Off the Beaten Track Tour of New Zealand and Australia

Kangaroos bounce around northeastern Tasmania. Sometimes, they box as well, rising in battles that are as comical as they are intense. Wallabies live here too, which are smaller marsupials with a mischievous mentality. Today’s timings will be entirely flexible as you will be adjusting to Australian time, and there are so many directions in which you can travel. A local guide will tailor the day around wildlife along Tasmania’s eastern coast, and your evening can be spent in Freycinet National Park. This evening, before retiring to your lodge, you can be tucked into the comfort of a coastal lodge, inside the national park, or watching penguins parade on the beach when the sun goes down.

You will venture across the water this morning from mainland Tasmania to the tiny island of Bruny. After a scenic cruise around the island, you will spend some time with Bruny’s white wallabies before walking to an iconic lighthouse to admire the sound of crashing waves. There are hikes galore on this small island, and you can also spend more of the morning along the coast, relaxing with some downtime on one of the beaches. A gourmet experience awaits you this afternoon. A local chef will guide you through Bruny flavors, and you all will begin by foraging for some ingredients along the coast. Next, you will be able to sample some local cheese and craft beer, which will be an aperitif before a fun session of cooking in the kitchen.

Your final day in Tasmania will be at your leisure. In a single day, you can drive almost all the way around the island, which can be an option if you wish. Most of Tasmania is a national park, and your guide will make various suggestions about hikes and trails. There are also wild beaches that allow its visitors to escape the world, roaring cliffs, and interior forests that emanate mystique. You will leave Bruny Island in the morning and spend the night in Hobart to catch tomorrow’s early morning flight. Everything in between will be entirely customizable, and on the island of Tasmania, you will never be short of exciting options.

After your flight to Melbourne, you will check-in early to a hotel along the Yarra River in the heart of the city. Melbourne will be a change of pace after the Tasmanian wilderness, but you will notice the same leisurely vibe and the Australian way of doing things. After lunch, your local guide will use art to show you the city, except this art will not be hanging in galleries. Few cities in the world have street art as good as Melbourne. Enormous murals are commissioned on the side of buildings, and smaller graffiti-style works appear overnight. With art as a lens, you will explore the city’s Victorian heart and admire how beautiful buildings are nestled between the glass-fronted skyscrapers of today.

The Great Ocean Road is a visual feast that features vertical cliffs, golden beaches, and pinnacles that stand like sentinels in the Pacific. A day trip by road is an incredibly long day that takes 14 to 15 hours of mostly driving. It will be much more fun in a helicopter. Today, you will soar above the iconic landscapes before touching down near the 12 Apostles. The next stop on your helicopter tour will be the Grampians. An Aboriginal community lives in the area, and you will spend an hour or two with them, learning how every plant in the forest has its use, before getting an introduction into Aboriginal art and how it narrates messages.

One of the famous things to do in Melbourne is to tour the Yarra Valley. Here, you will find bucolic vineyards and culinary treats along with many other tourists. One of Mornington’s up-and-coming chefs will be your guide. The entire area also focuses on organic produce and sustainable farming methods. The gastronomy vibe is laid-back and low-key, so you will also have the opportunity to taste with the winemakers and get to know some of the people responsible for Mornington’s blossoming reputation. You can expect to eat and drink excessively, especially because the guide knows so many of the farmers, producers, and chefs in the area.

This morning, you will fly directly from Melbourne to Auckland before transferring to a light aircraft for a short flight to Great Barrier Island. You will touch down in this pristine Kiwi destination and may instantly admire your wild surroundings. With a frontier feel and a truly unspoiled landscape, Great Barrier Island remains New Zealand’s off-the-beaten-path destination. Other than a few Auckland residents that come for fishing trips, the island sees very few visitors. 4WD tracks are the only way around most of the island, and a local guide will lead you. Here, you can even swim in places where dolphins are common, and there are no other people.

Great Barrier Island is relatively close to the Coromandel Peninsula, so you will not need to connect via Auckland. You can hop across the bay via light aircraft and touch down to a day of outdoor adventure on the North Island’s remote peninsula. A local guide will meet you at your beachfront lodge and customize the day to your interests. The typical Coromandel experience is to go kayaking along the coast, to paddle through natural rock arches, and to stop at deserted bays. You can even take a picnic to a beach that is inaccessible by road. The most popular attraction here is a hot water beach. At the beach, you can dig your own spa in the sand before basking in therapeutic waters ten meters from the surf.

Sparkling yellow sulfur spits from an active volcano, steam rises from an acidic crater lake, and metallic colors shimmer to contrast deep Pacific hues. This is White Island, which is New Zealand’s most active volcano and a pinnacle that rises from ocean depths. From a helicopter, you will enjoy incredible aerial views, especially above the sulfur vents. Eventually, you will touch down to walk upon the geothermal landscape. It is safe to be walking on a volcano like this, although you should note that this off-the-beaten-track attraction is sometimes closed due to intense tremors and underground activity. After a morning on White Island, you will fly to the North Island interior, where another active volcano awaits your footsteps.

These final two days will be designed to be extremely comfortable and relaxing. After kangaroos, beaches, islands, and volcanoes, it will be time to sleep in and immerse yourself in New Zealand’s easy-going atmosphere. During these two days, a local guide will show you around, providing you with a very different type of art tour compared to your time in Melbourne. Hawke's Bay can provide some wonderfully quiet moments on terraces and will allow you to sample different wines before pairing them with even better food. A local guide will lead you on a tour of two to four vineyards during your final day, so you can sample the best local produce and savor all the superb landscapes.

From Napier, you will fly back to Auckland, where a representative will assist you in transferring you to your international flight.