You are met by our reps at Papeete Airport, who will answer your questions, provide additional contact information, counsel with you about your Tahiti stay and make sure that you make your connecting flight. Take a 45-minute flight to Bora Bora, where your hotel has arranged your transfer to their property. The island of Bora Bora is widely considered to be the most beautiful of the Tahitian islands and one of the most beautiful things to see on earth. It is the “.. (preferred vacation spot) for numerous movie stars, European royalty, sheiks, maharajas, and international jet setters.” You can explore Bora Bora this afternoon at your leisure. Enjoy the pristine white beaches, aquamarine water, fabulous coral reef, tropical flowers and fauna. You can explore the lagoon by boat excursion or rented boat, go fishing (coastal or deep sea) or horseback riding, rent a Moped or car, play tennis, scuba dive or snorkel, bike, hike, or enjoy Bora Bora’s natural wonders in a thousand other ways. And of course you may choose to simply relax at your hotel. In certain of the over water bungalows you can watch the marine life swim under the large glass insert in the floor of your room.

In addition to the options listed for Day 1, you can choose a mountain safari in a 4X4 LandRover or Jeep, which provides the most majestic views of the area, or you can take a Circle Island (boat) Tour, during which you will walk on living coral reef, search for manta rays, kiss Sting rays, dive for Giant Mussels, and snorkel amid exotic fish and coral in the Natural Aquarium . With either tour, your English speaking guide will cause you to become more informed about the people, history, and attractions of Bora Bora. In the late afternoon, ask the concierge to direct you to the best location for listening to the Tahitians playing guitars and ukuleles while singing traditional Polynesian songs as you watch the magnificent sunset.

DAY 3
BORA BORA/ TAHITI (WITH OPTIONAL EXCURSION TO MOOREA)

You checkout at 9 AM and are transferred by the hotel to the Bora Bora airport to catch your 45-minute flight to Moorea, where your hotel has arranged your transfer to their property. Moorea is “the tropical South Sea island you expect to find when you fly to Tahiti” and you are free today to enjoy Moorea at your leisure or simply relax at the hotel. Activities available to you include snorkeling or scuba diving in the coral reef, a helicopter tour of the area, whale watching expeditions (May through October only), white sand beaches, coral gardens, fishing (coastal or deep sea), golfing, tennis, boating (sail, motor, row, or paddle), hiking, biking, or a variety of other activities.

If you choose to take the 6-hour outrigger canoe excursion, you will be picked up at the hotel at around 8:45. You will explore the lagoon, feed the sharks and dolphins, go snorkeling and shelling, and have a barbecue picnic on the motu (small island in the lagoon.) Most importantly, you will experience the beauty of Moorea first hand. Of course, you may forgo the tours and choose any of the activities mentioned in Day 1. Tonight, a dinner show with traditional Tahitian dance, music and song.

You check-out at 9 AM and are transferred by the hotel to the Moorea airport to catch your flight to Papeete. The island of Tahiti is yours to explore for the day (our rep will help you plan your day), but get to bed early because you must be at the Papeete airport by very early tomorrow morning for your flight to New Zealand.

Here you will view marine life from a diver’s perspective through the perspex tunnel and take a trip to the ‘South Pole’ to see the live penguin display and a replica of Scott’s Hut as it is today on the frozen continent. Don’t forget that you have crossed the International Date Line and have lost a day. Your roughly 6-hour flight to Auckland departs Papeete in the early morning, possibly as early as 5:40 AM. You arrive in Auckland mid to late afternoon “tomorrow”. Greeted at the airport by our reps, who will answer your questions, counsel about your trip and transfer you to your hotel. Afternoon sightseeing tour of City, features the views from Mt Eden, quaint Parnell Village, the Waterfront Drive and the best residential areas, plus Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World and Antarctic Encounter. (Meals Aloft)

Following breakfast this morning, collect a Mitsubishi Lancer or similar automatic vehicle and drive south over the Bombay Hills through the fertile farmlands of the Waikato Valley to Waitomo in the King Country. You will enjoy a guided tour of the famous Waitomo Cave Limestone Cave, featuring a boat ride on an underground stream into the Glowworm Grotto. Barbecue lunch is included before continuing on through picturesque countryside and across the bush clad Mamaku Ranges to the thermal wonderland of Rotorua. (BL)