Your tour will commence with a visit to Mt Eden close to your accommodation, a dormant volcano with some great views of Auckland. Next you will travel the Domain Museum giving you time to explore and learn more of our Maori Culture and Aotearoa “The Land of the Long White Cloud. After we will continue with a short walk to the Winter Gardens and where you can see some of our country’s rare and endangered flowers and plants.
This morning your private guide: Steve will arrange to meet you after breakfast and your Private Tour to Milford will begin. What can we say about Steve? He is the epitome of a genuine Kiwi guy. He is casual funny knowledgeable and always with a story to tell and a smile. We suggest you take a warm jacket, sunglasses, sunscreen, insect repellent, and of course, your camera!
Accessible from Wanaka by a 35 minute boat cruise, the landing is on the eastern side of the island where the remnants of early settlement remain; a stone wharf and a hut. There is a well-formed track leads from the landing and climbs steadily through native bush to near the top of Tyrwhitt Peak. Just before the top we see Arethusa Pool, a small lake on the island with small islands in it - very intriguing!
Dmitri is a professional photographer and therefore knows the best-kept secrets of the Peninsula. He will share these with you and take photos of you to present in a Photo view Disc DVD for you to take home as a keepsake and enjoy with family and friends of your time in our beautiful part of New Zealand.
Let us introduce to you Richard your Locals & Landscapes Guide on the fabulous West Coast. This morning Richard will arrive to greet you and be your guide for the next few days up our scenic West Coast. Richard has lived all his life on the West Coast. As a Kiwi Host, with 20 years Tour Guiding experience, Richard has a widespread knowledge of conservation, flora and fauna from the Alps to the sea.
Where passion and knowledge collide; that's Shaun. He is passionate about sharing and protecting New Zealand's wildlife and he is knowledgeable on a broad expanse of subjects. On an experience with Shaun you get the rare opportunity to visit a private farm where there is a Yellow-Eyed penguin colony, see the New Zealand fur seals, sea lions and endless birds including the Royal Albatross.
Get the rare opportunity to visit a private farm where there is a Yellow-Eyed penguin colony, see the New Zealand fur seals, sea lions and endless birds including the Royal Albatross. Also on longer Tours, you can visit the remote and wild Catlins then a visit Stewart Island. There you have the ultimate opportunity to see our native bird, the Kiwi in the wild.
"The honour of sharing the Southern Alps with its vast valleys, rivers and ever changing moods? Well, you can hardly call it a job", Mark's response when asked to described his work. Mark was born and raised on a sheep, deer and crop farm in the Canterbury region outside Christchurch. He began experiencing the Southern Alps and Canterbury high country as a child on family 'Sunday drives'.
Karen comes from a long line of Tourist Guides and is the great great great Grandaughter of Kui Guide Sophie who guided in the Rotorua region dating back some 126 years. Karen a gracious Maori Lady with a heart of gold and passion to keep alive today the culture of her tribe that once lived in the ancient Village of ‘Te Ariki’ the closest Village to where the Pink and White Terraces once stood and which were lost to the Mount Tarawera eruption.
