New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

From the beginning Jo has been exceptional!! And she had to deal with planning a trip for 5 people, all who had never been to NZ, only having 8 days and of course wanting to see North and South!!! She had her hands full with us but handled it beautifully. Especially when our departure flight to get to NZ was cancelled, Jo helped us figure out which excursions to keep and which to let go and communicated with the excursion company to pick us up from the airport. Even throughout the journey, there were a few hiccups, none of which were the fault of Jo's, but she helped us and was very easy to communicate with. We all loved our trip and most definitely want to go back to NZ and would use First Light Travel again and Jo!!!!

Dani & Ben Wehrle - USA

Booking with First Light Travel was an exceptional, stress-free experience. We booked through Dawn who was always prompt (as much as a 16 hr time difference allows), informative, and always ready to change things to our liking. All information, documentation, and vouchers were ready and sent to us well in advance of our trip which further reduced the stresses of international travel. Once we arrived in NZ we had zero problems as everything was set up and ready for us. We simply told them who we were and it was ready to go! We were kept busy going all over the South Island with excursions and new experiences around every corner. It was truly a trip of a lifetime, and the best part, well within our budget! I would absolutely use them again and recommend them to anyone going to NZ or anywhere else they operate.

Taylor Green & Lauren Jones - USA

Everything about our New Zealand vacation, starting from our decision to use First Light Travel, was just perfect. We went back and forth with Shelley several times to create the perfect itinerary for us, which includes lots of activities as well as several days or parts of days for us to discover our own adventures. This was the perfect way to go, because all along the way we met the most friendly people who recommended other activities, sights, and places to check out. New Zealand is by far the most beautiful, friendly, welcoming, and activity-filled place I've ever traveled.

My husband was initially reluctant about not planning our own trip, but as soon as he realized that he could still be as involved in the planning as he wished, he realized how amazing it would be to have all our reservations made and paid for up front. And from the moment we left home, everything was easy and taken care of, and we could just relax and enjoy being on vacation.

We fell completely in love with everything about New Zealand, and can't wait to go back (and of course to have First Light Travel plan everything!).

Alex Suchman and Alexander Trempe - USA

Hi Kasey,  

We are about to board to leave for Fiji.  NZ was fantastic.  We were fortunate with weather in Abel Tasman.  Off season is nice as not crowded.  The kayaking was perfect as we lucked out with the tide and paddled into the lagoons on the way.    

Will miss NZ and leave with wonderful memories of your beautiful country.  

Thanks for your help in this!   Cheers, Rob. 

James (Rob), Linda, Robert & Adrienne McNeill - USA

Kia Ora! It was such a lovely honeymoon trip to NZ for both of us. We depart from Indonesia to Auckland on the first day and spent 1/2 days in Auckland to explore the city before started the journey to the south in the next day. We rented a car in Auckland and drove south to Waitomo to watch spectacular scenes during glow worm cave tour and had a warm dinner nearby the place. The next day it was time to drive to Rotorua for another adventure. And the next day, and the next until the 8th days full of exciting tour and activity until we flew back home from Wellington. We had a great time in New Zealand thanks to the fabulous activity and accommodation recommendation from First light travel. The travel agent was very kind (thank you, Michelle!) and super helpful. I would like to recommend anyone going to New Zealand to use First Light travel service if you want to have a pleasant and smooth vacation without any fuss along the way.

Ivan Vincent & Lisa Sutikno - South Korea

Kasey & Christine,

 We just wanted to thank you both so much for everything you did for us in planning and coordinating our honeymoon trip.  The responsiveness and communication of working with you made our experience so nice and easy.  Everything was perfect, and the fact that every detail was accounted for and coordinated made our experience perfect.

 Our trip was amazing as we absolutely loved both Fiji and New Zealand.  Going into the trip we said it was a once in a lifetime trip for us, but after traveling we will definitely plan to be back to both in the future.  Our itinerary was the perfect mix of relaxation in Fiji, and activities in New Zealand.  We loved everything we did and would recommend the same itinerary to other couples looking to do a trip.  We highly recommend Tokoriki and Hulbert House for accommodations for people in the future.  Both places were amazing, and the hospitality of the people made us feel at home and very comfortable.

 Thank you very much, and we hope to work with you again in the future! 

 Paul Shamoian & Elizabeth Sulser - USA

I’d never used a travel agent before but when we started to plan our trip from Midwest United States (Minnesota) to New Zealand we knew it would be the trip of a lifetime and wanted to get it right. We chose First Light Travel to help us and Rhodri Howell responded to my email. Rhodri answered all my questions quickly and made creating the itinerary and securing reservations easier than I ever dreamed it could be. Everything was very organized and laid out well for our self-drive tour. Rhodri was able to include the adventures we wanted combined with beautiful locations for our overnight stays. We had an amazing time and, when I asked my son and my husband which was their favorite activity, they said “everything!” And if that isn’t enough, my son has an allergy and requires a special diet which is a fact I only mentioned once in one of my first emails. Not thinking more about it, we were pleasantly surprised when the airlines and some of the hotel restaurants served allergen-free meals. We are very grateful and highly recommend Rhodri and First Light Travel for service above and beyond!

Bob, Jake, & Lisa Langeslay-Glenn – Minnesota USA

It was a very good experience to use this service; especially it is our first time to travel in NZ. We saved time to book the local tours and accommodations. Travel with them, we feel more safe under their advises, we planned to travel north and south part in 10 days, Shelley arranged the transport to us on perfect time, we no need to worry about the transport, Due to the climate situation, we need to do the skydive on another day, Shelley rearrange it for us quickly.

Helen Lau - Hong Kong

Hi Jo!

It is Richard Tan. I would just like to thank you for organising such a wonderful and enjoyable trip. We really enjoyed ourselves very much. Both Heather whom we had as a guide in Wellington and Godfrey , who drove us to Martinborough and our guide there too were Super. They were simply fabulous. They were the best we had throughout our trip. Godfrey took care of us as though we were his family. Very professional.

Once again thanks a lot for showing us the best of your beautiful country, those places we had been to.

Have a great weekend.

Best regards

Richard Tan - Singapore

First Light Travel and particularly Michelle put together a really terrific vacation for us. Overnight stops of more than one day allowed for exploration and also afforded the ability to relax and enjoy the surroundings.

We would highly recommend that anyone with only a 2 week holiday limit and a healthy travel budget use First Light Travel to create an itinerary. Great scenery, people, food and experiences.

Howard and Constance Simmons – Philadelphia USA