New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Was a trip of a lifetime, all our expectations were met, had a great time, food was awesome and First Light are great people to work with. Along the way we met many great people from all over the world. Milford sound boat was nice. Elm tours was very accommodating, fun people, very thoughtful, and great tour.

As Sam Neill (who is a Kiwi) said in the NZ movie The Hunt for the Wilderpeople....it's fantastical! A very magic place indeed.

Erv and Marianne Kanieski

We travelled in March 2017 to New Zealand and Australia. We contacted First Light Travel only a few weeks before we were going. We were highly recommended to Jo and she did not disappoint us. We had nightly phone calls because of the time difference organizing our trip. Once she understood our budget and requests, she got to work and put together an amazing trip. Every hotel was excellent. Every tour was on time and perfect, and our vegetarian diet requirements were never missed. Jo recommended that we take a bus to Milford Sound and the flight to return only to guarantee that we would get there. She had experience with flights being cancelled and guests not getting to Milford Sound. At about 8 pm the night before we were supposed to leave, we saw that the weather was supposed to be excellent. We called Jo and she was able to get us onto the morning flight rather than the 5 hour bus ride. This professionalism and quick reaction is what makes First Light an amazing travel company. I couldn't begin to mention all of the amazing activities she put together, but the Milford Sound gives a good example. One hotel I would strongly recommend is the Tin Tub Lodge in Wanaka. Book early because there are only a few rooms and it is worth the stay.

A big thank you to Rhodri for all his r help in organising the trip of a lifetime - his arrangements were top notch. The car hires went seamlessly; the accommodation was superb and the trips and activities were brilliant, informative and exciting. Our highlights being the helicopter onto the Franz Josef Glacier, Doubtful Sound cruise(the weather was kind) and the Dart River Jet Boat Safari although picking favourites is probably doing an injustice to the others.

Ian and Lesley Robertson - UK

We just returned from 3 wonderful weeks in New Zealand with our best friends. This was a trip of a lifetime and Amelia worked with us to make sure we could jam as much as we wanted into our time. We snorkeled and scuba dived, dawn hiked the Tongariro Alpine pass, marveled at the glow worms at Black Water Rafting, enjoyed the eye-watering but beautiful thermal wonders of Waitotapu, canoed down from the Bridge to Nowhere. In the South Island, we loved cycling to the wineries of Blenheim, hiked everywhere we could around the Glaciers, had an amazing Horseback trek through forest and over rivers to a sunset ride on the beach. Ended our time in Queenstown with jet boating and jumping off high cliffs with the Canyon Swing. We had several glitches along the way- some caused by the tour operators, some caused by weather and wildfires, but Amelia worked with us to make sure everything stayed on track.

Thanks for all your hard work!

Jan & Scott Kuba, Sharon & John Tolomei - USA

It was a breeze getting my plan secured and making sense of my itinerary. Chrissy did an amazing job in assisting me to put everything together. It's a relief to have someone to help with the bookings when you're really busy. Appreciate that a lot and another thing i would like to highlight is that i do have concerns about liaising with someone just over email, however the replies are really prompt and i never had to go through any anxiety whether or not my booking has been made. NZ is so beautiful and I will definitely be back.

Cheers to the great team at First Light!!! 

Shuhui (Coady) Chuan & Samantha Neo - Singapore

Hi Amelia

Hope this email finds you well. We are back home and I must say this was my favourite holiday ever. You have an amazing country it was like living in a postcard and I couldn't stop taking photos. In addition everything was well organised and we didn't have any issues, thanks again. I am already recommending you to my friends.

Tiziana Bugeja - Malta Europe

Hi Amelia,

It is Nancy Patterson - Colleen Clower's sister. We just arrived home from the most incredible trip - thank you so much!!! I LOVE New Zealand. I have never met such nice people and seen such a beautiful place. It was the most exciting trip of my life - once in a lifetime event. Thank you for everything you did to make this trip so special.

I definitely want to go back to New Zealand - there was so much we didn't get to see because we just didn't have the time. Would still like to buy you lunch or dinner if we come back.

Nancy Patterson - USA

We would HIGHLY recommend First Light Travel!! Kasey did a superb job at putting together a first class trip throughout New Zealand! She was able to understand our requirements and organized a spectacular trip for us, all within three weeks notice of our requested travel date. She was always very prompt at responding to our communications with her, and everything she arranged for us went far beyond our expectations!!!

Yosef & Audrey Amzalag - USA

We enjoyed a trip of a lifetime! We put our trust in First Light Travel to build us a personalized itinerary that took us to the best spots in NZ with at a relaxed pace so we had time to enjoy our beautiful surroundings. 

We wanted a moderately active holiday and we really enjoyed the activies that were planned along the way- biking, hiking and kayaking. We stayed in beautiful accommodations and enjoyed meeting so many warm and friendly Kiwis. We came back to Canada with a huge smile and wonderful memories of our time in this beautiful country!

Kathy Hilsenteger - Canada

Thanks Jo!

Our trip was unforgettable. We all had a great time. As you know our kids are all grown ups and it was a great opportunity for us to travel all together.

The variety of activities suited us all.

Silvina Massa - Argentina