Join the Orchid Conservation Alliance for a 16-day small-group botanical tour of New Zealand's South Island in November 2027, designed for orchid enthusiasts, botanists, photographers, and nature lovers. We will search for native New Zealand orchids and other remarkable flora while exploring habitats from Arthur's Pass and Paparoa National Park to the West Coast rainforests, the Southern Alps, Fiordland National Park, Milford Sound, and the Routeburn and Kepler Track regions.

The tour focuses on seeing native New Zealand orchids in the wild, together with alpine plants, rainforest flora, mosses, ferns, birds, dramatic landscapes, and other natural history highlights.

New Zealand has approximately 120 native orchid species, over 70 of which occur in the South Island and could be in bloom at the time of our visit. The New Zealand Native Orchid Website is a treasure trove of information, and we have generated a reference list of the potential orchid species, their habitats, and links to more information about each one. Note that sightings depend on locality, weather and flowering conditions.

Our Orchids in the Wild Ecotours are one of OCA’s most important fundraising programs. OCA’s board and staff are entirely volunteer, and profits from each tour directly support our conservation projects and project partners. Tour profits typically range from $300–$1,000 per participant, depending on the tour. After each tour, we calculate the profit per participant and provide travelers with a year-end donation acknowledgment for that amount. OCA is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization; the contribution may be tax-deductible, so please consult your tax adviser.

You can learn more about the OCA and our conservation projects on our website.

Destination

South Island, New Zealand
Dates

November 20-December 5, 2027
Duration

16 days
Group size

Maximum 8 participants

Booking deadline

August 1, 2027. Note, however, our trips fill quickly, so we recommend booking as soon as possible! The refund policy is explained at checkout, your deposit is refundable up until the booking deadline date.

Trip confirmations

We will notify participants on or before the final booking date (August 1, 2027). Once the trip is confirmed, travelers can purchase flights.
Focus

Native orchids, native flora, alpine plants, rainforests, wildlife and landscapes

Walking and fitness

Participants should be in good physical condition and able to walk over uneven ground, some hills, and distances up to a mile or two.
Style

Small-group, expert-led botanical and natural history tour
Route

Christchurch – Arthur's Pass – Punakaiki/Paparoa – Hokitika – Franz Josef – Fox Glacier – Haast Pass – Wānaka – Queenstown – Glenorchy/Routeburn – Te Anau – Milford Sound – Kepler Track – Queenstown

Accommodation and transportation

Specific hotels are still being confirmed. We plan to stay in 3- to 4-star hotels, subject to availability. We will travel in a 12-seat Mercedes Sprinter van or equivalent.

Space for luggage is limited. Each participant may bring one suitcase weighing less than 20 kg (44 lb), plus one daypack or camera bag.

Airport transfers are not included. Because participants may arrive and depart on different days and flights, please arrange your own transportation from Christchurch Airport to the starting hotel and from the final hotel to Queenstown Airport.

Arrival airport

Christchurch International Airport (CHC), on or before November 20 2027

Departure airport

Queenstown Airport (ZQN), on or after December 5, 2027

Pricing:

The double occupancy price is per person, based on two people sharing a room. Traveling solo? If you would like to share a room, please contact us. Book at the single occupancy rate, and we will refund the single supplement if we find a suitable roommate for you.

What’s included

Ground transportation during the tour, hotel accommodation, all meals, guides, and entrance fees to parks and reserves.

What’s not included

Airport transfers, international airfare to and from New Zealand, alcoholic beverages, tips, and personal expenses such as souvenirs and laundry.

Refund Policy

The terms of our tour refund policy are here.

Emergency Medical Insurance

All participants are required to have an emergency medical insurance policy that covers the dates of the tour. Further information can be found here

Arrive in Christchurch, the main international gateway to New Zealand’s South Island. An evening welcome dinner will be held for the group.

To adjust to the time change, we begin with an easy day in Christchurch. We will visit the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, set within a loop of the Ōtākaro / Avon River, and explore parts of the city center. The gardens combine spacious lawns, winding paths, mature specimen trees, and both formal and naturalistic plantings.

Today we begin our journey westward, traveling through Arthur’s Pass National Park. We will explore dry eastern habitats, high alpine areas, southern beech forest, and—if time permits—lowland podocarp forest on the wetter western side of the pass. Several stops are known for native ground orchids and rich alpine flora.

We will explore Paparoa National Park, including the Pororari River Valley, known for dramatic karst cliffs and dense vegetation dominated by nīkau palms. As time permits, we will also visit the Truman Track, Dolomite Point, and the Punakaiki River Track, where we hope to see helmet orchids (Corybas species).

The Hokitika region is dominated by podocarp forest, an ancient Gondwanan element of New Zealand’s flora. We will also visit a commercial sphagnum moss farm to see where New Zealand sphagnum is produced.

We will visit Lakes Kaniere and Mahinapua in search of epiphytic orchids and explore a coastal track with distinctive and relatively undisturbed coastal habitat. Hokitika is also the center of New Zealand’s jade industry, and the cultural significance of pounamu (greenstone) will be explained.

In Westland Tai Poutini National Park, the Sentinel Rock and Roberts Point tracks offer views of Franz Josef Glacier as well as opportunities to look for orchids. For the more adventurous, the Wombat Lake track leads to a beautiful forest lake. The more difficult track can include slippery terrain.

We continue south to Fox Glacier and visit Lake Matheson, where a well-formed walking track circles the lake and, weather permitting, offers reflections of Aoraki / Mount Cook. The area is also a good place to look for Pterostylis orchids.

This is a big day as we cross back over the Southern Alps through Mount Aspiring National Park. Stops may include the Ship Creek and Waterfall tracks on the western side of Haast Pass and the Blue Pools on the eastern side. We end the day in Wānaka, at the head of an alpine lake in Central Otago.

Queenstown is a well-served visitor center and home to the South Island’s other international airport. We will visit the Kiwi Park or similar facility for a chance to see New Zealand’s iconic kiwi, a nocturnal and often elusive bird.

Kiwi adapted from Auckland War Memorial Museum / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Modified from the original.

We make a day trip from Queenstown to Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu to explore forest habitats near the start of the famous Routeburn Track.

Te Anau is the gateway to Fiordland National Park, a vast wilderness of granite mountains, deep fiords, high rainfall, and spectacular waterfalls. Along the way we may stop at conserved sites that demonstrate dryland vegetative succession and can be good places to look for Microtis orchids. If time permits, we may also visit an important sanctuary for endangered native birds.

We make a day trip from Te Anau into the heart of Fiordland, passing through the Homer Tunnel into the dramatic landscape surrounding Milford Sound. Time permitting, we will take a boat trip on Milford Sound. On the return, we will visit the Gertrude Valley, rich in alpine wildflowers, and the Lake Gunn Track to look for Pterostylis orchids.

We will explore the start of the Kepler Track, which passes through beech forest rich in both epiphytic and terrestrial orchid species. If there is interest, we can also visit the famous Te Anau glowworm caves, where bioluminescent larvae illuminate the cave ceiling.

Note: the Glowworm caves are an add-on to the tour and must be purchased separately.

We return to Queenstown in preparation for departure. The afternoon is free to explore town before a farewell dinner in the evening.

Participants should plan to depart from Queenstown international airport on December 5. Most flights connect through New Zealand or Australia.

Photo: Манько Марко / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Our trips often fill quickly. If you see that this trip is full, we suggest joining our waitlist. Sometimes people change their mind, or have to cancel for some reason. The date (=order) you joined the waitlist is captured in our system, and should a place become available, we will contact you. Additionally we can adjust the number of double and single occupancy packages available should that option fill. The basic limitation is the total number of participants. Click "ask a question" on this page.

Ross Bicknell

Dr. Ross Bicknell is a retired agricultural scientist and associate professor of plant genetics at Lincoln University. He has degrees in classical botany, plant physiology and quantitative genetics from universities in New Zealand and California. Ross is the president of the Canterbury Orchid Society, an orchid judge, and a member of the national panel for the certification of awards. The native plants of New Zealand have long held his interest and the unique orchid flora of New Zealand particularly so. Ross lives in Christchurch and travels around the South Island extensively, visiting plants in their native habitat

Mary Gerritsen

Dr. Mary Gerritsen is the president of the Orchid Conservation Alliance, and organizes and leads many of the OCA tours. She has a degree in Pharmacology and is a retired biomedical scientist who has traveled extensively to see orchids in the wild. She is also a co-author (with Ron Parsons) of a number of orchid books including Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World, A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species (1st and 2nd editions), and The American Orchid Society Guide to Orchids and Their Culture.