New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

One of the hallmarks of a great vacation is having an emergency telephone contact number you never have to use. When everything goes as planned or when inconveniences arise and solutions and suggestions are provided at the first level of contact you know that you have chosen the right people to deal with. This was the case with our experience with First Light Travel.

Not only did they provide excellent choices for our agreed upon itinerary, but all of the operators they selected were clearly doing jobs they loved. I have always held that the friendliest people in world lived in Ireland, I was wrong. The people of New Zealand are friendlier than the people of Ireland ( a high standard to surpass) and the most welcoming and helpful of those are connected to First Light. I have the highest admiration for the company and will use their services again and wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone traveling where they operate.

Eric Schreuder USA

Our experience with First Light Travel and especially Kasey Yee was as good as I could ever imagine when booking an overseas tour. If everyone is as responsive to questions and concerns as Kasey was, the team at FirstLight gets 5 stars. This was our first time to New Zealand, and with the help of First Light this was one of the best vacations we have ever had. I would use them again, and would highly recommend them to friends who may travel to NZ.

Don & Nancy Drozd - USA

Hi Amelia.

We had a really wonderful holiday in your beautiful New Zealand. Although too short! We enjoyed all the places that we stayed at. The itinerary worked out really well and though there was a lot of driving we really got to see the country. The kayaking at Abel Tasman was certainly a high point. We were there on a particularly beautiful day. Wonderful guide as well. You certainly put a good trip together.

Best road trip ever!!!

Thank you again.

Best regards.

Mark and Laurel Panther, Canada

Amelia was great at getting us the tour we wanted at the time we wanted and she was very specific with instructions and what was to be expected. She answered any of our questions correctly and promptly. I would recommend her to my friends for a reference for travel.

Carole Barlow & Crew - USA

Dawn and First Light Travel were amazing. I am so glad we worked together for our vacation. Dawn paid close attention to the type of holiday we wanted and planned accordingly. Everything was booked and organized perfectly. The vouchers were helpful, letting us know who/when we needed to confirm. We had no problems, everything went so smoothly. We were a very happy and satisfied couple.

Sandra Oman & Michael Barr - USA

We simply LOVE to deal with Shelley Kirk. This is now the third time that we deal with Shelley and she is just a jewel. She always has good suggestions, the places that she chooses matches with our requirements, she is quick to respond to our queries. Cant ask for anything more of a tour operator, Great work Shelley, we really appreciate the time you spent to help us have an amazing trip in New Zealand.

Simon, Claudine, Raymond and Agathe - Australia

Hi Jo, Thanks and Happy New Year!  I want you to know that our trip was such a success – we just can’t find enough superlatives to describe how well the trip arrangements went. We kept referring to how smooth all the rental car, flights and lodgings were. We had no issues whatsoever, and we kept talking about how great your service had been in helping us plan this wonderful trip. All the hotels were great, especially the Punakaiki Resort and the Trelawn Place – they were just beautiful in their own right both in terms of the location, the views but also the quality of the lodgings. DeBretts was also great and all the other places more than met our expectations as well. The “grande finale” as in the overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound was a fantastic success. Great boat with very knowledgeable and service oriented crew, great food as well as the beautiful scenery – as someone said “breathtaking serenity”. We had many dolphins play next to the boat, and we saw a huge seal colony as well, and we even went for a swim in the sound.

New Zealand is definitely one of, if not the most beautiful country on earth. Everywhere we went, there were beautiful vistas of snow clad mountains, and beautiful blue waters with golden beaches. We skydived, we bungy jumped (did Nevis outside of Queenstown – the highest in NZ with 134 meters, my three sons, one sons girlfriend and even I did it, believe it or not!). We kayaked in beautiful sunny and warm weather in Abel Tasman, we did the Tongariro crossing (more strenuous than I had expected, especially going downhill at the end – my knees were killing me, but it was well worth it), we totally enjoyed the hell-glacier tour, again in beautiful weather (ca 25 degrees in the village and a clear blue sky, even in the afternoon which the guide said was unusual. I did it in shorts!). The glowworm caves and river rafting was also a great experience – again great weather. That was maybe the most fantastic part of our trip, we had such great weather throughout. Only a couple of hours of clouds during the Tongariro Crossing and a cloudy and colder day during our bunny jump as well as rain our last day in Auckland – other than that just clear blue skies and 20-25 degrees!

We will definitely recommend you and your company to anyone we know will want to travel to New Zealand. I’m also going to attempt to get a review for you on TripAdvisor if possible.

Thanks again for all your help to make this trip an unforgettable experience!

All the best,

Hans and the rest of the Sjoquist family - USA

Dear Jo,

We both would like to send a special thank you to you for all your work, guidance and efforts to create the perfect New Zealand adventure. We are letting people know of your exemplary service and Jo we hope this will bring you more clients your way!

Thank you again and best wishes for a memorable 2016

Sincerely

Susan & Larry Deringer USA

Dear Amelia, We had an incredible holiday! This was the trip of a lifetime. All of the accommodations and activities that you booked for us were fantastic. The service could not have been better and your restaurant suggestions were delicious. We can't wait to come back and will absolutely have you do all of the bookings again. I have been telling everyone I know who may travel to New Zealand that they must book through Amelia at First Light Travel!

Wendy and George Schnapp - USA

Hi First Light, We had a wonderful holiday, everything ran very smoothly largely due to your effort and expertise in putting our itinerary together for us. If anyone we know intend visiting New Zealand we won’t hesitate to recommend you to them. Apart from the spectacular scenery, the highlight of our holiday was the Lake Wanaka Island Nature Walk, and that was almost entirely due to our guide Chris. His unique character really makes the tour special. I have attached two pics taken on this island walk to show you how spectacular it is. 

Kind regards

Tonia Benn & Kurt Werner - Australia