New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Hi Shelley,

Just wanted to let you know that we had a fantastic time in New Zealand also! On behalf of the crew, I would like to express a heartfelt thank-you to you and your team!

We very much enjoyed the tours you selected. My wife had concerns about the hotel room in Mt Cook as she thought it was a “motel”. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that you booked a Chalet! The room was nice and clean, and also close to Hermitage where our booked activities took place. How thoughtful! When our fight to Christchurch was cancelled due to a nail in one landing tire (no kidding!), you and your team quickly responded with rearranging hotel and transfer. While we were stressed by the disruption, we were comforted by the fact that there was always a member from your team answering our after-hour calls and helping. You were diligently monitoring weather and adjusting our itinerary in order to maximize our chance to make the Milford Sound flight. We did! The aerial view of mountains and lakes on Milford flight was breathtaking! It was the best part of our trip! We were much impressed by both the beauty of New Zealand and your service! We now feel like we have a friend there. 

Thank you again!

Warm regards,

Yc and Jingyuan Luo - USA

From start to finish, we had first-rate guidance from our First Light Travel agent, Shelley Kirk. She chose wonderful high spots on both Islands, picked varied accommodations which added to the trip and which always put us in great locations, scenic in the countryside, central in the cities. There was never a glitch in either lodging or transport--a real feat for a nineteen day trip that covered the country. Our B&B hosts, our yacht captain, our tour guides, were rich in lore, history and information, and above all infectious in their enthusiasm for the country and eager to answer all questions about New Zealand. The Maori part of the trip--the villages, the evening dinner and performance, the museums, added richly to our experience.

Syd Nathans & Judith White - USA

Chrissy played an important role in ensuring the smooth liaison and planning of our customised trip itinerary, answering the several questions I always had and providing prompt details or alternative suggestions whenever necessary. Thank you for the brilliant accommodation recommendations as well; they definitely exceeded our expectations. Dmitry, our driver and guide, was nothing short of wonderful, always offering interesting information about this beautiful country and ensuring we were well taken care of. We knew we were in great hands! Thank you so much for making our trip an enjoyably memorable one.

Yi Fang & Eileen Lim - Singapore

Hi Christine,

Thanks for all your help!  We had a blast and were so impressed with the organization, the selection of hotels, experiences, etc.  I'm cc'ing Jon as he has our best photos. We will certainly recommend you to others!!

Thanks again,

Tania, Jon, Colby & Sierra Binder - USA

Wonderful service, wonderful itinerary.... my tour was smooth and efficient. The routes chosen were wonderful with the right amount of time between traveling and staying.

John Dodson - United States of America

Shelley was absolutely fantastic from the moment we got in touch. She planned an amazing honeymoon for us touring around beautiful New Zealand, it was fantastic and so stress free knowing that everything was taken care of. All of the accommodation was great and we stayed in some places we’d never have found ourselves. All the tours, trips, and activities were outstanding and everything ran exactly to plan. It’s tough to pick just one highlight, but the Doubtful Sound cruise was just epic. If you’re planning a trip to New Zealand, I couldn’t recommend First Light and Shelley highly enough!

Alexander and Sarah Law – United Kingdom

Merry Christmas Joe,

I haven’t given up on returning to NZ to “Finish our Trip”, though it might be another year or two. But you can be sure you will be the first to know.

Thank you again for putting together such a wonderful trip for us.

Mark, Renee, Adam and Jennie Greenstein - Calafornia USA

Hi Christine, we had such a wonderful trip!

We were very pleased with the accommodations, cars and activities, plus your detailed instructions made everything so easy! I would certainly give you the highest recommendation. The highlights of the trip for me were the stay on Wahaike  and The Milford sound boat overnight.

 Thank you so much for arranging such a great vacation for us!

Cheers,

Suzanne Alley & Mark McGriff  - USA

Hi Deb,

I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you personally for all of your efforts in helping to create our perfect holiday.

My reason for wanting to go to New Zealand was because my Mum used to always talk about going to New Zealand.  Mum passed away last year and never got the chance so this was my way of honoring her dream as well as my own.

Allan and I got to see and do things that we never thought we would and no holiday we take again will ever be as good as our trip to New Zealand. As requested, I have attached some holiday snaps.  Lots of snow in November was not something we were expecting but was a fabulous bonus!

Thanks again for all of your efforts.

Allan Donaldson & Wendy Crow – Victoria, Australia

We had been to New Zealand a long time ago for business, but only had a few days to get a taste for this incredible country. We had an idea of what we wanted to do when we had the opportunity to return. Jo Taylor worked with us to craft an itinerary that really was spot on. The accommodations were places we would never have found on our own, and they thought of all the details regarding activities, itinerary, transfers, etc. Hiring Jo, and the First Light team was a great decision for us!

Adam & Marsha Rujan - USA