Travel Review: Luxury Tour of New Zealand, Nelson, Hawkes Bay, Glentunnel Working Farm Tour, Doubtful Sound, Wine Tours

When initially planning our 2 to 3-week trip to New Zealand/Fiji, my wife and I chose to use Zicasso as we had used them before for prior trips to Asia. We were expecting the usual 3 estimates and initial itineraries from tour companies but only received 2.

An introductory phone call to outline our initial thinking was arranged with each. We had some ideas of what we wanted and some specific things that we simply did not want to do such as the generic tourism activities. The other company, and when the call happened the representative did not know our names or have any information about our needs at hand. They simply suggested the standard tourism packages. As we were looking for suggestions for a more customized trip we felt they did not understand our needs.

The company that we chose, on the other hand was totally responsive. Through several calls and emails, our agent made many suggestions and put together what turned out to be a 24-day adventure to both the North and South Islands of New Zealand. We decided to skip Fiji. Although all aspects of the trip were fabulous, there were two highlights that made it very special. First, was the day we spent in Hawkes Bay with a Waimarama Maori elder who provided us with fascinating facts about the history and culture of the Maori people as we toured around the countryside. He even took us to the Maori art school in Hastings when he discovered my wife is an artist, and we got to talk to the students and see the work they were so proud of. That evening, we attended an opening reception at the Napier Art Museum, where one of the professors was exhibiting. Second was the day we spent in Glentunnel visiting a working sheep and cattle farm run by a young man our agent knows. Not only was it truly a fascinating experience for us city dwellers, but the farm is in a gorgeous setting with white-capped mountains rising from rolling green fields, giving us lots of photo opportunities.

We want to express our sincere thanks to this travel company and especially our agent for the simply fabulous trip she organized for us. From the early planning phone calls to discuss exactly what we were looking for in our trip to even meeting us for lunch in one of our stops in Nelson to make sure all was as expected. The hotels, B&B’s, cruises, tours, transportation and activities were all 5 star. Everything worked exactly as planned.

As experienced global travelers, the work of this travel company made this adventure through the North and South Islands of New Zealand fantastic.