New Zealand
New Zealand’s Best: Natural Marvels and Cultural Heritage
Program No. 22090RJ
With nearly one-third of its land dedicated to national parks, New Zealand is ideal for exploring natural treasures like harbors, fjords and snow-capped mountains.
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12 days
11 nights
20 meals
9B 4L 7D
1
Depart for New Zealand
In Flight
5
Free Day in Auckland
Auckland
7
Akaroa Harbour Nature Cruise, Riccarton House
Christchurch
10
Nature Cruise on Piopiotahi Milford Sound
Queenstown
12
Program Concludes
In Flight
At a Glance
Pristine volcanic harbors. Snow-capped mountain peaks. Ink-black night skies ablaze with brilliant stars. These are just a few of the treasures visitors seek on journeys to New Zealand. On our journey from Auckland to Queenstown, complete with full free days to explore on your own, experience Maori traditions first-hand, learn local history on expert-led field trips and embrace the awe-inspiring power of nature — evident in every view of the mountains and lakes that surround you.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to three miles daily over varied terrain. Elevations up to 3,200 feet.
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Experience traditional Maori customs.
- Stargaze in the Mackenzie Basin, home to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, located in New Zealand's only International Dark Sky Reserve.
- Witness spectacular landscapes during a study cruise.
General Notes
Program includes independent time (including free days in Auckland and Queenstown) to explore independently, and has several meals on your own. Group Leaders will provide directions for self-directed excursions. Suggestions for free-time activities provided in preparatory materials.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Hamish Campbell
Hamish Campbell earned a Ph.D. in paleontology from Cambridge University, and went on to serve as a senior scientist at GNS Science — the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences — in Wellington, New Zealand, and as geologist at the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Hamish channeled his expertise to write several popular books on New Zealand geology. His passion for New Zealand, geology and learning have made him an exceptional long-time instructor for Road Scholar.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Hamish Campbell
View biography
Hamish Campbell earned a Ph.D. in paleontology from Cambridge University, and went on to serve as a senior scientist at GNS Science — the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences — in Wellington, New Zealand, and as geologist at the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Hamish channeled his expertise to write several popular books on New Zealand geology. His passion for New Zealand, geology and learning have made him an exceptional long-time instructor for Road Scholar.
Mavis Sager
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Mavis Sager is a docent at the Auckland War Memorial Museum and has enjoyed travelling around the world. For the past eight years she has travelled extensively throughout New Zealand and Australia, two countries of great diversity. Mavis finds sharing her knowledge of the history, flora, fauna and lifestyle of the places she visits with people from around the world greatly stimulating. Her other interests are photography, singing, music and painting.
Hazel Petrie
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Hazel Petrie is an Honorary Research Fellow in the University of Auckland Department of History. She has a and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Maori Studies, a Master of Arts in History, and a Ph.D. in Maori Studies, all from the University of Auckland. Her published books include “Chiefs of Industry: Maori Tribal Enterprise in Early Colonial New Zealand” that was a finalist in the New Zealand Book Awards, and “Outcasts of the Gods?: The Struggle Over Slavery in Maori New Zealand.”
Suggested Reading List
(11 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
New Zealand’s Best: Natural Marvels and Cultural Heritage
Program Number: 22090
The Bone People
Set in modern-day South Island, this lyrical novel brings together three troubled individuals who represent New Zealand’s varied Maori and European traditions. Winner of the 1985 Booker Prize.
The Book Of Fame
In August 1905 a party of young men set sail for England. Among them were ordinary farmers and bootmakers, a miner and a bank clerk. Together they made up the All Blacks, an unknown rugby team from New Zealand. And they had come to show the world what they could do. What they didn't know was that they were bound for fame. In this melding of true history and imagination, Lloyd Jones has recreated an unforgettable journey from innocence to celebrity.
A Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand
Comprehensive and compact, this Princeton Pocket Guide by longtime resident Julian Fitter and Don Merton at New Zealand's Department of Conservation features 600 color photographs. With range maps, descriptions and excellent introductory chapters on conservation efforts and key national parks for bird watching
Whale Rider
A magical, mythical novella about a young Maori girl and her relationship with a whale, that ultimately saves her village. Based loosely on Ihimaera’s youth in a Maori village.
The Penguin History of New Zealand
This bestselling book is arguably the definitive contemporary reference to the history of New Zealand. New Zealand was the last country in the world to be discovered and settled by humankind. It was also the first to introduce full democracy. Between those events, and in the century that followed the franchise, the movements and conflicts of human history have been played out more intensively and more rapidly in New Zealand than anywhere else on Earth. The Penguin History of New Zealand tells that story in all its colour and drama. The narrative that emerges is an inclusive one about men and women, Maori and Pakeha. It shows that British motives in colonising New Zealand were essentially humane; and that Maori, far from being passive victims of a 'fatal impact', coped heroically with colonisation and survived by selectively accepting and adapting what Western technology and culture had to offer.
Stories
This collection includes three marvelous, long pieces which together constitute the beginnings of an unfinished novel based on Mansfield's childhood in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1890s.
Purakau: Maori Myths retold by Maori Writers
A lively retelling of Purakau - Maori Myths - by contemporary Maori Writers.
New Zealand: A Natural History
The authors, both naturalists and photographers, present the wildlife, habitats and splendour of their adopted homeland in this pictorial celebration.
Mauri Ora: Wisdom from the Maori World
Pearls of wisdom - whakatauki - have been gifted from generation to generation as an intrinsic part of the Maori world. Mauri Ora links whakatauki to key personal virtues identified across cultures and generations.
The Luminaries
It is 1866, and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men, who have met in secret to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. A wealthy man has vanished, a whore has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely patterned as the night sky. The Luminaries, an extraordinary work of fiction, was the Man Booker prize winner in 2013.
The Meaning of Trees
Robert Vennel is the manager of Auckland Museum's natural science collection. In this book, sub-titled "The History & Usage of New Zealand's Native Pants", he tells the story of plants and people in Aotearoa New Zealand. In addition to outlining indigenous bush kai (food), Vennell also investigates New Zealand's native plants in terms of their value for suitability for carving, weaving and rongoa (medicinal uses). He looks at traditional Maori usage of the forest and how it put sustainability above all else as well as how European settlers had to change their way of thinking when confronted with vastly different vegetation.