10 Day Volcanoes & Rainforest Safari

Your guide will give you a briefing before driving south to Rotorua. We stop beside a forest lake for a picnic lunch and to organise and pack your backpack for our first hike into Whirinaki Forest Park. This park covers an area of 60,000 hectares and is famous for tis Jurassic-like rainforest. It is thought that forests like this once covered the super-continent of Gondwanaland over 150 million years ago. This first hike is an easy one, on a track through native beech forest, to a simple forest hut beside a river. While dinner is prepared there is time to relax. 10km/2 hours hiking

This morning we continue along the valley track for about 1.5 hours. Hike up a side river through a beautiful gorge (learning river crossing techniques) to the next hut/camp. We stop for lunch on the way and often there is a chance for a quick swim in the cold cascades. This remote wilderness is completely cut off from any tourist trail, see rare blue ducks, robins and kakas (a large bush parrot). As the evening comes, we enjoy the surrounds by the light from the evening campfire. 14km/6 hours hiking

Today's hike takes you over a small pass into the world-renowned Whirinaki rainforest of weeping ferns and forest giants. Meet the bus at the track exit on the other side of the park around midday before driving to Rotorua. Rotorua is renown for its festooned thermal activity. On the way have a swim in a natural hot river hidden in bush - complete with a small waterfall. Arriving at our accommodation there is time for a shower before turning in for the night. 10km/5 hours hiking

This morning we are up nice and early to kayak (optional - additional fee's) on Lake Tarawera, an ancient crater lake with beautiful sand beaches surrounded by forests. This area is rich in Maori history. Paddle past the site of a Maori village which was buried under the ash from the 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption. At lunch you can also soak in a hot stream in the bush. We drive south to a thermal area before vehicle-camping beside the impressive blue waters of the Waikato River. 15km/5 hours kayaking

A leisurely breakfast before heading  a short distance south to the clear waters of Lake Taupo for some swimming and relaxing. Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand (600sq km) created when the largest volcanic explosion known to human-kind erupted in 186 AD. After lunch we continue on to Tongaririo National Park. Established in 1887, it is New Zealand's first National Park, gifted to the people of New Zealand by a far-sighted Maori chief who saw this as a way of protecting the tapu (respect, sacredness, preciouness) of this land. Take an afternoon hike across alpine grasslands between these volcanoes to a hut set in native beech forest beside a bubbling stream. 5km/1.5 hours hiking

Explore this area of beech forests, springs, and desert landscapes before hiking to the next hut/camp on this remote side of Tongariro National Park. The volcanoes in the park rumble from time to time: the most recent being in September 2007 when Mount Ruapehu, the highest mountain in the park at 2797 metres spewed clouds of ash and steam. Another much younger volcano named Mount Ngauruhoe is almost perfectly symmetrical and stands 2291 metres. All around this scarlet moonscape holding turquoise and green-blue crater lakes, adding their surreal colours to the landscape is spectacular. 7km/4 hours hiking

Traverse the volcanic moonscape of contorted lava flows and ash fields before a steep climb up to the emerald lakes for a lunch stop. Cross this diverse volcanic plateau of lava valleys, scarlet moonscapes, steaming explosion craters, before descending on the western side. A short drive takes the group to an excellent lodge in a sleepy little farm town. This afternoon there is a chance to check out the classic kiwi "gumboots at the door, mate" rural pub down the road. 11km/6 hours hiking

After an early start, we drive two hours westwards through a hill country farming region to the Waiomo Caves area. The name Waitomo comes from the Maori wai (water) and tomo (shaft). This limestone area is famous for its thousands of caves. Explore a secret river cave - glowworms, waterfalls and limestone formations. Later, drive through the remote Waitomo backcountry to the wild west coast, stopping on the way to look at rock formations in limestone scenic reserves. We camp beside the beach where you can go for a swim, and afterwards we cook a meal on the beach in a hangi (Maori earth oven). In the evening enjoy being beside the ocean with a beach fire. 1km/1 hours caving

Spend the morning by the coast clambering through the bush and exploring an ancient Maori pa (fortified village). After a nice swim and exploring the cliffs we drive south to Mount Egmont National Park. This dormant volcano stands at 2518 metres and last erupted in 1755, it was smoking when Captain James Cook (British explorer) sailed past in 1769, naming it after Earl of Egmont. Maori know the mountain as the spirit/god Taranaki. It's considered a sacred place and the rocks represent his bones while the vegetation represents his hair. Hike in the lake afternoon through twisted moss-covered forest to a cosy alpine hut high on the side of the volcano. 2km/1.5 hours hiking

If the mountain conditions are reasonable, get up early to climb up the side of Mount Egmont/Taranaki to Fantham's Peak (1962m). There are commanding views from the summits of this solitary volcano. In the late morning we descend in ancient lava flows covered in goblin forest back to the bus. As we go south we stop at wild Wanganui beach for lunch, sort out our gear and take a refreshing swim. The drive to Wellington takes you through New Zealand's flattest plains. We arrive in Wellington 5-8pm and head out for our last evening meal together and a farewell drink in the capital city. Your guide will drop you at a central hostel. 5km/2-5 hours hiking