Gourmet Traveller

Join this journey from North Island by taking the Inter-Island ferry or flying into Blenheim Airport.

Day 1 Travel to Blenheim. Select accommodation and activities from our Collection.

Blenheim is New Zealand′s best known wine-growing areas, many of the wineries have tasting rooms and excellent restaurants.  Ask your hosts to recommend the best ones and to make a booking for you. 

Day 2 Blenheim

Blenheim is just 30 minutes from Picton, gateway to the Marlborough Sounds, where you can enjoy scenic boat tours, more active hiking, kayaking and cycling, eco-tours and seafood trips.

Around Blenheim, you can visit the Aviation Heritage Centre to see Peter Jackson's collection of vintage planes, take a gourmet tour, cycle around the wineries, or, head up to the Molesworth High Country station on a 4WD tour.

Day 3 Travel to Kaikoura. Select accommodation and activities from our Collection.

On the way, look out for the crayfish food trucks and many seal colonies.

Day 4 Kaikoura

Due to its deep-sea shelf, Kaikoura has year-round populations of whales, dolphins, albatross, and many seabirds.  There are whale watching boats and also scenic flights.

Day 5 Travel to Christchurch. Select accommodation and activities from our Collection.

Explore the city centre and see a modern new city emerging following the devastating 2011 Earthquake.

Ask your host for recommendations on the best eateries.

Day 6 Travel to Mount Cook. Select accommodation and activities from our Collection.

Enjoy the scenic drive on the inland route. Dinner at your accommodation or local restaurant.

Stargazing is a must-do in this area with so little light pollution.

Day 7 Mount Cook

Drive up to Mount Cook Village and take a hike on the Hooker Valley track, join a glacier tour or scenic flight or hire a bike and cycle on the Alps 2 Ocean trail.

Day 8 Travel to Oamaru. Select accommodation and activities from our Collection.

Day 9 Oamaru

Visit the Moeraki Boulders and have lunch at Fleurs or The Fishwife

Take an evening tour of the Oamaru Penguin Colony

Day 10 Travel to Clyde. Select accommodation and activities from our Collection.

Day 11 Clyde

The historic towns of this area are joined by a network of easy cycle trails.  The Central Otago wine area is a short drive away and there is rich gold mining and early settler history to discover.

Day 12 Travel to Queenstown. Select accommodation and activities from our Collection.

Day 13 Queenstown

Wine tours in the Gibbston Valley, cycling, hiking, adrenalin, scenic flights, 4WD and film-location tours, historic Arrowtown, top golf courses.

Day 14 Journey's End

Queenstown Airport has good connections to other New Zealand destinations as well as a number of direct flights from Australian cities.