New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Hi Dawn, We had a wonderful holiday and lots of good memories and photo’s to remember it. Basically the itinerary was put together very well, could not have done a better job myself. Thanks again for all the help, really made it a worry free holiday for us. 

Best Regards

Patrick Nootebos and Family USA

Hi Jo, Thanks and Happy New Year!  I want you to know that our trip was such a success – we just can’t find enough superlatives to describe how well the trip arrangements went. We kept referring to how smooth all the rental car, flights and lodgings were. We had no issues whatsoever, and we kept talking about how great your service had been in helping us plan this wonderful trip. All the hotels were great, especially the Punakaiki Resort and the Trelawn Place – they were just beautiful in their own right both in terms of the location, the views but also the quality of the lodgings. DeBretts was also great and all the other places more than met our expectations as well. The “grande finale” as in the overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound was a fantastic success. Great boat with very knowledgeable and service oriented crew, great food as well as the beautiful scenery – as someone said “breathtaking serenity”. We had many dolphins play next to the boat, and we saw a huge seal colony as well, and we even went for a swim in the sound.

New Zealand is definitely one of, if not the most beautiful country on earth. Everywhere we went, there were beautiful vistas of snow clad mountains, and beautiful blue waters with golden beaches. We skydived, we bungy jumped (did Nevis outside of Queenstown – the highest in NZ with 134 meters, my three sons, one sons girlfriend and even I did it, believe it or not!). We kayaked in beautiful sunny and warm weather in Abel Tasman, we did the Tongariro crossing (more strenuous than I had expected, especially going downhill at the end – my knees were killing me, but it was well worth it), we totally enjoyed the hell-glacier tour, again in beautiful weather (ca 25 degrees in the village and a clear blue sky, even in the afternoon which the guide said was unusual. I did it in shorts!). The glowworm caves and river rafting was also a great experience – again great weather. That was maybe the most fantastic part of our trip, we had such great weather throughout. Only a couple of hours of clouds during the Tongariro Crossing and a cloudy and colder day during our bunny jump as well as rain our last day in Auckland – other than that just clear blue skies and 20-25 degrees!

We will definitely recommend you and your company to anyone we know will want to travel to New Zealand. I’m also going to attempt to get a review for you on TripAdvisor if possible.

Thanks again for all your help to make this trip an unforgettable experience!

All the best,

Hans and the rest of the Sjoquist family - USA

This was our first time traveling to another country. I explained the general activities we wanted to do during our stay and Shelley crafted a wonderful itinerary. She was great to work with, helped us multiple times through last minute changes, and helped us with a dream vacation. I absolutely loved the wine tours selected for us. Our tour in Central Otago was so lovely. We visited beautiful wineries like Chard, Dominion, Peregrine, ate lunch at an amazing winery with a beautiful view. Martin was fantastic as a host. Ananda tours on Waiheke Island was our favorite. The island is beautiful, our guide was so accommodating, and we visited some simply stunning wineries.

Mitai Maori Cultural Experience was AMAZING! It was a wonderful way to learn about Maori culture, experience good food, and have a great time with many different nations. Extremely professional staff, I enjoyed it so much. The rental car process was very easy and not too hard to figure out for those of us who drive on the other side of the road.
Definitely recommend GPS for anyone who doesn't know the area in the future.

Thanks Shelly

Nathan Kanzler and Vickiana Franco USA

This was the trip of a lifetime. All of the accommodations and activities booked by Amelia were spot on! The booking was so easy and then we had the detailed itinerary to follow and the gps which already had most of our destinations programmed in. The lodges were of the highest quality and the Kiwi service was better than anywhere else that I have ever been. What a beautiful country with fabulous people. We can't wait to come back and will most certainly let First Light plan our next trip!

Wendy Schnapp USA

We are in our 70's and still like adventure, but realize that we have s few limitations, and the choices were perfect for us. We loved Matt, our guide and driver. He is a very knowledgeable, an obvious professional, both in this business and in life, but also so much fun. We laughed and teased together every day. The rooms, or suites very very comfortable and appropriate, however, the last suite in Queenstown at the Heritage, was a knockout, with a beautiful waterfront view. It is impossible to share all of what
we did because we saw so many gorgeous sights. The adventure highlights were, the train across the Southern Alps, the cave rafting on inner tubes in the Glowworm Caves, the heli-hike on Franz Joseph glacier, and trip to Milford Sound and the flight back across the Alps to Queenstown, The quiet times of lunch in a winery, driving to beautiful vistas in Glenorchy, and walking near the Tasman Sea, made everything just perfect.

We appreciate Dawn's quick response to all of our inquiries and taking care of the details so beautifully. We have done a lot of
traveling but this ranks at the top of our travel experiences.

Thank you, Dawn and Matt, from First light Travel

Ellie and Jim (Waller) USA

Our trip was perfectly planned, the only thing that let us down was the weather occasionally. So you cant do much better than that!

Awesome Job, Awesome Holiday!

Cameron and Shannon Poultney (Australia)

 I had no idea what I wanted to do when I visited New Zealand but having found First Light Travel on line and the recommendations, it made our holiday so much easier and it was fantastic. I gave Dawn some idea of what I wanted and she came up with the perfect package. I shall never thank her enough! Incredible and will certainly recommend FLT to friends and family who want to go to NZ in the future. Also I shall certainly contact FLT again if and when I go again!

Margaret Orchard & Enid Bennett UK

Hello Kasey, Here are some pictures from the trip. I can not thank you enough the trip was amazing New Zealand is beyond anything we ever expected and you made so easy for us to do everything we wanted to do stress free and it was amazing. I took the liberty of leaving a very good review on Facebook as well as filling out the feedback form you sent. I will definitely send anyone I know that is planning a NZ trip your way. 

Thank You again so much!!

Audra Clark USA

OH Shelley -- what a wonderful country you have !!! We would want to move there if our family didn't live here. We had a spectacular time and you deserve so much of the credit. Everything was laid out so succinctly and as we have always done our own planning in the past, having it completed was a true delight.We are so glad we included the Barrier Reef, would have been a big mistake for us if we had not.The trip was everything we had hoped for. All the tour guides were very good and we enjoyed the smaller tours.

We did see your Auckland Christmas Parade! Thank you so much for everything. Friends heading your way will definitely be given your name as a resource.

Sincerely 

Clinton and Mary King USA

Dear Jo,

We both would like to send a special thank you to you for all your work, guidance and efforts to create the perfect New Zealand adventure. We are letting people know of your exemplary service and Jo we hope this will bring you more clients your way!

Thank you again and best wishes for a memorable 2016

Sincerely

Susan & Larry Deringer USA