New Zealand
Hiking Under Southern Skies
Program No. 11592RJ
Hike the iconic trails of New Zealand, including sections of the world-renowned Great Walks, and discover national parks and traditional Maori culture alongside local experts.
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22 days
21 nights
54 meals
19B 17L 18D
1
In Transit to Program
In Flight
6
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Turangi
13
To Te Anau via Queenstown
Te Anau
17
To Rakiura Stewart Island via Invercargill and Bluff
Stewart Island
18
Lighthouse, Golden Bay Walk
Stewart Island
19
Boat Transfer to Port William, Return Hike
Stewart Island
20
Pelagic Boat Trip, Ulva Island Bird Sanctuary Visit
Stewart Island
22
Botanic Gardens, Program Concludes
In Flight
At a Glance
Challenge your mind and body on some of New Zealand's most spectacular hiking trails. Hike over the world-renowned Tongariro Crossing and sections of the celebrated Routeburn and Kepler Tracks, two of New Zealand's designated Great Walks. As a special highlight, enjoy four nights on Stewart Island, a native wildlife sanctuary seldom accessible to visiting groups.
Activity Level
Outdoor: Challenging
Categorized as Challenging, you will be hiking 6-10 miles daily on mixed terrain that is frequently hilly (undulating), rocky or uneven. Ascents of up to 2,000 feet. Elevations up to 6,000 feet.
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Take expert-led hikes over the Tongariro Crossing in Tongariro National Park and in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.
- Experience Maori culture including the powhiri (formal welcome), traditional songs, dances and hakas.
- Hike sections of the world-renowned Routeburn and Kepler Tracks, two of New Zealand's designated Great Walks.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Elspeth Jaine
Elspeth Jaine, originally from Scotland, has lived in mid-Canterbury, New Zealand, since 1986. She and her husband, Charles, have farmed sheep and cattle near Mt. Somers for most of that time. Elspeth has also worked as a physiotherapist, been a mother to four (now grown) children, and latterly has run a small visitor exploration venture. Elspeth loves to be in the outdoors and indulge her love of tramping, skiing, biking, and exploring nature. She also enjoys creative pursuits, especially painting and photography.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Elspeth Jaine
View biography
Elspeth Jaine, originally from Scotland, has lived in mid-Canterbury, New Zealand, since 1986. She and her husband, Charles, have farmed sheep and cattle near Mt. Somers for most of that time. Elspeth has also worked as a physiotherapist, been a mother to four (now grown) children, and latterly has run a small visitor exploration venture. Elspeth loves to be in the outdoors and indulge her love of tramping, skiing, biking, and exploring nature. She also enjoys creative pursuits, especially painting and photography.
Kathryn Roberts
View biography
Kathy Roberts has enjoyed hiking since her childhood and has led hiking and camping groups for many years, being responsible for risk assessment, first aid, and encouraging a love of and respect for the outdoors. She has lived in Australia, England, and Canada, and has traveled extensively. Her interests are meeting new friends, cycling, skiing and helping other people in her voluntary roles. She is a physiotherapist. Kathy has hiked throughout New Zealand, trekked in Nepal, and has plans for more overseas exploring and hiking.
Robyn Louise Denize
View biography
Robyn Denize enjoys travel, hiking, skiing and stand-up paddle boarding (with her Golden Labrador as a passenger). She and her husband, Colin, worked at Camp America in Maine, and they later taught at an international school in Fiji. Robyn lives on a small farm and grows calla lilies commercially. She is an active member of an urban search and rescue team, teaches violin, and is an outdoor education Instructor.
Suggested Reading List
(14 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Hiking Under Southern Skies
Program Number: 11592
Boy (film)
Boy (film). Waititi wanted to shoot the film where he grew up in Waihau Bay. It was a summer film but impossible to shoot in the height of summer due to the popularity of the area as a fishing and holiday destination. The film features the maize fields and the maize is harvested from late April. Boy was shot entirely in the area of Waihau Bay, New Zealand. James Rolleston was never actually intended to play the lead role of "Boy". Rolleston originally turned up on set for a costume fitting as an extra and after short deliberation, the teen was offered the role.
The Luminaries
The Luminaries is the second novel by Eleanor Catton, published by Victoria University Press in August 2013 and Granta on 5 September 2013. On 15 October it was announced as the winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize. It is the longest book (at 832 pages), and she the youngest author (at age 28), ever to win the award. The book was described as "a dazzling feat of a novel" by The Observer.
The Piano (film)
121 min- Drama | Romance. A mute woman along with her young daughter, and her prized piano, are sent to 1850s New Zealand for an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner, and she's soon lusted after by a local worker on the plantation. Director: Jane Campion. Writer: Jane Campion. Stars: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel and Sam Neill.
The Denniston Rose
Denniston Is a real Coal mining town, now deserted, on a high barren plateau above the West Coast of the South Island. Events on the Hill in the 1880s are accurate. The people on the other hand are pure fiction.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (films)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), The Return of the King (2003) - Action | Adventure | Fantasy. Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins as he and the Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring to ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron. Director: Peter Jackson. Writers: J.R.R. Tolkien (novel), Fran Walsh (screenplay). Stars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen.
Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance
Dancing between New Zealand and Buenos Aires and ranging over decades, tango is the leitmotif of this earlier novel by Lloyd Jones, published here for the first time, author of Mister Pip. Like Mr. Pip, this compact, seductive novel concerns the power of storytelling.
The Penguin History of New Zealand
The definitive and bestselling history of Aotearoa New Zealand by one of our leading historians, continuously in print for 20 years. This bestselling book by the late Michael King is the unchallenged contemporary reference on the history of New Zealand.
The Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand
The new edition of this essential reference for identifying New Zealand birds features its biggest update ever. The Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand is a trusted, invaluable reference for lovers of New Zealand birds. Comprehensive and easy to use, this new edition features- 374 species, including 35 new additions, the book's biggest revision since first publication, 85 stunning colour paintings of New Zealand birds.
The Whale Rider (film)
The Whale Rider (1987) was written in New York and Cape Cod in the space of three weeks. A magical, mythical work about a young girl whose relationship with a whale ensures the salvation of her village, it is, says Ihimaera, the work of his ‘that the Maori community accepts best’.
The Bone People
Set on the South Island, this powerful novel brings together three troubled individuals who represent Maori and European traditions in contemporary New Zealand.
An Angel at My Table (film)
An Angel at My Table is a 1990 New Zealand-Australian-British film directed by Jane Campion. The film is based on Janet Frame's three autobiographies, To the Is-Land (1982), An Angel at My Table (1984), and The Envoy from Mirror City (1984).
An Angel at My Table is a dramatisation of the autobiographies of New Zealand author Janet Frame. Originally produced as a television miniseries, the film, as with Frame's autobiographies, is divided into three sections, with the lead role played by three different actresses who portray Frame at different stages of her life: Karen Fergusson (child), Alexia Keogh (adolescent) and Kerry Fox (adult).
The Field Guide to New Zealand Geology
This is the first field guide written for the general public and beginners in geology in New Zealand. Now fully revised and updated, it shows travellers in New Zealand something of the tremendous variety of our rocks, minerals and fossils and describes what to look for in many areas where rock formations are prominent. It covers the history of New Zealand from it's beginnings on the sea floor some 600 million years ago to its present patchwork landscape of volcano, range and plain. The land was formed from many different layers of rock- volcanic flows, forest debris, ocean mud. All these have special characteristics, which are explained and illustrated to enable readers to find the layers and understand their origins and what they can tell us about the landscape of the past. The crystals that grew in the rocks and the remains of living creatures that were preserved are also illustrated and described. Written in simplified terms, it includes an introductory chapter on general geology, a geological time chart and quick reference maps of the North Island and the South Island for travellers.
The Hobbit Trilogy (films)
The Hobbit is a series of three fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. The films are subtitled An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). The films take place in the fictional world of Middle-earth, sixty years before the beginning of The Lord of the Rings and follow hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf the Grey to accompany thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug.
Slipping Into Paradise, Why I Live in New Zealand
In this far-ranging travelogue, Masson (who wrote a series of books on the emotional lives of animals) combines his travels and tales with history, riffs on the kiwis, nature and society.