New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

The reality was better than the dream...... I do not even know where to begin. I have dreamed about this trip for 15 years. I had all these ideas in my head but when it finally came time to start planning I had not a clue what to do. And then I found Shelley and First Light Travel. I have no idea how she did it with the information I gave her from my emails but she was DEAD ON!!!!! Shelley planned THE PERFECT vacation. And she warned me in the beginning that we weren't going long enough, and what I learned in NZ is that most other countries have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more vacation time than us Americans do. But what Shelley did with the limited amount of time we gave her (two weeks) was amazing. And PERFECT. There is not one single thing (other than our lack of time) that we would change. Seriously. I do not know how Shelley, without ever meeting me, or knowing me at all, could have put that itinerary together so perfectly for us. We loved every single thing we did and every single thing we saw. There was not one moment that we did not look around and be in awe of the beauty. Not one single moment. We WILL be back to NZ and we will never go back without booking through First Light Travel. Specifically Shelley.

Thank you Shelley, for your help in all this. You made a 40 year old ladies 15 year old dream come true. And because of you, the reality was better than the dream.

Kristine Rolf - USA

In November, my wife and I celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary traveling through New Zealand. Having done some extensive online research, we decided to have First Light Travel plan and book our trip. Marrying Marianne 46 years ago was certainly the best decision I ever made. Choosing First light Travel might be the second best!

Our First Light Travel agent, Amelia Riwai, was sensational! Every aspect of our two-week itinerary was nothing short of First Class. We stayed in some beautiful hotels and several lovely bed & breakfasts. We particularly enjoy the B&Bs because they give us a chance to meet and share time and experiences with our hosts - and the places that Amelia chose for us are owned by very friendly, talented and gracious people who thoroughly enriched our Kiwi experience. And then, there were the tours and excursions! 

We are very active seniors and so many of the things we chose to do involve some physical activity. From the thrilling Huka Falls Jet Boats to the exhilarating Franz Josef Glacier Heli Hike to the wondrous Glow Worm Caves and the scenic Doubtful Sound cruise, we have memories to last a lifetime -- and so much to talk about this holiday season.

Dick & Marianne Spagna - USA

Dawn and First Light Travel were amazing. I am so glad we worked together for our vacation. Dawn paid close attention to the type of holiday we wanted and planned accordingly. Everything was booked and organized perfectly. The vouchers were helpful, letting us know who/when we needed to confirm. We had no problems, everything went so smoothly. We were a very happy and satisfied couple.

Sandra Oman & Michael Barr - USA

Hi Jo, Thanks for our holiday, we had a great time! Everything else went smoothly, we thought we were going to miss out on the rafting due to weather but miraculously on our third time slot change and after rushing back from Dunedin to Queenstown, the weather cleared and we got to go.

Thanks Again 

Susan Grantham and Eamon Clanchy - Australia

We simply LOVE to deal with Shelley Kirk. This is now the third time that we deal with Shelley and she is just a jewel. She always has good suggestions, the places that she chooses matches with our requirements, she is quick to respond to our queries. Cant ask for anything more of a tour operator, Great work Shelley, we really appreciate the time you spent to help us have an amazing trip in New Zealand.

Simon, Claudine, Raymond and Agathe - Australia

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

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

 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

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 Amelia, We had an incredible holiday! This was the trip of a lifetime. All of the accommodations and activities that you booked for us were fantastic. The service could not have been better and your restaurant suggestions were delicious. We can't wait to come back and will absolutely have you do all of the bookings again. I have been telling everyone I know who may travel to New Zealand that they must book through Amelia at First Light Travel!

Wendy and George Schnapp - USA