Reviews

Tatyana made sure to schedule everything we asked for snowboarding, snorkeling in Fiji, kayaking with glow worms, and several things we didn’t know to ask for luging, a helicopter ride, and lots of travel across the South Island. They were responsive when we were driving into bad weather and helpful when we had weather cancellations. Tatyana also was very helpful in finding us rooms that fit our needs. We stayed for 16 days and saw 8 different cities; despite the hectic pace, our trip went smoothly because our admissions were prepaid, our rental cars pre-booked, and our route well planned. It was much more tailored to our needs than the package plans that I saw on the internet! I highly recommend this company for families who want an adventure filled vacation!

Thank you for making our planning a breeze from the beginning stages of wrapping our heads around what to do/see in 2 weeks, all the way through our visit. Our trip included all the highlights and gave us the wiggle room to explore on our own, too. Our trip was easily tailored to our needs. Highly recommend a visit to NZ in the winter- it felt like we had the South Island to ourselves! We are already looking forward to visiting again. Thanks for planning a trip of a lifetime!

We loved our trip to New Zealand and the team did a great job putting together a comprehensive 38 day itinerary which allowed us to see so many of the highlights of both the South and North Islands. They accommodated our request for changes and made the planning process easy and stress-free. A few of our favourite activities were the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Milford Track guided walk and Milford Sound Cruise, and the Hawkes Bay Half Day Wine Tour.

Will Cannon and First Light Travel made our honeymoon to New Zealand unforgettable! From the very beginning, the process was easy and stress-free. Every detail was thoughtful and perfect for us and our interests. We loved basically everything that was put together for us. Some of our highlights were the glacier hike, the glowworm caves, the Milford Sound flight and cruise, Glenorchy horseback riding, and Hobbiton.... so our entire trip was fantastic. Having everything taken care helped us relax and truly enjoy our time without having to worry about the logistics of it all. We are so grateful for the work Will put into our trip, and we would wholeheartedly recommend First Light Travel to anyone interested!

Thanks to the team for making our great time in New Zealand possible — from our initial guidance and planning calls with Heidi, whose local knowledge introduced us to places we would never have found through a UK-based travel agent, to the NZ Guest Services Team, who made our proposal ‘real’ and provided local support during our 7-week holiday.

Thank you for helping us arrange the most amazing trip! You are incredibly lucky to call New Zealand home and we already look forward to our next visit. The Hotel Britomart was the perfect spot to welcome us to Auckland. The only part we didn’t enjoy, because it reminded us of Seattle, was driving a car in downtown Auckland. Waiheke Island was a great way to kickoff our adventure and we fell in love with Parnell on our walk home from the War Memorial Museum.

Treetops Lodge in Rotorua and The Lindis in Ahuriri Valley were absolutely magical and the service/experience at both were next level amazing. The actual town of Rotorua was a little dated and reminded us of the movie set from “Back to the Future” but the surrounding geothermal landscape more than made up for that. Christ Church was a very pleasant surprise because we hadn’t heard great things about the city but the rebuild seems to be a huge success. The Fiordland Lodge was also a true gem and just reminded us that long drives are often worth every second (we even brought home a possum pelt from Te Anau for our ski cabin in central Washington).

Michelle, we wouldn’t have had half the experience we did without your guidance and recommendations so we can’t thank you enough. Whenever New Zealand comes up in future conversations with friends or strangers we will certainly point them in your direction.

Once again thank you so much for everything! I especially appreciated all the bookings as it is so often my job and so time consuming!!

You could not have ordered better weather the whole time! Having just the rain/wind at Mt. Cook means we were just plain lucky I think. Besides our time with Mike and Sally, my favorite evening was Lake Tekapo. The stars were amazing and our B&B was special! I was proud I managed the hike above Queenstown -Ben Lomond, saddle (that was high enough) and wow! Milford Sound! ... hmmmm TranzAlpine special and we did hook up with friends in Christchurch. I guess I shouldn’t try to pick favorites - all wonderful!

Take care,

Peggy & Onno Jalink – Yokohama Japan

Fabulous holiday, would definitely do it again and recommend you to anyone who asks!

Matthew Quigley – Philippines

New Zealand is beautiful, and there wasn't a single day that we didn't enjoy the experiences. The tour we took was terrific. It definitely exceeded our expectations for quality, service, etc.

Joseph & Martha Bauer - USA