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Southern Spectacular Your itinerary Start Location Visited Location Plane End Location Cruise Train Over night Ferry Day 1 two popping up, it’s a gorgeous afternoon on Milford Sound and a must-do Welcome to Christchurch experience on your New Zealand South Island tour. On arrival, excitement is sure to be at an all-time high as we arrive in the adventure capital of Queenstown at Welcome to Christchurch! (Flights to arrive prior to 4pm). Kick off your New your picturesque hotel on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Zealand South Island tour in this city that is rebuilding itself after the devastating 2011 earthquake. There’s plenty to see and your hotel near Cathedral Square in Hotel - Millennium the heart of the city is the perfect jumping off point. Meet your Travel Director and travel mates before a free evening to get to know Christchurch as you like, Included Meals - Breakfast perhaps exploring the Avon River, Botanical Gardens, Christchurch Casino, and Day 6 Cashel Mall. Queenstown, It's All Yours Hotel - Distinction Explore Queenstown that you’ve been dreaming of today with plenty of Day 2 adventure-filled Optional Experiences to choose from. Join a tour to Skippers Canyon, or go for maximum adventure riding the adrenaline pumping Shotover Through Scenic Wonderland to Twizel Jet. This evening it’s time to Dive Into Culture and relax on a cruise aboard New Begin your day with a sightseeing tour of Christchurch featuring the Canterbury Zealand's oldest steamship, the TSS Earnslaw, across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Museum, Christchurch Earthquake Memorial, Bridge of Remembrance, and Peak High Country Farm. You’ll be warmly greeted at the Colonel's Homestead by streets lined with bars, cafes, and riverside markets. Then go from city to country a gourmet barbecue dinner piled high with ribs and fresh vegetables. Sit back and as you make your way to the quaint farming town of Geraldine. Grab a tasty be entertained by an after-dinner farm show, complete with sheep dogs in action sample at the famous Talbots Forest Cheese, sit down for lunch, and pop in the and sheep shearing, that will give you a glimpse into high-country farm life. After a cute shops before journeying through the Canterbury Plains to the shores of Lake fun-filled evening at the homestead, board the Earnslaw and head back to Tekapo. Next up, you’re in for a treat as you pull into the lakeside home to Queenstown, maybe taking a spin on their polished wooden dancefloor. Connect With Locals Angie and Stan Taylor for a Be My Guest experience over Included Meals - Breakfast, Regional Dinner afternoon tea, scones, and stories. Enjoy the Taylors’ insights from a lifetime of farming as well as a bit of real New Zealand hospitality as Angie invites you into Day 7 her kitchen. You’ll get to watch and learn as she prepares the New Zealand Spectacular Franz Josef specialty dessert, Pavlova before having a taste for yourself. After this sweet visit, you’ll make a scenic stop at the little stone-hewn Church of the Good Shepherd It’s a day of epic scenery into untamed wilderness as you head through Central before arriving in Twizel for the evening. Soak up the vibe of this cute town and Otago to the West Coast. Your first stop is the restored gold mining settlement of popular holiday destination dining on classic New Zealand fare. Arrowtown. As you walk down its tree-lined avenues and have a look at the 19th- century wooden buildings, you’ll feel as if you’re in a movie set of the Old West. Hotel - Mackenzie Country Inn You’ll then travel to Cromwell on the shores of Lake Dunstan for a visit to a local orchard. Take a break sampling of some of the town's juicy stone fruit including Included Meals - Breakfast, Be My Guest, Dinner apricots, nectarines and peaches before journeying further into Central Otago Day 3 where the vivid blue waters and willow-lined shoreline of Lakes Hawea and Dunedin, City of Scottish Heritage Wanaka call. Take to an ancient greenstone trail, cross Haast Pass, and bid farewell to the alpine scenery of the Southern Lakes as you meet the rainforests of the A day of epic natural landscapes and cute colonial towns await on our journey to West Coast for the first time. Here in the “wild west,” you’ll be greeted by the Scottish inspired Dunedin making your first stop along the Waitaki River at the dramatic drop of Thunder Creek Falls and the staggering sight of Mt. Hooker, Waitaki Hydro Power Scheme and Benmore Dam. Take a look at the waters flanked on three sides by expansive glaciers. Stunning scenes await as you rushing below you before moving on to the quirky town of Oamaru. You'll feel like approach your destination of the famous Franz Josef Glacier. Join an optional you’re stepping back into the Victorian era as you stroll the tree-lined streets past helicopter flight for unforgettable views of take in its majesty from the ground. white limestone buildings and 19th century architecture. Take a tea break and browse the shops and galleries of traditional crafts before continuing your Hotel - Scenic Franz Josef Glacier journey to New Zealand’s southernmost city of Dunedin, built as a “mini Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner Edinburgh” and vibrant university town. You have the rest of the day free to explore more of Dunedin town, or select from some tempting Optional Day 8 Experiences. You could explore farther out a wildlife cruise to Otago Peninsula, Punakaiki, Coastal Forest visiting the famous Speight's Brewery, or touring Larnach Castle, New Zealand’s only castle. Later tonight swap stories with the group over dinner in the heart of Awaken to a day filled with natural and manmade beauty. You have time to the city where you’ll be spoilt for choice of fresh seafood or a specialty from the explore Franz Josef, perhaps visiting the West Coast Wildlife Centre to see kiwi butcher’s block. birds, before traveling to Hokitika. In this home of jade greenstone, visit the family-owned Greenstone Factory to learn from a Local Specialist how jade is Hotel - Scenic Southern Cross carved, its significance, and watch a jewellery demonstration as talented artisans turn local stone into beautiful pieces. Then soak in the natural surroundings as Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner you head to Punakaiki to view the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. Standing at the Day 4 water’s edge, you’ll be amazed at how these eroded limestone foundations that Te Anau, Gateway to Fiordland began forming 30 million years ago really do look like a stack of pancakes! As you marvel at nature’s creation, listen closely for a “whoosh” of water—that's a burst Enjoy plenty of stunning scenery as you make your way through farmlands to Te of sea spray coming through the blowholes. Take in the sights, sounds, and sea air Anau. Visit Gore, a small town that attracts those with an appreciation for nature before making your way to the eco-friendly, Stays With Stories waterfront and rural life as well as art lovers and country music fans. Although Gore is now Punakaiki Resort where you’ll dine on seafood and local specialties and wine as famous for hosting the Tussock Country Music Festival, it also has a fascinating the surf rolls and churns just outside your window. history of secret whiskey production during the prohibition era. Go from small town to farm life traveling through sheep farms into forested, rugged mountains Hotel - Punakaiki Resort into the Fiordland National Park and the South Island's largest lake to Te Anau. A Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner truly memorable thrill awaits you next, exploring the islands on a jet boat ride down the Waiau River to Lake Manapouri savouring its many tranquil spots. Take Day 9 in the birds and swimming trout as you learn about this unique environment’s Christchurch, City of Contrasts history. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience is not only scenic but supports the Pomona Island Charitable Trust’s conservation efforts to restore the largest The grand adventures continue on your last full day in New Zealand. Begin at inland island in New Zealand to its natural state where native birds can thrive. End Greymouth’s Monteith's Brewery where a Local Specialist shares the history and a delightfyl day with dinner at your hotel, and if you’re still keen to see more, you stories of this iconic brand founded in 1868. Sample some of their ever-changing, could learn more about the area on an Optional Experience to the fascinating, innovative brews like the summer ale and crushed pear cider before sitting down glittering glowworm caves. to a pub-style lunch. Full and happy, it’s “all aboard” the scenic TranzAlpine train to Christchurch - one of the world’s most famous train trips. This 223-kilometre Hotel - Distinction journey across the South Island along the Waimakariri River and across the Southern Alps takes you through tunnels and over viaducts with panoramic views Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner of snow-capped peaks, icy rivers, beech forests, gorges, and river valleys. What Day 5 better way to conclude your scenic travels across the South Island? This evening, Milford Sound Contrasts With celebrate a wonderful journey through the South Island at a Farewell Dinner with your Travel Director and travel companions. Queenstown Hotel - Distinction Begin your day traveling through Fiordland National Park past native rainforests, beech forests, alluvial flats, and meadows. At your first stop in Mirror Lake, enjoy a Included Meals - Breakfast, Lunch, Farewell Dinner walk on the boardwalks as the surrounding mountains are reflected in the water.
Recommended publications
  • Conserviing Fiordland's Biodiversity 1987-2015 Part 3

    Conserviing Fiordland's Biodiversity 1987-2015 Part 3

    Ecosystem response to pest control Flora and plant communities • Recognition and documentation of the flora, vegetation and wider ecological values of the Since 1987, considerable effort – both planned and Fiordland / Te Anau Basin area. opportunistic – has gone into surveying threatened • Identification of national strongholds for heart-leaved flora (plant species) and vegetation in general (plant kōhūhū, the shrub Melicytus flexuosus, the tree daisy communities) in Fiordland. This region is not only Olearia lineata and small-leaved coprosma in Back floristically significant nationally, but is also an important Valley. stronghold for several threatened species. • Recognition that the lakeshore turfs found around 11 Around 1000 vascular plant taxa are thought to occur Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau are among the in Fiordland, which makes the region much richer, most significant plant habitats in Fiordland (these ecologically, than previously understood. The Fiord communities are a national stronghold for several Ecological Region contains 11 species classified (under plant species). the New Zealand Threat Classification System) as • Protection of the Dale bog pine area as Dale Threatened, 96 as At Risk, 2 as Vagrant and 5 as Data Conservation Area. Deficient – and several of these have their national stronghold within Fiordland. Nationally important • Retirement of the Mavora Lakes and Eglinton Valley populations of some species classified as Naturally from grazing. Uncommon also occur. Fiordland is also known to be an • Working with community groups to restore and important region for endemism, with 24 taxa endemic manage important ecological values (notably to Fiordland, 11 near-endemic and a further 13 restricted Pomona Island Charitable Trust, Te Puka-Hereka/ to southern New Zealand.
  • Taxon Plan for Northern and Southern Fiordland Tokoeka (Apteryx Australis Australis)

    Taxon Plan for Northern and Southern Fiordland Tokoeka (Apteryx Australis Australis)

    Taxon plan for northern and southern Fiordland tokoeka (Apteryx australis australis) Strategic plan for the recovery of northern and southern Fiordland tokoeka, for the period 2015–2025 and beyond Hannah Edmonds Cover: Fiordland tokoeka, Apteryx australis. Photo: James T. Reardon ISBN 978–0–478–15040–7 (web PDF) © Copyright June 2015, New Zealand Department of Conservation. This report may be cited as: Edmonds, H. 2015: Taxon plan for northern and southern Fiordland tokoeka (Apteryx australis australis): strategic plan for the recovery of northern and southern Fiordland tokoeka, for the period 2015–2025 and beyond. Department of Conservation, Te Anau. 25 p. In the interest of forest conservation, we support paperless electronic publishing. CONTENTS Preface 2 Executive summary 3 1. Introduction 3 2. Plan term and review date 4 3. Context 4 3.1 Taxonomy 4 3.2 Biology and ecology 5 3.3 Past and present distribution, and population trends 5 3.4 Threat status 6 3.5 Agents of decline and current threats 6 3.6 Past and current management 7 3.6.1 Productivity and chick survival 7 3.6.2 Distribution 8 3.6.3 Offshore islands 8 3.7 Cultural importance 9 3.8 Public awareness, key stakeholders and associates 9 3.9 Preferred option for recovery and recovery principles 9 4. Goals 10 4.1 Long-term recovery goal 10 4.2 Goals for the term of this taxon plan 10 4.2.1 Management 10 4.2.2 Community relations and engagement 10 4.2.3 Research and innovation 10 5. Implementation 11 5.1 Management 11 5.1.1 Topic 1: Taxon plans 11 5.1.2 Topic 2: Best practice 12
  • Fiordland National Park Management Plan

    Fiordland National Park Management Plan

    Fiordland National Park Management Plan JUNE 2007 Fiordland National Park Management Plan JUNE 2007 Southland Conservancy Conservation Management Planning Series Published by Department of Conservation PO Box 743 Invercargill New Zealand © Copyright New Zealand Department of Conservation ISBN 978-0-478-14278-5 (hardcopy) ISBN 978-0-478-14279-2 (web PDF) ISBN 978-0-478-14280-8 (CD PDF) TAUPARA MÖ ATAWHENUA Tü wätea te Waka o Aoraki Tü te ngahere a Täne Ngä wai keri a Tü Te Rakiwhänoa Rere mai rere atu ngä wai a Tangaroa Honoa wai o maunga Ki te Moana a Tawhaki Papaki tü Ki te Moana Täpokapoka a Tawaki Ka tü te mana Te ihi Te wehi Te tapu O Käi Tahu, Käti Mamoe, Waitaha Whano ! Whano ! Haramai te toki Haumi e, Hui e Täiki e ! The waka of Aoraki lay barren The Täne created the forests Tü Te Rakiwhänoa sculpted the fiords allowing the sea to flow in and out and mix with the rivers that flow from the mountains to the seas of the west the waves of which clash with those of the great Southern Ocean The prestige endures The strength endures The awesomeness endures The sacredness endures Of Käi Tahu, Käti Mamoe, Waitaha It’s alive ! It’s alive ! Bring on the toki Gather Bind All is set 3 4 HOW TO USE THIS PLAN It is anticipated that this plan will have two main uses. Firstly, as an information resource and secondly, as a guide for Fiordland National Park managers, commercial operators and the public when considering the future uses of Fiordland National Park.
  • Te Anau – Fiordland

    Te Anau – Fiordland

    Community – Kea Project Plan Fiordland/Te Anau Funded by: Department of Conservation Community Fund (DOC CF) Period: 1 December 2015 – 31 October 2017. Key contact person: Kea Conservation Trust – Tamsin Orr-Walker – [email protected]; Ph 0274249594 Aim The aim of the Community – Kea Project Plan is to i) facilitate long-term community kea conservation initiatives and ii) to change the way we think, act and live with kea in our communities. This will be actioned through development of collaborative Project Plans across the South Island. Each community plan will address concerns specific to the local community and threats to the resident kea population. Project Background This initial project plan outline has been developed as a result of discussions with communities during the Kea Conservation Trust’s (KCT) Winter Advocacy Tour - 20 July – 3 August 2015. The tour was funded by Dulux and supported by Department of Conservation (DOC). The tour theme, “Building a future with kea”, aimed to promote a new MOU between communities and kea. This initiative is in line with the new Strategic Plan for Kea Conservation (refer attached draft document), objective 3: to i) increase positive perceptions of kea and reduce conflict and ii) facilitate formation of community led kea conservation initiatives. Local Community – Kea Project Plans will be activated by two Community Engagement Coordinator’s (CEC’s) based in the following areas: 1) Upper half of the South Island: Northern region (Nelson/ Motueka/ Kahurangi), Central North (Nelson Lakes/ Murchison/Arthur’s Pass/Christchurch/Mt Hutt) and upper West Coast (Greymouth and Hokitika). There is also the potential to include Kaikoura at a later date (the eastern most population of kea).
  • Cruising Lake Manapouri

    Cruising Lake Manapouri

    CRUISING LAKE MANAPOURI Lake Manapouri – the Queen of New Zealand’s lakes for some – is a magnificent place for a week’s cruise. It can be combined with a visit to Te Anau (which by itself needs two weeks to explore), a trip over Wilmott Pass to Doubtful Sound, courtesy of the weekly barge that services West Arm power station and delivers fuel to the tourist boats, or with the endless possibilities of a land-based holiday in Fiordland National Park. The name of the lake means “throbbing heart” or “anxious heart”; two explanations of the name refer to the anxiety of a canoeist who encountered a fierce storm, and to a myth of two sisters, Moturau and Koronae, whose tears (as they lay dying in each other’s arms) rent the hills and created the lake. However, the original name of Lake Manapouri is thought to have been Moturau – one hundred islands – the name Manapouri having been transferred by a mistaken surveyor from one of the Mavora Lakes. Manapouri from the summit of Monument, with Hope Arm in the foreground and the Kepler Range in the distance. The beach from which the track starts can be seen at the bottom of the photo, with Silmarillion a tiny speck. SOME BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAKE AND ITS WEATHER Manapouri is the South Island’s fifth largest lake, with a maximum length of 28 km and a surface area of over 150 square kilometres. It is a glacial lake, scoured out by glacial action to a depth of over 260 m below sea level at its deepest point (444 m).

  • Conserving Fiordland's Biodiversity 1987-2015 Part 1

    Conserving Fiordland’s biodiversity 1987–2015 The challenges, the achievements, the knowledge Te Tiaki i te Taiao ki Tu Rua o te moko Ngā wero, ngā haumāuiui, ngā mātauranga Conserving Fiordland’s biodiversity, 1987–2015 The challenges, the achievements, the knowledge Te Tiaki i te Taiao ki Tu Rua o te moko Ngā wero, ngā haumāuiui, ngā mātauranga PUBLISHED BY: Department of Conservation, Te Anau District Office, PO Box 29, Te Anau 9640, New Zealand August 2017 FRONT COVER: Looking north from Tamatea/Dusky Sound along the Acheron Passage. Photo: Rob Suisted. BACK COVER: DOC Biodiversity Ranger Megan Willans checks for translocated rock wrens on the summit of Kā-Tū-Waewae-o Tū/ Secretary Island, at the mouth of Doubtful Sound/Patea, January 2009. Photo: Rod Morris. EDITING AND DESIGN: Lynette Clelland, Publishing Team, Department of Conservation, Wellington ISBN: 978-1-98-851439-0 (Print) 978-1-98-851440-6 (Web) Crown copyright © August 2017 New Zealand Department of Conservation Contents A note from the compilers 7 Foreword 9 Kupu Whakataki 10 1. FIORDLAND – RUGGED AND DIVERSE 13 2. ISLAND PEST ERADICATIONS 17 Deer eradication programmes 18 Stoat eradication programmes 21 The future of island pest eradication programmes in Fiordland 24 3. TRANSLOCATION AS A TOOL FOR CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT 30 What is species translocation and why do we do it? 30 Species translocations in Fiordland 30 Translocations and the role of genetics 40 Failed translocations – what have we learnt? 40 4. MAINLAND WEED AND PEST CONTROL 45 Management of weeds 45 Management of deer, chamois and goats 52 Management of possums, stoats and rats 58 5.
  • Real Journeys

    Real Journeys

    Cautious explorers, costly roads Maori legend Hydroelectricity Our environmental efforts Anyone who has travelled here and powerful forces. The seal trade Then & now will recognise why the Maori name for Doubtful Sound, Patea, is so Many hands, In the early 1800s sealing arrived in New Zealand. In Doubtful From one of the oldest boats With great Saving Doubtful Sound Sound’s Grono Bay (25) a station helped sealers access nearby to one of the newest… appropriate. Translated it means… Doubtful Sound is isolated, beautiful and teeming with wildlife. many arms colonies on the Nee Islets (28) and Shelter Islands (27). power… Captain Cook’s It’s also part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But these aren’t Insider's According to Maori legend the fiords The New Zealand Fur Seal proved valuable for its blubber, which was Endeavour It was a bold plan. In 1904 the only reasons why this incredible ecosystem needs protecting. of this area were created by the god made into oil for lamps, and for its skin, which was used in clothing. Mr P.S. Hay put forward a Launched: Yorkshire, England The modern New Zealand environmental movement began in the late Tu-Te-Raki-Whanoa for providing Hundreds of thousands of seals were slaughtered here and shipped vision for power generation " The place of Guide to 1764 1960s with the push to protect this unique area. refuge from the storming seas nearby. back to the London markets. that involved drilling through Cruising speed: 7 – 8 knots 10kms of uncompromising The original power station plans required Lake Manapouri be raised up to Tu-Te-Raki-Whanoa came from the The frenzied nature of the early trade was not sustainable however, Length: 32 metres Fiordland mountain.
  • Our Ecosystems Southland Water 2010: Part 2

    Our Ecosystems Southland Water 2010: Part 2

    Our Ecosystems Southland Water 2010: Part 2 Te Ao Marama Inc. Whakatauaki Hutia te rito o te harakeke ] C Where will the bellbird sing? Ka rere ki uta, ka rere ki tai ]] Maku e ki atu Title: Statement 2 Our Ecosystems: How healthy is the life in our water and our freshwater ecosystems? Southland Water 2010: Part 2 Foreword 4 At a glance 5 Introduction to Southland Water 2010 8 Southland/Murihiku: Our place and our people 9 How this report works 11 Managing for Southland’s freshwater ecosystems 16 17 The life in our waters - Koiora wai 35 49 59 66 How do we affect the health of our ecosystems? 76 What are we doing about the health of our ecosystems? 84 What we don’t know and could do better 91 What you can do 92 Glossary 94 Acknowledgements 95 Bibliographic reference: Environment Southland and Te Ao Marama Inc. 2011. !"# $%&%'('!)&&S+, Environment Southland. Invercargill. Publication number 2011/7 ISBN 0-909043-45-0 Cover photo credit: Z. Moss. Other photos as mentioned. Designed by SRA Media Ltd. Printed by Craigs Design and Print Ltd. Printed on \ paper. Full reference list and supporting materials on www.es.govt.nz. ]! Foreword The health of Southland’s freshwater resources has This means people living in towns will have to The health of the lower reaches of catchments been a popular topic of conversation for some time, improve the quality of the water in their drains particularly concerns us – as it is here that we use gaining publicity locally and nationally through the and farmers will have to accept that the way they the water closest to our settlements and where issues like those facing the Waituna Lagoon.
  • Advocating for Nature Conservation in New Zealand: Is There a Dilemma? Alan F

    Advocating for Nature Conservation in New Zealand: Is There a Dilemma? Alan F

    The 2015 Banks Memorial Lecture: Advocating for nature conservation in New Zealand: Is there a dilemma? Alan F. Mark1 Introduction Island; the second the two largest much later, was that the large above- Given the many issues in nature lakes in Fiordland and the major ground snow tussock biomass (of up conservation that I have been involved gateway to New Zealand’s most to 8.7 kg m-2) had been accumulated with as an aspect of my professional prestigious national park. over several years and was not the career as an academic plant ecologist annual production. Nor would he There were many other conservation over more than half a century, and have appreciated (as distinguished issues along the way that I became despite many successes, it has botanist Lucy Moore emphasised in involved with, by invitation or by my become apparent over time that there the mid-1950s) that the tussocks are own initiative. These issues included are inherent dilemmas which must very long-lived, rivalling our oldest the South-West New Zealand World be accepted. For me there were two trees. I have even claimed the snow Heritage Area proposal, the Lake major research fields, both inherently tussocks are ‘potentially immortal’ and Sumner damming proposal and the controversial. The first involved my if this is debated, my challenge is to Denniston Plateau open-cast coal main research field of investigating ‘find a dead one in a healthy tussock mining proposal, through the Forest the pure and applied ecology of the stand’: they’re rarely if ever present! and Bird Protection Society, and upper South Island tussock grassland high They function like a perpetual motion Clutha Hydro-electric development as country.
  • Our Ecosystems Technical Report for Lakes and Lagoons

    Our Ecosystems Technical Report for Lakes and Lagoons

    Southland Water 2010: Our Ecosystems Technical Report for lakes and lagoons Southland Water 2010: Our Ecosystems Technical report for lakes and lagoons Prepared for Environment Southland Prepared By Keith Hamill (Opus) Opus International Consultants Limited Principal Environmental Scientist Whakatane Office Concordia House, Pyne Street PO Box 800, Whakatane 3158, New Zealand Telephone: +64 7 308 0139 Facsimile: +64 7 308 4757 Reviewed By Roger MacGibbon (Opus) Approved for Peter Askey (Opus) Date: 9 February 2011 Release By Principal Environmental Engineer Opus Reference: 2-34080.00 Status: Final © Opus International Consultants Limited 2011 Southland Water 2010: lakes and lagoons technical report Acknowledgements A number of organisations and individuals contributed to the preparation of this report. We would like to particularly thank: • Kirsten Meijer and Jane Kitson (Environment Southland ) for managing the project; • Ingrid Darragh (Environment Southland) for creating maps; • Greg Larkin (Environment Southland) for review comments; • Emily Funnell (Department of Conservation) for providing reports and data on Waituna Lagoon. • Marc Schallenberg (University of Otago) for constructive and insightful peer review comments. 2-3408000 February 2011 i Southland Water 2010: lakes and lagoons technical report Contents Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 1 1 Introduction .........................................................................................................................