Intrepid’s Australia and New Zealand collection just got bigger and better with a host of fresh additions to help you embrace the best of the outdoors.
Just when you thought you’d seen Australia and New Zealand from every angle, a new year comes along with even more enticing prospects to show you these neighbours afresh. Designed to help you maximise your adventure Down Under, these seven trips – ranging from short breaks to premium escapes – include overnight cruises on the Doubtful Sound, high-speed zorbing chases in Rotorua, truffle tasting near Sydney and campfire cookouts in Western Australia. So, whether your adventure takes you along a coast, around an island, across a state or through a national park, you’re in for some prime-time exploring in 2026.
1. Rock out in Western Australia’s wilderness
As Western Australia’s second-largest national park, spanning over 6000 square kilometres, Karijini National Park is an outdoor enthusiast’s playground. And now, on the five-day Karijini Explorer Short Break, you can get up close to another of the park’s key geological structures: Joffre Gorge. Join your leader for an afternoon hike around this 50 metre-high natural amphitheatre (shaped by a curved seasonal waterfall) and explore the gorge via some steep ladder descents and rock scrambling to get to the pools. Once you’re at the base of the falls, you’ve earned the right for a well-deserved swim.
2. Defy gravity while zorbing in New Zealand
One minute you’re taking a leisurely hike to the summit of Mount Maunganui. The next, you’re in a zorb, hurtling down a hill on the new 18-to-35s One Week in New Zealand: North Island trip. The newest country to be added to Intrepid’s 18 to 35s range, New Zealand is all about adventure. During the rest of the trip, journey to waterfalls, geysers, farms and even a one-of-a-kind village, the Whakarewarewa Maori Village, built alongside geothermal vents in Rotorua. Learn about how residents harness geothermal energy as you tour the site, visiting an active marae (communal meeting ground) and tapu (sacred burial grounds).
Read more: 26 totally new Intrepid trips and experiences
3. Toast to a local meal in Western Australia
Over on the west coast of Australia sits Kalbarri National Park, a stop on the new West Coast Adventure (Northbound) trip. Although it’s a national park, the area also has a strong pastoral working history, as you’ll learn all about on the Murchison Glow Dinner Experience. Unlike a campfire meal you may have had before, the four-course sunset dinner on the Murchison River offers a little something extra. All courses feature uniquely Australian flavours and locally sourced ingredients cooked by your hosts and accompanied by drinks. You’re sure to work up an appetite with the afternoon spent touring the 150-year history of the Murchison House Station and exploring the river by canoe.
4. Sleep on South Island waters in Doubtful Sound
New to the New Zealand Premium range is an overnight cruise to Milford Sound’s lesser-visited cousin, Doubtful Sound. This new experience brings the remote shores of the country’s second-largest fjord to life with the addition of an onboard nature specialist, locally sourced three-course dinner and – if the weather cooperates – a kayak outing. With fewer boats on the water, marine inhabitants – including Fiordland crested penguins, bottlenose dolphins and fur seals – often make their presence known and can be spotted from the deck. As well as the Fjordlands scenery, a highlight of the Premium New Zealand South Island trip is sure to be waking up to the rising mist and lapping waters the next day.
5. Fly by the sights in New Zealand
The Essential New Zealand: South Island trip is designed to get you well and truly out into the wilderness. You’ll be soaking up the best of New Zealand’s great outdoors from a seat in a Skyline Gondola, aboard a ferry in the Marlborough Sounds and strapped into a light, toboggan-style luge, racing down a hill in Queenstown. When you’re not out in the open, you may be in a state-of-the-art immersive experience such as the Museum of Kawatiri in Westport, learning about the Polynesian heritage and natural resources of the Buller District. Using modern technology to bring the stories to life, you’ll get a full picture of Maori life in this treasure-rich region of South Island.
Read more: 10 new ways to connect with Indigenous culture
6. Wander koala tracks in Australia
There are more than a few ways to get from Melbourne to Sydney and, on the new Melbourne to Sydney Adventure, you’ll have a front-row seat to culture, creatures and locally caught cuisine. Undoubtedly, the cutest of the new Intrepid excursions comes with a ferry ride to walk the Koala Trail on Raymond Island, famous for its guaranteed wild koala sightings. Then, after crossing into New South Wales, you’re in for two experiences highlighting how Australians live with their land. The first will take you along the coast with a Country Custodian as you partake in the Bilbaan Cultural Experience. Further up the coast, learn about the sustainable way farmers are harvesting Sydney rock oysters before tasting some for yourself.
Find out what else is new for 2026 with The Goods – a collection of new trips and experiences to inspire a year of adventure.
