Exploring New Zealand's Wonders featuring the North & South Islands

The sights and experiences packed into this 19-day tour were simply unforgettable. Every day offered new adventures on land or sea. Our tour manager was knowledgeable, adding incite to the experience with stories and background information as we traveled the length and breadth of both north and south islands. My day on Milford Sound, including optional flight back to Queenstown, was one of spectacular beauty and exciting adventure.

Wanting a unique travel experience far away from my daily life that would also be restorative, I chose this tour. It was the best decision I could’ve made. Traveling by coach, we were able to see the breadth of New Zealand’s landscape. This became very meditative and restorative. Our tour guide, and driver, provided historical, cultural and geographical facts about places we were traveling through and to. My favorite places: The Bay of Islands and Christchurch. The first for its breath-taking beauty and our first exposure to the crystalline waters of NZ. Christchurch as I loved the Canoe experience on the river, filled with play and song, and the thoughtful design of the city in rebuilding itself and street art everywhere! Manna.

I've already filled out Collette's survey. This trip would have been perfect if there was an option to tour Hobbiton.

We found the interminable hours sitting in the coach to be both painful and boring. Our tour director was top notch and did her best to include cultural narration and interesting stops along the way, but there is just no way to sugarcoat 7 or 8 hours of coach rides every other day for two weeks. The lodgings were adequate and clean, but unexceptional (other than Distinction in Christchurch). The hotels all handle multiple coach tours, so were very crowded during the short time we had available for breakfasts, but they handled everything with relative efficiency. In fairness, it seemed that almost all other tour participants thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and New Zealand is a long country that requires a lot of time in a coach in order to cover it. But this just isn't a style of travel that we enjoyed, and after our Collette tour in Italy coming up this summer, we won't be taking another escorted coach tour in the future.

Mt Cook hike, Milford Sound boat ride, Queenstown walking tour