Travellers Testimonials and Reviews: First Light Travel

Booking with First Light Travel was a great experience from the beginning to the end, from the first proposal with specific highlights over the optimization and fine-tuning to the support during travel, Jo gave us great advice and selected amazing places.

The flight and stay in Great Barrier Island was wonderfully at the end of the world. Abel Tasman discovery and the surroundings of Nelson were wonderful, between wine and nature. The combination of boat travel, visit of sheep farm and bike ride in Queenstown was and absolute highlight.

The lodge experiences with in-house food were fantastic, total top of the list of course HUKA Lodge and the Te Koi at Bronte, very different places but both fantastic. The Earthsong lodge is amazing for location and food and warmness of the hosts.

Reinardus Van Duijnhoven & Katharina Hoehne - Germany

We put this trip together very quickly only two months before, thanks to Rhodri’s itinerary suggestions and the arrangements he was able to make for us.  We felt very lucky about this as we were aware we had left it very late.  Rhodri found us good flight connections and great accommodations throughout New Zealand that were beautiful and yet connected to the local people and the surrounding environs.  My husband and I had requested an active trip and Rhodri delivered a variety of experiences for us so that we had a fabulous time.  We travelled for 16 days and did and saw a lot, giving us a very good appreciation for all that New Zealand has to offer.  Highlights include the Glow Worms Cave in Waitomo, hiking the Tongariro Crossing on a perfect sunny day, hiking along the Queen Charlotte Track after a water taxi ride on the Marlborough Sound out to the trail, kayaking both on a river in Havelock as well as on the ocean in Kaikoura, and the days we spent based in Queenstown.  From that beautiful city we did an excellent day trip out to Milford Sound and a day hike on the Routeburn Track, and very much enjoyed a “down day” where we cruised on a beautiful lake to Mt. Nicholas Farm where we learned about sheep farming followed by a 14 km cycle to Walter Peak sheep station where we partook of an incredible barbecue lunch.  All of our day trips were well-arranged for us and we just showed up and enjoyed the activity.  Many activities were guided, but we did a few on our own as well.  We added in a trip to the Redwoods in Rotorua, a stop at Waiotapu for the geothermal area and did some impromptu hikes in other areas including beautiful Akaroa.  Also a stop at a winery for lunch outside of Blenheim.  First Light Travel and Rhodri were so very easy to deal with and created a wonderful memorable trip for us.  When we needed to change the itinerary  to allow one more day, Rhodri was able to quickly do so.  He was very responsive to my emails.  Our flight arrangements were smooth, the accommodations were nicely appointed and well located, and the car rental went well.  It seems that everywhere we showed up, whether for a rental car, activity tour, ferry ride or the bed and breakfasts and small hotels, people were expecting us and made us feel welcome. 

We costed out the trip at the end and our calculations showed that we actually saved a few hundred dollars by booking with First Light Travel, rather than booking things separately ourselves.  My husband and I highly recommend First Light for anyone considering a New Zealand trip.

Maureen Hutson and John Chase - Canada

Our driving itinerary put together for us by Rhodri was excellent & helped make this one of our trips of a lifetime. There was a good mix of scheduled activities & free time to explore many of the regions of New Zealand. The scenery was stunning & everyone we met made us feel welcome. Hosts at all the B&B’s we stayed at were excellent making this a trip to remember. The only problem is we needed more time so we will have to make plans to come back again in the future!!

Stewart & Diane Brown - Canada

Just back from a whirlwind tour of NZ with First Light and Amelia did an awesome job of reading into levels of activity and accommodations. They all surpassed our expectations. We maybe had a little too much driving but that was our doing as we knew we wanted to “see it all” in only three weeks. Would we do it again. In a heartbeat and Amelia would be our go-to person.

Thank you for the NZ sampler....

Bill & Eva Fraser-Harris - USA

Our trip to the north island of New Zealand was amazing!!! We are so happy with First Light’s services—especially our travel agent Christine. She was very prompt and helpful throughout the entire process. We had a couple unforeseen events occur during the trip and she was there to help however she could. The hotels and excursions were on point for what we told Christine we wanted and were interested in. We plan on using First Light again for our next trip to the South Island!

Bethany Lee & Matthew Griffin - United States of America

Very professional services with all aspects of the trip being, accommodation, transport and activities well organised flowing seamlessly. We took a suggested destination itinerary from the First Light website and matched it to an activities package suggested in another itinerary and consultant Melissa Rauner made it all fit within our suggested budget.

Steven & Lorraine & Kalon Lange - Australia

Amelia was great to work with. She listened to what we wanted to do on our trip and planned a great trip for us. I will recommend her to friends who are thinking about travelling to New Zealand.

Grant and Justin Harmon - United States of America

Amelia at First Light Travel far exceeded our expectations planning our trip. She personalized our trip around our bucket list of going to the Australian Open, NZ fly fishing and a self-drive tour of the North and South islands. What wonderful memories!

Greg & Cindy McMullen – Texas USA

Wow, what a truly amazing experience Jo at First Light Travel put together for our honeymoon. With very little input, other than knowing we wanted to experience the entire island in a 2 week period, she was able to plan a once in a lifetime trip. A trip that met and exceeded all of our expectations. From the wine tours on Waiheke Island and around Nelson, the kayaking and hiking around Abel Tasman, the helicopter ride to the top of a glacier near Queenstown, the stunning beauty of the Milford Sound on a fly/cruise/fly day trip to the round of golf along Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables as a backdrop.

We cannot recommend Jo and the team at First Light Travel enough. Thank you for the countless memories!

Alex & Kelley Ehrlich - United States of America

Dear Jo,

We had a great time and really appreciated your support from start to end.

Many thanks again.

Best Regards
 

Ian & Janice Petty - UK