Sydney, the Southern Alps and Fiji

Twelve nights for a family, with private charters between three countries to keep the travelling short. Breakfast in the performers' Green Room after a backstage tour of the Sydney Opera House, helicopter days into the Southern Alps from a Victorian lodge whose head gardener walks you through its 30 acres, then manta rays and coral planting from a Fijian island.

Length: 12 nights
Pace: Three stays
Style: Family, private charter, helicopter, private island
Route: Sydney to Christchurch and the Southern Alps to Kadavu, Fiji

SydneyFour nights
Christchurch and the Southern AlpsFour nights
Kadavu, FijiFour nights

Days 1 to 5 · four nights

Sydney

Met at the aircraft door. A private sunset sail on the harbour with a chef on board, a seaplane over Ku-ring-gai Chase to lunch on Pittwater, a helicopter to the Blue Mountains for walks, and a family day at Bondi with a surf lesson. Early one morning, the Backstage Tour of the Sydney Opera House, for at most 12 people from 7 a.m., through the rehearsal spaces and the orchestra pit to breakfast in the Green Room; it suits children of 10 and over.

Where you stay

Capella Sydney

Capella Sydney fills the former Department of Education building of 1912 on Loftus Street, with 192 rooms and suites over eight levels. Brasserie 1930 and McRae Bar are on the ground floor, and Auriga Spa has heated indoor pools, a sauna and a steam room.

The Victorian lodge beyond a lawn and tall poplars, the hills behind. — Photo: Otahuna Lodge

Days 5 to 9 · four nights

Christchurch and the Southern Alps

A private charter across the Tasman to Christchurch. Helicopter days to watch whales off Kaikōura and to land on the Rakaia Glacier among the peaks around Aoraki Mount Cook, or the lodge's own half-day flight over Lyttelton Harbour to a tasting and lunch at a North Canterbury winery and a mountaintop landing in the Southern Alps. A day by road into the mountains at Arthur's Pass, the gardens with Head Gardener Steve Marcham or one of his team, and a cooking lesson in the kitchen with Executive Chef Jimmy McIntyre or one of his team. In the city, a private walk with a street art historian and curator can be arranged, through the murals, public artworks and hidden corners behind Christchurch's artistic transformation. Near Christchurch, a swim with the rare and tiny Hector's dolphin can be arranged. Flights deeper into the Alps around Aoraki Mount Cook can also touch down at caves of bright blue ice.

Where you stay

Otahuna Lodge

Otahuna Lodge is a seven-suite Victorian mansion of 1895 at Tai Tapu, 30 minutes from Christchurch, in 30 acres of heritage gardens below an ancient volcano. Dinner is a four-course chef's menu that changes daily, drawn from some 125 varieties of organic fruit, nuts, mushrooms and vegetables grown in the lodge's own gardens.

Aerial view of a forested shore beside a shallow turquoise reef.

Days 9 to 13 · four nights

Kadavu, Fiji

A private charter to Nadi and a helicopter to the island. A day on the Great Astrolabe Reef with a marine biologist to swim with manta rays, a sunset cruise, and a morning planting corals in the Kokomo Coral Garden nursery, where they grow for six to nine months before going back onto the reef. A foraging walk with the chef, the island's kava ceremony, and a visit to the nearby village to share kava with the chief.

Where you stay

Kokomo Private Island Fiji

Kokomo is a private island beside the Great Astrolabe Reef, reached by seaplane or helicopter, with five hilltop Residences and 21 Beachfront Villas, each with its own infinity pool. There are three restaurants, diving among manta rays, reef sharks and turtles, and the Kaji Club for children.

Arranged on request

Backstage at the Opera House

A small group of no more than 12, from Stage Door at 7 a.m., through the corridors, rehearsal spaces and orchestra pit to breakfast in the performers' Green Room.

Otahuna's gardens with the head gardener

Head Gardener Steve Marcham or one of his team leads a tour of the Dutch Garden, Great Lawn, Potager and Woodland, and of the gardens that still supply the house.

In the kitchen at Otahuna

A hands-on lesson with Executive Chef Jimmy McIntyre or one of his team, usually kept for resident guests and booked in advance.

Planting coral at Kokomo

Guests help plant corals in the Kokomo Coral Garden nursery, where they grow for six to nine months before being transplanted to the reef.

Kava with the village chief

A tour of the nearby village with a local guide, sharing kava with the chief.

Hector's dolphins

Near Christchurch, a swim can be arranged with the Hector's dolphin, rare and tiny.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

The TranzAlpine train from Christchurch over Arthur's Pass.
A day of game fishing in the waters around Kokomo.
A day on Namara, the uninhabited island 10 minutes across the water from Kokomo.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.