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Experience Overview
New Zealand is an outdoor lover’s dream, and on this two-week Solo-ish adventure, you’ll explore with new mates while still carving out time for yourself. Dive into nature’s wonders in Franz Josef and Queenstown, and satisfy your taste buds with a delicious Kiwi cooking experience in Auckland. Immerse yourself in the rich traditions of Māori culture with your local hosts in Rotorua. Discover the charm of Hokitika, a quirky west coast gem, as you journey from the North Island to the South. This is your chance to tick New Zealand off your bucket list in the most unforgettable way.
Highlights
- Mt Eden Summit Walk
- Cruise Lake Rotoiti to hot springs
- Full day immersion with Kohutapu Lodge
- Waitomo Glow Worm Caves
- Visit to Kaikoura Seal Colony
- Hike Hokitika Gorge
- Franz Glacier Trek
- Full Day Cruise at Doubtful Sound
Trip Details
Product Code: 28671
Tour Type: Small Group
Accommodation: Budget
Transport: Flight, private vehicle, boat, walking.
Guide Language: English
Travel Styles: Adventure, Budget
Tour Operator: G Adventures
Supplier Code: ONRQ
Starts: Auckland, New Zealand
Finishes: Queenstown, New Zealand
Duration: 14 days
Departures: Guaranteed
Physical Rating: Average
Includes
Activities
- Your G for Good Moment: Kohutapu Lodge Experience, Murupara Dinner Party: Dinner Party, Auckland Your Welcome Moment: Meet Your CEO and Group We Day: Mt Eden Summit Walk, Auckland We Day: Kohutapu Tribal Tour, Rotorua Your Discover Moment: Franz Josef Me Day: Queenstown Me Day, Queenstown
- Complimentary arrival transfer
- Mt Eden Summit Walk
- Cruise Lake Rotoiti to hot springs
- Free time in Rotorua
- Full day immersion with Kohutapu Lodge
- Waitomo Glow Worm Caves
- Visit to Kaikoura Seal Colony
- Free time in Kaikoura
- Hike Hokitika Gorge
- Franz Glacier Trek
- Free time in Franz Josef
- Full Day Cruise at Doubtful Sound
- Free time in Queenstown
- Transport to/from included activities
Accommodation
- Hotels (13 nts)
- 8 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 2 dinners
Transport
- Flight, private vehicle, boat, walking.
Group Leader
- CEO (Chief Experience Officer) and local guides throughout
Price
Price per person: (Double Occupancy) CAD $4454 ($318 /day)
Itinerary
Day 1: Dinner Party: Auckland
Kia Ora and welcome to New Zealand! After taking your included arrival transfer to the hotel, join your fellow solo-ish travellers for a welcome meeting. Then get hands on with a cooking class! Alongside your new mates, cook up a fresh and delicious Kiwi meal while getting to know the people you're travelling with.
Meals included: Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - Food is a universal language, and there's no better way to get to know a new friend, or a new community, than by breaking bread together and digging in to a delicious meal. New Zealand is famous for having extremely fresh and local ingredients in their dishes. Use these beautiful ingredients to make an amazing meal of Ika Mata, coconut milk ceviche, and Horopito roasted Lamb Rump, then sit down with your fellow solo-ish travellers and enjoy the feast!Activity - Your opportunity to meet your CEO and fellow travellers, and learn more about your tour. Opt to join the group for a local meal afterwards.Accommodation - Oaks Auckland Hotel
Day 2: G Day: Rotorua
After grabbing your first Kiwi breakfast, join your CEO for a guided walk up to the Mt Eden Summit. The views of Auckland at the top are incredible-so don't forget to take some photos. Later, make your way south to Rotorua where you can choose to enjoy a lunch stop at Eat Street, a local block of popular food stalls and restaurants. In the afternoon, join your fellow Solo-ish travel mates and board a boat to cross Lake Rotoiti, with a surprise en route. Together we'll relax lakeside in hot springs, nestled within the bush. A pretty awesome day to enjoy Rotorua and to get to know your group.
Meals included: Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Activity - Take a water taxi across Lake Rotoiti to the geothermal pools. Jump between the cold lake water and the hot springs, walk through the bush that engulfs the spring pools and grab a beer or coffee from the cafe onsite.Activity - With your incredible CEO at the helm, get to know the local community and your Solo-ish travel mates on a day packed full of interesting and engaging adventures. Join your CEO for a trek up Mt Eden, or Maungawhau, which means ‘mountain of the whau tree’. This area was one of the largest and most elaborate Māori settlements in the region. At the top, enjoy spectacular 360 views over Auckland.Accommodation - Sudima Lake Rotorua
Day 3: We Day: Rotorua
Together we head to the Maori-owned Kohutapu Lodge, to explore New Zealand's Indigenous culture on this full day excursion. Learn how a hangi lunch is prepared in an underground pit, the traditional way, and enjoy the feast with your Maori hosts. Learn about traditional eel traps and be welcomed into a traditional marae. Walk through the 800-year-old podocarp trees in the Whirinaki Rainforest to learn about the history of the forest and spot endemic birds and medicinal plants. Today's adventure is one of New Zealand's most authentic and community-based Indigenous programs, and will surely stand out as a highlight of your Solo-ish Adventure.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - With your incredible CEO at the helm, get to know the local community and your Solo-ish travel mates on a day packed full of interesting and engaging adventures. Travel to Kohutapu Lodge, a social enterprise owned by a local Maori family who are making a difference in their local community through community-driven initiatives. Led by your Maori guide, start the dat at Lake Aniwhenua Domain and be welcomed onto tribal lands by your guide. Watch as the guide sets the traditional eel traps, a method still being used today. Next, witness the laying of a ground cooked hangi that you will have the opportunity to taste later in the day. Continue with your Maori guide and enjoy a number of additional activities, all based around the community and what may be happening the day of your visit. Finally indulge in a delicious hangi lunch-the very same you watched be put underground to cook. Conclude the day in Whirinaki rainforest- a Jurassic Podocarp forest- where you will be led by your Maori guide to discover more about the Maori culture and learn about the history of the forest. Spend a final few moments bathed in the forest’s sights and smells while indulging in a cup of hot kawakawa tea.Activity - Kohutapu Lodge hosts travelers with their Tribal Ancestor's beliefs at the core of their mission, and have worked to use tourism as a way to support their community. Located in the heart of Ngāti Manawa’s remote tribal lands and Māori-owned, Kohutapu Lodge offers opportunities where our people can be paid to be themselves in a community that faces high unemployment. Feel welcomed and connected to Aotearoa during today's visit.Accommodation - Sudima Lake Rotorua
Day 4: Rotorua: Free Day
A full day free gives you the opportunity to explore this unique town how you want. With seemingly endless options, choose to visit some hot springs, go white water rafting or explore from the treetops on a Rotorua Canopy Tour.
Meals included: Breakfast
Exclusive inclusions: Free_time - Enjoy a free day to explore this lakeside adventure town.Accommodation - Sudima Lake Rotorua
Day 5: Rotorua to Auckland: Glow Worm Caves
This morning we drive from Rotorua to Waitomo to see the magical glow worms illuminate the caves. Ride a boat through the water filled caves, and as the sunlight fades, see how the bright blue glow brightens from the silk worms hanging from the ceiling. After, drive to Auckland for the night, our last evening on the North Island.
Meals included: Breakfast
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Activity - Enjoy a peaceful boat ride through 30 million year old caverns covered with magical glowworms that are unique to New Zealand. Hundreds of thousands of these tiny creatures radiate luminescent light in underground caves carved by rivers and time. Take in more than 136 years of cultural and natural history on this unique excursion.Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Accommodation - Oaks Auckland Hotel
Day 6: Auckland to Kaikoura: South Island
Together we fly to New Zealand's South Island this morning. After arriving, drive to North Canterbury, stopping for lunch along the way. Then continue the drive to Kaikoura. In the afternoon, visit the giant and adorable fur seals that live on the peninsula.
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Activity - Stop to experience a close encounter with the many southern fur seals lying about on rocks just off the highway.Transport - Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... yup, it is a plane, actually.Accommodation - The White Morph
Day 7: Kaikoura: Free Day
Kaikoura is one if the best places in all of New Zealand to see wildlife. Spend today however you wish, but of course we recommend trying to see some of these amazing animals in the wild. Opt to go on a Giant Sperm Whale watching tour or out for a tour in hopes to swim with the Dusky Dolphins.
Exclusive inclusions: Free_time - Spend today at leisure in the seaside town of Kaikoura.Accommodation - The White Morph
Day 8: Kaikoura to Hokitika
Drive to Hokitika, a town nudged between the Tasman Sea to the west and the Hokitika River to the south. Full of beautiful nature, wildlife and a history of ship wrecks, gold and green stone miners, Hokitika is not to be missed. The drive can make for one of our longer days, but we'll make some pitstops along the way to break up the journey. After arrival, enjoy free time to explore the town.
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Free_time - Enjoy a free afternoon in Hokitika.Accommodation - Beachfront Hotel Hokitika
Day 9: Hokitika to Franz Josef: Franz Josef Glacier
Walk through remarkable Hokitika Gorge, crossing the suspension bridge and admiring the incredibly blue water. Head back to town for a group lunch. Then drive to Franz Josef, and hike through the rain forest of Franz Josef with views of the beautiful glacier.
Meals included: Lunch
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Activity - Hike the short and easy trek through the Franz Josef rainforest with views of the glacier and snow covered mountains.Activity - Visit the crystal blue water of Hokitika Gorge. Hike through the bush and look for the rare blue mushroom, walk across the suspension bridge over the beautiful water and admire the incredible beauty of the South Island.Accommodation - Rainforest Retreat
Day 10: Franz Josef: Free Day
A free day today in Franz Josef calls for adventure. Opt to take a scenic helicopter flight up to the impressive glacier, or kayak on Lake Mapourika. Or choose to join the Guided Heli Hike, taking a helicopter to the glacier and hiking through the snow capped mountains and over the bright blue glacier.
Meals included: Breakfast
Exclusive inclusions: Free_time - Spend today however you'd like in Franz Josef.Accommodation - Rainforest Retreat
Day 11: Franz Josef to Queenstown
Drive with your fellow solo-ish travellers to the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown. After arrival, settle in and enjoy an evening stroll in this picturesque lakeside town.
Meals included: Breakfast
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Accommodation - Heartland Hotel Queenstown
Day 12: Me Day: Queenstown
Today is your Me Day, which means today is all about me... well you! With so much to do in Queenstown, opt to spend today exploring the adventure capital however you so wish. Or choose to join your CEO and other solo-ish travellers to ride the famous Queenstown gondola. Ride to the top of the mountain and take in the beautiful view of the lake and mountain peaks. Then tonight, choose to join your CEO for a final group dinner in New Zealand. This may be an early dinner because we have an early morning tomorrow, but come together for a bite and a drink before our final day in New Zealand together.
Meals included: Breakfast
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - Traveling solo alongside your new Solo-ish travel mates means there's always something fun to do and new friends to explore with. But the joy of travel can also be about taking time to yourself to recharge, refresh and reflect on the journey. Today, choose to join your CEO for an incredible activity, or take the time to yourself to enjoy your own company in one of the most incredible places on our planet.Accommodation - Heartland Hotel Queenstown
Day 13: Fiordland National Park
Wake early for a visit to one of New Zealand's most spectacular destinations on a day trip to Fiordland National Park. Drive from Queenstown, board a boat and cruise between the breathtaking mountain slopes, cascades and sea. Keep your eyes peeled for dolphins and rainbows made by the waterfalls. After the boat ride, drive back to Queenstown and enjoy one last free evening in Queenstown.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Activity - Cruise through stunning Fiordland National Park, one of the most untouched, remote places in the world. Depending on the departure, the cruise will be in either Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound – two of the most stunning regions within the park. Marvel at the steep cliff walls and cascading waterfalls, and keep an eye out for area wildlife: dolphins, penguins, seals, and a variety of birds.Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Accommodation - Heartland Hotel Queenstown
Day 14: Queenstown
You arrived a solo traveller and are leaving with many new friends. Say goodbye to your fellow Solo-ish travellers and depart at any time.
Meals included: Breakfast
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - Not ready to leave? Your CEO can help with travel arrangements to extend your adventure.
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Tour Operator
G Adventures
G Adventures, founded in 1990 by Bruce Poon Tip, is a global adventure travel company specializing in small-group tours that emphasize authentic, sustainable, and culturally immersive experiences. Originally launched as GAP Adventures (“Great Adventure People”), the company pioneered the concept of community-driven travel by offering affordable trips that connect travelers with local communities while minimizing environmental impact. Today, G Adventures operates in more than 100 countries, offering a wide range of itineraries across themes such as active adventures, wildlife, wellness, family, and National Geographic–partnered tours, while maintaining a strong commitment to responsible tourism and social enterprise through its Planeterra Foundation.
In Business Since 1990
