinner Included

Day 12: Rotorua – Christchurch

Explore Rainbow Springs Nature Park with a local guide and discover the native flora and fauna. You may even spot a kiwi! Next stop is the Agrodome Sheep Show for a taste of farm life. Now you’ll fly to Christchurch.

Hotel Novotel Christchurch

Breakfast Included

Day 13: Christchurch – Franz Josef

Board the TranzAlpine train for your journey over the Southern Alps to Arthur’s Pass. At Hokitika visit a New Zealand greenstone (jade) factory, to see a master carver at work. Travel along the coastal road to Franz Josef Glacier for a short walk to view the glacier and perhaps take an optional scenic flight (weather permitting).

Hotel Te Waonui Forest Retreat

Breakfast & Dinner with wine included

Day 14: Franz Josef – Queenstown

Enjoy a coastal drive with views of the Tasman Sea. Climb over the Haast Pass winding through Mount Aspiring National Park. Then your journey takes you past Lakes Wanaka and Hawea and heads along the Kawarau River through the Kawarau Gorge. Finally you will visit the historic village of Arrowtown before arriving in Queenstown. This evening join your Travel Director for a highlight dinner at The Boatshed. Set in the restored historic New Zealand Railways Shipping Office and relocated to its lakefront setting in 1936, The Boatshed, with its spectacular views of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range, is the perfect venue for your exclusive meal with wine.

Hotel Millennium Hotel Queenstown (3 nights)

Breakfast & Highlight Dinner included

Day 15: Milford Sound Cruise

Journey over the Devil’s Staircase and along the shore of Lake Wakatipu to Te Anau. Travel through the hand-hewn Homer Tunnel en route to majestic Milford Sound. Enjoy lunch as you cruise with Mitre Peak and Bowen Falls high above you.

Breakfast & Lunch included

Day 16: Queenstown

Today you may like to consider taking one of our optional experiences. You could ride the Shotover Jet boat, join a wine tour, play a round of golf, take a 4WD minibus excursion through Skippers Canyon, relax with a spa treatment at Millbrook Resort or just explore Queenstown on your own. This evening perhaps ride a gondola to the Skyline Restaurant for dinner.

Breakfast included

Day 17: Queenstown – Christchurch

Stop to see the morning sun glisten on Lakes Pukaki and Tekapo, and visit the Church of the Good Shepherd. Join your fellow travelers for a Be My Guest experience at Morelea Farm. You’re welcomed into the home of your hosts Angie and Stan Taylor to enjoy a barbecue lunch in their 240 hectare garden and gain an insight into the day-to-day operation of farm life. Just wait until you try the Pavlova. In Christchurch this evening celebrate your trip at a farewell dinner with your Travel Director and new-found friends.

Hotel Novotel Christchurch

Breakfast, Be My Guest Lunch & Farewell Dinner included

Day 18: Farewell Christchurch

Time to bid you farewell as we transfer you to Christchurch Airport for your onward flight.

Breakfast included

All prices are USD$/person (including all Taxes). Subject to availability and seasonality. Other Conditions Apply (see Terms and Conditions).

Any flights referred to in the itinerary are not included in the land content price. We will include the price of all flights in your custom quote.

Single supplements apply. Triple share is available.