Best of New Zealand: Private Two-Week Tour

Land in Auckland and you may find it hard to believe that this is New Zealand’s biggest city. Yachts lull in the harbor as hills poke up to dominate the cityscape. The waters are blue and inviting, and though a third of the country lives here the urban landscape is dwarfed by nature. This is just the beginning of the New Zealand experience as you have landed in a country where nature writes the script. Today it will be a coastline narrative as you check into your waterfront hotel and explore the promenade as popup cafes juxtapose with sailing yachts. Islands jut out along the horizon, and you will find the laid-back culture of a land cast adrift in the South Pacific.

Giant ferns and lush forests greet you on Waiheke Island with the colors a rainbow of interior green tumbling towards coastal turquoise. It might not seem how you expected New Zealand to be as Waiheke is more of what you would expect elsewhere in the Pacific, perhaps on Fiji or even Hawaii. The island is just 45 minutes from Auckland and makes for a relaxed day trip, especially if you are battling a little with jet lag. Take the ferry, and then use the tourist bus to get around, hopping out at vineyards, beaches, and tiny towns. Many of the stops are connected by short, signposted trails, so you can walk through tropical nature and feel the silence of New Zealand.

After two days exploring on your own, it will be time for your guide to take over. Driving south, you will cross strange volcanic hills as the cityscape soon gives way to a sheep-speckled vista. Hobbiton is hidden here, positioned so that nothing modern can be seen in any direction. Wander through the movie set, past the manicured hobbit gardens and circular doors, across a fictional town to the fictional Green Dragon Inn, where they serve very real Middle Earth beer. Hobbiton is a convenient stop on the journey to Rotorua, New Zealand’s most volcanically active town and the heartbeat of Maori culture.

At Te Hana Te Ao Marama Maori Cultural Centre the locals will come to greet you. Stamping their feet and exhaling loudly they will meet you in the traditional manner. Laying down a single feather, they make a show of peace. By picking up the feather, you accept their invitation. This is one of the only places in the country where you are allowed to enter a Maori meeting place, and once inside, you can join the Maori in song and dance before dining on a hangi meal. There is a reason that the Maori traditionally thrived here, and that is the volcanic thermals. Your dinner has been roasting naturally underground, while the geysers and mud pools are part of the people’s natural well being.

Mountain bike trails cut through the indigenous forest while a lake invites you to go kayaking to a small island of natural hot springs and baths. Walking trails ascend past geysers as raging rivers cut through ferns, leading to a stunning grade IV rapid you can raft down. In bubbling mud pools you bathe a morning away while on another trail you witness flumes of water rising 20 meters into the air. Rotorua symbolizes the North Island’s volcanic and natural history and is a destination where the adventure can be adapted to your interests and energy levels. Your guide will meet you in the morning and plan a day based on your preferences with options to include cycling, walking, rafting, kayaking, and all of the therapeutic outdoor thermals.

Dramatic geothermal activity continues to dominate as you travel towards Lake Taupo. Stop at Orakei Korako Cave to gaze upon craters of boiling mud. Gasp at a geyser, and then continue across the hills to Lake Taupo where the Huka Falls provide a surging, soul-stirring sight. A half-day guided transfer will leave you with a free afternoon to spend around the lake. You could take a boat cruise or go kayaking, or simply wander along the lakeshore and feast on the views. Backdropped by mountains and rolling to a laid-back rhythm, Lake Taupo is very much how you may have pictured a vacation in New Zealand.

With only two weeks in New Zealand, you will save time by flying from Lake Taupo to Wellington, landing in the world’s southernmost little capital. Here you can wander through neighborhoods of small art galleries and quirky cafes, stopping to enjoy the flat white coffee that originated here, and then travel along the harbor towards the summit of Mount Victoria. The Museum of New Zealand is the best museum in the country and an essential afternoon excursion for a chance to follow the storyline through Maori and European settlers. Wellington has a superb dining scene, and your guide can make reservations at one of the city’s standout restaurants.

They often say that travel is about the journey rather than the destination, but in New Zealand, it is definitely about both. Take today as an example as you will cruise through Marlborough Sounds with a scenic ferry trip past dolphins and seals and majestic cliffs. Wind rushes past your ears, and there will be silence, plus that inspiring sense of adventure. Arrive in Picton, and then continue by road to Blenheim. As you travel, nature’s raw splendor will be replaced by vineyards, colorful streets, as you arrive to your farmhouse-style suite amid the grapes. Soon you will have forgotten the journey as you are sitting on a terrace to sample different wines, including the world-famous Sauvignon Blanc. Relaxing into the experience, you will find Blenheim to be a destination from a dream.

It will be back to the tropics today as you transfer to Abel Tasman National Park and a beachside boutique hotel. Part of the journey will be by road, with the second half on the water as a private speedboat takes you beneath the cliffs and the overhanging forest. Tiny gaps appear between the cliffs, and you will dive inside, cruising into tidal bays and coves. Here the turquoise waters reveal rays and reef sharks, while further along the coast you can find beaches completely cut off from the road as golden sands are shaded by 300-year-old trees. It will be out here that your hotel is located, and it is one of the very few hotels in the national park.

New Zealand is one of the best countries in the world for a road trip. Self drive vacations are extremely popular and there is no debating why. On such vast natural landscapes there is so much to experience along the way. The roads are never boring, and they make wilderness very accessible. One of the country’s great highlights is watching how the nature changes, while another is the sense of freedom and solitude. On a two-week vacation it is usually too much to drive the entire time, but doing it for four days provides a unique New Zealand travel experience.

The most spectacular road is along the South Island’s West Coast, from Nelson down to Queenstown. Almost the entire route is through national parks, and you will traverse four of them with Paparoa, Westland, Mount Coo and Mount Aspiring, as well as much of Te Wahipounamu UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today it will be a leisurely four-hour drive to Greymouth, passing through Buller Gorge with stops at the blowholes and pancake rocks of Punakaiki, the highlights of the mysterious Paparoa National Park. Take your time over the journey, arriving in a small coastal town that always provides a warm welcome to visitors.

Swathes of forest dominate the landscape as you continue your journey south. Break the journey in Hokitika and walk in the treetops before hugging the coastline to Franz Josef. In total, it will be 2 ½ hours by road, and you can comfortably arrive by lunchtime. This afternoon you will soar, taking a helicopter to the icy realm of Franz Josef Glacier. Strange ice sculptures will appear as ice tunnels glisten blue. Strapping on crampons, you will go for a hike, admiring how the glacier flows down into a forest. New Zealand really makes adventure accessible, and the heli-hike is a perfect example of this. Not only is a glacier in a rainforest, but you can feel your feet on the ice.

Mountains rise higher as the road crosses ancient moraines, evidence of where the glaciers had once advanced to. Stop at Fox Glacier and walk along its shimmering blue frame before hitting New Zealand’s most spectacular road. The road leaves the coast, snaking across Mount Cook and Mount Aspiring national parks. Snowy summits reflect in numerous lakes as you traverse both mountain passes and rainforests. Waterfalls dot the scene, and the wilderness appears unending. On such an open road you could stop at thousands of places along the way with the final one hour into Wanaka particularly memorable. In total, it will be a four-hour drive to Wanaka, although it is best to take your time and make this a full-day trip.

Spend some time exploring Wanaka this morning before weaving just one hour south to Queenstown. Vineyards and wild gorges dot this road, with Lake Wakatipu a welcoming sight after four days spent on the road. Queenstown is draped along this lake, a quaint town backdropped by incredible mountains. Check into your waterside hotel and spend your afternoon in Queenstown itself. There will be adventure in the form of famous bungee jumps and jet boat rides, plus mountain bikes and hiking trails for all levels. A more laid-back option is to take the cable car up the mountain and savor the views before dinner at one of Queenstown’s excellent harbor-front restaurants.

Completing the journey along the West Coast, you will soon escape into the fjords on a guided overnight tour to Milford Sound. First travel three hours by road, passing icy escarpments on a remote road through Fjordland National Park. Board a boat in the early afternoon and then cruise alongside the increasingly vertiginous cliffs. Hundred-meter waterfalls gush from these cliffs and soon the landscape towers a kilometer above you. Milford is the narrowest and most dramatic of the New Zealand fjords, and you must spend the night to appreciate its true splendor.

Yesterday afternoon you cruised past basking seals, and you likely spotted dolphins in the water. Last night you were docked deep in the sound, surrounded by silence and the workings of nature. At night, you will not see much, although the solitude is superb. The great highlight of spending a night is waking up in the fjord as mist flutters through, and the cliffs emerge slowly, unfolding before your eyes. There are very few other boats, and you will sense a wilderness that has never been tamed. After a morning spent exploring more of Milford Sound, you will be transferred back to Queenstown for your outbound flight. Such a remote experience in nature should leave you in a very relaxed frame of mind for the journey back home.