The New Zealand
Grand Adventure

Land at Auckland International and transfer to the Park Hyatt on the Waitematā Harbour waterfront, looking across to the Hauraki Gulf.

Auckland is built on a field of extinct volcanoes, and the cones dotted through the suburbs are a constant reminder of the geology underneath. The Sky Tower rises over everything, and the harbour is full of boats — there are more per head here than anywhere in the world.

The evening walks the waterfront: the Viaduct Harbour, where superyachts and fishing boats share the water; the Wynyard Quarter with its restaurants and public art; and Queen Street. Dinner is New Zealand seafood — Bluff oysters, green-lipped mussels or crayfish — with a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc or a Central Otago Pinot Noir.

The morning explores Auckland’s volcanic landscape. Mount Eden — Maungawhau — is the highest cone in the city, with a deep crater at the top and a view across both harbours. The Auckland Museum, in its neoclassical building in the Domain, holds one of the great collections of Māori and Pacific taonga, and the daily cultural performance is a good introduction before Rotorua.

Along the waterfront to Mission Bay, looking out to Rangitoto — the youngest volcano in the field, and the one that dominates the harbour. Then the ferry to Devonport, a Victorian village on the North Shore with the city skyline behind it.

The afternoon crosses to the west coast and the Waitākere Ranges, a regional park of dense native forest running down to black-sand beaches where the Tasman comes in hard. The contrast with the calm eastern harbours, twenty minutes away, is total.

South about three hours through the Waikato’s farmland and forest to Rotorua, one of the most culturally significant regions in the country. Check in at Huka Lodge, on the banks of the Waikato surrounded by manicured gardens and native bush.

The afternoon is Te Puia, where Māori culture and geothermal activity meet in one place. The Te Whakarewarewa valley holds the Pōhutu Geyser, the largest active geyser in the southern hemisphere, which throws steam and water up to 30 metres. Around it, bubbling mud pools and steaming vents make the ground itself feel provisional.

The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute is on site, where master carvers and weavers work and teach, and the Kiwi Conservation Centre keeps the national bird in a purpose-built nocturnal enclosure. The evening is a pōhiri welcome, waiata, poi and haka in a carved meeting house, and a hāngi — a feast cooked in the ground using geothermal heat.

Wai-O-Tapu means sacred waters, and after ten minutes in it the name makes sense. It is among the most spectacular geothermal areas anywhere. The Lady Knox Geyser erupts daily at 10:15 at a separate location, reaching 10 to 20 metres, so you arrive early.

The Champagne Pool is the centrepiece: the largest hot spring in the park, ringed in brilliant orange, with carbon dioxide rising through it in a constant fizz. The Artist’s Palette shifts colour with mineral content across a series of pools, and the Devil’s Bath is a startling green that comes from arsenic. Three walking loops of 30, 50 and 70 minutes let you choose the depth.

The afternoon is the Redwood Forest at Whakarewarewa, a stand of Californian redwoods planted in the early 20th century that now tower over the native understorey — explored by canopy walkway on suspended bridges, by zipline, or on the mountain-bike trails.

A flight of about two hours south across the Cook Strait, descending into the Southern Alps — and the approach into Queenstown is one of the more dramatic commercial landings anywhere.

Check in at The Rees, on Lake Wakatipu with the Remarkables filling the window. The afternoon explores the town: the lake itself, glacier-carved and bent like a finger; the Queenstown Gardens on their peninsula; and the Skyline gondola up to Bob’s Peak, 450 metres above the town, for the view over the lake and the ranges.

Dinner overlooks Lake Wakatipu, with Central Otago wine.

Queenstown invented commercial bungy jumping and has never quite calmed down. The day is yours to shape: jet boating through the Shotover Canyon, where the walls come at you on both sides; a bungy from one of the original sites at the Kawarau Gorge; ziplining above the town; skydiving over the Remarkables; or white-water rafting on the Shotover or the Kawarau.

The luxury alternative is a private scenic helicopter over the Southern Alps and the glaciers, landing on a remote peak or on the ice itself. Snow-capped mountains, alpine lakes and glacier fields with nobody else in them.

The evening is free — the Onsen Hot Pools at Arthurs Point, with indoor-outdoor tubs over the Shotover canyon, are best booked for sunset.

An early departure from Queenstown into Fiordland National Park, part of the 2.6-million-hectare Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Area and one of the great wilderness regions on Earth. The drive is half the experience: the Eglinton Valley, carved flat by ancient glaciers; the Mirror Lakes, which do exactly what the name says on a still morning; and the Homer Tunnel, bored straight through solid rock.

Then the cruise itself, through Milford Sound — Piopiotahi — where cliffs rise vertically out of the water and waterfalls come off them in every direction. Mitre Peak stands 1,692 metres straight up from the sea and is the most photographed mountain in the country. Stirling Falls and Fairy Falls are close enough to feel the spray.

Rainforest clings to the rock at impossible angles. New Zealand fur seals lie on the ledges, bottlenose dolphins ride the bow wave, and Fiordland crested penguins — among the rarest in the world — nest along the shore between July and November. The cruise runs out to the open Tasman Sea and back.

The afternoon continues to Te Anau, the gateway township for the park, and Fiordland Lodge on the edge of the national park with the lake below it.

North through the South Island. The road from Te Anau to Queenstown is among the most scenic in the country, running through alpine valleys and along the shore of Lake Wakatipu.

From there you continue to Christchurch, by a combination of scenic flight and road transfer or by the road journey across the island, depending on the schedule.

Check in at The George on the banks of the Avon. The evening explores the centre: the Botanic Gardens, the river, and Cathedral Square, which still carries the marks of the 2011 earthquake alongside a remarkable amount of rebuilding. The Riverside Market is the best place in the city to eat.

A private excursion through Canterbury — the farming heart of the South Island, where the plains run flat to the Southern Alps and braided rivers come down off the mountains in pale channels.

Where the schedule allows, the day reaches Lake Tekapo, which is an improbable milky turquoise from glacial flour suspended in the water, with the Alps behind it and the tiny stone Church of the Good Shepherd on its shore. It is one of the most photographed spots in the country, and it is also a Dark Sky Reserve.

Back to Christchurch for a farewell dinner — Canterbury lamb, South Island seafood and New Zealand wine.

Breakfast at the hotel and, if the flight allows, a last walk through the Botanic Gardens or a coffee by the Avon. Private transfer to Christchurch International Airport.