New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Our experience with First Light Travel was exceptional! The booking process was easy, and the service was top-notch. The wine tastings and glacier helicopter tour were highlights. We loved the George Hotel and Milford Sound transport. The entire trip was perfectly tailored to our interests!

Four of us just returned from a 3 week trip to the North and South Islands of New Zealand . First I must mention what a beautiful country New Zealand is, from its breathtaking landscapes ,the vibrancy of the communities and the friendliness and warmth of the people. Learning about the Maori culture was a highlight of the trip.
While researching travel agencies I settled on First Light Travel.It was important to me to use the expertise of a local agency if possible . First Light Travel more than exceeded our expectations. I worked with Marcella Johnson. She was very professional, available when needed, and very instrumental in helping me set up our itinerary. She worked well within my budget. We chose to have private drivers on each island which made it possible to concentrate on just having fun without having to worry about the logistics of driving . Not only did they drive us from one place to another ,they made sure to recommend scenic stops, as well as places for lunch they thought would be of interest to us. Everything went off without a hitch. The hotels, as well as the tours she arranged were exceptional. Marcella helped us to choose activities that met all of our needs.
I (and my family) would highly recommend a trip to New Zealand, and in order to have the best experience possible you should contact First Light Travel.

First Light Travel provided us with a wonderful brush stroke of New Zealand! We toured both Islands with a private driver, experiencing fine wine, food, and the beauty of the country! We will be back!

I was exceptionally happy with the service that I received from Christine at First Light Travel. From the start the service was personalized and extremely helpful. Our trip exceeded our expectations, the hotels chosen were superb and the whole itinerary showed a thoughtfulness to our needs and interests that really made it a perfect trip.

Lara Iglitzin & Vladimir Raskin  - USA

Dear Shelly,

Just a note of thanks for the wonderful job you did with all of our travel arrangements.

I was also happy to meet you and your sons. You did an excellent job and I enjoyed everything we did 

I especially enjoyed our time with Chris Lewis (their driver/guide via Limo South).  What a trip!

Sandi Sharpe - USA
 

 Hi Kasey,

I wanted to touch base now that we are home and settled back into our routine to tell you what a wonderful New Zealand trip we had and to thank you for all your effort.  You did a wonderful job and probably picked some great experiences and places to stay that we wouldn't have thought about.  We hope to one day return and you will be our go-to girl when that happens!

Thanks again for all your help and planning.

Regards,

Edward & Deborah Danielczyk - USA

Jo is a miracle worker! 

I can’t say enough about how great she was to work with!  There wasn’t a pre-planned tour available for the winter season, so she took us under her wing and helped us to create a custom-designed trip of a lifetime.  She accommodated and exceeded our every need and request...and believe me there were many.  She took care of every detail from pickup and drop offs to detailed notes and phone numbers for confirmations.  We didn’t have to worry about a thing...and that made all the difference in traveling.

Our drivers and guides were treasures!  They took personal interest in offering detailed information about their beloved country as well as answering any questions we had with patience and enthusiasm.  The excursions she selected for us were fabulous...we were treated to the best of the best meals and service.  We called it our “spoil spree” adventure.   When there was a complication in our trip due to a flight cancellation, she was instantly available for us to problem solve and she personally handled arrangements to get us back on schedule.  Phew!  I felt so much better having her “on board” with us for the whole vacation process.    

We highly recommend First Light Travel to anyone and we are already making wishful plans for a return trip...now if we can just get her to branch out on a global scale for all of our traveling in the future!  What do you say, Jo?

Australia favorites:

The Sydney Harbor dinner cruise - beautiful scenery, AMAZING food with wine pairings, live music, and first-rate service.

Wendy Sorenson - USA

Dear Sofie,

As a seventy year old couple we had always planned our own trips. Our experience with you at First Flight Travel was exceptional. We could not have images a better adventure, experience which were “up close and personal” with the people, the culture and magnificent land of New Zealand!

As our first experience working with someone, you were always patient, knowledgeable and accomplish the results excessing our expectations! You identified unique experiences such as the Tram Restaurant in Christchurch and the PurePod, all glass cabin, in the mid of nothing but incredible landscape! These experiences coupled with the Paragliding at over 4,000 feet are memories we will never forget.

As a traveler we usually have some idea of what we want to see when we explore a new country but your attention to detail, your ability to understand what we needed and wanted was exceptional, thank you Sofie!

Throughout the trip if needed, you were always there. I would encourage anyone to work with an agent within the country they are visiting because the details are truly reflective by your knowledge, insights and extraordinary skills which can only come from living in a country.

I will email a few of my favorite pictures but if you see any particular ones you would like from Facebook, please let me know. I wish I had a picture of us at the PurePod together but I only have some silly ones of Bob being overjoyed!

I look forward to working with First Light Travel again when we visit Australia!

My very best,

Robert & Susan Mills -  USA

First of all, I would like to commend Our travel specialist Christine Goodger for doing such a great job in arranging our itinerary & putting up with several revisions on our itinerary. Her patience & sense of urgency are very impressive. She responded to our queries quickly & comprehensively. She also gave good suggestions which was a great help in organizing our itinerary. Andrew & Frank were both very courteous & approachable. They both helped us load & unload our luggages without being asked to do so. Andrew always took the tour vouchers from us & processed our attraction tickets so entrance to the attraction was a breeze. Frank was very knowledgeable about each attraction’s history & information. He also took us to places where we can try the best tasting salmon, kiwi, chocolates, manuka honey, & the yummy mixed berries real fruit ice cream! Overall, we had an amazing tour of New Zealand, so we’ll definitely be back!

Thank you First Light Travel! 

Julie Co, Edwin, Bryan, Michele & Krystyn Tiu - Philippines

The most important decision we made for our month long stay in New Zealand was to use Amelia at First Light. We just gave her our goals and parameters for our stay and the itinerary she created from all the activities to the accommodations was absolutely perfect. I cannot stress how worry free our vacation was. I would not change a thing and will be recommending her and First Light for years to come. My one piece of advice is to make sure you spend plenty of time in the small beautiful towns. The bed and breakfast options are amazing!

Thank you Amelia!

Jeannie and Robert Garner – United States of America