Incredible experience sailing around Milford Sound in the late afternoon and early morning with no other vessels around.
We absolutely loved our trip right from booking all of our accommodation and experiences with Chelsea right through to our last night in Christchurch. We found some really great spots along the way especially a little Italian restaurant in Nelson, Babagatto, which was the most delicious meal we have ever had in our lives and a great host in Raff who is so passionate about his culture. Although we didn’t have the best weather for some of our drives the scenery around us was absolutely breathtaking and even on our longest journey it didn’t feel like we saw enough! Hobbiton is a must see on the North Island even if you aren’t a Lord of the Rings fan as well as Fergburger in Queenstown which is well worth the wait!
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.
Absolutely amazing! Everything about the cruise was awesome, and I would highly recommend the doubtful sound overnight cruise to anyone. The only very minor improvement would just be that on the kayak section it felt a little rushed and for those who don’t kayak much the pace was a little tiring without time to rest. A slower group or pace would have been helpful. Thanks though!!
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.
The tour was excellent overall. The right time at each place and appropriate route. We did find Arrowtown a worthy visit which wasn’t listed on your itinerary so may be worth listing for future clients. All hotels where excellent barring the one in Queenstown. The room we were given was dirty and the heating didn’t work. Although this is something out of anybody’s control we reported it the next morning but by the evening nobody had fixed it or even serviced the room! We reported it to reception and in fairness we were then moved. Maybe worth considering for future clients the standard of this hotel.
Another thing is you can’t put postcodes into the satnav system but on the last day we were returning to the airport at 4am and it wouldn’t allow us to put in airport as it needed the street name of which we didn’t have. Would be worth therefore putting this on the itinerary.
Thank you for your service which we found first class.
From the extremely helpful staff and quick replies by email to the easy to read itinerary the trip was an amazing success. We had enough things to do without having to book many more beyond what the tour offered even the long car trips were fun and relaxing with some of the most scenic views in valleys and on mountains.
The overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound was fantastic. It was wet and cloudy providing plenty of amazing waterfalls and great scenery. We’re so glad we included this trip in our NZ itinerary.
A great introduction tour to New Zealand’s South Island.
All hotels were excellent for the trip, the only comment I would have is that the Heartland Cotswold in Christchurch is looking tired and pales compared to others such as the Heritage in Queenstown. Otherwise, I would recommend Relaxing Journeys to all.
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.
Have already told others to go on the overnight cruise it was the best trip we have been on.