Reuthers
Paradise / New Zealand
Guided Photo Tour

Kia Ora to Auckland, the City of Sails. Be our guest at our traditional Welcome Drink and Dinner. Getting to know each other is top of the list and your tour guide will give you further information on your upcoming New Zealand photo tour adventure.

After the briefing for the day we start off for New Zealand's Northlands with several photo stops e.g. at the Puhoi Valley cheese factory and a Honey Farm. We will spend the night in Whangarei.

From Whangarei we will head to Paihia at the historic and beloved Bay of Islands for a boats tour experiencing the 'Hole in the Rock'.

We will start the day with a visit to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the birth location of New Zealand. Today's destination is Kaitaia, the perfect starting point for tomorrow.

Today we will head for New Zealand's 'most northern spot' and visit the Cape Reinga with the small post office station, a guide to the great wide world and the solitary lighthouse. It is a spiritual spot. Here the spirit of the dead glide into the underworld to their homeland Hawaiki, so the Maori say. After this detour to the far north, we will travel south on the Twin Coast Discovery Highway. There we will cross with the ferry from Kohukohu to Rawene. Our route takes us to the Waipoua Kauri Forest where we will find amongst others the most impressing tree of New Zealand, Tane Mahuta, the 'God of the Forest'. It has a width of 4,5m, a height of 51m and is over 2000 years old. We will spend the night after this exciting day in Dargaville.

Again we travel along the Twin Coast Discovery Highway and will arrive sometime in the afternoon in Auckland. Here we have the rest of the day to our own disposal.

Our highlight for the day is the Tiritiri Matangi Island north of Auckland. The 'Eldorado' for photographers lies in the Hauraki Gulf and is an open nature reserve, noted for its bird life including Kiwi and Takahé. There the oldest lighthouse in New Zealand is still in operation and worth a visit on this island.

On the Pacific Coast Highway we will travel through the beautiful Coromandel peninsula and stay the night in Coromandel town.

During the day we will have a train ride through Kauri plantings and learn more about the Coromandel area. Our destination for today is Whitianga. We will spend the night near the beach, where once Captain Cook raised the British flag.

After a hearty breakfast 'By Nina' and a wonderful stroll we will reach the Cathedral Cove with its natural rock cathedral. We continue along the coast to Rotorua. Right before the city the smell of sulfur and blubbering and roaring geysers await us. Pure New Zealand culture is what we have in the evening in the Tamaki Village in the form of Maori dances and songs as well as the following Hangi Dinner.

What the story is all about concerning the geysers and the rare Kiwis, we will learn in Te Puia. Overwhelmed by these nature events, we continue our photo tour to Taupo where we will stop at the Lake Taupo, the largest inland water of New Zealand, and enjoy the lovely view of Mount Ruapehu and its height of 2797m. Our destination today is Napier, after the great earthquake in 1931, it is a newly built city in the Art-Deco style. We will spend the night in an original Art-Deco hotel, directly on the beach promenade, the Marine Parade.

With all the time in the world we will travel today to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. On our way we plan to stop at New Zealand's Stonehenge for a photo.

Explore Wellington on your own - this day is at your own disposal and we are happy to recommend optional activities for you.

Before we leave the northern island to head south, we will visit New Zealand's National Museum Te Papa. In the early afternoon we will then take the Interislander ferry for the short transfer to Picton. From Picton we will travel along Tasman Bay directly to Nelson, New Zealand's first city ever. By the way the area around Nelson has the highest amount of sunshine hours in New Zealand and will give you lots of photo opportunities.

As a day tour, we will today undertake an excursion to the Abel Tasman National Park where we will be dropped off per water taxi at the beach and after a walk in the free wilderness simply be picked up again.

Our photo tour adventure leads us southwest along the famous Buller Gorge Road to Cape Foulwind and south to the Pancake Rocks. Here we will get a close up view of the blowholes with the spraying seawater. We will spend the night in the coastal city Greymouth, once an important Maori settlement.

We will visit a Jade Factory for souvenirs, pass the old gold mining town Ross and enjoy the all uniting landscape with imposing mountains, green rain forest and the Tasman Sea to the right. In Franz Josef we will set up our sleeping quarters below the Franz Josef Glacier. Depending on the weather, there is the possibility for a helicopter flight with a landing on the famous glacier or weather independent to take a breathtaking quad tour in the rain forest.

Explore the Franz Josef Glacier on your own and take an optional hiking tour - this day is at your own disposal.

Passing the Fox Glacier we will leave the Tasman Sea, cross the Haast Pass and reach Wanaka. A lonely mountain road leads us to the most exciting city of New Zealand, to Queenstown. After a breathtaking passage on the Lake Wakatipu we will have dinner in the Colonel's Homestead restaurant of the Walter Peak High Country Sheep farm and with a farm tour get a picture of the work on a New Zealand farm. The TSS Earnslaw, the oldest coal fueled steam ship of New Zealand, brings us afterwards back again to Queenstown.

There is action and sights to see: Starting with the popular bungee jumping off the historic Kawarau Bridge, up to para sailing and jet boat riding. Of course you can also spend your time with an abundant shopping tour in Queenstown or just relax - this day is at your own disposal.

Your photo tour continues on by spending the morning in lovely Queenstown and heading to Te Anau in the early afternoon.

Today a world wonder is on the photo program, one of the most famous symbols of New Zealand: the Milford Sound in the rain-laden zone of New Zealand. Here we will take a cruise on the 16 kilometer long fjord to the Tasman Sea and at the same time take amazing photographs from penguins, sea lions, dolphins, sometimes even whales, as well as the most spectacular waterfalls in New Zealand.

Later in the morning we will continue our adventure to Invercargill, the southernmost city of New Zealand and the heart of the Southland.

Our day trip leads us to Stewart Island in the far south of New Zealand. Here we can observe in untouched nature i.e. rare bird species and take a boats tour for a spectacular underwater world.

Surely most of you have heard of the cult film 'The World's Fastest Indian' with Anthony Hopkins. We will have a close up view of Burt Monro's original motorcycle today. Afterwards we head through the Catlins on to Dunedin. Several photo stops like the famous Nugget Point Lighthouse are on our way.

Dunedin's Royal Albatross Colony in the Otago Peninsula will be today's highlight with onsite albatross and penguin viewing as well as a historical tour of Tairoa Head. Prepare your cameras for many photos and videos!

Our destination for today is Mount Cook, more than 3800 meters high and the highest mountain in New Zealand. We will take a photo tour and, if possible, stay the night at the legendary Hermitage Hotel below the mountain.

The inland route to Christchurch leads us to the 'Church of the Good Shepherd' located on the shores of Lake Tekapo. The church is arguably one of the most photographed in New Zealand, and features an altar window that frames stunning views of the lake and mountains.

Today we will learn more about the French influence in New Zealand by taking a day trip to the village Akaroa, set on a beautiful sheltered harbour and overlooked by craggy volcanic hills.

Depending on the weather, we will join a whale watching tour. Our destination is Kaikoura, the most famous place for whale watching and photo shooting in New Zealand.

While travelling back north, we have an overnight stay in Blenheim, the centre of New Zealand's wine industry and located in the Marlborough Region in the north of the South Island of New Zealand. Of course we will have a wine tasting tour.

Welcome back to the North Island. Via the Interislander we take the famous ferry ride through the Queen Charlotte Sound and pass the Cook Straight between the islands. The rest of the day in Wellington is at your own disposal.

From Wellington we will travel north to visit the oldest national park of New Zealand, the Tongariro National Park, for breathtaking photos of Mount Tongariro and the historical Chateau Tongariro Hotel on its footsteps. After another wonderful day, our overnight stay is in Taupo near Lake Taupo.

On our last day we will visit the Waitomo Glowworm Caves and take a boat ride under the glow worms. After this spectacular highlight, we head toward Auckland for our traditional Farewell Dinner in which we can recap the adventures of our photography tour through New Zealand.