Journey to the West Coast through some of New Zealand's most untouched wilderness and into the heart of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage area. The South Island’s West Coast boasts more forests, mountains and protected lands than any other region of New Zealand. Over the tour, you will have excellent opportunities to capture wild and remote coastlines flanked by primeval rainforests, with the high peaks and glaciers of the Southern Alps rising beyond. All while based in comfortable accommodation at Fox Glacier for two nights.

This 3-day private West Coast tour allows for a flexible itinerary. This tour is designed around your photographic objectives, time of the year and your travel itinerary. The tour price is for 1 or 2 people, based on a twin share/double hotel room with return transport from Queenstown. 

We can also run 3-day tours on the upper part of the West Coast to capture the Paparoa and Kahurangi coastline or extended 5-6 day tours that travel down the entire West Coast, please contact us for further information.

This private tour is priced at $5500 for 1 person, or $2900 per person for 2 - 8 people.

ITINERARY

Day 1

Departing Queenstown, we drive over the Crown Range then climb up to Haast Pass, the gateway to the West Coast, stopping along the way to photograph a number of extraordinary waterfalls. After arriving at Fox Glacier, our accommodation for the next two nights, we head out at sunset to photograph panoramic views of the snow-covered peaks of the Southern Alps.

Day 2

This morning we photograph sunrise at Lake Matheson, capturing the often-perfect reflections of Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman - New Zealand’s highest mountains. If the weather is right you will have the option (at additional cost) to take a helicopter flight onto the vast upper neve of the Fox Glacier for some unparalleled photo opportunities. The rest of today will be spent exploring the nearby Franz Joseph glacier area with the option of taking a hike through lush rainforest on one of the many fine walking trails. Sunset tonight will see us capturing views of the Southern Alps, rising beyond a vast extent of rainforest from one of the areas lakes or coastal lagoons.

Day 3

We travel back down the West Coast exploring some of the magnificent rainforest of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage area, before crossing back over the Haast Pass to return to Queenstown. We will have time to photograph some of the areas we missed on the upward journey.