A curated self-drive journey for four.
Not a coach tour, and not a hire car and a map left to you. The route, the stays and the timing are designed. The wheel is yours.
Twelve nights in five places. Auckland is where you land, where you come back to between the islands, and where you leave from. In between: two nights in Rotorua, two in Akaroa, two at Lake Tekapo and three in Queenstown. Waitomo, Hobbiton, Aoraki / Mt Cook, Milford Sound and Glenorchy are day visits.
The Route · Day by Day →
This is not a New Zealand trip spent following a bus from sight to sight. It is also not a hire car, a list of hotels and a map, with the rest left for you to work out. We have already decided where you sleep, when a place is worth stopping for, where to stay an extra night, which distances you should drive yourself, and which ones are better flown. From the geothermal valleys, Māori culture and Hobbiton in the north, to the coast, glaciers, lakes, fiords and mountains of the south. Fourteen days and twelve nights, not to fit more in, but so that each place has time to actually happen.
Design decisionNo sightseeing on the first day: you collect the car, settle in and recover from the overnight flight before the road begins.
Day 01
Departure
An evening departure from Kuala Lumpur. You fly overnight and land in Auckland the next morning.
TonightOn board
Day 02
Arrive, rest, reset
No sightseeing is planned today. You collect the car at the airport and drive the short way to your accommodation. The first day is kept light on purpose, so you can recover from the overnight flight before the road journey begins.
TonightFERNZ Motel & Apartments BirkenheadOr similar
Design decisionTwo nights, not a drive-through: the kiwi, Wai-O-Tapu and an evening at Te Puia need a full day of their own.
Day 03
Into the north
The self-drive begins, heading south. At Waitomo, a guided walk through the limestone caves ends under the glowworms. Then on to Rotorua.
TonightRedwoods GetawayOr similar
Day 04
Culture, geothermal land, and the kiwi
A full day in Rotorua. The kiwi in the morning, the volcanic colours of Wai-O-Tapu, and an evening at Te Puia.
TonightRedwoods GetawayOr similar
Design decisionThe night between the islands is back at the same quiet base on the North Shore, not in another hotel.
Day 05
Into Middle-earth
Hobbiton on the way back north, then the drive to Auckland for the night before the flight south.
TonightFERNZ Motel & Apartments BirkenheadOr similar
Design decisionYou stay above the harbour, for two nights: the cruise and the evening penguins get a whole day.
Day 06
The South Island begins
A midday flight to Christchurch. You collect the car at the airport there and drive out to Banks Peninsula and the harbour town of Akaroa.
TonightHarbour View 3-Bedroom RetreatAkaroa · Or similar
Day 07
The wilder coast
A slower day by the harbour. A nature cruise on the water, and in the evening, penguins on Banks Peninsula.
TonightHarbour View 3-Bedroom RetreatAkaroa · Or similar
Design decisionTwo nights in the high country: the glacier day starts and ends here, and the night sky over Tekapo is part of the reason to stay.
Day 08
Into the high country
Inland across the plains to Lake Tekapo. Photo stops at the lake, then a soak after the drive.
TonightHillcrest Lodge BLake Tekapo · Or similar
Day 09
Into the glacier world
One of the defining days of the journey. A helicopter takes you onto the Tasman Glacier, lands, and you walk on the ice itself, not just look at it from a viewpoint. In the evening, back at Tekapo, the southern night sky.
TonightHillcrest Lodge BLake Tekapo · Or similar
Design decisionThree nights from one base: Milford Sound, the rivers and Glenorchy each get their own day, with no packing in between — and Milford is reached by air, not the long road.
Day 10
The scenic road south
A long, open drive through the high country, with a stop for salmon on the way. You arrive in Queenstown with enough of the day left to go up the mountain.
TonightThe Lairds BothyQueenstown · Or similar
Day 11
Fiordland from the air
Today the long road is taken out. You fly to Milford Sound, cruise the fiord, and fly back, so the travelling itself becomes the view. Later in the day, the jet boat.
TonightThe Lairds BothyQueenstown · Or similar
Day 12
The quieter Queenstown
Out along the lake to Glenorchy for an easy walk, then back to Lake Wakatipu for a slower evening at Walter Peak after several busy days.
TonightThe Lairds BothyQueenstown · Or similar
Design decisionThe last night is back at the North Shore base, so the flight home leaves from the city you are already in.
Day 13
A final morning
The morning is free for souvenirs and packing. An afternoon flight takes you back to Auckland for the last night.
TonightFERNZ Motel & Apartments BirkenheadOr similar
Day 14
Journey home
Breakfast, final packing, and the flight home. You land in Kuala Lumpur the same evening.
Tonight—
Why here: a quiet base on the North Shore that you come back to three times, the night you land, the night between the islands, and the last night before the flight home.
Why two nights: Rotorua is a full day on its own. The kiwi, Wai-O-Tapu and an evening at Te Puia do not fit into a drive-through.
Why here: the harbour is the reason to come, so you stay above it. Two nights give the cruise and the evening penguins a whole day.
Why two nights: the glacier day starts and ends here, and the night sky over Tekapo is part of the reason to stay.
Why three nights: Milford Sound, the rivers and Glenorchy each get their own day, from one base. No packing in between.
2 bedrooms
Hyundai Santa Fe, or similar
3 bedrooms
Hyundai Staria, or similar
4 bedrooms
Hyundai Staria, or similar
One bedroom for every two travellers, in the same five places. The exact apartment or townhouse in each place is confirmed for your party size. A party of eight can leave part of the luggage at the Auckland accommodation while in the South Island, and collect it on return. Parties of five or seven travel in two cars.
Waitomo, Hobbiton, Aoraki / Mt Cook, Milford Sound and Glenorchy are day visits and are not overnight stays.
I have led groups through both islands of New Zealand. The same question kept coming up: how do you see the country without spending it on a coach, and without doing all the research yourself? This journey is my answer. You drive, and the thinking is already done.
Every stay and every experience here is one I have chosen and put in order myself. If the weather closes the glacier or the fiord on the day, I am the one who reworks the plan with you.
ZeL coordinates your journey from Kuala Lumpur and is your main point of contact.
This is a self-drive journey. Your cars are arranged for you, collected and returned at the airports, and the road plan for each day is prepared in advance.
Cruises, flights, the heli hike and other experiences are run by the local operators.
You have a direct WhatsApp contact with ZeL for coordination and support.
There is no tour leader or driver on this journey. You travel as your own party of four.
Journeys That Matter.
New Zealand’s most spectacular experiences are also the ones that depend on the weather. The itinerary is built with flexibility where nature needs it.
Where a day depends on the weather, the backup is already planned.
Twelve nights · five places · two islands
Autumn. The weather is generally settled, the poplars around Queenstown turn gold in April, and the roads are quieter once the summer peak has passed.
Winter. Snow on the Southern Alps, and long, clear nights for the stars at Tekapo. Days are shorter, and high-country roads can have ice or snow, so the driver should be comfortable with winter conditions.
Early spring. Snow still on the peaks, lambs in the fields, and the season beginning to turn.
The published price applies to departures from March to September. For departures from October to February, the journey is quoted individually.
Subject to weather, visibility, flight conditions and operator approval. If it cannot fly, the planned backup is the Hooker Valley Track.
The flights in and out of Milford Sound run subject to weather and operating conditions.
The weather is checked on the day, and the plan is adjusted with you.
Stay, don’t pass through.
Many tours of both islands cover the main towns in much less time. The extra days here are not used for more sights. They go to staying: two nights in Akaroa, two at Tekapo, three in Queenstown, so a place is lived in rather than passed through.
Live there for a while.
The stays are mostly apartments, a retreat and a townhouse in scenic spots, with one bedroom for every two travellers: two bedrooms for four, three for six, four for eight. You share one place, with space, a kitchen and a view, and it becomes your own base in New Zealand.
Step onto the ice.
Not just a flight over Mt Cook. A helicopter lands you on the Tasman Glacier and you walk on it. If the weather says no, the Hooker Valley Track is the planned backup.
Fly in. Cruise. Fly back.
The usual way into Milford Sound is a long day on the road there and back. Here you fly in, cruise the fiord, and fly back. The hours that would be transport become one of the most memorable parts of the journey.
Adventure, then slow down.
This is not an extreme adventure tour. The active experiences are placed where they are worth it, and the days in between stay easy: driving, stopping and staying.
The journey is designed around four. Parties of up to eight travel at the same price per person: two bedrooms for four, three for six, four for eight.
| Party size | Per person |
|---|---|
| 4 – 8 travellers | RM 18,800 |
| 2 – 3 travellers | Individual quotation |
| 9 or more | Individual quotation |
Parties of four to eight travel at the same price per person. For two or three travellers, or a party of more than eight, the journey is quoted individually. Tell us how many of you there are and when you would like to go.
Request a Quote →RM 18,800 per person, for parties of four to eight, departing March to September. AIG Travel Insurance is included. International flights, regular meals and the driving costs listed below are not included.
Regular meals are left out on purpose. Self-drive means you can stop at a local café, bakery, market or restaurant when you like.
Not included. Choose your own airline, fare, frequent-flyer programme or cabin class.
Only the meals named as part of an experience are included: the Te Pō hāngī and the Walter Peak BBQ.
The heli hike and the scenic flights depend on the weather. The planned backup is described above.
Designed around four. Up to eight travel at the same price per person, with one bedroom for every two travellers and a car sized to the party, as set out in the table above.
Fuel, parking, tolls, the rental insurance excess and the one-way rental fee are paid locally or quoted separately, as they depend on how and where you drive.
Room types and operating schedules are subject to final supplier confirmation.
Tell us your travel month and who is coming, and we will come back with the full plan.
Enquire About This Journey →Between the islands, and between Queenstown and Auckland, you fly instead of driving.
Driving licence requirements are confirmed with you before booking.
Here the journey is designed for you, but it still belongs to you.
Scenic flights to Milford Sound also run subject to weather and operating conditions.
The Te Pō hāngī at Te Puia and the Walter Peak gourmet BBQ are included.
The exact deposit amount and payment schedule will be stated in the formal quotation.
They will be stated clearly in the quotation before any payment is made.
This is a reference itinerary. The final arrangements may be adjusted to suit your actual departure date, flight schedule and local operating conditions.
Share your next journey with us. We would love to design a journey around you.
There are mountains that deserve a pause, roads worth driving, lakes that deserve more than a photograph, a glacier worth stepping onto, and a fiord better seen from the sky. Tell us your month and who is coming, and we will come back with the full plan.
Every enquiry is answered by the person who designs the journey.