New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

What a country. Beautiful, scenic, ever changing all the time. The driver/guide was so knowledgeable, personable and accommodating. 

Thank you for sharing your fantastic knowledge of the culture and land with me. This is a trip I will never forget.

Mike Wilson - UK

My husband Mike, and teenage children Nick and Karla and myself decided to take a well earned rest touring the South Island of New Zealand over Easter 2010.  When doing research I came across the website http://www.firstlighttravel.com/.  Thank goodness I did because as I result I met via email with Laureen.  From the first contact, Laureen could not have been more helpful and patient.  

No request or change ever seemed too much for her (although I am sure she raised her eyebrows a few times when seeing my email address come through).  Laureen was always very professional and more than willing to assist with suggestions based on information that I provided her.  I could not recommend Laureen or First Light Travel more highly.  There customer service is impeccable and I will be using them again when we visit New Zealand again.

Denise Donati and Family - Australia

First Light Travel has been great to work with! Shelley came to the rescue when another travel group failed us just a few weeks out from our planned departure. She was quick to respond and always willing to address any concerns or questions that I had. During the trip, everything went very smoothly and all the vendors and activities were very professional. I can't say enough about the service we recieved and would recommend the company and especially Shelley to anyone interested in travelling to this area of the globe!

Alexandra Pelley - Australia

Aloha Laureen,

Hey how was your holiday en France? Was it cold? Did you get to spend time with family? Here I included a pic from the trek, well it was the exit pic from the Milford. Six of us hiked out early so the photographer took the shot at Milford sound instead of Sand fly point. Does that guy look 49? Not. No worries as we enjoyed some beers at the Milford Sound cafe while catching some rays and waiting for the others.

You have my permission to use the photo, if you wish and the hand signal I am giving in the pic is the "shaka" sign from hawaii, meaning "hang loose". oh and if you use the pic, don't use my real name, instead use my hiking name which is, "manfriday". Everyone who is a serious hiker here in hawaii has a hiking name. Why? Well because more times then not we are hiking on private property and when confronted by authorities have to give them some ID, so mine is manfriday.

a hui hou and God bless,

Roger Breton - Hawaii

Thank You!! An Amazing Time!!

hmm, I don't think I can pick out one highlight. So I'll highlight the most memorable for me. The Nige Canyoning was absolutely amazing. I'm so glad I didn't miss it. I knew I would have regretted it. This just seemed to work out. The ice climbing was really fun! That was the way to go cause it kind of combined the day hike and ice climbing into one. The heli-trek was spectacular! The views were unreal. The trek was difficult for me, but well worth the effort. Both the bungy jumps were super crazy!! I loved the water touch and just the insanity of the nevis jump was enough to make me happy...wow! The canyon swing was fun too, I jumped backwards so it added a little bit to the fear. The waitomo caving trip was awesome. Lost epic is definitely the trip to take. Oh and rafting Wairoa was the best. It was a short run, but packed with crazy rapids. I had a great guide and a light raft with fun people so that added to the experience. Those are my highlights.

My favorite town was Wanaka. So beautiful. And home of the best burger place ever. I will miss Red Star.

This was the ultimate vacation for me. Thanks so much for planning it.

You Rock

Abbie

We took a chance and booked with First Light Travel direct after reading reviews etc, but had no previous experience of them. We were very glad we did 😁. From the first contact, through the planning stages to getting our final itinerary, we were given first class service from Micala and the whole team. We booked a month long trip in a Britz Venturer campervan (who we named Doris) and First Light organised this and also the bookings of the campsites en route. They also booked certain trips for us but also left ‘rest days ‘ to give us flexibility to do ad hoc activities. Great balance between keeping us moving and planning in time just to experience New Zealand. When we caught the tail end of Cyclone Geraldine, Micala was in contact with us, reassuring and so helpful that if our ferry crossing was cancelled she had alternatives. A great overall experience and we would recommend them without hesitation!

Ian & Marion Parish, UK

Like many others, our planned trip to New Zealand began a couple of years ago. We were fortunate to find First Light Travel, who worked with us to make our dream trip come to fruition.  Our wish was to tour the North Island for a month via motorhome and then, when my husband had to return home to his job, I wanted to spend three weeks touring the South Island.                                                                  

First Light arranged the motorhome rental, planned our route and booked our full service holiday parks for the month long tour of the North Island. They also booked two dive days and some other excursions, including the amazing visit to Hobbiton and a fun filled Waitomo Glow Worm adventure. We requested a change of venue for one stop during our trip and another at the end of my stay and First Light made those changes happen seamlessly. We had a major challenge, at the end of our stay on the North Island - one that was beyond First Lights’ control - and, even though there were many other people they were assisting, due to horrendous weather challenges, the situation was rectified immediately for us.                                                                                                                                                                     

For my tour of the South Island, First Light found me a 10 day bus/train excursion that allowed me to sit back and relax enjoying a once in a lifetime guided adventure and also arranged train travel, hotels and a couple of sight-seeing adventures for the final leg of my trip exploring Kaikoura and Bleheim before returning home. Jamie Boyce, and her team at First Light Travel, did an amazing job helping us plan and make our visit to New Zealand most memorable. We highly recommend them for all your travel needs in New Zealand.

Rosslyn & Derek, Canada