Our New Zealand: South Island tour begins today. We will meet for dinner in Wellington. If you are joining from our New Zealand North Island tour you will have had a day to relax and enjoy Wellington. Night in Wellington.

After some morning birding, we will catch a mid-afternoon ferry across the Cook Straight to Picton. Although the tall ferry means that birds are slightly further away, it offers some excellent species including a number of Albatross, Petrel and Shearwater possible, as well as dolphins.

After checking into the hotel, we will do some local birding - possibly at some wetlands around Blenheim, looking at Glossy Ibis and Royal Spoonbill breeding colonies, and looking for other birds like Cirl Bunting and Black-fronted Dotterel. Night in Picton.

We take a morning sealife cruise through the magnificent Marlborough Sounds, where we will hope to find New Zealand King Shag, a striking bird endemic to this part of New Zealand, along with various other seabirds and cetaceans, possibly including the world’s smallest Dolphin - the Hector’s Dolphin.

We’ll stop at Blumine Island and look for the extremely rare Malherbe’s Parakeet, of which fewer than 300 remain in the wild, along with Yellow-crowned Parakeet, South Island Saddleback and South Island Robin, while enjoying the curious and confident Weka on the beach.

We will return to Picton for lunch and then drive south towards Kaikoura. We will stop at Lake Elterwater on the way to enjoy abundant waterbirds and to look for Hoary-headed Grebe.

After dinner we will look for Little Owls around Kaikoura. Night in Kaikoura.

We will enjoy one of the world’s greatest pelagic tours, the Kaikoura Albatross Encounter. You can expect to see a variety of seabirds at close-quarters today including the massive Gibson's (Wandering) Albatross, with a wingspan of 3.5m! Other species include, White-capped, Salvin’s, Black-browed and Royal Albatrosses, Northern Giant Petrel and Pintado Petrels, and the Hutton’s Shearwater, which breeds only in the mountains behind the town here.

We will return to Kaikoura for lunch and then spend a relaxed afternoon visiting Fyffe Palmer Reserve to look for native songbirds, or Point Kean Seal Colony and Kaikoura Peninsula. Night in Kaikoura.

We leave Kaikoura, and head south, stopping at Ashley Estuary to look for Black Stilt and Black-fronted Tern, along with other shorebirds. We will visit Travis Wetland in Christchurch to see abundant waterbirds, hopefully including New Zealand’s only Cape Barren Geese.

We then head inland continuing to Arthur’s Pass. We will bird around Arthur’s Pass village to look for forest birds such as South Island Robin, Pipipi and Rifleman. We will also get the chance to see the cheeky Keas stirring up mischief. We will try for Great Spotted Kiwi during the evening - even if we are unsuccessful in seeing them, we should be able to hear them calling from our accommodation throughout the night. Night in or near Arthur's Pass National Park.

This morning we will bird in the nearby area and drive to Hokitika for lunch. This is a very cute little town that has some amazing shop options, including loads of jade shops and wool shops (made from a mixture of sheep wool and possum fur). We will then continue on our way to Franz Josef for the night.

There is an optional evening outing to Okarito to try to find the rarest of the kiwis, the Okarito Brown Kiwi (Rowi). This will either occur on Day 6 or Day 7. Night in Franz Josef Glacier.

We will have a slower start to the day, after our Kiwi-watching the night before. Today we will bird around Okarito, exploring the beautiful forests of the West Coast. We will visit the lagoon at Okarito, where we should find some Great Egrets, which are rare in New Zealand. This is also a great area to look for Long-tailed Koel. Night in Franz Josef Glacier.

We travel today from Franz Josef to Queenstown through stunning forest and mountain habitats. We will break up the drive with stops along the way including a stop at Monro Beach to look for Fiordland Penguins. We will carry on to Haast for lunch. In the afternoon, we may take a short walk Mt Aspiring National Park, looking for native forest birds such as Rifleman and Yellowhead. Night in Queenstown.

We will drive from Queenstown to Bluff where we will catch an afternoon ferry to Stewart Island. This Ferry ride is a great opportunity to view large numbers of seabirds including large numbers of Albatrosses, Petrels and Shearwaters. Upon arrival, the rich native plant and bird life should be evident even around our accommodation in Oban—especially the raucous and inquisitive Kaka (parrot) whose silvery-white crown and flashy pink underparts make it an instant fan-favourite among visitors to Stewart Island. We will check into our accommodation after our arrival.

In the evening, we will take a boat trip to look for Yellow-eyed, Fiordland and Little Penguins, Brown Skua and more. We will also explore a remote beach to look for Southern Brown Kiwis (largest of the kiwis). This is always a wonderful and memorable experience. Night in Oban/Halfmoon Bay.

This morning we will take a half-day pelagic cruise to the east of Stewart Island. This area provides a wonderful feeding ground for a variety of pelagic birds including several species of Albatross, Petrel, Diving-Petrels and Prions. We will also be on the lookout for the much sought after Fiordland Penguin.

In the afternoon, we will take a water taxi to Ulva Island, the predator-free island with numerous endemic birds including Yellowhead, Pipipi, South Island Robin, South Island Saddleback, Red-crowned and Yellow-crowned Parakeet, Rifleman and Kaka. If we are extremely lucky, we might see a Kiwi during the day. Stewart Island and Ulva Island is the only place on earth where the Kiwis are active during the day as well. Night in Oban/Halfmoon Bay.

This morning we take the ferry back to Bluff, and travel the scenic southern route through the Catlins region—famous for its lush beech forests, hidden waterfalls, and wild Pacific coastline. If the tides work well, we will stop at Awarua Estuary to look for waders. Night in Dunedin.

Today we travel along the scenic Otago Peninsula to visit the Taiaroa Head—the site of the World’s one and only mainland albatross colony! The Northern Royal Albatross is the second largest albatross in the world, boasting a wingspan of 3 meters! As we watch the colony we should also get great looks at both Stewart Island and Spotted Shags (endemic cormorants). We will then continue to Oamaru for the next 2 nights.

This morning we will visit Bushy Beach to look for Yellow-eyed Penguins and additional sealife. We will also visit the enormous Otago and Spotted Shag colonies, and have time to enjoy the unique town of Oamaru.

In the evening, we will take a tour to view over 200 Little Penguins come ashore, while Jaegers and Albatrosses fly offshore. Night in Oamaru.

Today we will head north towards Christchurch from Oamaru. There are a number of great locations to visit and it may depend on what has been seen so far on the tour. We may stop to look for Spotless and Baillon’s Crake, or depending on conditions we may look for Wrybills and Bar-tailed Godwits. If we are lucky, we might find Australasian Bitterns and Australian Fariy Terns.

We will spend our final night in Christchurch reminiscing about our favourite highlights of the tour. Night in Christchurch.

Our incredible New Zealand birding tour draws to a close and we head home after such an amazing experience. You can depart for the airport and connecting flights home anytime.