New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

My husband Mike Ulry and I just returned to the U.S. from a two week vacation in New Zealand.  I highly recommend First Light Travel for your itinerary.  They are based in New Zealand and did a wonderful job putting together our itinerary and making all of the arrangements.  Natalie te Dorsthorst was our agent.  She went above and beyond to do everything she could to make it an experience we will never forget!  The scenery is breathtaking!  My husband and I are fans of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, so it was wonderful to visit some of the locations where filming took place.  We started at the north island and ended our visit at the south island.  There is no way we could have put together this itinerary ourselves, because we are not familiar with the country.  We just told them what we are interested in, and they did the rest!  Thank you, Natalie!  We will be forever grateful for your personal service!

Michael & Linda Ulry - USA

Hi Michelle

We are back home & had a wonderful NZ trip. We especially loved the south island & thought the tour you organised for us was excellent .There were many excellent experiences in your tour but the highlight was the night spent at Lanark Castle is Dunedin & the superb gourmet meal we enjoyed with other guests staying there. We enjoyed all the tours you booked for us, particularly the glow worm cave and I liked the fact that after the tour was over, we congregated in their ‘club house’ for refreshments & a great talk about the life cycle of glow worms, both informative & amusing. My husband is not very mobile but he was able to do everything you arranged for us.

I most certainly would recommend your services & have already passed your details onto a couple of people who asked.

Thanks again, great holiday!

Kind regards

Noelle & Anthony Keller - Australia

New Zealand is a gorgeous country but can be tricky to tour if you don’t have the correct itinerary and organization in place. This is where Jaimee Boyce excelled on our recent trip to the South Island. We were limited to 9 days following 2.5 weeks in Australia. I actually found Jaimee by doing an online search but as soon as we connected, I knew I’d found the right person to make this dream vacation to New Zealand happen.

My husband and I are well traveled, active 60-somethings living in Los Angeles. Jaimee put a self-drive tour in place arranging everything from the rental car, to the hotels (we like boutique, upscale) to the itinerary and activities. One of our highlights was a bike/wine tour just outside of Queenstown that was the best we’d ever been on (definitely opt for the e-bike). Another was an overnight cruise on Milford Sound. We did things on this trip we might not have thought of had she not included them in the itinerary.

We had a bit of a hiccup when, much to our disappointment, while in the gorgeous area of Mt Cook, both of our activities were rained out. I called Jaimee and she immediately put a “Plan B” in place.

Jaimee was extremely responsive to my every email (and there were plenty) both prior to and during our wonderful time in this magnificent country. I recommend her unequivocally to help organize and execute a Kiwi dream vacation. And icing on the cake: the price was right!

Randi & Richard Simenhoff - USA

Worry-free NZ Adventures

My family of four traveled to New Zealand and Daniel and his associates at First Light Travel really took all the worries out of our travel. If plans changed, which they did due to weather factors, they were in contact with us and would have alternative experiences for us to decide upon. They were forthcoming with details that would affect our travel and were there along the way to help us through if needed. It was great having someone there to answer questions. Even on our free days or travel days (we drove ourselves) they had suggestions of places to stop which helped us plan out our days.

Amy Leu and Family - USA

Our trip was great!  We've already been recommending you to our friends that would like to visit New Zealand.  If we ever make another trip, we'll definitely work with you again!

Betsy & Mike Brown - USA

We just got back from our amazing 2 week honeymoon in New Zealand, organized by Daniel W. The whole trip was a dream, not only because NZ has been on the top of our "must-visit" list for ages, but also because Daniel made the whole process so seamless and easy. First Light travel really caters to everything you want, and makes planning a trip so, so easy! Daniel worked with us to create an itinerary that allowed us to ramble from the South Island to the North Island, seeing all the beautiful countryside by car, sprinkling in plenty of LoTR sightseeing for my husband and wine tours for me! In one instance we had to detour due to a road closure (winter weather) and Daniel called us to make sure we had found a way around and even offered additional directions. When plans unexpectedly changed, First Light and Daniel were there to help us navigate changes and make the necessary adjustments in our activities. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be able to walk into a hotel or up to an information desk and know that all the arrangements and payments are already sorted and all you have to do is give your name, and boom! you're able to pick up your rental car, or checked in at a hotel or ready to go zip-lining, or rafting or on a 4x4 tour of the Edoras location set (we did all these things)! Overall, I would definitely work with First Light again and would recommend them to anyone traveling to the South Pacific.

Kathryn Zell & Johnathan Longo - USA

Daniel planned a fabulous itinerary for our NZ adventure. He selected great highlights for us such as the Milford Sound Cruise, The Alpine train ride and the Mitai Maori Experience. The accommodations at each stop were superb and centrally located. A shout out to Emma as well, helping out when we decided to make a last minute change of plans. It was so reassuring to know you and the First Light team were always reachable before and during our trip.

I am already telling my friends they need to go to NZ and that First Light is the best.

Paula & David Lowe - USA

Hi Daniel,

I wanted to give you a good review on your service. You have been most helpful, right from the beginning when we requested you to help us plan our itinerary to the time we land in NZ and up till the end of our trip. We are most impressed by your promptness in responding to me when I call on you to help, when we were stranded in the middle of our journey to Franz Josef. That was a most unforgettable experience!

Thank you so very much for all your assistance, we are most grateful.

Martha Ee Jee Ng & Paul Ka - Singapore

Hi Natalie, Happy Easter!

Hollyford a wonderful Fiordland experience. Thank you for your part in getting us 5 to the Hollyford Track. Both guides Robin & Kyle where excellent! Blessed with excellent weather & fresh swim on the last day a bonus.

Kind regards

Gail Mingins: Orewa Auckland

Emma our tour consultant was excellent. She planned our trip to suit our needs, communicated promptly. Because some roads on west coast were washed away, our itinerary had to be changed, Emma was very good at suggesting alternatives. She also managed to change our accommodation in Invercargill as the hotel we were going to stay had a 6-hour power cut.

We were very lucky to see Kiwi both during the day and at night! - the highlight of our trip. I would have liked to share a video clip , the system does not allow me to do so.

Kishor Vithlani - Northland