NZ Explorer

10 days Queenstown to Picton Nov-Apr $5,695

Embrace the South Island's awesome diversity with daily adventure & adrenalin in remote mountain ranges, wild canyons and on golden sand beaches.

The NZ Explorer trip is a bucket list tour packed with adventure and adrenalin that celebrates the huge diversity that the South Island boasts on an epic exploratory 10 day road trip.

This incredible itinerary not only includes the best adrenalin pumping activities and extreme sports, but also explores remote underground rivers, wild canyons and golden beaches with incredible wildlife.

We begin in the adventure capital of the world Queenstown, head all the way up the breathtaking wild West Coast, through Glacier country and right up to the golden sand beaches and crystal clear waters of Abel Tasman National park.

This tour offers truly great adventure and takes in some of the very best locations that the South Island has to offer.

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Trip Details

Locations:

Queenstown, Lake Wanaka, Franz Josef, Punakaiki, Paparoa National Park, Cape Foulwind, Murchison, Abel Tasman National Park, Nelson, Picton

Activity Inclusions:

Biking the Central Otago Rail Trail, Canyoning, Heli-bike Tour, 12,000ft Tandem Skydive, Hike the Diamond Lake Trail, Glacier Heli-Hike, Underworld Tubing, White Water Rafting, Sea Kayaking

Meals: Lunch

Day One

Departing Queenstown, today we head inland to the historic 150km Central Otago Rail Trail, the only region in New Zealand with a continental climate. Today we will mountain bike approx 50kms on this great old railway line with tunnels, viaducts and amazing views of rural central otago.

An optional Bungy Jump is also available upon return to Queenstown at the famous world Kawarau bridge or at the Ledge Bungy at the top of Queenstown's skyline gondola.

Night 1 in Self Contained Unit/Apartment in Queenstown
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day Two

Awesome full day Routeburn Canyoning tour out of Queenstown in the famous Mt. Aspiring National Park. You will slide, jump, abseil and zip line down the Bridal Stream which is close to several Lord of the Rings filming sites.

Optional sky-line gondola buffet dinner including kiwi haka (traditional Maori show) and luge riding.

Night 2 in Self Contained Unit/Apartment in Queenstown
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day Three

Today we depart Queenstown and drive a short distance to Lake Wanaka, and include an adrenalin filled half day Heli-bike Tour on the surrounding mountains of Lake Wakatipu and the Cardrona Valley.

After being helicoptered to the top of the mountain with our bikes, we'll ride the ridge lines, single track and farm tracks all the way back down to the valley floor. Great mountain biking!

Night 3 in Self Contained Unit/Apartment in Lake Wanaka
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day Four

A spectacular 12,000ft Tandem Skydive over Lake Wanaka is your challenge today, a must do for any Adventure Junkie! You can even up-grade to 15,000ft for an extra 15 seconds of free fall.

Night 4 in Self Contained Unit/Apartment in Lake Wanaka
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day Five

This morning we take a short drive to hike the Diamond Lake Trail.

After a picnic lunch we will depart Wanaka and make our way over to New Zealand's amazing West Coast on our way to the township of Franz Josef. This is a fantastic scenic drive and takes in pristine rainforest, great look-outs, ocean views and waterfalls.

Night 5 in Self Contained Unit/Apartment in Franz Josef
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day Six

In Franz Josef we undertake a spectacular Heli-Hike adventure landing high up on the Franz Josef glacier. Here we undertake a two hour guided adventure hike amongst some of the most pristine and awe-inspiring glacier scenery available, making your way through a wonderland of towering pinnacles and brilliantly blue ice.

Night 6 in Self Contained Unit/Apartment in Franz Josef
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day Seven

Today we drive up the coast to go Underworld Rafting, a blackwater tubing adventure! Along the way we stop at Punakaiki where we will head along the coastal track to explore the famous Pancake rocks. These are columns of limestone resembling stacks of pancakes which at high tide and with a heavy swell running have seawater forced upwards through blowholes creating spectacular spraying geysers.

Night 7 Self Contained Unit/Apartment in Cape Foulwind
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day Eight

From Punakaiki we head to Murchison for a half day of White Water Rafting on the Buller river where we run the Buller Gorge section which has Ariki Falls on it, a great grade 4 drop.
After Lunch we head north to our final destination, New Zealand's incredible Abel Tasman National Park.

Night 8 Self Contained Unit/Apartment in Motueka.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day Nine

A full day Sea Kayaking in the spectacular Abel Tasman National Park, paddling by pristine golden beaches and through crystal clear waters. This is New Zealand's smallest National Park and a destination well known for its kayaking and hiking, as much as for its stunning natural beauty.

Night 9 Self Contained Unit/Apartment in Motueka.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day Ten

A free half day to explore more of the Abel Tasman National Park or to relax on the beach before driving to our final destination Picton. This is the port town where we conclude our trip and arrange for you to catch the inter-islander ferry to Wellington for your on-going travels or international flights. Alternatively you can be shuttled to Nelson Airport for your domestic/transfer flights.

Accommodation not included.
Fitness Requirements

A good standard of fitness is required to fully participate and enjoy this NZ Explorer trip. The downhill heli-biking and full day kayaking are the most strenuous parts of this particular adventure tour.

You must be able to swim to participate in this adventure holiday.

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Central Otago Rail Trail

We take in the best of this awesome 3 day bike trail and enjoy incredible views and vistas of Central Otago. This first day of peddling is a great way to meet the group and get warmed up for some serious adventure and adrenalin included in this awesome tour.

Includes hardtail mountain bikes, helmets and all necessary equipment.

Central Otago Rail Trail
Duration: 4 to 5 hours of riding time.
Conditions: This trail is suitable for all levels.
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AJ Hackett Queenstown Ledge Bungy

The Ledge Bungy is like no other, in that it comes equipped with a 'runway' to launch you out 400 metres over Queenstown.

What makes this special is the Bungy harness which allows you to vary your Bungy Jump style; try a flip, twist, or numerous other options all designed to

AJ Hackett Queenstown Ledge Bungy
Duration: 1 hour return from downtown Queenstown.
Conditions: Any medical conditions will need to be assessed by AJ Hackett Bungy.
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Kawarau Bridge Bungy

The worlds first Bungy site!!

Face your fears and jump from the world famous Kawarau Bridge 43 metres over the Kawarau river. Awesome adrenalin rush and you can even dunk into the river!

Kawarau Bridge Bungy
Duration: 1.5 hours return from Queenstown
Conditions: Any medical conditions will need to be assessed by AJ Hacket Bungy
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Routeburn Canyoning

A full day of incredible canyoning starting with a scenic (45 min) drive to Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu, this brings you to the Routeburn Valley.

In this hidden spot you'll find yourself in harmony with a spectacular environment and enjoy some serious adventure. This is Mount Aspiring National Park - real "Lord of the Rings" country. In fact this World Heritage area is not far from several locations used in the films, and it's only a 20-minute walk through the primeval rain forest.

This is epic canyon country, the real deal, which involves you and your guide navigating through a wild canyon and includes rock jumps, natural slides over waterfalls, zip lines and abseiling - it is adrenalin pumping!

Routeburn Canyoning
Duration: Full day.
Conditions: A good level of fitness is required.
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Heli-bike Tour

This is the ultimate in mountain biking - helicopter with your bike to the very top of Queenstown's iconic mountains ranges and ride incredible vertical right down to the valley floor. 
Enjoy incredible trail variety and epic jaw dropping views whilst riding stunning ridge lines, epic single track and fun flowing farm trails all in the company of your professional and experienced guide.
Helibiking is simply a must for all mountain bikers when coming to Queenstown with Adventure Junkies.

Heli-bike Tour
Duration: 4 hours return from Queenstown
Conditions: Heli biking is suited to those riders with previous experience. For those with limited experience other great options are available
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12,000ft Tandem Skydive over Wanaka

An ultimate adrenalin activity that will simply blow you away.

Safely harnessed to a qualified instructor, you will Freefall for 45 seconds and experience terminal velocity with arguably the best views of New Zealand's Southern Alps.

Open the chute and silently gliding down to terra firma and take in the jaw dropping lake and mountain views, or keep the adrenalin pumping with some crazy corkscrew turns under canopy!

This is a New Zealand adventure experience that is hard to beat.

12,000ft Tandem Skydive over Wanaka
Duration: 2 hours return.
Conditions: There is no minimum age for sky diving, but if you are under 16 you will need written consent from parent or guardian. Maximum weight: 100kg
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Diamond Lake Hike

This 3 hour return trip begins near Lake Wanaka and climbs steadily to Diamond lake and then to the summit of Rocky Hill. The views from here are superb and give the visitor an idea of how the glaciers of the Ice Ages carved and shaped the landscape. Awesome views.

Diamond Lake Hike
Duration: 3 hours.
Conditions: A reasonable level of fitness is required.
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Glacier Heli-hike

From its origins high in the Southern Alps, the Franz Josef Glacier descends deep into the lush rainforest of Westland's National Park, from a height of 2700m above sea level to only 240m in as little as 11 km, making it the worlds steepest and fastest flowing commercially guided glacier.

We'll take an exciting scenic flight and land at the remarkable Pinnacles area of the glacier where we'll undertake a guided hike for up to 3 hours amongst some of the most pristine and awe-inspiring glacier scenery available. Your guide chooses the route as you go and with an eye for the most spectacular ice formations you'll soon be making your way through a wonderland of towering pinnacles and brilliantly blue ice.

Glacier Heli-hike
Duration: Half day.
Conditions: A reasonable level of fitness is required.
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White Water Rafting - Buller Gorge

Exhilarating whitewater and rugged West Coast scenery make rafting the Buller Gorge an adventure not to be missed. A short drive from the base to the river gives you more time to experience a journey through spectacular granite canyons and deep gorges, for what is undoubtedly the Buller River’s best rafting trip.

This trip sees us raft down the Ariki section known for its big volume rapids and beautiful scenery. Four major rapids provide full-on excitement with the final rapid being Ariki Falls - "chief of the Buller", and up to a 5 metre drop at low flow!

Great cliff jumps are also available!

White Water Rafting - Buller Gorge
Duration: Half day.
Conditions: Must be able to swim.
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Blackwater Tubing

The Underworld rafting adventure in Paparoa National Park is a unique black water cave tubing adventure, where you'll float guided on an underground stream to explore the enormous Nile River's cave system's and its stalactites and stalagmites navigating only by the galaxies of glow worms!

Blackwater Tubing
Duration: Half day.
Conditions: Must be able to swim.
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Abel Tasman Sea Kayaking

See more of the Abel Tasman National Park from a kayak than any other day trip!

Explore coastline between Bark Bay and Kaiteriteri with a scenic water taxi ride in the morning taking you into the heart of the park to start your kayaking experience.

This is an awesome day where you get to check out some of New Zealand's finest and most secluded beaches whilst paddling in crystal clear waters. A truly amazing day!

Abel Tasman Sea Kayaking
Duration: Full day.
Conditions: A good level of fitness and stamina is required for this full day paddling.
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