7 - Day North to South Island Grand Tour - Auckland to Queenstown

The tour is perfect to get an overview of the two islands. It's some of the best places to visit though it included very early starts and long travel days on buses. The tour fron Auckland to Rotorua is very good as it includes the glow worm caves. On the second day in Rotorua there's the cultural village and a Maori show. Unfortunately, it's not enough time to walk around the volcanic area with the mud pools and the geysers. It should be an hour longer to see all that as well. Wellington is just a night stop as you arrive late and leave early to catch the ferry to the South Island. The train ride from Picton to Kaikoura really is a highlight of the trip, going along the coastline and also seeing all the wineyards on the way. Just before arriving Kaikoura you might see fur seals. The same you'll see on the bus to Christchurch. Most of Christchurch is still under construction after the earthquakes. Especially the cathedral in the center is still closed. The city tour gives you mire information abiut the earthquakes and brings you to all the places you cannot reach by walking. From Christchurch to Queenstown it's another tour stopping at Lake Tekapo and Mt Cook. 9 hours driving but beautiful landscape. Some of the taxi pickups were difficult. Either they had the wring date or were not on time, or there was more than one taxi going to the same spot for different clients. With the privided contact numbers you could get in touch with the operators and fix it. Unfortunatly, not enough time to explore but a reason coming back to see more next time.

I just returned from a 8-day North to South Island tour. Lizzy was helpful and professional in her dealings with my bookings. The driver in Christchurch by the name of Graham was very very friendly and informative. I strongly advise all visitors to look for Graham if they are visiting Christchurch. I hope Leisure Tours will give him a good bonus!!