New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

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

Hi First Light, We had a wonderful holiday, everything ran very smoothly largely due to your effort and expertise in putting our itinerary together for us. If anyone we know intend visiting New Zealand we won’t hesitate to recommend you to them. Apart from the spectacular scenery, the highlight of our holiday was the Lake Wanaka Island Nature Walk, and that was almost entirely due to our guide Chris. His unique character really makes the tour special. I have attached two pics taken on this island walk to show you how spectacular it is. 

Kind regards

Tonia Benn & Kurt Werner - Australia

Hi Kasey,

First of all I would like to thank you a lot for preparing us such a great holiday for us in Australia. It was the best self-drive trip we ever experienced , the place was amazing, the accommodation especially the country side - In Philips Island, Malacoota, JarvisBay was fabulous. We really enjoyed ourselves and brought us back close after a long time we guys dint meet. The car by hertz was perfect for us fro the long distance and comfortable too, and the skydiving experience was such a adrenaline rush!!! 

Totally well planned vacation by you kasey , thanks again!!

Santhana Mohan Nagesperam - Malaysia

First Light Travel truly enabled us to have a vacation of a lifetime in New Zealand! My husband & I were able to experience so much & made memories that will remain some of our favorites. Whether is was bungy jumping from Kawarau Bridge, kayaking Doubtful sound, trekking on Franz Josef glacier, or black water canyoneering/glow worm cave exploring, we felt alive, safe, & well cared for! 

Our coordinator, Jo, was so helpful in organizing our trip. We greatly appreciated the personal insight into New Zealand & the company's native feedback. Thank you First Light Travel for making all of our New Zealand dreams come true! 

Rachelle Grant, USA

We had a great experience in New Zealand with First Light Travel. From our initial enquiry, Chrissy took very good care of us - understanding our needs, recommending itineraries, and answering our questions - while our guide Dmitry was awesome! Thanks so much! We will happily recommend First Light to any friends traveling to NZ in the future.

Maria & Jonathan - Hong Kong

Loved working with Amelia! Even though it was Christmas when we decided to look into a trip for mid January, Amelia gave amazingly prompt responses and suggestions. The "canned" itinerary that you send at first inquiry gave us a great jumping off point to plan our own fly/drive vacation! It really gave us a good idea of travel times and suggested stops. Then Amelia helped us find appropriate and lovely accommodations for our needs. For example, we wanted to have a washer/dryer in our room every 3rd or 4th day so we didn't have to pack so much. She lined it up perfectly. She also suggested activities that we had not considered in each city and booked those that we wanted to try. They ended up being our favorite parts of the trip! She also warned of long drive times (Which we still did, and she was right - it was long). Amelia also booked things like lunches after a kayaking trip which ended up being a life saver as we only had minutes to eat before heading into another activity. Every hotel and activity was booked just as she indicated; we had no problems with reservation glitches at all. We also appreciated the list of things to see in each city on our daily itinerary, as we could pick our favorites and hope we didn't miss too much that we wish we had seen. 

Amelia at First Light Travel was extremely professional and efficient. 

Thanks for a great trip!

Dee, Mark and Madeline Dehart (USA)