New Zealand Family Journey

Itinerary at a glance

Christchurch—“the most English city outside England”—offers great fun as we go punting in historic wooden boats on the Avon River. Decidedly un-English is the nearby Banks Peninsula—created by volcanoes, site of a Provençal-style vineyard where we lunch, and home to the world’s rarest dolphins which we join for a swim in the bay’s warm blue waters the next day.

Head into the Southern Alps (you’ll think you’re in The Lord of the Rings), and a day on a working merino sheep station near Arthur’s Pass. Kids have been known to feed and name the baby lambs. Adults like birding in wildflower meadows. Everyone enjoys watching our hosts put the sheepdogs through their paces. The next day, grab your ice pick! It’s on to dramatic Fox Glacier for a walk that starts, of all places, in a parrot-bedecked rain forest.

At our lodge at Lake Moeraki we have canoes to paddle, fishing gear and great guide-led walks on an easy rainforest track to wide and beautiful Munro Beach. On our way to Queenstown, kids love exploring and gold panning in the historic gold mining village of Arrowtown. Adults enjoy even more the walk through the vineyards to an acclaimed winery for a tasting before we settle in to our lakeside hotel.

If you must, today is the day to bungy jump. A more “reserved” activity finds us on a jet boat ride on the Dart River, followed by a walk in Fiordland National Park and a guide-led talk about the original Maori settlers. On our last day, join for a visit to a kiwi house to see the flightless national bird before we part company.