Our Guest book

The following feedback from our guests is unedited and might help you with your decision or planning. The feedback below is unedited and uncensored as our company philosophy is based on honest, useful and relevant information and applying this to your tour experience in New Zealand. If you have a specific question about any feedback comments don't hesitate to let us know.

You can specify a specific subject to search for feedback by entering this into the search box below i.e. enter Milford to see what guests have to say about this.

Barry and Cherie Allum, 9 day Scenic Wonders custom tour with North Island self drive, Travelled on 16th January 2012

David, we'd like to express our thanks to you for arranging such a wonderful visit to your beautiful country. Your suggested itinerary, tailored to fit in with our existing arrangements, worked perfectly for us. The independent travel using coaches in the south island was ideal, each journey a mini-tour in itself with knowledgeable and entertaining commentaries from the drivers, frequent refreshment & comfort stops and plenty of photo opportunities. We had ample time for exploration at each destination and being dropped off & picked up from the hotels made the travelling so easy. All of the accommodation was of excellent standard and very well situated. (Thanks here to Ann at Eliza's Manor on Bealey in Christchurch – don't know if she's the best B&B host in NZ, but we think she must be a contender!) The overnight sailing on the Fjiordland Navigator in Doubtful Sound was an absolute delight, the journey to Deep Cove was itself an adventure, having to cross Lake Manapouri & the Southern Alps before joining the ship. A truly memorable experience, facilitated by the friendly, helpful crew. We loved our time in the South Island and were able to relax and appreciate it thanks to your excellent planning. We started the self drive tour of the North Island in Napier. Having arrived from Christchurch we picked up the rental car from the airport, the Europcar desk had our details in advance and all of the documents were ready for us. Just a signature required, probably our easiest rental ever. The Kruse GPS/commentary system is really worthwhile and certainly enhances any journey, with information about the present and past of your location and alerts for any upcoming points of interest. Your suggested route meant that we never had a journey that was too long or tiring, the easy check-in at well located hotels kept everything stress free. In fact being stress free is a big part of why this trip to New Zealand was so enjoyable. From our initial welcome from Lyndall when we disembarked the Coastal Pacific at Christchurch station, to our eventual arrival in Auckland, all of the arrangements worked perfectly and for that we are very grateful. It really made for a thoroughly memorable and hugely enjoyable travel experience. Thanks once again David for putting this trip together for us. We have and will be recommending your company to anyone planning to visit New Zealand. Best Wishes Barry & Cherie

Gerard Sandanasamy, Central and Northern Highlights, Travelled on 4th February 2012

It was a fabulous tour! Made all the more memorable with professional, knowledgeable & friendly coach drivers cum tour guides. Looking forward to visiting South Island in the future :) Thank you for the great service! Gerard & Raneetha (Singapore)

Alan and Patricia Wildig, AAT Kings Cost Saver 9 day Southern Spectacular (HCQR), Travelled on 14th January 2012

Just wanted to put on record how much we enjoyed the above tour and thank you for making sure we had a really nice bunch of people to travel with! Ngaire was an amazing Tour Manager. She was very friendly, knowledgeable, and made the trip very interesting - we got so much more out of our trip than we would've done if we had driven ourselves and James was a great driver and a really nice bloke. Just one thing might be good for your "leaders" to mention. When we got to the salmon farm, wherever that was, maybe people could be warned about the sand flies or maybe even carry a repellant for us city folks. We were bitten very badly. Our delicate pale British skins I guess. Not used to it, whimps that we are - and these kept us awake for nights to come and I'm still itching occasionally! Just a thought. Please thank everyone for making our trip so memorable, easy, pleasant and enjoyable.

Ted and Brenda Harrison, AAT Kings Premium 10 day Southern Experience (ZSR), Travelled on 14th January 2012

The tour was a great success. aided by the good weather. The guide, Ted, was exceptional being both humorous and interesting. The quality of the hotels was very good.

Alison and Trevor Sharples, Custom South Island Scenic Wonders tour, Travelled on 7th January 2012

Trevor and I would like to say a big thank you for all your help in arranging our tour of the South Island of New Zealand. Everything went to plan and we spent a wonderful relaxing two weeks enjoying every moment. Best wishes

Sheryl and John Innes, 8 day Dunedin, Queenstown, Fiordland custom tour , Travelled on 27th December 2011

Hi Angela, just wanted to thank everyone involved on making our South Island Trip an amazing time for John and I. From the start to the finish everyone from the bus drivers to the motel owners were just the best and the accomadation was fantastic, specialy getting upgraded to the Heritage in Queenstown what a surprise!!! John left his jumper at the Mt Cook Kiosk and even that was returned to us in the post thanks to the bus driver. We have done a lot of travel overseas but this trip would be the tops, it went so smoothly and we did not have to worry about a thing. Thanks soooooo much Angela for orginising the trip for us it was a trip of a lifetime. We are now looking at going further down the South Island so will be in touch.

Ken, Jenny and Kenji Foong, 9 Day Southern Vista, Travelled on 14th December 2011

Dear David, Thank you for your fine arrangement for our holiday in South Island, NZ. The schedules were perfectly smooth and on time and our tours went without a hitch. We enjoyed our trip tremendously and now we are back in Malaysia via a short stay in Melbourne. Once again, thank you so much.

Michelle Gilmour and Brenda Johnston, AAT Kings Low Cost 9 day Southern Spectacular (HCQR), Travelled on 19th November 2011

Hi David, Brenda and I would like to thank you for organsing our South Island holiday so beautifully. It was wonderful to have the pick up at Christchurch airport when we arrived so late at night. The lovely lady who collected us was so helpful and also so informative. The tour was fantastic and John the driver and Julie the tour director were just excellent from start to finish. Our accommodation was fabulous and the food was just delicious. I am on a gluten free diet and everyone was well aware of this condition and had cereal and bread waiting each day for me. We are still in awe of how beautiful the South Island is. At every turn there is something even more spectacular than the moment before. The tour really highlighted wonderful spots to visit. We were very saddened by what we saw in Chrsitchurch but amazed at the strength of "the locals". Every New Zealander who crossed our paths was so friendly and helpful. They were all a pleasure to meet and spend time with. When we first boarded the coach, Julie thanked us all for coming to NZ and told us to return home to tell everyone that NZ is open for business. We have indeed done this and while we we there we certainly spent our money to help rebuild the deveatation that has occurred during the year. So much so that we had to post parcels home. Thank you for a wonderful introduction to the South Island. We will definately be back in the years to come. We wish you and your family a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year. kind regards Michelle and Brenda.

MoaTrek Decidedly Southern small group tour 12 Nov 2011 - Sarah, USA

I have been home a week now and wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your expertise in making my time in New Zealand such a great experience. From the time Lindl picked me up at the airport until she took me back 10 days later, I had the most amazing time. I loved Christchurch even though I had to dodge the barricades a time or two. The park and botanical gardens were lovely and I spent many an hour walking through them. The folks at Camelot were as warm and welcoming as you described and it was the perfect spot for me. Then when Ian from MoaTrek showed up on Monday with only 2 other passengers, I thought I had hit the lottery. Together the 4 of us toured the South Island with many unexpected and spontaneous moments throughout the week of Nov. 14-20. Your country showed itself off beautifully especially because we had unbelieveable weather. And the flight into Milford Sound was one of my favorites of the week. Ian is such a skilled leader. His wealth of everything from history to geography to anthropology to biology to politics to sociology to religion and every other “ology” in between, filled my head with a wealth of information about your country and its ancestors. His passion was evident when at times it seemed like he was seeing things for the first time. He handled all of our arrangements with grace and finesse. I was most pleased with our accommodations and the variety of home stays and boutique hotels made each night a different adventure. My impression of New Zealanders from all over your country is that they are the most friendly, hospitable people I have ever met in all my travels. Honestly, if I could uproot up all my family and friends, I would move there in an instant. To MoaTrek, I understand that you do not usually send out a tour with so few passengers, but I want to personally thank you for doing so. Not only was the service so specialized and personal but I thank you for honoring your commitment. I had another tour cancel before booking with you so it was most important that your tour happen for me especially since I was traveling alone. I never felt that corners were being cut or things left off the itinerary. If anything, it was just the opposite. I will be sure to pass the word along to others who are traveling to NZ that they need to book a trip with you above all others. I now have the task of sorting through about 1500 pictures and creating a way to share them with family and friends. My best wishes to you during this holiday season and may business be good for you in 2012.

AAT Kings 9 day Southern Spectacular 20 November 2011 - Sheela and Usha, USA

Just a few words thanking you for the fine arrangements you made for the tour. Everything went off very well and my sister and I had a wonderful time. It was an excellent tour, aided by good weather and cheerful friendly co-travelers. The tour guide, Julie, and driver, John, were very efficient, friendly and helpful and made sure of everyone's comforts and needs. The hotels were very good and our vegetarian food delicious. We had a very enjoyable time. The South Island has some of the most beautiful and breath-taking scenery I have seen and the nicest people I have met. It was great!