South Island Winter Adventure

After a late breakfast on the balcony overlooking Lake Ohau, we’ll take an impressive hike at the head of Lake Pukaki, up the Hooker Valley to a glacial lake complete with icebergs! This is a great spot for lunch and on a clear day, the views of Aoraki/Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain, are stunning.

We’ll return to the lodge where we’ll enjoy a sumptuous dinner. An option today is to spend the day skiing at the small and friendly Ohau Ski Area, one of the South Island’s more remote backcountry ski fields.
Accommodation: Lake Ohau Lodge, Lake Ohau
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Hiking: 5.6 miles (9 kilometers), 2-3 hours
Elevation Gain/Loss: 328 feet (100 meters) ascent, 328 feet (100 meters) descent

After leaving Wanaka, we’ll venture up the Matukituki Valley and hike two to three hours into Mt. Aspiring National Park to reach our home for the evening – a spacious mountain hut nestled in a valley in the middle of nowhere. The track meanders past majestic peaks, fresh mountain streams, and natural beech forest. You’ll be carrying a sleeping bag, a few spare clothes, and some food, so your pack won’t weigh much more than a regular day pack. The scenery is off the charts with Mt. Aspiring rising 9,951 feet (3,033 meters) into the blue sky. It’s amazing how far you’ll feel from civilization after this relatively short walk! Tonight your guide will whip up dinner in the backcountry kitchen while you relax by the fire.
Accommodation: Mt Aspiring Hut, Mt Aspiring National Park
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Hiking: 5.6 miles (9 kilometers), 3-5 hours
Elevation Gain/Loss: 197 feet (60 meters) ascent 

We have a leisurely start today, enjoying breakfast and a cuppa while admiring the view, before hiking back to the trailhead. Along the way, we might encounter the cheeky kea – they’re really inquisitive and like to get pretty close at times!

We'll head out for a bike ride along the lakeshore, and then it’s a short but dramatic journey over the Cardrona Saddle to Queenstown, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, our base for the next couple of days.
Accommodation: Heritage Hotel, Queenstown
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Hiking: 5.6 miles (9 kilometers), 3-5 hours
Elevation Gain/Loss: 197 feet (60 meters) descent

Biking: Up to 6 miles (10 kilometers), 2-3 hours

Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand (if not the world!) and all the comforts of civilization are packed into this tiny resort town: restaurants galore, stylish lounge bars, day spas, and boutiques. You’ll also find incredible optional activities here, including horse trekking, a gondola, fishing, winery tours, a historic steamship, bungy jumping, jet boating, and skydiving as well as some great hiking opportunities. Or you can just soak up the atmosphere by the fire at one of the local cafés or pubs.

Your guides will happily share their favorite haunts and point you in the right direction for your free day today. Alternatively, you can go skiing or snowboarding for the day at one of four nearby ski areas.
Accommodation: Heritage Hotel, Queenstown
Meals: No meals

After breakfast, we’ll travel to Lake Te Anau to hike the Kepler Track, one of New Zealand’s ‘Great Walks’. Unlike most of the other ‘Great Walks’, which evolved from Maori greenstone trails or pioneer exploration routes, the Kepler Track was custom-made and built for pleasure rather than necessity. The track has been carefully crafted to show walkers all the very best features of Fiordland, from the prolific bird life and tussock high country to the huge mountain ranges and vast glacier-carved valleys.

This evening we’ll take a boat journey across Lake Te Anau to a glittering grotto of glow worms. These fascinating bugs light the way in a 200-meter system of caves, underground waterfalls, sculpted walls, and swirling pools. From the darkness of the glow worm caves, we’ll head back into the light of Te Anau where we’ll stay the night.
Accommodation: Matai Lodge, Te Anau
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Hiking: 6 miles (9.5 kilometers), 2-3 hours
Elevation Gain/Loss: 165 feet (50 meters) ascent, 165 feet (50 meters) descent

This morning we’ll head towards Milford Sound on one of the most dramatically scenic drives in the world. We’ll pass through the Eglinton Valley, and wind our way through the mountains of Fiordland. Our drive takes us through the Homer Tunnel, an astounding feat of human engineering which must be seen to be believed. Once we arrive you’ll have the opportunity to explore Milford Sound and hopefully spot some friendly fur seals and dolphins.

We’ll jump on board a boat cruise, where you’ll gaze in wonder at the waterfalls tumbling down enormous vertical rock faces all around, and journey right out to the entrance of the fiord. This afternoon, we’ll explore the Fiordland wilderness on foot to check out some of its endemic flora and fauna, like the kea (Nestor notabilis), New Zealand’s notoriously cheeky and intelligent alpine parrot, and the kotukutuku (Fuchsia excorticate), the world’s largest fuchsia.
Accommodation: Matai Lodge, Te Anau
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Cruise: 2 hours

Today, we’ll be making the scenic journey past beautiful rolling farmland and around the edge of Lake Wakatipu where you’ll finish your journey with us ends in Queenstown.
Accommodation: Not applicable
Meals: Breakfast