This 9 day coach tour includes the amazing sights of the South Island, the spectacular Mt Cook region, historic Dunedin, Milford Sound, vibrant Queenstown, the magnificent Fiordland, the Glacier region and finishes off with the world renowned Tranz Alpine train journey.
During the course of the tour you will also have free time in Dunedin, Queenstown and Te Anau to experience some of the unique and regional optional sightseeing activities available.
Optional Extras
Duration
9 Days / 8 Nights – Starting Christchurch finishing Christchurch
Departure
Please click on the Price & Date Tab for departure dates.
Seat rotation plan
When you travel on a Kirra Coach Tour your Coach Captain maintains a daily seat rotation plan to ensure you get to know
all your travelling companions and enjoy the scenery from a different vantage point each day.
Smoking policy
All our coach tours are smoke free and are restricted to smoking during the frequent sightseeing, photographic and comfort stops. We request non-smoking hotel rooms for the comfort of our entire tour group. Travellers who prefer accommodation without such limitations are asked to make their preference known when making reservations and again at the beginning of their tour.
Travelling Alone
As a single traveller we give you the option of a guaranteed single room when you purchase the single supplement. Alternatively, as a single traveller not paying the single supplement, we will match you with another traveller on a twin share basis of the same gender. There may be instances that there are no other single travellers on the tour and in these cases we will provide you with a single room at no extra cost.
Triple discount
When sharing a triple room a saving of 5% applies to your tour price. If you also require pre and post accommodation
we have prices available on request. Please note most room configurations are double or twin in which case the third bed is likely to be a rollaway. We are unable to cater for 4 adults wishing to share one room. A triple discount does not apply to tours including the Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise
Arrive Christchurch - Christchurch / Mt Cook / Omarama - Omarama / Dunedin - Dunedin / Lake Manapouri / Te Anau - Te Anau / Milford Sound / Queenstown - Queenstown - Queenstown / Haast Pass/ Fox Glacier - Fox Glacier / Greymouth / Christchurch - Farewell
Welcome you to New Zealand and Christchurch! You will be met with a smile and transferred to your hotel accommodation by a representative. En route you will see why Christchurch is aptly named “The Garden City” passing beautiful gardens and the impressive Hagley Park on the way to your hotel. Tonight meet your New Zealand Tour travelling companions at Welcome Drinks.
As you leave Christchurch your Kirra Tours Coach Captain will highlight the city’s main attractions. Immerse yourself in New Zealand’s spectacular scenery as you travel across the Canterbury Plains with the majestic Southern Alps a constant backdrop. Continue inland to the rolling green pastures of Geraldine and then into MacKenzie Country. In the heart of the MacKenzie Basin, nestled on the shores of azure Lake Tekapo, sits Tekapo. Visit the much photographed Church of the Good Shepherd. Here you have the opportunity to experience a scenic flight over the Southern Alps with Air Safaris (optional).
From Tekapo, continue on your New Zealand Coach Tour to Mt Cook National Park, home of the majestic Aoraki Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain. Here you have the opportunity (at own cost) to visit the Sir Edmund Hillary Centre – a tribute to New Zealand’s greatest explorer and world renowned mountaineer. Travel back down the valley along the shores of Lake Pukaki, through Twizel, the town of trees, before arriving at your destination, Omarama, nestled in the velvety tussock covered hills of the Lindis Range.
As your New Zealand holiday continues, follow the beautiful braided Waitaki River east, passing Benmore and Avemore hydro lakes before reaching the Pacific Ocean at Historic Oamaru. En route visit Moeraki Boulders, marvelling at the huge spherical stones, found strewn along a stretch of Koekohe Beach near Moeraki. These boulders are grey-coloured concretions which have been exposed through shoreline erosion from black mud stone coastal cliffs that back the beach.
An early arrival into Dunedin, “The Edinburgh of the South” allows you plenty of time to explore this nature lover’s playground. Take the opportunity to experience at least one of these optional tours – combine a Monarch Harbour cruise with a Newton’s Citibus tour, and see penguins, albatross and seals.
Alternatively take a nostalgic trip on the Taieri Gorge Train, leaving from Dunedin’s historic Railway Station. Maybe you would rather visit Cadbury World and Speights brewery, both options filling you one way or the other. Your Kirra Tours coach captain will be more than happy to assist with any bookings. This evening prior to dinner, Kirra Tours are treating you to a traditional Scottish Haggis Ceremony complete with the address to the Haggis, bag pipes and a bonnie wee dram.
This morning visit the historic Olveston House and feel as though you have stepped back to the early 1900’s to experience the opulence of a bygone era. Then it is back to the present as you travel south west over rich fertile farmlands, through the agricultural service towns of Balclutha, Gore, and other small villages.
As you proceed inland past wind turbines and deer farms and across rural farmland, if weather and time permit, visit the mysterious Lake Manapouri, (the Lake of Many Islands), before reaching Lake Te Anau, the Gateway to Fiordland. To the west of Lake Te Anau lie the Murchison Mountains, where Kirra Tours support a programme that aims to ensure New Zealand’s iconic bird, the Kiwi, is able to flourish in its natural habitat.
Leaving Te Anau, your Kirra Tours coach will travel on one of the highest and most scenic state highways in New Zealand through Fiordland National Park, following the Eglington and Hollyford Valleys. Pass through the Homer Tunnel before descending into the Cleddau Canyon and magnificent Milford Sound. Experience Milford Sound, the eighth wonder of the world, from the water as a launch cruise takes you to the Tasman Sea returning via the raging Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. A truly exhilarating experience.
Return through Te Anau to Kingston before hugging the shores of Lake Wakatipu to reach New Zealand’s adventure capital, Queenstown. This evening’s dinner is up the Skyline Gondola where you dine atop Bob’s Peak overlooking Queenstown. Enjoy 220 degree breathtaking panoramic views of The Remarkables mountain range and across Lake Wakatipu to Cecil and Walter Peaks.
A day to explore the many delights of this stunning alpine resort. Try the world renowned Shotover Jet, an excursion to Skippers Canyon in search of gold or a steamer cruise aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak Station. You may wish to travel by Double Decker coach to quaint Arrowtown, or even a bungy jump. Alternatively, explore Queenstown’s many boutiques and galleries – your Kirra Tours Coach Captain will be more than happy to assist with any optional sightseeing.
Pass picturesque Lake Hayes then on to an area steeped in fascinating history relating to early settlement and the gold mining era, to Lake Wanaka, a picture postcard resort on the lakes edge with a spectacular mountain backdrop. Pass Lake Hawea and the upper reaches of Lake Wanaka to Makarora, cross the Haast Pass into the Mt Aspiring and Westland National Parks.
Drive north along the coast through the flourishing rainforests of the West Coast and onto the glorious Glacier region. This is an ideal opportunity for you to experience small town New Zealand in the heart of Westland. The rainforest and surrounding area is so green it will hurt your eyes. (Upon arrival into Fox Glacier there is opportunity to either take an optional guided walk to the glacier’s terminal face or an optional exhilarating helicopter flight over the glacier) Both these options are at your own expense and are very weather dependant.
Time for an optional helicopter flight over the glacier then on to Franz Josef. Snow capped Southern Alps dominate the skyline as you pass dense bush, tiny landlocked lakes and small pockets of farmland. Visit a Greenstone (Jade) factory where craftsmen cut and polish greenstone cut from giant boulders to create fine jewellery. Now join the Tranz Alpine train for one of the most spectacular rail journeys in the world. Through rainforests to Otira, snow capped peaks of the Southern Alps, the rugged Gorges of the Waimakariri River and across the Canterbury Plains to Christchurch.
It is farewell to your new found friends and traveling companions. This completes your New Zealand Holiday. We at Kirra Tours thank you for choosing us to show you New Zealand on your New Zealand Coach Tour and trust we will see you back here in the near future. You will be transferred to the Christchurch International Airport in ample time to join your flight home. Safe travels.
Tour Starts | Tour Ends | Tour Status | Normal Rate | Acrossnz Discount Rate |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sun 15 Mar 2015 | Mon 23 Mar 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,820.00 | NZ $2,679.00 |
Sun 29 Mar 2015 | Mon 06 Apr 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,820.00 | NZ $2,679.00 |
Sun 12 Apr 2015 | Mon 20 Apr 2015 | OPEN | NZ $2,820.00 | NZ $2,679.00 |
Sun 19 Apr 2015 | Mon 27 Apr 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,820.00 | NZ $2,679.00 |
Sun 10 May 2015 | Mon 18 May 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,659.00 | NZ $2,526.00 |
Sun 31 May 2015 | Mon 08 Jun 2015 | OPEN | NZ $2,659.00 | NZ $2,526.00 |
Sun 19 Jul 2015 | Mon 27 Jul 2015 | OPEN | NZ $2,659.00 | NZ $2,526.00 |
Sun 23 Aug 2015 | Mon 31 Aug 2015 | OPEN | NZ $2,659.00 | NZ $2,526.00 |
Sun 06 Sep 2015 | Mon 14 Sep 2015 | OPEN | NZ $2,659.00 | NZ $2,526.00 |
Sun 20 Sep 2015 | Mon 28 Sep 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,659.00 | NZ $2,526.00 |
Sun 18 Oct 2015 | Mon 26 Oct 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 01 Nov 2015 | Mon 09 Nov 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 15 Nov 2015 | Mon 23 Nov 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 29 Nov 2015 | Mon 07 Dec 2015 | OPEN | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 13 Dec 2015 | Mon 21 Dec 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 20 Dec 2015 | Mon 28 Dec 2015 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 27 Dec 2015 | Mon 04 Jan 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 03 Jan 2016 | Mon 11 Jan 2016 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 10 Jan 2016 | Mon 18 Jan 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 17 Jan 2016 | Mon 25 Jan 2016 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 31 Jan 2016 | Mon 08 Feb 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 14 Feb 2016 | Mon 22 Feb 2016 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 21 Feb 2016 | Mon 29 Feb 2016 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 28 Feb 2016 | Mon 07 Mar 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 13 Mar 2016 | Mon 21 Mar 2016 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 27 Mar 2016 | Mon 04 Apr 2016 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 10 Apr 2016 | Mon 18 Apr 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 17 Apr 2016 | Mon 25 Apr 2016 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,865.00 | NZ $2,722.00 |
Sun 08 May 2016 | Mon 16 May 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,720.00 | NZ $2,584.00 |
Sun 05 Jun 2016 | Mon 13 Jun 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,720.00 | NZ $2,584.00 |
Sun 17 Jul 2016 | Mon 25 Jul 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,720.00 | NZ $2,584.00 |
Sun 21 Aug 2016 | Mon 29 Aug 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,720.00 | NZ $2,584.00 |
Sun 04 Sep 2016 | Mon 12 Sep 2016 | OPEN | NZ $2,720.00 | NZ $2,584.00 |
Sun 18 Sep 2016 | Mon 26 Sep 2016 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,720.00 | NZ $2,584.00 |
Sun 02 Oct 2016 | Mon 10 Oct 2016 | GUARANTEED | NZ $2,720.00 | NZ $2,584.00 |