New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Shelley was fantastic and accommodated all our requests quickly and easily. Our vacation was smooth and had everything we wanted!

Anne and Elliott Fabrizio – USA

Shelley did a great job for us especially when the weather impacted our plans in Franz Joseph and also Queenstown. She changed our Heli Glacier Hike at short notice and also managed to get us a flight over Milford Sound when all the road access was flooded

Laurie and Sally Berryman - Great Britain

We wanted to visit New Zealand, but didn’t know enough to plan our own holiday. We also decided that driving would be very stressful (we are used to the right side of the road). Our agent asked what we wanted to do and what kind of budget. She then developed a wonderful itinerary. This itinerary included a couple of absolutely amazing lodges. And best of all, we had a private driver!

James & Paula Hansen - Ecuador

Hi Melissa,

We are now at Auckland Airport. We came to New Zealand to celebrate our 50th anniversary, and we had a trip of a lifetime. We met such wonderful people from around the world, had memorable experiences at every site, loved our campervan, and not only had experiences that we’ve never had before,but we had them in perfect weather. The guides at Mt Cook on the glacier said they only get 2 cloudless days a year, and they were as excited as we were.

Thank you for arranging this trip for our celebration. You picked the perfect sites in the perfect sequence with all of the activities that we love. It was comforting to know that we could contact you if we needed a change, and the changes worked out smoothly. When we return, I will write a review on Trip Adviser. I will also tell all my jealous friends to book on First light Travel with you.

With Much Appreciation.

Joy & Tom McCabe - USA

Hello Shelley,

I hope all is well.  I just wanted to take this time to say "THANK YOU!".  I appreciate the time and effort you put into setting up a fabulous trip.  It was the trip of a lifetime.  I appreciated every aspect of my travel and the places that I visited.  Accommodations were wonderful and each place I stayed was very comfortable.  It seems you put the package together in just the right way.  When I needed some time to rest, I had that in my schedule with having either the morning off before a tour or the afternoon/evening after a tour.  You made this vacation a breeze.  All I had to do is be where the itinerary said to be and the time indicated. 

Australia was wonderful, but New Zealand was spectacular.  New Zealand has to be one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited.  I have memories that will be with me forever.  So thank you for all that you did to allow me to be able to have a beautiful experience.  It really pays to have someone who is familiar with the countries you are touring to put something together based on your interests.  You listened to what I wanted and delivered.  I have already recommended you to a colleague who is interested in traveling to Australia and New Zealand.  I will continue to recommend you to anyone I know that ask about Australia and/or New Zealand.  You definitely have one completely satisfied customer in me.  Thank you again.   With great regard. 

Raemona Willis-Middlebrooks - USA

I chose first light travel as they provided a unique itinerary which evolved in the course of a lot of discussion with me. Chrissy my consultant really listened, offered lots of helpful information suggestions and advice, and the result was an amazing experience of 6 weeks exploring north and south island safely and supported as a solo traveller relying on public transport. I would never have achieved this on my own. This trip was planned and booked solo however much nearer the time one of my friends asked if she could join me for part of the trip. Chrissy helped to organise a seamless merge in for her too booking identical trips and travel and sharing accommodation. Wonderful service. The system of a detailed daily itinerary and vouchers was easy to use and worked perfectly.

Heather Wisley - UK

Amelia,

This is just a little gift box for you and Sali that I put together for you both for all your patience and help during our trip to New Zealand. It’s a little bit from Southern California. The poppy flower is our state flower – please keep doing what you do as the world needs more people like you!

Eva Lawson & Lester Knox and Joseph, Kaiyo & Zenko Heinrichs – USA

We had a lovely honeymoon to New Zealand in October 2019 planned by Melissa, your senior travel consultant. From the get go, she was very responsive and accurate with information. This made planning and booking such an ease. We simply let her know which activities we wanted to attend and what kind of accommodation we wanted, and she planned an entire itinerary for us. We made some tweaks along the way, and she was always happy to accommodate for that. We loved our final itinerary! What I found great about First Light was that it took the hassle of planning itineraries and booking out of our hands and into the company's capable hands. This freed us of time and allowed us to really look forward to our trip. The final itinerary that was given had everything we needed to know i.e. address, telephone numbers, places to see in a city etc. when we didn't have any activities planned on that day. We also really appreciated the pickups (generally from our place of accommodation) the activities had. The hosts at our B&Bs were very warm and inviting and we were made to feel at home immediately,

There were a few activities that were cancelled due to bad weather that were one of the highlights of our trip, so that was disappointing. We really hope to be able to go back and do these activities once more! The photo we have is of us feeding Villa Walton's (in Matamata) baby orphan lambs. The owner kindly allowed us to do the morning feeding, which was exciting!

Thank you, First Light Travel, for a wonderful honeymoon. We will cherish these memories for a long time to come!

Sook and Fern Mok - Singapore

First Light Travel provides excellent service! We planned our NZ and AU itineraries with their assistance and both trips have been amazing. We had multiple flights and destinations planned and our consultant was kind, courteous, and very quick to notify us immediately of any changes to the itinerary. Our trip was hassle free and so enjoyable. We will definitely continue using their services for any future tours their agency covers. Highly recommend!

Bobbi & Lance Murray – USA