New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Our two week trip to New Zealand was a complete joy, and we credit much of that to Chrissy at First Light Travel. She was prompt, honest, and creative in the planning process and made accommodation and activity recommendations that not only fit our interests but also our needs (we traveled with a 4-year old). The pre-travel materials provided by First Light were helpful and their voucher system made the accommodation and activity check-in process a breeze. Thank you, Chrissy, for all you did to make our trip to New Zealand the adventure of a lifetime!

Kelly, Ryan, Sawyer & Mary Habbley - USA

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.

A big thank you to Rhodri for all his r help in organising the trip of a lifetime - his arrangements were top notch. The car hires went seamlessly; the accommodation was superb and the trips and activities were brilliant, informative and exciting. Our highlights being the helicopter onto the Franz Josef Glacier, Doubtful Sound cruise(the weather was kind) and the Dart River Jet Boat Safari although picking favourites is probably doing an injustice to the others.

Ian and Lesley Robertson - UK

We just returned from 3 wonderful weeks in New Zealand with our best friends. This was a trip of a lifetime and Amelia worked with us to make sure we could jam as much as we wanted into our time. We snorkeled and scuba dived, dawn hiked the Tongariro Alpine pass, marveled at the glow worms at Black Water Rafting, enjoyed the eye-watering but beautiful thermal wonders of Waitotapu, canoed down from the Bridge to Nowhere. In the South Island, we loved cycling to the wineries of Blenheim, hiked everywhere we could around the Glaciers, had an amazing Horseback trek through forest and over rivers to a sunset ride on the beach. Ended our time in Queenstown with jet boating and jumping off high cliffs with the Canyon Swing. We had several glitches along the way- some caused by the tour operators, some caused by weather and wildfires, but Amelia worked with us to make sure everything stayed on track.

Thanks for all your hard work!

Jan & Scott Kuba, Sharon & John Tolomei - USA

Hi Amelia,

It is Nancy Patterson - Colleen Clower's sister. We just arrived home from the most incredible trip - thank you so much!!! I LOVE New Zealand. I have never met such nice people and seen such a beautiful place. It was the most exciting trip of my life - once in a lifetime event. Thank you for everything you did to make this trip so special.

I definitely want to go back to New Zealand - there was so much we didn't get to see because we just didn't have the time. Would still like to buy you lunch or dinner if we come back.

Nancy Patterson - USA

Thanks Jo!

Our trip was unforgettable. We all had a great time. As you know our kids are all grown ups and it was a great opportunity for us to travel all together.

The variety of activities suited us all.

Silvina Massa - Argentina

Sofie, 

I wanted to thank you again for all your help and getting everything set up! We just returned to the cold/wintry Boston from the warm/wonderful New Zealand! We had an absolutely amazing time and everything went without a single hitch. I know that is your job but you made it incredibly easy on us and we appreciate it. I hope that all is well and that we contact you again soon for a repeat trip! Thank again and have a great summer. I have placed a review below 

Best, 

Jonah Riddell /John Kotwicki USA

What a delightful holiday. Our travels were wonderful and Todd & I could not have been more pleased. He wants to move to New Zealand. Of course, just spending so much time with my son who I've not seen since August was very special. The accommodations were all very good with the only glitches being the Belle Vista motel and the unfortunate cancellation of our flight to Milford Sound due to weather conditions. We fell in love with Queenstown. All the vendors you used were terrific. Though we had many hours of driving, the scenic beauty made it worthwhile and I don't think I would change a thing. Thanks for all of your assistance. It was a special treat to meet you as well. I will definitely refer friends to you and encourage them to travel to your marvelous country. 
All the best, 

Mark Perelmuter & Todd Perelmuter USA

Dear Sofie,

Thank you for the amazing itinerary. We had a really blessed trip, and I am very grateful for all of your hard work, and everyone we have met are just fantastic. We look forward to working together with First Light Travel again at some point.

Elicia and Erik Vik - USA

My daughter and I have taken a once in a lifetime trip every summer to experience what the earth has to provide us. We decided on New Zealand with First Light Travel after speaking with many other agents. Mr. Howell had the perfect plan for us to travel the North Island in a weeks time. Driving New Zealand was beautiful and extremely easy to travel from country road through the beautiful green hills and along the beach towns on the upper east coast.

They planned every day with an exciting adventure and accommodations were perfect! Contact through email was very easy to correspond different ideas of the trip. Could not ask for a better experience of New Zealand!

Thank you for the memories!

Robert Ecker - USA