New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Was such an mazing experience, intend to do more of it. So much beautiful scenery to explore in New Zealand. We loved the kayaking and Walking.

Jill Keals & Shila Kiff – New Zealand

Made this once (hopefully twice) in a lifetime trip so easy and comfortable when booking. Rhondri answered all my 46785 questions, was so very patient, and understood exactly what we wanted out of our vacation. We would 100% use him/the company again. I will be referring them to my friends as I have already had so many inquiries. Thank you for making this trip so memorable!!

Lauren & Trevor Latham - United States of America

For anyone planning to visit New Zealand in the future, we highly recommended the services of First Light Travel. We coordinated with Amelia for a trip that had us hopscotching across both islands. Give her a shout to help plan and coordinate your activities, either high adventure or total relaxation; from economy to luxury.

Every excursion exceeded our expectations; Shotover Jetboat ride, Around the basin bike tour Bike the Bridges and the refreshing and well-deserved wine tasting at the culmination, Real Journeys Milford Sound cruise (spectacular does not pay this justice), Guided Walks New Zealand Routeburn Tract hike with Steven (gorgeous and educational), Nature Connection Volcanoes and Rainforest tour (with boat ride) was fabulous, Te Puia Maori evening event where I was selected to serve as the visiting chief, hongi with the head warrior, dancing the poi and haka, and enjoying delicious food and the scenic geysers, and finally the Waitomo glowworm caves (like nothing you can imagine, like being in outer space).

Thanks to Amelia for making this a trip of a lifetime!

Edward, Jo Ann, Nicole & Eric  Moldenhauer - USA

New Zealand has always been at the top of the bucket list, but with so many stunning destinations it was hard to decide  for our trip and a bit overwhelming.  We were happy to have Chrissy, at First Light Travel help us to narrow it down and send us on our way.  Our three week driving trip was truly spectacular and having everything mapped out, but also having the freedom to change our plans on our own, was ideal.  It sounds crazy, but every single day was an adventure for our family. 

We are already thinking about when we can return.

Patricia Grasso and Paul & Devon van Rhijn - USA

We used First Light Travel as first-time visitors to New Zealand. They helped us plan an action packed two week trip. We enjoyed each activity, from kayaking Abel Tasman to hiking a small portion of the Milford Track, from Helicopter trip to Milford Sound and riding aboard an America's Cup sailboat. New Zealand surpassed my expectations in terms of beauty and friendly people!

Amy & William Roth – USA

Our family had a memorable holiday in New Zealand in December 2019. This was made possible by Narissa Phipps, our Travel Consultant from First Flight Travel. She was extremely swift in her responses, pro-active in suggesting activities and ensured our comfort and safety throughout the holiday. She put together an amazing array of activities and detailed itinerary in a short span of time, and helped us finalize it.

Suggested itineraries were very detailed, listing out additional activities, if time permitted. We got a handy day-by-day account of where our holiday would take us, to the level of detailing how far apart two places were and how far we had to drive on a given day.

Such Planning to the hilt put us at tremendous ease and gave us great peace of mind. The activities and choice of hotels in each town / city was appropriate and suited our taste. We would give First Light Travel a huge Thumbs Up and will vouch for the fact that they are highly recommended.

Ganesh Family - Singapore

This review came a little late (more a year from our trip already) but I guess it's better late than never! We have only compliments for Jo and her team at First Light Travel. She was kind and patient with our questions and planning. It was our first time travelling to Southern NZ and we had ideas on what we were keen on but it was Jo who managed to piece everything together perfectly. We knew we were in good hands when an Earthquake struck near Kaikoura just a day before our flight and we knew we had to make changes to our route and Jo jumped into action by checking all of the routes we were about to take and gave suggestions on detours/re-routing. She even gave daily updates on the weather and checked on us every few days. We will definitely recommend First Light Travel and will hope to visit NZ soon!

Sheena Chee - Singapore

Christine and team from firstlightravel tailored the perfect holiday for us. Traveling as a family with a 6 year old child we asked for a camper van trip with a good mix of activities suitable for the whole family, not too long driving distance (max 2-3 hour) and not driving every day in order to have enough time to relax and enjoy as well discovering the various places.

And the trip was exactly as we were looking for. Having firtslighttravel doing all the planning and organization we didn't had to do anything - only enjoying our holiday.

From the first contact until the last day of our holiday, Firstlighttravel took much care of us.

It was one of our best holidays we ever had.

Thank You.

Jörg, Kristin, Renée Theis Germany

Dear Brent,

 I, Mr. Chi Piu WAN (English name Bill) on behalf of my group (total 15 persons), would like to express our gratitude on the excellent performance of your staff Ms Sofie Liu.   Her great performance has been well recognised by me and all of my group members.  She follows up closely and perfectly the trip planning including accommodations, meal and sightseeing routes for our group as well as quickly, precise and adequate communications with me over the past months since March this year.  

Her professional knowledge and her excellent working attitude have been proved throughout this period of time which is particularly demonstrated in resolving sudden incidents/problems of the recent road blockages due to heavy raining and land sliding at west coast of South Island.  As a result, the original planned activities for our group such as helicopter tour (30 minutes) at a Franz Josef and Fox glaciers arranged on 23 Dec 2019 were all affected, not to mention the booked hotel at Franz. 

With her excellent and quick rearrangement, helicopter tour (35 minutes) at Mt Cook as well as accommodation change can be arranged and confirmed within two days time which include the time spent for the communication via emails, back and forth,  between Sofie and myself (in Hong Kong).  

Actually, at the time of writing this email, I am still in Hong Kong and get preparation for departure with my group on tomorrow afternoon (21 Dec).

I have to emphasise herein that not just myself but also all my group members we are all appreciated for Sofie and therefore would like to express our big thanks to her and your company. 

Trust you and your company with great success. 

Cheers

Bill Wan - Hong Kong
 

Thank you, Christine and First Light Travel for a wonderful holiday. We usually research and book holidays ourselves so this is the first time we have used a travel agent. We were a little apprehensive, to begin with, but Christine soon reassured us with her cheery, helpful emails. We certainly needn't have worried, you have all been totally amazing in every way. We will recommend you to friends and family and of course, get in touch again if we plan a holiday to Australia.

Best wishes Anne & Tom Banks - UK