Reviews of New Zealand & Australia Self Drive Tour

Hi Shelley,

Just wanted to let you know that we had a fantastic time in New Zealand also! On behalf of the crew, I would like to express a heartfelt thank-you to you and your team!

We very much enjoyed the tours you selected. My wife had concerns about the hotel room in Mt Cook as she thought it was a “motel”. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that you booked a Chalet! The room was nice and clean, and also close to Hermitage where our booked activities took place. How thoughtful! When our fight to Christchurch was cancelled due to a nail in one landing tire (no kidding!), you and your team quickly responded with rearranging hotel and transfer. While we were stressed by the disruption, we were comforted by the fact that there was always a member from your team answering our after-hour calls and helping. You were diligently monitoring weather and adjusting our itinerary in order to maximize our chance to make the Milford Sound flight. We did! The aerial view of mountains and lakes on Milford flight was breathtaking! It was the best part of our trip! We were much impressed by both the beauty of New Zealand and your service! We now feel like we have a friend there. 

Thank you again!

Warm regards,

Yc and Jingyuan Luo - USA

Jo has booked us another great vacation. She listened to our requests, and then tweaked the itinerary . The vouchers and reservations were in perfect order, making for a smooth trip so that we could explore and enjoy every minute of our adventure Down Under!

Janet, Aaron & Andrew Folsom - USA

Chrissy

We had a fabulous trip to Australia and New Zealand. Your arrangements allowed us to see/visit the places and do the things we wanted to do. We really liked your ‘voucher system’ and all the merchants happily accepted these vouchers. It saved us from cashing a lot of money or always using our credit cards

We would highly recommend you and First Light Travel to any of our friends or others that plan to travel to New Zealand. You are very responsive and very meticulous in your planning and recommendations. If you need a recommendation for a perspective client, please feel free to have them contact us, because we will give you the glowing recommendation you deserve ----- you earned it!

Chrissy, thank you for a fantastic adventure!!!!

Gay & Tom, Donn, Steve & Susi

Verity was very accommodating in assisting us with our travel plans to Australia and New Zealand, she listened to our ideas and guided us through the booking process.

James & Patsy Hyman (USA)

First Light Travel, in particular Shelley Kirk, gets our five-star rating and strongest recommendation for anyone planning to vacation in New Zealand and/or Australia.

We are frequent travelers, prefer independent over group tours, and rarely work with a travel agent or agency. But knowing little about the lay of the land in Australia and New Zealand we decided to "try" working with an agent while planning our first, month-long visit. After Internet searching and reviewing the New Zealand Tourism site we sent a request for proposal to 4 agencies, including First Light Travel. We roughly described our schedule, interests, preferences, and budget and waited to hear back.

We received just 3 proposals, with one agency saying our budget was too small for them to even entertain. Shelley Kirk was the first to respond, provided the best proposal on every front (quality, cost, variety, etc.), and most importantly, she was willing to work with us on every facet of our trip. Shelley was able to put together an independent travel itinerary with the perfect balance of pre-planned activities and free time for us to get the absolute most out of our travel at our desired pace and price. In the face of changes and suggestions she was unfailingly open-minded, flexible and fun to work with!

It is rare to have the experience where everything on a holiday goes as planned; something always seems to go awry along the way. But honestly this vacation went off without a hitch: no surprises, no failures, and no problems with any aspect (flights, cars, transport, lodging, activities, etc., etc.) of our bookings. Our travel pack from Shelley included all the details and was an easy reference for each day of our holiday. While I can't credit Shelley with the weather (or can I???), even that was perfect during our stay!

If you're looking for someone to plan your dream vacation in Australia or New Zealand (or perhaps anywhere!) you should contact Shelley Kirk. A proposal costs you nothing and you may be as pleasantly surprised (thrilled) as we were at how well they meet or exceed your expectations.

We would be delighted to serve as a reference for Shelley Kirk and First Light Travel. Please feel free to message me if you have questions or would like additional information about our holiday plans. Best regards to Shelley and all the staff at First Light Travel. 

CJ and David Lambert
 

 Bethesda, MD USA

Our bucket list is nearly empty and needs to be rewritten!! What a fantastic trip we had through New Zealand and even a few days in Sydney Australia all organized for us by the amazing Shelley at First Light Travel Ltd. We were a little wary of trying to arrange our trip from Canada but fortunately followed up on a recommendation to try First Light. They were excellent. No "over-selling" of tours or locations as we worked through five adjustments to our trip until we were happy the itinerary was just right for us. Then the actual trip turned out to be even better than we hoped. Accommodations were right on with a mix of B&Bs and hotels that fitted in with the locations.The number days for our stays was just right and we never felt too rushed. Obviously First Light does a good job of vetting their recommendations too as we were greeted by friendly, helpful people at every turn. Brilliant vacation!!

James and Alexandra Allen - Canada

We travelled in March 2017 to New Zealand and Australia. We contacted First Light Travel only a few weeks before we were going. We were highly recommended to Jo and she did not disappoint us. We had nightly phone calls because of the time difference organizing our trip. Once she understood our budget and requests, she got to work and put together an amazing trip. Every hotel was excellent. Every tour was on time and perfect, and our vegetarian diet requirements were never missed. Jo recommended that we take a bus to Milford Sound and the flight to return only to guarantee that we would get there. She had experience with flights being cancelled and guests not getting to Milford Sound. At about 8 pm the night before we were supposed to leave, we saw that the weather was supposed to be excellent. We called Jo and she was able to get us onto the morning flight rather than the 5 hour bus ride. This professionalism and quick reaction is what makes First Light an amazing travel company. I couldn't begin to mention all of the amazing activities she put together, but the Milford Sound gives a good example. One hotel I would strongly recommend is the Tin Tub Lodge in Wanaka. Book early because there are only a few rooms and it is worth the stay.