The Senior

Celebrate the festive season in beautiful New Zealand

Celebrate the festive season in beautiful New Zealand
Celebrate the festive season in beautiful New Zealand

This is sponsored content for Grand Pacific Tours.

How is this for a magical way to spend a special Christmas Day - stepping on board a vintage steamship to cruise New Zealand's tranquil Lake Wakatipu before disembarking to enjoy Christmas lunch and the best of Queenstown high country cuisine at an historic homestead.

The iconic 107-year-old steamship is the TSS Earnslaw - or the Lady of the Lake as locals know her. Commissioned by New Zealand Railways to service the communities around the lake in 1912, to take a trip on her is to embrace the pioneering history of New Zealand's Queenstown region.

Or how about having Christmas dinner floating on spectacular Milford Sound and then doing some stargazing with a glass of bubbly in hand?

These special experiences for the senses are just some of the many you will never forget when you're touring New Zealand with Grand Pacific Tours - the company that has dedicated years to developing the most interesting coach holidays showcasing the unique destination that is Aotearoa.

It may be just a five hour flight from Australia, but New Zealand feels like a world away and also a world in one country.

Its diverse landscape will take you from spectacular glaciers, picturesque fiords, and rugged mountains, to vast plains, rolling hillsides, subtropical forest, volcanic plateaus, and miles of coastline as far as the eye can see.

Combine that with New Zealand's reputation as a foodie heaven with its beautiful fresh produce and award-winning wines and you have a destination not to be missed.

Priding itself on offering a coach touring holiday experience for everyone no matter your budget and interests, its festive tours offer plenty of choice.

You can enjoy the 11 Day Festive South Island Tour that encompasses all the natural landscapes and attractions of the South Island.

On Christmas Day on this tour travellers board the Milford Mariner for an unforgettable Christmas dinner and overnight cruise through spectacular Milford Sound surrounded by spectacular waterfalls, rainforests, mountains and wildlife, followed by stargazing before retiring to their private cabin.I

If you'd like a longer holiday you can opt for the 17 Day Festive Season Tour which includes the memorable trip on board TSS Earnslaw and lunch at at the Colonel's Homestead at Walter Peak Station.

After a South Island exploration this tour heads to the North Island where travellers experience the geothermal wonder that is Rotarua.

It in this uniquely New Zealand place that participants will get to bring in the new year in a distinctly local way - with a Maori hungi and concert.

From there the tour heads to the beautiful Bay of Islands where travellers can start 2020 cruising to Cape Brett keeping an eye put for bottenose and common dolphins.

If you love train travel then you're in for a festive treat as well with the choice of some spectacular train journeys as part of Grand Pacific Tour's experiences.

There's New Zealand's TranzAlpine, one of the great train journeys of the world that takes you over massive viaducts, river valleys and spectacular gorges as you ascend the Southern Alps.

Or join the Coastal Pacific, a truly spectacular rail journey that follows a thin wedge of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Kaikoura Ranges.

Head to Grand Pacific Tours website to find out more about the New Zealand experiences available. They offer five different styles of coach touring to suit all budgets and interests: Ultimate Small Group Touring, Affordable Coach Tours, Signature Coach Tours, Cruise & Coach and Special Interest Tours. All Grand Pacific Tours include airfares, taxes, coach travel, hotel accommodation, most meals, sightseeing and attractions which means travellers don't have to worry about any hidden extras.