All Reviews
Relaxing Journeys

This tour was a great way to see many highlights of the South Island. We really enjoyed the freedom of travelling at our own pace and the train journey at the end was a lovely way to end of the tour. There is a lot of driving involved and if we did it again we would include extra days throughout the tour to break up the driving, but the drive was relatively easy because the roads are very well maintained. The hotels were all lovely. Marie organised our tour and was a delight to deal with and always responded to emails quickly. This was our first trip to New Zealand and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

A great mix of train, coach and car. The tour covers the key parts of the South Island. Really liked the trip to the farm with lovely location and a great meal. The location of the motel in Queenstown was great because of the walking access to the town centre. All the pick ups were all on time. Superbly organised. The maps were great, did not need a GPS. The weather also was good at the rights times. Would highly recommend this tour.

We really enjoyed our trip to South Island. Marie has been most helpful in sorting out all our accommodations and answering all our questions. The voucher system works really well and makes the transactions simple and quick. There were a few long drives for the itinerary we chose – from Franz Josef to Queenstown and from Lake Tekapo to Hanmer Springs, about 5 hours each. Other than those, the pace was very manageable. The accommodations provided were all clean and comfortable. Noting the number of toilets in each apartment may be helpful especially when six people share an apartment. Due to our large group size (17), some of us had to be accommodated in some smaller twin/triple rooms at some destinations instead of more spacious apartments. Overall, the accommodations were of excellent quality. The highlight of our trip was seeing lots of wild dolphins and whales on our trip out to sea at Kaikoura. However, the sea conditions were really rough and some in our group had to forgo the whale-watching trip. The tour operator was helpful to allow us to reschedule our whale-watching to the next day without penalty and to allow cancellation for those who suffered from sea-sickness. As SH1 was still closed, we had to take the windy inland route to Kaikoura but the experience of seeing so much wild life at Kaikoura made the drive worth the while.

We really enjoyed our trip to NZ. The folks at Relaxing Journeys were very helpful and their logistics worked out perfectly. I highly recommend.

Thoroughly enjoyed our visit and the itinerary was great. Feedback would be – 2 hotels we had trouble finding because of the address given. Maybe a description of where they are included in the itinerary. Thank you for organising this. It was no fuss and very flexible in what we wanted. I would highly recommend Relaxing Journeys in NZ and use the company again. Thank you to Mani who was so accommodating.

A beautiful cruise in a beautiful place.

The sceneries were breathtaking and simply glorious. Thank you for getting the whales, penguins and seals out for us 🙂 The food was excellent., was wowed by the lamb and beef. Even the salad was very well done. The accommodation were clean and comfortable. Could have some air freshener on board for the quad share in case of smelly feet and shoes! The bathing place was very clean too and toilets were cleaned at night making it more comfortable to use in the morning. The crew were polite and could be more friendly/personable, esp the Skipper (Dave / Steve – can’t remember his name). Nick, our guide, was very knowledgeable. Mike the coach driver was very knowledgeable , friendly, entertaining and so hilarious which set us up for the amazing experience ahead. The 10 mins silence with the engine and generators switched off and no photos taking policy is an excellent idea and eat to end the cruise! Thank you for a truly stupendous experience.

Good accommodation throughout. Excellent choice of car.

Great way to see the country in a small group (less than 20 people), but using a full sized coach that is adapted for this number.

Our overnight on Milford Mariner was wonderful. Great experience I will remember forever.

Would 100% recommend to anyone wanting to see Milford Sound. What made this tour the best was how the cruise only takes up to 20 people so plenty of space to view the dolphins, seals and penguins from anywhere in the boat. Fresh seafood dinner cooked for us and the boat was very luxurious.

Out of this world highlight of our tour so far. What an amazing place to spend the night.