Ski and adventure New Zealand tour

Queenstown tour; 4 DAYS SKIING; shotover jet; highlights of Rotorua; Polynesian Spa hot soak; Maori cultural show and concert and ground oven cooked meal; geysers and mudpools; kiwi bird; hot spring chemistry; Hobbiton movie set; Auckland city tour; Mount Eden volcano

Accommodation

All accommodation is included. You’ll be warm and comfortable twin or triple share rooms in our pick of New Zealand’s 3 star hotels. Wifi is available

Meals

All dinners are included except one and are a choice of tasty, two course meals served in our favourite restaurants. Breakfasts are buffet style selections of cereals, toast, fresh fruit, yoghurt, juice and hot drinks. Ask us about vegetarian, kosher or halal options. You’ll enjoy organising your own lunches with your new friends with ample opportunities to visit supermarkets or cafes.

Ski and adventure New Zealand tour

Day 1 – Arrive Queenstown

Queenstown is a resort town on Lake Wakatipu with spectacular views of nearby mountains. The area was first known to Māori who probably visited en route to collect jade (pounamu). Explorers William Gilbert Rees and Nicholas von Tunzelmann were the first Europeans to settle the area. Rees established a high country sheep farm in 1860 until the discovery of gold nearby encouraged him to convert his wool shed into a hotel. In 2012 Queenstown boasted 220 adventure tourism activities, including skiing, jet boating, whitewater rafting, bungy jumping, sky-diving and fly-fishing. It  is also close to a small wine producing region and the surrounding area is often used in making movies, including of the Lord of the Rings.

• Arrive in Queenstown. Orientation tour, Collect ski and boarding gear

Overnight Queenstown

Day 2 Queenstown

• Ski Coronet Peak, an easy 20 minutes from picturesque Queenstown, Coronet Peak is perfect for serious action or sharing great times. Stunning high points and rolling trails offer seasoned skiers and riders something to really get their teeth into - including NZ's longest opening hours and thrilling weekend night skiing. For those just getting to know the snow the dedicated learner and novice areas make finding your snow feet easy.
• Plan B options, if conditions are unsuitable for skiing can also be chosen from this sheet or  include a variety of adventure activities like jet boating, horse trekking, , ice-skating, Historic steam boat rides across lake, bird park visit, a day on the Routeburn track (one of NZ’s great walks).

Overnight Queenstown

Day 3 Queenstown

• Ski Coronet Peak again
• Overnight Queenstown

Day 4 Queenstown

• Ski Cardrona Alpine Resort, high in the Southern Alps between Queenstown and Wanaka.  Skiers and Snowboarders of all ages and abilities enjoy this fun and friendly mountain with its wide open beginner trails, pristine groomers, fun free-ride terrain and world class parks and pipes.

Overnight Queenstown

Day 5 Queenstown

• Ski Cardrona
• This evening, enjoy dinner far above the town and lake Wakatipu (cable car ride and one luge ride beforehand)

Overnight Queenstown

Day 6 Queenstown 

• Shotover jet (adds $69/129 – under 16/16 +)
• Bungy jump: Optional
• Free afternoon

Overnight Queenstown

Day 7 Queenstown  to  Rotorua 

Rotorua is our oldest tourist resort, because of the bizarre geothermal features spread through and around the city, including geysers, mud pools and hot springs. In the 1800s visitors travelled around the world to see the famous Pink and White Terraces, unfortunately destroyed by Mount Tarawera volcano in 1886. The city is still a thermal resort, but now also has a great range of adventure and cultural activities to keep the visitors there a bit longer.

• Flight to Rotorua
• Highlights of Rotorua tour: eg: lakes, Kuirau Park, a geothermal park in the city centre and the Government Gardens.
• Swim/soak in the hot lakeside mineral pools at the Polynesian Spa 
• Maori Cultural Show and hangi meal.

This is your opportunity to experience the traditional world of Maori in a village reconstructed on a pre-European site in the forest. Share in the powhiri - the ancient ceremony of welcome - before you are invited in. With bonfires blazing, you will be shown traditional crafts and past-times of the Ngati Tama people. At the heart of the village, enter the Meeting House for a powerful and entertaining cultural performance. Afterwards, dine on Hangi, a mouth-watering feast, cooked beneath the ground on hot rocks.

Overnight Rotorua

Day 8 Rotorua to Auckland

• Te Puia: Geysers, mud pools, hot springs, kiwi bird, Maori arts and crafts, reconstructed village, evening cultural show and hangi meal. This is the site of New Zealand’s most impressive geyser. You’ll also see artisans engaged in traditional Maori crafts (wood carving and flax weaving). This venue also houses a couple of kiwi, New Zealand’s national bird, in an aviary where night and day are reversed so this flightless, nocturnal bird is active during the day.
• Hobbiton Movie Set tour: this is an opportunity to see a unique attraction, the set reconstructed specially for the filming of the Hobbit, a mecca for fans worldwide of author J. R. R. Tolkien and a work of art in its own right.

Overnight Auckland

Day 9 Auckland to Perth

Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city with nearly a third of the country’s population. It’s a sprawling low-rise conurbation in a fantastic coastal location, the narrowest part of the upper North Island. No place is more than a few kilometres from the sea and the beach and it’s full of greenery because the small volcanoes scattered throughout the urban area are mostly recreational reserves.

• Take a short walk to the summit of Mount Eden volcano:  Enjoy stunning views of Auckland, its coastline and offshore islands and explore the remnants of the fortified Maori Village (Pa) that used to occupy the summit.
• Airport transfer

Ski and adventure New Zealand tour

Includes

• All activities and entrance fees as described in the itinerary
• Professional guides and educators
• Auckland airport transfers
• Cairns airport transfers
• Transportation to activities
• All continental breakfasts
• All lunches (except on travel days to NZ and AUS)
• 11 dinners
• 2 nights Paihia lodge (dorm-style lodge with shared bathrooms)*
• 1 night Pariki Beach lodge (dorm-style lodge with shared bathrooms)*
• 1 night Rotorua lodge (dorm-style lodge with shared bathrooms)*
• 1 night national park budget hotel (dorm-style lodge with shared bathrooms)*
• 1 night Taupo lodge (dorm-style lodge with shared bathrooms)*
• 1 night Auckland hostel (dorm-style lodge with shared bathrooms)*
• 4 nights central Cairns hostel (dorm-style rooms w/ private bathroom)*
• 1 night at outback cattle station (dorm-style marquee with shared bathrooms)*
• 1 night Daintree Rainforest cabins (dorm-style lodge with shared bathrooms)*
• 101 Animals of the Wet Tropics field guide for each student
• Mask, fins, and snorkel hire on the reef trip
• Reusable water bottle and cloth shopping bag to take home
• Marine park and national park fees
• Pre-trip educational information
• Carbon offsetting through Sustainable Travel International (STI) for a carbon-neutral trip

*Teachers have a private twin or triple share rooms in both New Zealand and Australia. A supplement of $795 charged if an additional private room is required. If teachers are happy to share a room, no additional costs are incurred.

Trip Fees Exclude:

• Airfare to/from New Zealand and Australia
• Lunch on travel days to New Zealand and Australia; 2 dinners
• Personal expenses (phone, souvenirs, laundry, etc.) Options:
• Bungy jump ($140 NZD, pay on arrival)
• Optional professional photo with koala or crocodile ($18 AUD)
• Optional stinger/wet suit hire on the reef trip ($8 AUD)

Optional Hotel Upgrade:

Hotel Accommodation: If your group desires hotel accommodation rather than staying at hostel accommodation, you can take this option.  Add NZ$400 per person to trip price for this option.

Ski and adventure New Zealand tour

Organising a school trip overseas is a huge task, even if you do intend using the services of a local specialist once you get to your destination. The following suggestions will make your job easier and less stressful, especially if you've never run your own school trip before.

1: Begin your planning in plenty of time:

six months is the suggested minimum. Decide where you'd like to go and what you'd like your students to gain from the experience. Run the idea past your colleagues, principal and school board as necessary to see if the idea has their support. Discuss your approximate budget, target group, which subject areas to address, type of accommodation you'll use (We recommend hostels as being great value for money and more student friendly. Teachers are accommodated in separate twin rooms with en suite bathrooms where available.) Ask for an indicative quote from us and find out what airfares are likely to cost.

2: Talk to the student year levels you'd like to join the trip

Talk to the student year levels you'd like to join the trip, mentioning dates and approximate cost to gauge the level of interest. Remember that initial enthusiasm doesn't necessarily translate into signing up, but it at least signals that you should go further. Choosing dates that don't clash with exams or other big school events is self-evident, but it's also worth checking what other overseas trips your school might be planning during the same period. Groups of 25 to 35 gel well on tour and are easier to manage while also costing less per head than small groups. Price per head reduces up to a group size of 45 including teachers after which there's no budgetary advantage to making the group bigger. Let us know if you want us to build all accompanying teacher costs into the pricing. Typically schools send up to 1 adult per 10 students on tour.

3: Promotional evening for parents and students

Once you've got this far, set up a promotional evening for parents and students. We can provide a presentation with details of Learning Journeys as a company and New Zealand and lots of photos to whet their appetite. At the same time, hand out copies of the itinerary and a letter summarising key details with a request for expressions of interest and a deposit (say 10 to 20 % of the total cost) and a timeline for the payment of the balance of the trip cost. Your letter should also mention any need for clothing or equipment the students may not possess: good walking boots for example or a warm, seriously water proof jacket.

4: Confirm your booking

Once you have enough deposits to be sure the trip will go ahead, confirm your booking, which involves paying a deposit. We ask for 10% at this point or 25% if your departure date is less than 3 months ahead.

5: Expect to receive more planning paperwork

Having confirmed your booking, you can now expect to receive more planning paperwork: more detailed destination information, gear lists, RAMS forms, worksheet drafts... At this stage you can fine tune your itinerary: the first cut may have include optional or alternative activities and the educational programmes are also likely to include a choice of activities. If your school is a state school, your choice of adventure activities may depend on running these past government departments who will approve them or otherwise.

6: Building anticipation among the group

Now it's just a matter of building anticipation among the group, addressing relevant curriculum related topics in class, collecting further payments as deadlines draw near. We'll ask you for student details, including dates of birth, heights, shoe sizes if they'll be hiring, say, ski equipment. We'll provide finalised itineraries with times and details of activities. You'll receive a master copy of the worksheets (if you want them) with as much or as little input from you as you want.

7: Reminders

Students, as you're sure to know, will need frequent reminders about all aspects of their preparation for the trip. Suitable clothing is key. Teenagers who live in warm countries, or even colder ones, are likely to need convincing that they really do need that warm, waterproof jacket to ensure that they'll still enjoy what they're doing if the weather turns bad. Preparation for physically demanding aspects of the tour - hiking or even skiing/boarding also requires lots of reminders. Every communication with students needs to be copied to parents, especially meeting times and places for your final departure.

8: New Zealand

Once you're on the plane, your biggest challenges will be over. Once you reach New Zealand, we'll meet you as you come through the arrivals gate, then, apart from your supervisory role with the students, you can relax and enjoy yourself.

9: Anything we can do to make your job easier, just ask

Throughout this build up period, if there's anything we can do to make your job easier, just ask. Our role is not just to provide you and your students with a fabulously memorable and educational experience, but also to make your role as teacher in charge as painless as possible.