Trip Duration: 8 days, 7 nights

Difficulty Rating: Intermediate

Join us for an 8-day hiking adventure across New Zealand's South Island, from Christchurch to Queenstown. We'll be exploring Aoraki and Mt Cook in the Hooker Valley, hike above Lake Wānaka on Rocky Mountain, sea kayak through Milford Sound, and hike to Key Summit on the famous Routeburn Track. Along the way we'll stay in comfortable hotels, from the Hermitage at the foot of Aoraki/Mt Cook to a lakeside resort in Wānaka with hot pools. With daily hikes, a choice of two guided routes on our bigger days, and time to rest in between, this trip is perfect for women seeking breathtaking landscapes, a good physical challenge, and meaningful connection. Please scroll to the bottom of this page to the "Itinerary" section for a day-by-day summary.

Flights to New Zealand are *not* included with your booking. We highly recommend when selecting flights that you ensure ample time to catch connecting flights to ensure there are no missed flights due to delays. 

Please fly into Christchurch International Airport (CHC), arriving on March 18th in time to meet the group in the hotel lobby at 6:00 PM for our welcome dinner. This trip ends in Queenstown, so please book your return flight out of Queenstown International Airport (ZQN). If your flight leaves on the afternoon of March 24th, we can drop you at the airport on the way into Queenstown; otherwise, plan to fly out on March 25th.

Airport transfers: We offer two group airport pickup options when you arrive in Christchurch (CHC) and two group drop-off options when you depart from Queenstown (ZQN).

We are not able to share exact pickup or drop-off times until you book. Transfer times are set based on everyone's flights, so once you book your spot you will be added to our trip WhatsApp group chat, where we will coordinate all arrival and departure times together. Please share your flight details in the group chat as soon as you have them.

Services + Inclusions

• Arrive at Christchurch International Airport (CHC); group airport pickup with two arrival time options (exact times coordinated in the trip group chat after booking)

• Orientation walk around Christchurch (unguided)

• Meet in the hotel lobby at 6:00 PM for our group welcome dinner

• Accommodation: Drifter Christchurch

• Meals Included: Welcome Dinner

Kia ora and welcome to Aotearoa New Zealand! Our journey begins in Christchurch (Ōtautahi), the largest city in the South Island, set between the Canterbury Plains and the Pacific coast. Known as the Garden City, it is a relaxed, walkable place to shake off the long flight, and an easy orientation walk will help you find your feet before the adventure begins.

This evening we will meet in the hotel lobby at 6:00 PM and head out together for our welcome dinner, a chance to meet your guides, get to know one another, and share what we are each most looking forward to.

Services + Inclusions

• Scenic drive across the Canterbury Plains toward the Southern Alps

• Sharplin Falls hike through native beech forest near Mt Somers

• Lakeshore hike at Lake Tekapo toward Mt John

• Transfer along Lake Pukaki to Aoraki/Mt Cook Village

• Hiking: 3 km / 2 hours total / 100 m elevation gain and loss

• Accommodation: Hermitage Hotel (Mt Cook View Rooms)

• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch (dinner on your own at the hotel or the nearby Chamois Bar & Grill)

After breakfast, we leave Christchurch behind and drive across the wide, open Canterbury Plains toward the Southern Alps. Our first hike takes us to Sharplin Falls, tucked into the foothills of Mt Somers. The trail winds through cool, peaceful native beech forest beside a clear mountain stream, with birdsong all around, before reaching the falls as they tumble into a rocky gorge.

From here we continue inland into the Mackenzie Basin, a vast high-country landscape of golden tussock framed by snow-capped peaks. At Lake Tekapo, the water glows an almost unreal turquoise thanks to fine glacial rock flour, and we will hike along the lakeshore toward Mt John. Later in the afternoon, we follow the shores of Lake Pukaki to Aoraki/Mt Cook Village, where we spend the night beneath New Zealand's highest mountain.

Services + Inclusions

• Choice of two guided hikes in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park:

• Option 1: Hooker Valley Track, mostly flat with three suspension bridges to the Hooker Glacier lake (10 km / 3 hours / 225 m elevation gain and loss)

• Option 2: Sealy Tarns, a steady staircase climb to alpine lakes with views of Aoraki/Mt Cook (7 km / 4 hours / 600 m elevation gain and loss)

• Visit to the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park Visitor Centre

• Scenic transfer over the Lindis Pass to Wānaka

• Accommodation: Oakridge Resort, Wānaka (One-Bedroom Apartments)

• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We wake in the heart of Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, surrounded by glaciers and some of the tallest peaks in the Southern Alps. After breakfast, we set off on foot. The Hooker Valley Track is one of the South Island's most famous hikes, weaving through a spectacular alpine landscape to a glacier lake. For those up for a challenge, the Sealy Tarns trail climbs high above the valley to small alpine lakes with sweeping views of Mt Sefton, the Hooker Valley, and Aoraki itself, a sacred ancestor to Ngāi Tahu, the principal iwi (tribe) of the South Island.

After our hike, we visit the National Park Visitor Centre to learn about the region's mountaineering history and alpine ecology, then travel south over the tussock-covered Lindis Pass to the lakeside town of Wānaka. We arrive in the late afternoon with time to enjoy the resort's outdoor pool and hot tubs before dinner.

Two guided hike options are offered for groups of more than 10 travelers; smaller groups will hike the Hooker Valley Track together.

Services + Inclusions

• Drive around Lake Wānaka to the Diamond Lake Conservation Area

• Choice of two guided hikes:

• Option 1: Diamond Lake and the Lake Wānaka viewpoint above Glendhu Bay (4.7 km / 2 hours / 320 m elevation gain and loss)

• Option 2: Rocky Mountain summit with views of the Southern Alps and Mount Aspiring/Tititea (7.2 km / 3 hours / 650 m elevation gain and loss)

• Free afternoon to relax at the resort or explore Wānaka's lakefront cafés and shops

• Group picnic dinner on the lakeshore near the famous Wānaka Tree

• Accommodation: Oakridge Resort, Wānaka (One-Bedroom Apartments)

• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Picnic Dinner

This morning we drive around Lake Wānaka to the Rocky Mountain trail in the Diamond Lake Conservation Area. The first option circles Diamond Lake and climbs high above it to a wonderful viewpoint over Glendhu Bay and Lake Wānaka. The second option continues higher to the summit of Rocky Mountain, a distinctive glacier-carved rock formation, where the views open up to the Southern Alps and Mount Aspiring/Tititea.

The afternoon is yours to relax at the resort or wander Wānaka's lakefront. In the evening, we come together for a picnic dinner by the lake near the iconic Wānaka Tree.

Two guided hike options are offered for groups of more than 10 travelers.

Services + Inclusions

• Slow morning in Wānaka, with optional stand-up paddleboard hire on the lake (1 hour, at your own cost)

• Scenic transfer over the Crown Range, New Zealand's highest main road, and along Lake Wakatipu to Te Anau

• Brod Bay hike along the start of the Kepler Track on the shores of Lake Te Anau (10.8 km / 3 hours / 120 m elevation gain and loss)

• Free evening

• Accommodation: Distinction Hotel and Villas, Te Anau

• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Enjoy a slower start to the day. For those who would like to get out on the water, there is the option to hire a stand-up paddleboard and explore the shores of Lake Wānaka, or you can wander through town and enjoy a coffee by the lake.

In the late morning, we depart for Te Anau, traveling over the Crown Range with views down to the Wakatipu Basin, then following the shores of Lake Wakatipu through rolling farmland to Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland National Park. We stretch our legs on a hike to Brod Bay along the start of the Kepler Track, tracing the edge of Lake Te Anau, the largest lake in the South Island, before settling into our hotel for a free evening.

Services + Inclusions

• Transfer to Milford Sound (Piopiotahi) in Fiordland National Park

• Early-morning guided sea kayaking in double kayaks on Milford Sound (3.5 hours)

• Afternoon hike from The Divide to Key Summit on the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand's Great Walks (8 km / 3 hours / 430 m elevation gain and loss); a shorter, easier option is available when the group has two guides

• Group farewell dinner in Te Anau

• Accommodation: Distinction Hotel and Villas, Te Anau

• Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Farewell Dinner

Today we travel to the famed Milford Sound, known in te reo Māori as Piopiotahi. Carved by glaciers, the fiord is framed by sheer granite walls, cascading waterfalls, and the iconic Mitre Peak rising straight from the water. We explore it up close by double sea kayak in the quiet of the early morning, paddling beneath towering cliffs and keeping watch for fur seals, dolphins, and the Fiordland crested penguin.

In the afternoon, we hike a section of the Routeburn Track, climbing from The Divide to Key Summit for uninterrupted views across the Fiordland wilderness, the Hollyford Valley, and the Darran Mountains. We return to Te Anau for our farewell dinner, a chance to celebrate the journey we have shared and the friendships formed along the way.

Services + Inclusions

• Relaxed breakfast, then transfer toward Queenstown

• Stop in historic Arrowtown, a gold-rush town from the 1860s, with time to wander and have lunch (at your own cost)

• Short drive into Queenstown and farewell to our guides

• Optional drop-off at Queenstown International Airport (ZQN) for travelers with afternoon flights

• Free afternoon and evening to explore Queenstown

• Accommodation: Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown Lakefront

• Meals Included: Breakfast

After a relaxed breakfast, we say goodbye to Te Anau and make our way back toward Queenstown. Along the way, we take a small detour to Arrowtown, founded during the gold rush of the 1860s and still lined with many of its original stone and timber buildings. Wander the tree-lined streets, do a little shopping, and enjoy lunch at a café of your choice or a takeaway by the riverside trail.

From Arrowtown, it is a short drive into Queenstown, set on the shores of Lake Wakatipu beneath The Remarkables. Here we say our farewells to our guides, and you are free to spend the afternoon and evening exploring the lakefront and choosing from Queenstown's many restaurants at your own pace. If you are flying out this afternoon, we are happy to drop you at Queenstown Airport on the way into town.

Services + Inclusions

• Check out and transfer to Queenstown International Airport (ZQN); group airport drop-off with two departure time options (exact times coordinated in the trip group chat after booking)

• Meals Included: None

Our adventure comes to an end in Queenstown. If you are departing today, we recommend flying out of Queenstown International Airport (ZQN). Haere rā and safe travels, until we meet again!