New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Thanks to First Light Travel and Joanna we had a wonderful 13-day self-driving trip around New Zealand’s South Island. Working with her was so easy and she selected interesting and exciting daily activities for us to enjoy, ranging from a heli-hike on Franz Joseph Glacier to hikes at Mt Aspiring to a cruise on Milford Sound and a lot more.

All the driver who picked us up at the airport, train station and other places were extremely friendly and knowledgeable and always on time. The accommodations were all very good.

Overall, we loved our trip to the South Island and would wholeheartedly recommend First Light Travel to anyone planning a trip to this part of the world.

New Zealand Trip of a LIfetime!

Gina was great to work with! She was very patient with all the changes I had putting the 4 1/2-week trip together. It was a fantastic trip, and we loved every minute of it! It was so nice to have everything taken care of in advance and not have to worry about reservations. Every hotel was booked, every flight was booked, every SUV reserved, and every excursion was booked, as requested. There were no hiccups at all, and everything was taken care of. For a trip that was 4 1/2 weeks long, it was hard to believe that there were snags! I really appreciate all her and her team's hard work...and being available to us when we had some last-minute changes along the way!

I would highly recommend First Light Travel if you are interested in doing a trip around New Zealand. Rachael, Neelah and their colleagues listened carefully to our preferences during the planning stage, and organized a wonderful itinerary for us that included top class accommodations and excellent tours. They also responded quickly and professionally to address our questions before, during and after our trip.

This was always going to be the holiday of a lifetime and so we wanted it to be perfect. We asked Gina O'Neill to create a 16 day tour of New Zealand's South Island for us. We were happy to drive but wanted to be sure we didn't miss any of the main attractions and wanted a little bit of luxury along the way.
Gina did a fantastic job. Our holiday was perfect and the memories will be with us forever. Everything went smoothly from picking up the car, booking into the hotels and arriving for the excursions. It was totally seamless.
The highlight was our 2 nights in Mount Cook. The hotel was fabulous and the view from our hotel room was picture perfect. We can't thank Gina and First Light Travel enough and would definitely recommend the company to anyone considering a similar tour.

Nicole at First Light Travel was very helpful. She arranged our two weeks vacation in New Zealand and my sister and I had a wonderful time on our adventure. Everything went very smoothly on all of our stops and the accommodation was top notch. Exactly what we had expected. The scenic drives were beautiful and we had a very enjoyable trip. Would recommend them to anyone.

One year ago we had an amazing family trip organized by First Light Travel and specially Natalie.
The trip was tailored to our needs and we left room for extra, in case we would find something there (which we did, as getting on top of the Franz Joseph Glacier in helicopter)

the service provided by Natalie was absolutely fantastic, and very careful. Her involvement to make this trip fabulous made the difference (8 versions of the trip have been built until we were happy).

Thanks again, that's been a magic trip

First Light Travel made all the arrangements for our trip of a life time. The 26 day self drive itinerary was custom made to suit our interests and budget. Planning started several months ahead of our journey, communicating with Narissa to prepare a fulfilling itinerary. We started in Christchurch, working our way through the spectacular coast, mountains and lakes of the South Island. We took the ferry to Wellington and completed our North Island journey in Auckland as summer waned into autumn. The trip offered such variety in activities and excursions, the only thing we suggest is adding a few more days, as there is so much to see and do.

Rick and Eileen Bentley - Canada

Hi Narissa

Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that returned home to Australia on the 13th March safe and sound after our most enjoyable holiday in New Zealand.

We were so happy with all of the arrangements you made for us and were extremely pleased with all of the accommodation you put in place. All of the accommodation was clean and comfortable and we were able to cook quite a lot of our meals as most had cooking facilities. All of our tours you booked for us went very smooth and we were grateful that you booked us on the Doubtful Sound tour after Milford Sound was closed for people like us travelling independently.

We had such a wonderful trip and no doubt the highlight for us was being able to land on Fras Jozef Glacier. It was cancelled twice due to the low cloud but we were fortunate that we had the time to wait and were successful on the 1pm trip.

We had no hiccups anywhere with tours, accommodation and vehicles.

Thank you once again for all your help in ensuring we had a memorable trip. New Zealand is such a beautiful place and hopefully we will return one day.

We will have no hesitation in recommending you and First Light Travel to our friends.

Cheers

Heather and Brian Harley - Australia

Let me start with the planning. Narissa, she was the best! She heard all our suggestions and requirements and made a perfect itinerary. From the minute we landed in NZ we were very comfortable with transport or accommodation. Did I mention we were traveling with a 1 year old , Narissa kept that in mind while planning everything. 

We did not plan any adventurous activities but wanted a nice scenic getaway and that was what we got. On the whole we didnot regret planning our travel with First Light even for a single day from our 9 day trip. I would recommend First Light Travel and Narissa to all my friends

Kiranmayee Potluri and Setu Pendurthi  - USA

Found First Light Travel on the internet and gave them a call. I talked to Narissa Phillips who helped us plan and execute a really fun tour. Everything went according to plan. One hotel room was a disappointment but they got us a refund for the inconvenience. They did place us for three nights at the River Resort which was fantastic! We were concerned about driving on the left, but the roads are well marked and safe to drive. First Light Travel included a wonderful comprehensive map guide of New Zealand. This plus the GPS made driving a snap.

Narissa was terrific and thorough, and her charming accent just added to the positive experience with First Light Travel.

Mel and Sue Thompson -  USA