Travellers Testimonials and Reviews: First Light Travel

First Light Travel, in particular Shelley Kirk, gets our five-star rating and strongest recommendation for anyone planning to vacation in Australia and/or New Zealand.

We are frequent travelers, prefer independent over group tours, and rarely work with a travel agent or agency. But knowing little about the lay of the land in Australia and New Zealand we decided to "try" working with an agent while planning our first, month-long visit. After Internet searching and reviewing the New Zealand Tourism site we sent a request for proposal to 4 agencies, including First Light Travel. We roughly described our schedule, interests, preferences, and budget and waited to hear back.

We received just 3 proposals, with one agency saying our budget was too small for them to even entertain. Shelley Kirk was the first to respond, provided the best proposal on every front (quality, cost, variety, etc.), and most importantly, she was willing to work with us on every facet of our trip. Shelley was able to put together an independent travel itinerary with the perfect balance of pre-planned activities and free time for us to get the absolute most out of our travel at our desired pace and price. In the face of changes and suggestions she was unfailingly open-minded, flexible and fun to work with!

It is rare to have the experience where everything on a holiday goes as planned; something always seems to go awry along the way. But honestly this vacation went off without a hitch: no surprises, no failures, and no problems with any aspect (flights, cars, transport, lodging, activities, etc., etc.) of our bookings. Our travel pack from Shelley included all the details and was an easy reference for each day of our holiday. While I can't credit Shelley with the weather (or can I???), even that was perfect during our stay!

If you're looking for someone to plan your dream vacation in Australia or New Zealand (or perhaps anywhere!) you should contact Shelley Kirk. A proposal costs you nothing and you may be as pleasantly surprised (thrilled) as we were at how well they meet or exceed your expectations.

We would be delighted to serve as a reference for Shelley Kirk and First Light Travel. Please feel free to message me if you have questions or would like additional information about our holiday plans. Best regards to Shelley and all the staff at First Light Travel.

CJ and David Lambert (USA)

Hi First Light Travel,

A group of 6 of us will be finishing a tour of South Island in 2 days time in which your agency helped to arrange for us. We would like to say a big thank you for the arrangements made and the care and concern accorded to us by your team, especially Sofie who was our tour consultant from day 1. Please let her know we are appreciative of the care she showed us and the detailed arrangements that were made every step of our travel. We are especially thankful and impressed with her professionalism in handling the last minute change in our travel itinerary due to the inclement weather 2 weeks prior to our arrival in New Zealand which resulted in the washing away of a vital bridge connecting Queenstown to Franz Josef. Please thank her for us.

Please also let your counterparts In Christchurch know that we are very happy with the service and care rendered to us by Kevin, the guide assigned to us for the entire duration of our travel in South Island. Kevin was always cheerful and accommodating to our requests and all the seniors in our group had a soft spot for him after their time spent with him. Please let him know we are most appreciative of his care for our small group this whole time. We felt very safe and were impressed with his driving skills. He always ensured we had our seat belts on and he navigated all the curves with care. He was a safe driver that made us all felt safe in his hands. He always had our safety and comfort foremost in his interactions with us.

Thank you first light travel for everything. I am writing this with a sadness that my group and I will be leaving in 2 days time. If ever we return to New Zealand, we know which travel agency we would like to take care of our travel plans. Have a great weekend.

Regards,
Lilian sim and San San Teo - Singapore

I cannot tell you how overly pleased we were with First Light Travel! Jo Taylor was simply exceptional, and I would most strongly recommend FLT for any trip to New Zealand and Australia. We would approach a tour or a hotel or an activity, produce the voucher FLT had prepared for us and others around us would ask “Where did you get those vouchers?” We would respond, “First Light Travel and Jo Taylor.” People would look at us with envy with the ease of our registration at the various hotels and entrance to the attractions. I wish I had had several business cards to hand out.

Rodney & Judy and Tyler & Kayla - USA

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

Matthew Quigley – Philippines

The trip was great – I requested a lot of activities over a short amount of time – many required complicated logistical support and would have been a nightmare for me to set up remotely. The logistics all worked with minor exceptions, and you were available to help us when we asked for help.

Gary & Nikki Kelley - USA

When I wanted to add a week in Australia to our tour of New Zealand I was referred to Kasey Yee at First Light travel. She asked me how long we wanted to be in Australia, where we wanted to go and how much we wanted to spend. She totally nailed it. From the wonderful lodging and the great excursions, we saw enough of Australia in our short one week to wet our appetite for future trips. While we are generally not city people my husband really wanted to go to Melbourne, we had no idea how big a city it was. The most delightful tour of our whole trip was the Hidden Secrets Tour of Melbourne where we were given an insider's introduction to the city and its charming arcades and shops. We explored so many things in our short trip. We saw the animals of Australia, a penguin parade, a rainforest, the 12 Apostles, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Sydney Opera House. It was all a little exhausting but it was fabulous.

Kathy & Jeffrey Parker - USA

Hi Kasey,

Got your email. Good to hear from you!

We had a wonderful time in Australia!! I attached several photos from said trip.

Let's stay in touch!

Thanks!

Louis John & Agnes Gimenez – Virginia USA

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

Hi Shelley,

We are finally getting back in the groove after a mind-blowing trip of a lifetime. You were instrumental in making this trip run absolutely seamlessly!

We will highly recommend you and First Light Travel to everyone considering a trip to New Zealand.

Thanks so much!

Melissa Wilson and Paige Larson USA

Dear Shelly

We are still jetlagged and drag ourselves to work each day…? It is hard to get motivated. But we have to. The trip was very good. We are happy with your communication and organization of the trip. We think this was a great way of doing it and all was clearly detailed in the travel arrangements. I would do this way again as it was very well mapped out.

We had a great journey. We will come back to you soon .

Kind regards, Sabine

Eric Van Rhienen and Sabine De Prest – Belgium

Thanks to First Light and especially to Amelia - who guided us in advance and along the journey. It has been the best weeks of the last 20 years. We will come back again with First Light as soon as possible!

Michael and Susanne Gruber - Germany