High Country Discovery Tour - Private

Experience one of the world’s most scenic drives as you depart Queenstown and travel the edge of Lake Wakatipu toward the village of Glenorchy, first surveyed in 1864. With towering peaks rising straight from the lake, the journey itself sets the tone for the day. Along the way, your guide shares engaging historical, cultural and geographic commentary — from early settlement and gold mining to farming, film-making and life in this remote alpine region.

From Glenorchy, we continue into the Paradise Valley.

This is where the tour becomes truly exclusive.

Private Discovery Tours has exclusive access to Mount Earnslaw Station — a 130-year-old working high country sheep and beef farm. Here, stock outnumber people — part of New Zealand’s 25 million sheep — offering genuine insight into country life in this remarkable landscape.

Travelling by 4WD across active farmland, you’ll access elevated paddocks and Lake Reid, where black swans and paradise ducks live year-round and trout bask in the shallows. In season, visit an operational woolshed where up to 1,500 sheep are shorn in a day. At Diamond Lake — reached via private station roads — stand beneath Mt Alfred and Mt Earnslaw (2,830m) with uninterrupted views toward Mt Chaos, Cosmos and Pluto Peaks — true postcard shots in Paradise.

Returning to Paradise Road, we continue deeper into the valley, passing Arcadia Homestead and viewing in the distance the landscapes known as Isengard, Lothlórien and Beorn’s House from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. No film sets remain — only extraordinary natural beauty.

This is the difference between seeing Paradise… and stepping into it.