Optional Extensions

Our tour's main core itinerary, almost two weeks in duration, gives you a great exposure to much of NZ's North Island, and its sights, experiences, and of course, culinary and wine related lifestyle.

There is of course plenty more to see and do in NZ.  Maybe you'll save the South Island for another visit, or, if time allows, maybe you can add time in the South Island on this occasion, too.

We are offering some Travel Insider options both before and after the main tour.  Exact details will depend on the number of people participating in the options, but we're showing the itinerary and activity details below so you can start planning the rest of your time and the dates for your international travel in and out of NZ, even if leaving the internal parts slightly open at this stage.

In particular, can we recommend the optional extension in Queenstown.  It is a wonderful part of the country and a great start to your NZ experience.

When we have a firmer idea about how many people add these options on to their main tour, we'll come up with definite and costed itineraries for you (and of course, leaving plenty of time for personal choices).

Fly up to Auckland this morning in time for the main tour's start this afternoon.  Most of us will be flying on the nonstop Air NZ flight at 11.10am.

And whereas your fellow tour members will be off their 12+ hour overnight flights in to Auckland, you'll have enjoyed merely a short easy scenic 1 3/4 hour flight.

Try not to be too smug or too boastful about your Queenstown experiences!

Today our main tour ends in the early afternoon.

You could take a late afternoon flight to Cairns, getting in that evening, or you could spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying Wellington.

It is entirely your choice, whichever you prefer, and maybe you might be influenced by the airline/airfare choices as between flying Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.

Whenever you arrive into Cairns, we'll transfer you to our resort that we'll be staying in.

If you didn't fly over to Cairns yesterday afternoon/evening, you'll probably do so early this morning and arrive in the early afternoon.

We'll transfer you to our hotel and the rest of the day is at leisure.

If you arrived into Cairns yesterday, you have a full free day today.  There are a lot of activities you might choose to do - perhaps one recommendation would be to do an Atherton Tablelands tour so as to get a feeling for Australia's Outback.

Or maybe you'd like to go Bungy jumping!?

Seriously, there's a huge variety of activities.  We can help you choose something fun, or - equally valid a choice, do nothing!  Take it easy, enjoy the hot tropical warmth, stroll along the Esplanade and the shopping area.

We have four extraordinary experiences today - any one of which would be enough by itself, and all four of which will risk overwhelming you!

We start off with an amazing presentation at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, where you'll see traditional and modern presentations of the Australian Aboriginal way of life.  One of the most ancient races on the planet, their story is wonderfully told at this multi-award winning attraction.

Then we travel up from the coastal plain to the Atherton tablelands, via a series of gondola rides that take us up the side of the hills and variously through and above the rainforest canopy.

We get off at a couple of transfer stations on the way where we can see the rainforest even more intimately.

Next we get to spend time in the delightful and beautiful town of Kuranda, renowned for its arts and crafts, floral displays, and beautiful street scenes.  There's a great market to be tempted in, a zoo with native Australian animals, art galleries and restaurants.

The fourth experience is riding the Commentary Train back down from Kuranda to Cairns.

One of the (many) reasons that well informed people stay in Cairns is because it is closer to the Great Barrier Reef than most of the rest of the east coast of Australia.

Today we enjoy a wonderful experience with the very finest of the many reef tour operators, going to one of the finest locations on the reef.

We moor on the reef for a solid day of varied activites.

While at the pontoon there's an enormous range of different things to see, do, and experience.  You can of course go snorkeling, you can visit the underwater observatory and cruise around on the semi-submersibles.

If you're more adventurous, additional options could have you flying over the reef by helicopter, or Scuba diving or 'reef walking' in the water.

Breakfast with a difference, this morning.  We go inside an enormous aviary/wildlife refuge, and quite literally have breakfast with the birds.

We will also get to see all manner of other distinctive Australian animals, including koalas and kangaroos and crocodiles.

Then we'll go to the unassuming and delightfully un-touristy small country town of Mossman and visit their Saturday market (fresh tropical fruits, arts and crafts, food, even opals and all sorts of other things) before continuing up, across the Daintree river and into the splendid heart of the World Heritage rainforest.

We visit the Daintree Discovery Center, where we can stroll along a suspended aerial walkway that goes right through the heart of the rainforest, plus get down to the base of the rainforest on a boardwalk.

This marks the end of the official Australian extension, but need not be the end of your Australian adventure.

If you wish, we can help you plan more time in Australia - perhaps going to Darwin and Kakadu/Katherine, to the Red Center of Alice Springs and Ayers Rock, to cosmopolitan Melbourne and/or to glorious Sydney, one of the world's most spectacular cities.

Or, if you've been away from home long enough, you could fly home today.  You'd probably fly first from Cairns to one of Australia's international gateway cities - Brisbane (BNE), Sydney (SYD) or Melbourne (MEL) and flying home from there.