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Day 1 Day 2 |
Arrive Christchurch. City
tour and also the Port hills (the rim of a caldera) if there is time. Travel north up the East Coast to Kaikoura for whale, dolphin or seabird watching. Overnight at the Panorama Motel. |
 Albatross and friends. Kaikoura |
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| Day
3 Day 4 |
Continue north, lunching
at 'The
Store', top Marlborough restaurant. Travel past the solar salt works to
the Wairau Plain which is the centre of viticulture in NZ, sauvingnon
blanc in particular. Overnight in Picton at the head of the Marlborough
Sounds. Travel to Nelson, along the Queen Charlotte drive to Havelock, centre of the greenlipped mussel industry, and on to the Waimea plains surrounding Nelson. Overnight at either Nelson or Motueka. |
 One of the many inlets in the Sounds. Excellent for kyaking, sailing and fishing. |
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Day 5 Day 6 |
Travel south towards the
west coast.
This area is remote by NZ standards and the people have developed an
identity of their own. The economy is based largely on coal and gold
mining and forestry. We will stop at Punakaiki to see the natural
landform called the pancake rocks. Overnight in Greymouth. Continue south, stopping at Hokitika, important for greenstone manufacturing. Lunch at a local pub and then stop at the Franz Josef glaciers for a walk to the face, weather permitting. Carry on to the small town of Fox and stay there overnight. |
 The rocks at Punakaiki. West Coast  The Franz Josef Glacier. |
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Day 7 Day 8 |
Today we travel through a
variety of
landscapes, starting with lush bush covered slopes and
concluding
with barren tussock land dependent on irrigation. We travel to Haast
and through the pass onto the Central plateau, and stop at Wanaka for a
short time before continuing on to Queenstown. Spend the day in the 'Adventure Capital of the World'! Free afternoon, but in the morning jet boat riding through the canyons of the Shotover River. Evening meal at the Skyline Restaurant high above Queenstown. |
 The Remarkables form one side of the valley that the town nestles in. |
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| Day 9 Day 10 |
All day trip to Milford
Sound (really a fiord). We travel south, then west, then north to get to the Sound. This includes some excellent sheep and deer farming areas before we move up the Eglington valley into the National Park. The trip on the Sound lasts for about three hours and is good in both wet (common) and dry conditions. We return as far as Te Anau and stay overnight there. We complete the return journey to conclude the tour in Queenstown in time for post 11.00am flights. |
 Magnificent Milford Sound. |
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 A combined road and rail bridge, one of two left on the West Coast. |
 Kea, a mountain parrot |
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