New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Hi First Light Travel, 

Thanks for all of your hard work and organisation to ensure we had such a beautiful, unforgettable trip in New Zealand. We especially enjoyed the sand surfing, mountain biking and sea kayaking as well as spotting whales and leaping dolphins in the wild.

Rotorua was remarkable with all of its thermal energy and we loved the fun, youthful atmosphere of Queenstown. Thanks for everything - we thought this was a once in a lifetime trip, but now we think we should come back again one day!

Greetings, 

Lian & Rene - Netherlands

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

This has been an exceptionally nice vacation. The trick was that our consultant carefully personalized the travel plan and gave us enough room to add or modify what we wanted. We feel that without the plan as prepared we would have missed many worthwhile activities. I highly recommend this service.It was a great value for money.

Mr Jiri Janata and Ms Miroslawa Josowicz (USA)

Hi Verity,

We had the best trip ever!!!!

Our guide, Terry was EXCELLENT! He was so knowledgeable and helpful—a perfect fit for us. We are still basking in the memories of your beautiful country!

Here are a couple of photos—but I took over 1,200, I need time to go through them.

Susan Lapham and John McKently - USA

Hi Suzie,

I'd like to give you some ideas I've gained from talking with friends here. They have no idea that one can have a company plan a trip as you did. They seem to think that the only two ways are to take a tour, or do it on your own. They have been surprised about this way of traveling. We had done this for our vacation to Costa Rica, so we knew. I'm not sure how to get the word out, but maybe you need to advertise this as another way to travel.

Thanks for everything. You helped make our 50th wedding anniversary even better.

Art & Helen Poland USA

Truly, our travel agent Chrissy was able to know exactly what kind of adventure we wanted and crafted the perfect itinerary for us. The process was fairly straightforward for booking and the instructions we were given were flawless and simple. We could not have chosen anyone better to help arrange our trip.

Fred & Zipora, Keren, Gilad Fefer (USA)

Hi Chrissy,

These are just a few of the photos of us enjoying New Zealand! Here is the Emerald Lakes on the Tongariro Crossing

Ken McClain and Maria Bolanos (USA)

Hi Steve,

To start things off we had a fantastic time. You did a great job organising and it all flowed together nicely. Queenstown and Milford Sound all worked smoothly, hotels were perfect for our needs. The views from Queenstown hotel were excellent.

Mount Cook - Kayaking was very much enjoyed. Kaikoura motel was excellent, and dinner was perfect. Whale watching also successful. Waitomo hotel was fun and the spellbound caves were excellent. Auckland perfectly placed hotel. Hire car was perfect size for our needs and everything ran smoothly with picking and dropping off.

Many thanks again for your help

Andy Elliot - England

Our experience with First Light Travel has been wonderful. The arrangements were made with very little effort on our part, but the information provided by our consultant meant there was no question about what we were doing and when. The advice provided pointed us to experiences we didn't even know existed. The two weeks we spent in New Zealand was an amazing experience and a memorable holiday.

Susan Grantham and Eamon Clanchy (Australia)

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)