New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Loved working with Amelia! Even though it was Christmas when we decided to look into a trip for mid January, Amelia gave amazingly prompt responses and suggestions. The "canned" itinerary that you send at first inquiry gave us a great jumping off point to plan our own fly/drive vacation! It really gave us a good idea of travel times and suggested stops. Then Amelia helped us find appropriate and lovely accommodations for our needs. For example, we wanted to have a washer/dryer in our room every 3rd or 4th day so we didn't have to pack so much. She lined it up perfectly. She also suggested activities that we had not considered in each city and booked those that we wanted to try. They ended up being our favorite parts of the trip! She also warned of long drive times (Which we still did, and she was right - it was long). Amelia also booked things like lunches after a kayaking trip which ended up being a life saver as we only had minutes to eat before heading into another activity. Every hotel and activity was booked just as she indicated; we had no problems with reservation glitches at all. We also appreciated the list of things to see in each city on our daily itinerary, as we could pick our favorites and hope we didn't miss too much that we wish we had seen. 

Amelia at First Light Travel was extremely professional and efficient. 

Thanks for a great trip!

Dee, Mark and Madeline Dehart (USA)

Hi Suzie,

Thank you very much for this wonderful trip you prepared for us. Booking direct from home with First light travel was easy and without any problem.
Our ideas were realised to perfection and included various events/attractions for a price we couldn't find elsewhere.

Thank You again

Hartmut and Norma Schnitzspahn (Germany)

Hi First Light Travel, 

Thanks for all of your hard work and organisation to ensure we had such a beautiful, unforgettable trip in New Zealand. We especially enjoyed the sand surfing, mountain biking and sea kayaking as well as spotting whales and leaping dolphins in the wild.

Rotorua was remarkable with all of its thermal energy and we loved the fun, youthful atmosphere of Queenstown. Thanks for everything - we thought this was a once in a lifetime trip, but now we think we should come back again one day!

Greetings, 

Lian & Rene - Netherlands

Hi Judith,

We feel so lucky to have travelled to the beautiful country of New Zealand. We loved the Milford track - it's the best and greatest walk in the world, no doubt about that First Light Travel is a reliable and very experienced company, with excellent tips and advice. They specialise in organising custom-made trips - and they're really good at it.

Thank you Judith and the First Light Travel team for all your fantastic advice and dedication in making this the best trip we've ever had.

Marcel van der Borden, Netherlands

First Light Travel, in particular Shelley Kirk, gets our five-star rating and strongest recommendation for anyone planning to vacation in New Zealand and/or Australia.

We are frequent travelers, prefer independent over group tours, and rarely work with a travel agent or agency. But knowing little about the lay of the land in Australia and New Zealand we decided to "try" working with an agent while planning our first, month-long visit. After Internet searching and reviewing the New Zealand Tourism site we sent a request for proposal to 4 agencies, including First Light Travel. We roughly described our schedule, interests, preferences, and budget and waited to hear back.

We received just 3 proposals, with one agency saying our budget was too small for them to even entertain. Shelley Kirk was the first to respond, provided the best proposal on every front (quality, cost, variety, etc.), and most importantly, she was willing to work with us on every facet of our trip. Shelley was able to put together an independent travel itinerary with the perfect balance of pre-planned activities and free time for us to get the absolute most out of our travel at our desired pace and price. In the face of changes and suggestions she was unfailingly open-minded, flexible and fun to work with!

It is rare to have the experience where everything on a holiday goes as planned; something always seems to go awry along the way. But honestly this vacation went off without a hitch: no surprises, no failures, and no problems with any aspect (flights, cars, transport, lodging, activities, etc., etc.) of our bookings. Our travel pack from Shelley included all the details and was an easy reference for each day of our holiday. While I can't credit Shelley with the weather (or can I???), even that was perfect during our stay!

If you're looking for someone to plan your dream vacation in Australia or New Zealand (or perhaps anywhere!) you should contact Shelley Kirk. A proposal costs you nothing and you may be as pleasantly surprised (thrilled) as we were at how well they meet or exceed your expectations.

We would be delighted to serve as a reference for Shelley Kirk and First Light Travel. Please feel free to message me if you have questions or would like additional information about our holiday plans. Best regards to Shelley and all the staff at First Light Travel. 

CJ and David Lambert
 

 Bethesda, MD USA

Hi Shelley

Thank you again for all of your help. I really appreciated your prompt responses to all of my email questions - it made me feel like someone was actually listening and cared about my concerns. We had a wonderful trip to New Zealand!

Glenn and Teresa Schroeder - USA

Hi

Some feedback on the Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari you recommended – WOW! We had a great experience and enjoyed the tour. The guides were awesome and their knowledge was amazing. The Hauraki gulf is so beautiful and the cruise alone was worth it. We saw heaps of dolphins, which was really cool but we were also a little bit disappointed that no whales showed up, but hey ‘them the breaks.

Thanks again

Trine and Anna (Germany)

I had my second trip to New Zealand again arranged through First Light Travel. Last year the South Island this year the North Island. Again all was well arranged. One of the many high-lights was a helicopter trip to an active vulcano "white island" on the East Coast. A flight from Rotorua. Great Experience. 

Thank you again Judith. 

Frank Govers (Holland)

What a great piece of luck we found on the internet by connecting with First Light Travel and Shelley. Through e:mail and a couple of quick phone calls, Shelley matched our personalities with activities and accommodations that led to a flawless trip of a lifetime to New Zealand. We left New Zealand anxious to return! We highly recommend Shelley and First Light Travel for booking activities and accommodations in New Zealand.

Barry and Leigh Groves (USA)

This has been an exceptionally nice vacation. The trick was that our consultant carefully personalized the travel plan and gave us enough room to add or modify what we wanted. We feel that without the plan as prepared we would have missed many worthwhile activities. I highly recommend this service.It was a great value for money.

Mr Jiri Janata and Ms Miroslawa Josowicz (USA)