We loved the tour / accomodations were first class / coach was awesome , but Chris Hannah our driver made the trip for us. Would highly recommend the Ultimate Small group tour
The tour was wonderful and a Paul our tour guide was great. My only suggestions are as follows: some of the gourmet meal portions were a bit small and include more 2 night stays with a little more free time or a few later starts.
Excellent support by Chelsea Sharman, Relaxing Journeys, prior to the start of the tour. Group size made for enjoyable touring. Tour guide was engaging, knowledgeable, and funny. Nothing was a problem because Paul, tour guide, made the trip seamless. Accommodation, meals, and attractions were 5 STAR. Thank you for a great adventure.
Our tour driver Chris was great and all of the people in our group were delightful! Georgina was so helpful with all of our planning questions and organizing the Australia part of our trip.
This is the way to see New Zealand both North and South Islands. The bus was luxurious and our group of 20 was very comfortable and never so large so as to be disorganized. We had an outstanding coach captain and driver, Paul, who presented his country very well.
The coach tour was excellent especially our guide Nick and coach drivers Megan & Alex. They were very knowledgable and had great empathy and communication skills to people of all ages and works of live. Our accommodation was OK. We had three in the room although on three occasions it was only set up for two. Too much buffet food and too similar throughout the tour. I really enjoyed the ala carte style dinners. The pace could have been a bit faster. 6o’clock wake up calls could have been later as all on tour were very efficient in packing, breakfast and boarding the bus. We really enjoyed the tour and met some great people. We would certainly recommend Grand Pacific to our family and friends. Thanks also to Georgina Clark for all her efficient and prompt service and various communiques. It was most appreciated.
Thoroughly enjoyable! From our perspective, this is the only way to tour both islands. Marie, our agent at Relaxing Journeys was very helpful and answered all questions in a timely manner. Transfers to/from the airports were handled in a professional manner. The coach is very comfortable and makes plenty of stops for tours and breaks. Even though each seat in the coach is wonderful, Grand Pacific has a seat rotation plan that will move you to different seats throughout the entire coach during the tour – nobody has a bad seat. Hotels were the best in the area, and the included meals were varied and delicious. We had a change in drivers during the tour and can say without reservation that both John and Roger took excellent care of everyone. The tours were interesting, and in some cases unusual. The optional Skipper’s Canyon tour in Queenstown allowed us to view fantastic landscape – you may be annoyed by sand flies, so make certain you bring some insect repellent. The overnight Doubtful Sound cruise was also a highlight and provided fantastic views. Don’t overpack – You’ll find laundry facilities during the journey, and two of the hotels have a free guest laundry. Loved the trip!
It was well organised and the arrangements were excellent. We had a fantastic time seeing this beautiful country. Special thanks to the tour captains and tour leader who took good care of all of us.
Everything went as planned. The coach was comfy and the guide/driver was excellent. The accommodation was very good.
Nothing but positive things to say about Relaxing Journeys and Grand Pacific Tours. We started off with a bump, in that our flight from Toronto was delayed due to a snow storm and we missed our connecting flight to Auckland from San Francisco. Air Canada put us up in a hotel and rebooked our United Air flight for the next night. I contacted Georgina at Relaxing Journeys to advise her, and that it appeared we would miss the bus leaving from Auckland. She emailed me back with directions to the Intercity bus and that she had placed a hold for 2 for us. Fortunately we were able to arrange for an earlier flight with Air New Zealand, Georgina arranged for someone to pick us up and deliver us to our coach just in time to start our tour. The first 9 days were quite busy, I suppose jet lag and the 18 hour time difference didn’t help. Our first 2 nights were at the same hotel in the Bay of Islands, so that help us to acclimate to our new time zone. Our driver John R and tour guide Diane were terrific, informative, gracious and especially good at keeping 41 travellers on time. Hotels were all clean and comfortable, and meals were always plentiful and hot. We said goodbye to 9 people in Wellington, and picked up 12 more in Christchurch for the South Island tour. Also said hello to our new driver John T. He also, was a great driver with a good sense of humour. There was a slight hiccup due to a landslide on highway 6, and we couldn’t get to Franz Joseph for the night. Grand Pacific had to find last minute accommodation for 44 people, we stayed in Twizel and continued our journey from there, on to Queenstown. Due to a personal emergency at home, Diane had to leave us, and we were introduced to Brenda in Queenstown. Brenda completed our tour with a friendly and upbeat attitude. As we had already seen Mt. Cook, because of the landslide, Brenda and John came up with a few alternatives that are not usually included in the tour. We drove up the east coast, enjoying the fabulous scenery and stopped at the Moeraki boulders and continued to the Benmore dam. Our trip was everything and more, than I had hoped for. Some hotels were much nicer than others, but all were clean and comfortable. The included attractions were all informative and/or fun and great value. I have no hesitation in recommending Relaxing Journeys and Grand Pacific Tours for a fabulous vacation to New Zealand.
Wonderful experience.
This was the best tour. Small groups and VERY comfortable bus. Just amazing getting to see so much in a short time. Highly recommended if you want to see most of New Zealand in a short time. Great value for the money.