I just wanted to let you know how professionally everything was managed. Jenny and I had a fabulous time at Kawau Island and in the end I believe the Chopper was probably a better bet than the Sea Plane! Our Heletranz Pilots were absolutely brilliant and flew under our direction over some key site, including our home in Murrays Bay and my Retirement Village I am building in Silverdale. All up, The Beach House was fabulous and made even more so by the team running it. Relaxed, energising, brilliant food … three days of bliss.
Just want to let you know we had a great time on our trip south. We had not been so far south yet. It is one of the most beautiful areas in NZ. Glenorchy is our favourite place in NZ now.
The Doubt full sound one nighter an incredible experience. Lots of rain and lots of waterfalls. Fiordland lodge is great and so luxurious. The outdoor hot tub is spectacular. Eco lodge is an amazing place. Loved the camp concept and loved Mrs Wooly’s General store.
We will be back in Southland that is for sure.
“Theresa and I wanted to let you know we had an amazing time on our road trip! We were very pleased with the accommodation choices and the smoothness of the trip overall. Thank you for organising everything, we appreciate your hard work along with Eletra, that went into helping us prepare for this trip. I’m sure we’ll be back for round 2.”
“Duncan and I had a wonderful trip!
The accommodation was perfect and the lodge owners were amazing. The owners took such good care of us – we wanted for nothing. The food perfect, the location amazing.
Mudbrick dinner was a beautiful experience, highly recommended.
The private wine tour was a lovely way to see the island and spend the day. Chris was a wonderful host and really knowledgeable. Loved the drive.
I can’t remember where we had lunch, wouldn’t really recommend there, however that is just our opinion, and we still had a fun time.
Was a relaxing weekend, we were well looked after and very spoilt – highly recommended.
Looking forward to booking another trip with you soon.”
“It was great! We got to kayak with a pod of dolphins which was one of the highlights of our trip. Camilla’s food was amazing and Chris made us feel right at home. Thanks again!”
“We loved our whole experience and the lodges were amazing. We thought it would be hard to beat the Fiordland Lodge but of course once you walk into the riverside chalet at Milford Lodge we were blown away with the vista! Best of all it rained the day we got there so we got to see it in its full glory. The staff and owners at both were very welcoming and we would thoroughly recommend it to our friends.”
The trip was amazing and exceeded our expectations. We had great weather which really helped and no technical issues with the bikes. The accommodation was all really good and the space between each ride was about right for us.
A few highlights: Ophir was stunning and as mentioned loved the accommodation and food. The hosts at Inverlair lodge were incredible. They did our washing for us and the hot tub overlooking the sunset was spectacular – we were even joined by a couple of owls! The tour was fantastic and we just loved the town atmosphere. Ken is an absolute gem and we loved every minute of our tour. I loved how easy it was to book the trip, especially how everything has been thought of and we didn’t have to do anything or worry about what places we should stay at or what things to make sure we see.
My only complaint is that my backside was so sore – I am not sure you can do much about that though 🙂
Our trip was perfect. The weather helped but the pick up, the accommodation, the bikes, the people and the tour was perfect. We couldn’t have asked for anything else.
I loved the crew and service we received at Marahau. Well run water taxi service. Loved the experience of launching and docking.
The quality of accommodation and experiences and the level of service received.
The quality of accommodation at Awaroa Lodge was excellent value, in a stunning location, no street lights just the sound of nature.
The leave of service at Awaroa Lodge was excellent overall. The young people gave it a great energy. Josh was informative, knowledgeable and passionate about Awaroa and the marine reserve. He loved guiding the kiwis around the marine reserve. Excellent level of service.
Dion at the Awaroa Lodge Pizzeria was passionate about pizza’s and the vibe he was creating with the outdoor pizzeria area. Great music, chunky cushions to lie on under the trees, chess anyone. He had lots of good tips for us for the Lodge menu. He told us the grill chef was on the night we had walked 20km and recommended a steak and gnocchi.. We had a scotch fillet steak with gnocchi. Carbs and protein, perfect combo.
The ease of the Road Trip’s booking process was really easy from original phone calls, to emails to payment. Uncomplicated which is what you need to lead you into an enjoyable holiday.
Most of all it was about the scenery of the Abel Tasman National Park, from forest floor to golden sandy beaches and crystal clear blue ocean. It was magic. We met some awesome trampers along the way. The DOC stations for water and lunch were clean and a nice respite to rest and eat our lunches.
Thank you once again. It was a great way to end 2021 and to welcome in 2022.
The trip was AMAZING!
Highly organised with wonderful people from start to finish. That is a South Island thing I think.
We had an issue with one of the bikes on day one and it was sorted quickly and without fuss..
The accommodation was magical (look at me using all these lovely adjectives! Haha) Hosts were lovely and welcoming. I am still in awe that someone 20 odd years ago had the foresight to make the trail happen. It truly is a great asset in Central Otago’s tourism hat.
We enjoyed the bag transfers – certainly allows for a stress free day.
I expect we will be doing some more trails in the future.
Kia Ora Alex,
First, it was a pleasure briefly meeting you at the train station, thank you for taking the time to come say hello! Second, I wanted to follow-up and let you know what a fantastic experience we had traveling with Bruce for the 5+ days. We hit it off from the start and by the end of the trip, both boys gained a Kiwi uncle! Bruce was top-notch and is a value-add member of The Road Trip team. He was always on time, provided great historical/cultural context along the way, and always flexed to meet our on-demand requests/needs. Both boys absolutely loved him, as did we! In addition, Janelle was a pleasure to work with. Her communication and responsiveness leading up to our arrival were timely and appreciated! Overall, our experience with The Road Trip not only met, but exceeded our expectations. We cannot thank you all enough for being an integral part of our epic adventure!”
“It was a very nice vacation. You organized the trip very well, thank you. For me, the part of the trip that brings back the nicest recollections was drive north towards Queenstown. Vistas coming down from the hills and going along Lake Wakatipu are spectacular. Another memorable experience was a visit to the BENLEA sheep farm. Private tour, just two of us and owners. Demonstrations of dogs working sheep and cattle.”
“We had a great time in New Zealand! The whole trip was amazing, even the rain did not spoil the trip! We loved all the places we visited, they were stunning. I think one of the highlights was the glowworm caves in Te Anau which was very interesting! The star gazing tour at Mt John was fantastic since we rarely get to see so many stars in Hong Kong and we get to learn from expert astrologists themselves! Self-drive was very comfortable, the car size was perfect and we loved the written guide, especially giving us recommendations on all the rest stops, food stops and tips of where to stop which made it very easy to plan the day. The roads were very good as well, with clear signage so we didn’t have any problems. We had a perfect 14 day trip!
Feel free to put our comment/photos up and we’d be happy to post a Facebook review in the coming few days! We were lucky enough to see a Kea along our journey, they are so beautiful and cute! Will definitely be checking out the Kea Conservation Trust 🙂
Thank you!”
“Dear Janelle, Chris and Alex,
We had a fantastic 18N19D self drive tour of both the islands. In the north island Rotorua, with the thermal pools en route & Tongariro National Park were amazing. The inter-island cruise to the South Island & the Trans alpine express from Christchurch to Greymouth, including driving through Marlborough Wine country, Franz Josef Glacier, Lake Wanaka, Te Anau with visits to the Glowworm caves/Milford Sound/Doubtful Sound and Queenstown capped our wonderful trip.
Though we experienced some rain on the latter part of the trip, we did not have to make any changes or detour as a result. We believe the best way to see NZ is by self driving as we had the flexibility of travel and the ability to do impromptu drives n sightseeing on our own once we reached the various places was a bonus.
This is to thank you all once again for the wonderful trip we had, the cars, accommodation and the included tours were excellent. The extensive briefing guide was relied on for the route/places of interest en route and meal recommendations.”
“Kia Ora Chris, Janelle & Alex,
So many superlatives concerning our recent road trip in New Zealand I hardly even know where to start. What an amazingly beautiful and diverse country that you’re truly blessed to call home.
I had joked with Alex near the end of our trip via e-mail that I want to come back as a kiwi (not the bird) in my next life. Prior to this trip I had made mention to numerous people that everyone should travel to and experience Iceland in their lifetime if possible. Now I have two places to make such a recommendation to people as both Iceland and New Zealand are not to be missed.
Besides the beauty of its landscape the other thing about New Zealand that particularly stood out to us was the friendliness of the people. Just about everyone we met was helpful and outgoing in having free exchanges. We came to realize at some point along the trip that a lot of the service people in the country weren’t native kiwi. Nonetheless they must have obviously been moved by the kiwi manner too and seemed to have adopted it for themselves. That speaks volumes about the people of New Zealand.
We know that organizing New Zealand trips is what you do for a living but still we wanted you to know that we’ll forever be indebted to you for not only planning this trip but for how superb it was for us. We truly had a fantastic and unforgettable time. Kudos to The Road Trip!!!
If the subject of traveling to New Zealand ever arises in our presence, be it with family, friends, acquintances or even with strangers, I can assure you that we’ll be recommending The Road Trip in the highest regard.
All our very best wishes.”
“Dear Road Trip Team,
First and foremost, we would like to say thank you for the detailed and amazing itinerary. Second, we would like to say what a wonderful guide Zeb Callanan was. Zeb was prompt, knowledgeable, super safe and always looking for interesting stops for us to make for quick breaks and photo opportunities. We felt extremely grateful that Zeb was there for us through the entire trip. Even when the road was blocked on the last few days of our trip, preventing us from going to Franz Joseph and the Trans Alpine Train Ride, Zeb worked creatively to make alternate arrangements which ended up being amazing.
Once again, thanks to the entire team at The Road Trip. We will certainly be recommending you to friends and family and look forward to future trips with the team.
Thank You!”
“All in, it was a fantastic holiday, made possible by The Road Trip team. Our 14 days self drive was relaxing, the guide book made everything easy, checking in was easy at every motel, the recommended photo stops were spot on, the restaurants/cafes were good. All the motels were great, with fantastic views and well equipped. We really had a great time in beautiful New Zealand- most beautiful country in the world!! Below are a few pics – we even saw a family of seals sunning on a rock during the Milford Sound Cruise. The view just outside the balcony of The Alexis Motel in Queenstown is stunning! My most loved photo is the one taken of the Mirror Lakes- the reflection is so beautiful! Would highly recommend The Road Trip to all planning a NZ holiday- eight thumbs up from us 4 ladies! Thanks to all for making this trip possible.”
“Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, we had a super trip!! Everything went like clockwork and your binder was invaluable. Your representative in Auckland was terrific and got us off to a great start. We loved Waiheke Island and enjoyed the hike up to the crater for a super view of Auckland. (Perfect weather throughout the trip didn’t hurt much either!!). The drive to Rotorua was fine, although I wish we had done in daylight, I think we would have got more out of it. Traffic leaving Auckland was rather heavy, because we left at about 4.20 pm.and hence hit rush hour, but it could have been a lot worse. Rotorua itself was fascinating and we both enjoyed the Maori cultural experience there. Internal flights were fine and smooth with no hiccups on either of them. We loved the Tasman Strait crossing, had a lovely tour through the Marlborough wine country and enjoyed the drive through to Kaikoura for the whale watching. We were very lucky to see a huge sperm whale approach our boat (it was about the same size but three times as heavy!!) and it gracefully dived underneath and gave us a farewell flick of its distinctive tail. The ship’s captain said that only happens about every two years, so we lucked out!!
The Trans Alpine Express was eminently worthwhile and we got off at Arthur’s Pass. With the help of your handy dandy book, we hiked to the top of the Pass, hiked down, encountered a couple of Keas and had a huge pub lunch/early dinner at the recommended restaurant. Good choice!! The drive to Mount Cook was awe-inspiring, especially both lakes, St. John’s Observatory and the scenery en route. The Mt. Cook complex was super, we went on a stargazing night expedition, a plane ride with a glacier landing and a hike up to the Tasman Glacier. The drive to Queenstown was very New Zealand, remote but amazing (including of course the Shrek The Sheep exhibition!!). We opted to do the one day Milford Sound trip. It was long but well worth it. The driver/guide was a gem….not sure how he kept going for so long but he did!!
All in all a truly memorable honeymoon trip and a special thanks to your company for putting this all together for us. Please feel free to use us as a reference should the need arise.
Thanks again and….we’ll be back!!”
“Thank you for your lovely email. I’m so sorry it’s taken so long to reply – we have been so busy since we returned home and have been having so much trouble finding the right words to do our trip justice!! Don’t think we have now either!
What can we say? Our 20-day tour of both islands was almost overwhelming we saw so much. Everything was so well organised, the accommodation was great – even better than we needed in some situations!! The choice of restaurants/wineries/trips out was amazing – some were unique dining experiences for us all in beautiful surroundings. The vehicle was comfortable, always clean and tidy. After having to do all the organising for our week-long Japan visit on the way to New Zealand (which was quite stressful for me!) all the worry/stress was taken away by our punctual, organised, funny and helpful guides Zeb and Alex. What stars. Fantastic, considerate driving – we always felt safe and they took great care of us all. They often came up with suggestions etc as we got to know each other during our trip (especially Alex who had the misfortune of putting up with us longer!). They both had great tips and suggestions that were spot on. We found their local knowledge extremely helpful. Zeb showed off his photographic skills unashamedly (ratbag!) though we still haven’t seen them which is a shame. Alex is a brilliant guide, so much fun and made Izzie’s day(s) by finding so many Mustangs!!!! You are definitely considered an honorary member of our “herd”! We miss you!
Having Zeb and Alex as our private guides was the best thing we could have done for our trip to New Zealand – we thought it might be a bit strange having to get to know two different guides but they are both very easy going and easy to talk to. We couldn’t recommend The Road Trip enough. Having local knowledge is key. We would never have seen as much as we did without them and hope that they will both consider us their friends – they’d be welcome at ours any time (as long as Alex doesn’t bring any Joni Mitchell CDs!!).
The highlights of our trip were Hobbiton (huge Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit fans – magical evening banquet), Kaikoura on the beach and the helicopter trip. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t do the heli-hike because of the unfortunate timing of bad weather – but it turned out brilliantly as we fitted in a trip to Mount Cook and Alex came too – it was very exciting all-round – definitely want to do that again! Napier (we enjoyed the lively wine tasting afternoon!) not forgetting our very kind hosts at our farm stay, Wanaka and Christchurch. The fun company and not forgetting the “long drops!” and the coffee stops which were rather lovely too!!! Though not so much the long drops!
The whale watching was a little disappointing as we seemed to have about 3 boats all surrounding the one same whale and the Star Gazing evening – which was a perfect night apart from the size of the telescopes which were a little underwhelming!!! Sorry but ours are definitely bigger!!! The surrounding scenery is stunning though.
If you’re thinking of a privately guided tour around New Zealand but are unsure we can’t recommend The Road Trip highly enough. From start to finish they have been a totally professional company and we’d use them again in an instant. We were a little concerned parting with our money as we hadn’t found very many reviews on Tripadvisor or anywhere but we were so pleased we took the chance. All we can say is go for it – just give yourself plenty of time time to be able to take it all in – that’s our only “regret”.
We have made so many special memories – thank you The Road Trip!!”
Dear Road Trip,
It has been over 2 years since we did a trip with your agency’s assistance – much has happened but I wanted to close the loop on giving recommendation / feedback on the trip.
I have to give the agency high praise for all the planning – and responding to numerous changes to plans – in the lead-up to our trip. This included having to cancel 2 participants – 1 due to visa issues and another due to injury – at short notice. We were extremely ambitious in trying to see highlights of both North and South Island in a 2 week time period and the guidance provided by The Road Trip made this doable with some sensible compromises along the way. We couldn’t have seen as much as we did without your help. The vehicle hire and accommodation bookings all worked very smoothly. Weather was against us and both our helicopter flights had to be cancelled, but in the end there was so much to see in the local areas that we had a great time regardless.
“We had a fabulous time. Friendly people, good food, good wine, beautiful scenery, great 32-day itinerary to meet our needs. New Zealand had it all.
A couple of pictures are attached.
We are considering Road Trip Australia in the future – more to come!”
“First please let me convey our condolences to you and your fellow Kiwi citizens on the tragedy of the terrorist act in Christchurch. We have never felt safer on any vacation than we did in New Zealand. Our hearts go out to you and your fellow citizens.
Our family was absolutely enthralled by New Zealand. The itinerary that you so skillfully drafted exceeded our expectations. Every day was a new adventure and energized our stay in New Zealand.
Joan will be posting on the appropriate websites about the wonderful job The Road Trip did in planning our itinerary and the sites we enjoyed visiting.
All of our accommodations exceeded our expectations, when viewed in total concept, not just the facilities. In fact two of the Farm Stays would top of list of visits. The third was also perfect.
Thank you again for all the work you did and the wonderful, trip of a life time, you provided us with.”
“Our Road Trip was absolutely amazing, we had the best time, honestly we only have the highest of praise for everything you booked for us, the tours, hotels, places we visited etc.
Our tour guide Dave was outstanding, I cannot praise him enough for everything he did for us in accommodating us and catering to all our needs, information and on top of that a most interesting and terrific guy to be around.
Again many thanks to you and the Road Trip team for organising a truly memorable and fantastic Road trip – Everyone now wants to visit South Island!!!!”
“The trip overall was a success. We enjoyed the design of the trip which included a nice balance of structured days with events or travel and free time (i.e no back to back overly hectic activities). The scenery in the south island is incredible and I’m glad we spent the majority of our time there.
For our group some of the more touristy items (e.g. Mitai Maori Village) were less enjoyable. However, the White Island Helicopter Tour, the Amisfield Winery and Milford Sound fly/cruise/fly were highly memorable events.
Thank you again for your help in organizing this adventure. Your 98 page booklet gave us many options to enhance our trip. We so appreciate your time and effort.”