New Zealand Note
Various farm types, meetings with industry leaders and technical visits can be arranged in this programme depending on the interests of the group. 

Day 1 Arrive Auckland 
Meet your guide at Auckland International Airport. Enjoy a tour of ‘the city of sails’ including the panoramic view from the top of Mount Eden an extinct volcano. Afternoon at leisure. This evening enjoy dinner and a sailing cruise on a yacht on the Waitemata Harbour. Overnight Auckland

Day 2 Auckland - Hamilton
Travel south into the lush green Waikato the heart of New Zealand’s dairy industry.  Stop on a high producing dairy farm for lunch and a discussion with the owners.  See at first hand how New Zealand farmers manage high production under a low cost grass feeding system and discuss the huge changes that have taken place in the New Zealand dairy industry.   This afternoon visit an electric fence manufacturer or other agritech companies. Overnight Hamilton

Day 3 Hamilton – Rotorua
Visit a kiwifruit orchard this morning and this afternoon travel on to Rotorua known as New Zealand’s thermal wonderland. Visit Te Puia (the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve and Maori Arts and Crafts Institute).  See the Maori carvers at work and then explore the Maori buildings.  As you stroll around the Reserve you will see boiling mud pools and the mighty Pohutu Geyser.  There will also be the opportunity to see the rare kiwi - New Zealand’s national symbol.  This evening experience Maori culture and a hangi and concert. Overnight Rotorua

Day 4  Rotorua - Palmerston North
The first visit of the day is to a deer farm. Travel through pine plantations and visit the Huka Falls. Stop in Taupo for lunch and then continue alongside the shores of Lake Taupo and then through the Tongariro National Park and past hill country sheep and cattle farms to Palmerston North. Overnight Palmerston North or Farmstay

Day 5 Palmerston North - Wellington   
This morning visit a local potato grower before traveling through the Manawatu Gorge and the Wairarapa to Martinborough.  This area has earned a reputation for producing top quality wines. After wine tasting and lunch continue to Wellington.  City sights including Parliament Building, Te Papa Museum and Mount Victoria. Dining at leisure. Overnight Wellington

Day 6 Wellington - Christchurch
This morning cruise across Cook Strait on the Interislander and then travel on the Tranz Coastal train on the scenic route down the Kaikoura Coast with mountains on one side and the sea on the other. Overnight Christchurch

Day 7 Christchurch - Dunedin
Today travel across the Canterbury Plains to visit a mixed cropping and livestock farm (cereal and seed crops, sheep and beef) near Ashburton. This afternoon continue to Dunedin called the ‘Edinburgh of the South’ because of its Scottish heritage. Dinner at leisure. Overnight Dunedin

Day 8 Dunedin - Queenstown
The day starts with time to explore the city and then set off for Queenstown.  Farm visits en route include a sheep stud and a dairy farm.  Travel in the Gondola this evening to enjoy a buffet dinner in the Skyline Restaurant overlooking Queenstown. Overnight Queenstown

Day 9  Queenstown
A day in this picturesque resort to enjoy the local attractions.  This evening cruise across Lake Wakatipu in the TSS Earnslaw and dine in the Colonel’s Homestead Restaurant at Walter Peak High Country Station. Overnight Queenstown

Day 10  Queenstown - Christchurch 
Travel through the Kawerau Gorge, over the Lindis Pass and into the McKenzie Basin.  Weather permitting you will get spectacular views of Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain at 3,754 metres.  Visit a high country farm and then continue across the Canterbury Plains to Christchurch. Overnight Christchurch

Day 11 Christchurch – Depart for Melbourne
Enjoy a tour of the ‘Garden City’ so named because of its many parks and attractive gardens.  Cathedral Square, The Arts Centre and the Canterbury Museum are just a few of the highlights. Lunch and then transfer to Christchurch airport to connect with your international flight for Melbourne, Australia.

Australian Note:
This program sets out to showcase the diversity of Australian agricultural and horticultural production.

As the world’s oldest land mass with the poorest soils and limited rainfall, Australian agricultural producers have adapted to many challenges by adopting unique production methods and management processes.

Australia is justifiably proud of its success in many areas of horticulture, in livestock production and also in the diverse range of crops that are grown.

With a focus on fresh, clean and green production, our food, fibre and other agricultural products have a high demand worldwide.

As an island nation, Australia constantly strives to maintain the highest standards in disease resistance and purity within its agricultural produce sector.

Day 11  Arrive Melbourne
Afternoon flight arrival into Melbourne, capital of the southern State of Victoria.  Melbourne is known as a European style city of gardens, trees and wide boulevards. Transfer to city centre hotel with orientation tour of the city en route. Victoria with its cool climate and good soils produces a great diversity of agricultural and horticultural crops. Overnight Melbourne       

Day 12  Melbourne – Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley
Travel east from the city of Melbourne to the Dandenong Ranges, part of the foothills of the Great Dividing Range where the climate is cooler.  Technical visits will focus on fruit production including cherries and other stone fruit as well as farms growing flowers for the domestic and export markets. Continue on to the Yarra Valley, one of the earliest wine growing regions in Australia.  Inspection of vineyard followed by dinner in a local winery. Return to Melbourne. Overnight Melbourne

Day 13  Melbourne – Geelong - Ballarat
Travel approximately 30 kms south west of Melbourne to the market garden area around Werribee.  See vegetable production on alluvial soils adjacent to Port Phillip Bay.  Depending on seasonal production needs you may see cabbages, carrots, lettuces, onions and other vegetable crops. Visit Melbourne Water’s Western Treatment Plant to see the latest technology in recycling sewerage waste combined with livestock production. Continue to the regional city of Geelong with a visit to the National Wool Museum for a guided tour of the history of Australia’s best-known product, wool. Lunch at the National Wool Museum. Continue travelling southwest to visit a beef cattle producer, and then continue on to Ballarat. Overnight Ballarat

Day 14  Ballarat – Echuca
From Ballarat, travel north through the grain belt of Victoria and see crops of wheat, barley and oats combined with sheep and cattle. See irrigated pastures used for dairy cattle production and visit a leading dairy farm milking over 400 Holstein Friesian cows. Continue on the historic inland port city of Echuca situated on the Murray River. Overnight Echuca

Day 15  Echuca – Griffith
Learn about early transportation methods for agricultural products from throughout New South Wales and Victoria to Echuca and their journey by river barges hundreds of kilometers down river to Adelaide and subsequently to Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Travel north through the flat open plains of the Riverina region.  Originally known for wool and wheat production, this region has benefited since the introduction of irrigation and now produces rice, vegetable crops (tomatoes) and irrigated pastures. See farms en route to Griffith in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Overnight Griffith

Day 16  Griffith Region
The Griffith area is the centre of a major development in irrigated and dryland agriculture. Technical visits will focus on crops and the production of a vast range of food products.  Depending on the time of year this may include, broccoli, capsicum, carrots and sweet corn as well as citrus fruit production (lemons and oranges) and broadacre crops including rice, maize, olives and grapes. Overnight Griffith

Day 17  Griffith – Orange
Travel from Griffith to Orange, one of the newest areas of both agricultural and horticultural production.  Visit cherry, apple and other stone fruit farms.  En route, see general farming enterprises including mixed livestock and cropping. Overnight Orange

Day 18  Orange – Blue Mountains - Sydney
Today will be an opportunity to see the spectacular Blue Mountains and visit the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains National Park. Continue east to Sydney via the vegetable production area of the Hawkesbury River basin. Arrive Sydney and check in to centrally located city hotel. Overnight Sydney

Day 19  Sydney
Optional early morning visit to the wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower markets where over $2 billion of produce changes hands annually. Orientation tour of Sydney including Sydney Olympic Park, Botanic Gardens, famous beaches and the Sydney Opera House. Evening farewell dinner cruise on Sydney Harbour. Overnight Sydney

Day 20  Sydney – Depart
Free time for shopping prior to transfer to Sydney International Airport for the flight home.

Services Included
Transport in air conditioned coach.
Cook Strait Ferry and Tranz Coastal train passage.
Share twin accommodation in good quality hotels ranging from 3 to 4 star.
All breakfasts plus dinners and lunches as indicated in the itinerary.
All farm and technical visits.
Pride of Auckland Dinner Cruise, Te Puia, Maori Hangi and Concert, winery visit, Te Papa Museum, Parliament Buildings, gondola ride in Queenstown, TSS Earnslaw cruise and dinner at Walter Peak High Country Station, National Wool Museum, Sydney Harbour Dinner Cruise.
New Zealand guide and Australian guide
New Zealand Government Goods and Services Tax at 12.5% and Australian Goods and Services Tax at 10%

Services Not Included
Travel insurance
International departure taxes
Domestic Airfares in Australia
Meals not itemised above
Items of a personal nature such as beverages, laundry, telephone.