7 DAYS SOUTH ISLAND PRIVATE TOUR

Cradled in a loop of the Avon River since 1863, this 21-hectare oasis dazzles with 10+ themed gardens — a heritage rosary, tropical conservatories and native flora. Wander the green heart of the Garden City! Spanning the Avon River at Cashel Street, this memorial arch — unveiled on Armistice Day 1924 — honours the soldiers who once marched across it to war. Beneath the willows, every crossing is a quiet act of remembrance. Glacial rock flour paints Lake Tekapo an otherworldly turquoise, framed by the Southern Alps and the 1935 Church of the Good Shepherd. By night the Dark Sky Reserve blazes with the Milky Way; in summer, lupins set the shore alight. Built of local stone in 1935 to honour the Mackenzie pioneers, this humble church needs no stained glass — its altar window frames the turquoise lake and Southern Alps as living art. A bronze collie stands guard; wedding sanctuary by day, star-watched icon by night. Beside glacier-blue Lake Pukaki, this family-run farm raises salmon in icy glacial water. Feed the fish, reel in your own catch, then feast on sashimi at New Zealand's only floating café — all beneath Aoraki's snowy peaks. Crowned by Aoraki/Mount Cook — New Zealand's 3,724m rooftop — this UNESCO World Heritage park packs 19 peaks over 3,000m and the mighty Tasman Glacier. Hike the Hooker Valley Track to iceberg lakes, then watch the Milky Way blaze across a Dark Sky Reserve. New Zealand's favourite easy adventure — a 10km return stroll across three swing bridges through a glacier-carved valley. The payoff: icebergs drifting on Hooker Lake beneath Aoraki/Mount Cook, with Mueller Glacier views en route. Wildflowers in summer, a frozen wonderland in winter. New Zealand's "fruit bowl" welcomes you with giant fruit sculptures and roadside stalls piled with cherries, apricots and peaches. Gold-rush history lives on in the Heritage Precinct beside Lake Dunstan, while nearby Bannockburn vines pour world-class pinot noir. Frozen in the 1862 gold rush, Arrowtown's Buckingham Street still wears its century-old miners' cottages — now boutiques and cafés. Walk the poignant Chinese Settlement, browse the Lakes District Museum, and in autumn, golden trees turn the town into a painting. Ride the Southern Hemisphere's steepest gondola 450m up Bob's Peak, where a 220° panorama of Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables unfolds. Then hop on a gravity-fuelled Luge and race 1,600m of twists, tunnels and turns — thrills by day, glittering lake-town lights by night. Launched in 1912 — the same year as Titanic — the coal-fired "Lady of the Lake" still steams across Wakatipu's blue. Watch stokers feed the furnaces, feel the original engine pound, then step ashore at Walter Peak for sheepdogs, farm life and a high-country BBQ. A 45-minute steamship cruise across Wakatipu delivers you to a true high-country merino station. Cheer the sheepdog demo, watch shearers at work, feed alpacas and Highland cattle, then feast on a wood-fired BBQ at the Colonel's Homestead — or saddle up for a lakeside horse trek. A glacier-carved U-shaped valley unfolding like a scroll — golden tussock spreads wide, the Eglinton River braids beneath cloud-piercing peaks. A Lord of the Rings filming location and the Milford Road's most cinematic stop. Just off the Milford Road, a five-minute boardwalk stroll leads to glassy lakes that mirror the Earl Mountains perfectly on calm mornings. An easy, wheelchair-friendly stop where sky, peaks and you all step into the painting. Cruise into the "eighth wonder of the world" — 1,692m Mitre Peak soaring overhead, Stirling Falls thundering past the bow. Fur seals bask, penguins dart, and when it rains a thousand waterfalls pour from the cliffs. Pure Fiordland magic. Boat across Lake Te Anau to limestone caves rediscovered in 1948. Feel the underground waterfall thunder, then glide in silence through a grotto where thousands of glowworms sparkle like a galaxy — New Zealand's own underground starry sky. Follow the 45km lake-hugging road from Queenstown toward Glenorchy — New Zealand's longest, S-shaped lake unfolding in impossible blue beneath the Remarkables. Every pull-over is a postcard; the destination, a high-country pastoral dream. Step into Middle-earth — Glenorchy's beech forests and snow peaks doubled as Isengard and Lothlórien in The Lord of the Rings. Paddle the lagoon past the iconic red shed, drive on to Paradise, and let Mt Earnslaw's glacier crown your own epic.Established in 1867 on a lake-hugged peninsula just minutes from town, Queenstown Gardens pairs rose beds and century-old trees with 270° views of the Remarkables. Stroll, cycle, play disc golf, or simply watch sunset paint Wakatipu — the town's green heart.