This tour was a whistle stop tour of NZ going to many fabulous places. It was well organised with no hitches from start to finish. I am grateful we got to Milford Sound before the road was damaged by extreme rains. Now having done this tour I would like to return to some areas to see them in more depth.
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
Fantastic holiday only very good is accommodation…some places were a bit old and tired…but others were fabulous….our room at Taupo was an absolute highlight
We loved New Zealand. You made everything so easy. My only suggestion is that the Heartland Hotels seemed to need some updating. We didn’t really care about fancy hotels (even though we loved the Rainforest Retreat at Franz Josef) but would have appreciated a little nicer rooms and would have been willing to pay a little more. Also, the internet in these hotels was spotty and sometimes didn’t work. All in all though, we were happy as we didn’t spend that much time in the rooms. We really appreciated being able to call you when we had issues with the breakfasts and that was taken care of so easily. The rental car pick up and delivery were so easy and we really appreciated the suggestions of things to do on our itinerary during the drives from place to place. You kiwis are so very friendly and helpful.
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.
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.