New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

First of all, I would like to commend Our travel specialist Christine Goodger for doing such a great job in arranging our itinerary & putting up with several revisions on our itinerary. Her patience & sense of urgency are very impressive. She responded to our queries quickly & comprehensively. She also gave good suggestions which was a great help in organizing our itinerary. Andrew & Frank were both very courteous & approachable. They both helped us load & unload our luggages without being asked to do so. Andrew always took the tour vouchers from us & processed our attraction tickets so entrance to the attraction was a breeze. Frank was very knowledgeable about each attraction’s history & information. He also took us to places where we can try the best tasting salmon, kiwi, chocolates, manuka honey, & the yummy mixed berries real fruit ice cream! Overall, we had an amazing tour of New Zealand, so we’ll definitely be back!

Thank you First Light Travel! 

Julie Co, Edwin, Bryan, Michele & Krystyn Tiu - Philippines

Kia Ora!

This is the third time we associated ourselves with First Light Travel for our holidays and the second time with our wonderful travel agent Amelia. When we think of holidaying in New Zealand and around, we can't think of opting for anything else but First Light. My first holiday with them in the was in the south island, in 2012 in peak summer, then it was Fiji in 2016 and now the south island again in Autumn 2019 and all have been fantastic. Amelia did a superb job in organizing our holiday and has been very understanding & patient while dealing with us. Everything including the planning and organizing of the holiday has been commendable.

We would love to explore still more of New Zealand in the future and recommend First Light Travel for our holidays and anyone who wish to tour New Zealand. Cheers,

Vivek, Shishira, Shetty & Bhagwat Gupta - India

Planning this extended vacation without the help of First Light Travel would have been very difficult and certainly not as enjoyable as it turned out. Advise on nights to stay to fully enjoy each destination was excellent and tours added could not have been better.

James & Marcia Carson – Indiana USA

We are frequent travelers in our late 60's and early 70's. First Light Travel understood our needs and requests for travel down to the tours and experiences we were booked on. Every tour exceeded our expectations and they were high. The accommodations were first class all the way from location, experience, innkeepers, their flexibility to meet our various needs. We only used one company like this before in Costa Rica as I always plan and execute our travel where ever we travel and First Light did a much better job than I could have even thought of as there is so much to do and experience in NZ.

Thanks, First Light!

Tom and Susan Bettcher - United States of America

Had a great vacation. Kasey was responsive when needed. Everything was set up nicely.

The Hobbiton Experience was awesome. Rotorua was beautiful and a nice stay. The duck tour was fun and the guide was great. Really enjoyed the 4WD Edoras Tour. Guide was excellent. Mt Cook was unbelievable and didn't want to leave. Could have stayed several more days. Guide was great! Really enjoyed Queenstown. Milford Sound was a fun experience. It was the main day of rain which allowed for more waterfalls. Adding on the cold made for staying in the boat. All tour guides where great, especially at Mt Cook, Edoras Tour and Trails of middle earth from Queenstown!  Those were awesome!!

Kasey worked well to get any issues resolved. Was a great vacation and will do doing it again!

Chris Hill & Jenny Tran - Singapore

We travelled to New Zealand for three weeks in April 2019 and contacted First Light Travel for assistance with the itinerary, accommodation and car hire. We can't recommend them highly enough. Our agent was Christine and she was, throughout, responsive, courteous, flexible and understood our complex requirements which required wheelchair accessible accommodation, activities and car. When the Fox/Franz Josef bridge collapsed a few days before we were due to leave, Christine contacted us, recommended reversing the itinerary and organised everything. And the bridge was rebuilt just in time! We had a fantastic time, and anything that makes our travel a little easier is so appreciated.

So thank you to Christine and First Light Travel, if we return to NZ we will be in touch!

Moya McFadzean & Sean Cox - Australia

Mellisa thank you so much for putting together the most enjoyable holiday for us, we would have missed so many exciting things had it not been for your expertise and excellent knowledge of the country, everything from hotels to suggested activities were well thought out and packaged into a very memorable driving holiday

Leslie Lloyd and Mae Elliott - Australia

Going to New Zealand had been a dream for about 20 years… I started planning on my own and it became apparent to me that I didn't know what I was doing. I wanted to be independent but didn't want to drive on my first visit. I wanted to be very active but was overwhelmed with all the tours I was finding – which is the best for me? Where is my best value for money for accommodation? This is when I found First Light Travel and was able to help me put together the best itinerary for my budget and the length of my holiday. I feel a did a lot for what I was able to spend and they were attentive to my “want” list and came up with great suggestions that were not on my radar. I don't think I could have done as much planning alone – I would highly recommend using their services. Thank you!

Marie-Renee Goulet - Canada

Dawn's expertise in knowing the best accommodations and events far surpassed what I could have learned in trying to plan our five-week drive through New Zealand. The itinerary was perfectly paced. Our accommodations were delightful- from unique B&B's to urban hotels. The trip was magical from beginning to end with no glitches! We loved working with Dawn. She began by learning our trip goals and budget and then provided us with the first draft itinerary.

Thank you, Dawn - you were amazing!

Connie & Alden Meyer - United States of America

Just sitting at the airport waiting for our flight home and thought I’d take the time to express my thanks for putting together such a wonderful package of great accommodations, (Appledore Lodge, Breakers Boutique, and Alexis Motel in Queenstown were our favorite) activities, (HeliHike on Franz Josef was terrific as well as all the kayaking) and the towns we traveled to or through. Everyone: guides, drivers, and hosts in NZ were super; their knowledge of the country and ease of sharing all they know was not only helpful but gave us an appreciation of this magical country. We were blessed with 18 sunny days and only 3 of rain, so the gods were with us.

Kevin and I will certainly recommend your agency to any of our friends traveling this way.

Sincerely,

Kevin and Linda Carroll – California USA