Reviews of A Quick New Zealand Fix - South Island

Dear Brent,

 I, Mr. Chi Piu WAN (English name Bill) on behalf of my group (total 15 persons), would like to express our gratitude on the excellent performance of your staff Ms Sofie Liu.   Her great performance has been well recognised by me and all of my group members.  She follows up closely and perfectly the trip planning including accommodations, meal and sightseeing routes for our group as well as quickly, precise and adequate communications with me over the past months since March this year.  

Her professional knowledge and her excellent working attitude have been proved throughout this period of time which is particularly demonstrated in resolving sudden incidents/problems of the recent road blockages due to heavy raining and land sliding at west coast of South Island.  As a result, the original planned activities for our group such as helicopter tour (30 minutes) at a Franz Josef and Fox glaciers arranged on 23 Dec 2019 were all affected, not to mention the booked hotel at Franz. 

With her excellent and quick rearrangement, helicopter tour (35 minutes) at Mt Cook as well as accommodation change can be arranged and confirmed within two days time which include the time spent for the communication via emails, back and forth,  between Sofie and myself (in Hong Kong).  

Actually, at the time of writing this email, I am still in Hong Kong and get preparation for departure with my group on tomorrow afternoon (21 Dec).

I have to emphasise herein that not just myself but also all my group members we are all appreciated for Sofie and therefore would like to express our big thanks to her and your company. 

Trust you and your company with great success. 

Cheers

Bill Wan - Hong Kong
 

Let me start with saying that we had about 30 days to plan a 7 day trip to New Zealand and we had no idea where to start. First Light Travel's website had so many ideas showcasing different types of trip options from self driving to small group tours that it was hard to choose what path we wanted to take. We settled on the South Island and decided on a self driving tour which I would highly recommend because there are so many stopping points along the way that we wouldn't have been able to stop at if we were on a group schedule. And once you are out of the big cities, driving on the other side of the road is not as intimidating as it seems. We worked with Deb at First Light Travel and she was quick to respond to our questions and put together a personal itinerary just for us that fit our budget. The printed itinerary was so exact with a day by day break down of each activity and hotel that we never had to worry about forgetting anything. Just read your itinerary! The entire trip was incredible and we had to pinch ourselves that we were in New Zealand! We experienced more than normal amounts of rain while we were there, but let me tell you that we were not disappointed. The South Island of New Zealand is a beautiful and diverse island full of amazing sights. YOU MUST VISIT!!!

Kara Brooks & Ryan Weaver - USA

Our first (and definitely not last) trip to New Zealand was amazing and working with First Light enabled us to tailor the experience to our preferences. Coordination and communication were pleasant and efficient. We enjoyed all of the recommended sites in the itinerary and driving ourselves from each location enabled us to pace ourselves well and even visit some really fantastic points of interest we would otherwise not have discovered if we had taken a standard tour group. The timing of our vacation was also ideal due to the great weather conditions and uncrowded locations/sites. We will definitely be back and also recommend First Light to friends and family that want a great NZ experience to last a lifetime.

Johnson & Regina Go -  Philippines

Hi Sofie,

It’s been some time since we’ve been back, but I had forgotten to reach out to thank you! Our trip was amazing! All the plans were easy to follow and our trip went very smoothly.

We were very lucky that we had good weather for the (absolutely amazing) glacier hike, and I’m especially grateful for the suggestion to travel to Punakaiki for the glow worm cave tour, since we enjoyed that so much! I attached a couple pictures of our adventure.

Thanks once again for the help in planning the trip, and I’ll be sure to recommend you to anyone we know planning to come to NZ!

Warm regards,

Ethan & Kaitlyn Carter - USA

Kia Ora!

This is the third time we associated ourselves with First Light Travel for our holidays and the second time with our wonderful travel agent Amelia. When we think of holidaying in New Zealand and around, we can't think of opting for anything else but First Light. My first holiday with them in the was in the south island, in 2012 in peak summer, then it was Fiji in 2016 and now the south island again in Autumn 2019 and all have been fantastic. Amelia did a superb job in organizing our holiday and has been very understanding & patient while dealing with us. Everything including the planning and organizing of the holiday has been commendable.

We would love to explore still more of New Zealand in the future and recommend First Light Travel for our holidays and anyone who wish to tour New Zealand. Cheers,

Vivek, Shishira, Shetty & Bhagwat Gupta - India

Michelle was able to put together a self-guided itinerary which gave us exactly what we wanted. Her service was impeccable - personal, prompt, attentive, flexible and professional.

The Yun Family - Singapore

Jo gave an excellent service, a very good itinerary to meet our interests with great attention to detail and a personal touch. We loved the Bay of Islands bout trip, two forest walks with guides, Glow worm caves at Waitomo, Waimangu Volcanic Valley, Mount Cook and Tasman glacier bout trip, Southern Discoveries Milford Sound trip.

We strongly recommend First Light Travel.

Helgaard & Elizabeth Raubenheimer – South Africa

We would HIGHLY recommend First Light Travel!! Kasey did a superb job at putting together a first class trip throughout New Zealand! She was able to understand our requirements and organized a spectacular trip for us, all within three weeks notice of our requested travel date. She was always very prompt at responding to our communications with her, and everything she arranged for us went far beyond our expectations!!!

Yosef & Audrey Amzalag - USA