Our Guest Book - Tour Reviews from Recent Travellers

Hi Laura Again we would live to thank you for organising our honeymoon. We had the best time. It was so easy. There was no problems with the car when checking in anywhere. All of the accommodation far exceeded our expectations.

Dear Sara, Writing to say thank you for all the arrangements you put in place for our visit. We had a brilliant time visiting New Zealand for the first time and it was easy and a pleasure to tour the country which in no small part was due to the bookings and advice you organised and gave. 

The itinerary given to us on day 1 was extremely helpful for navigating from place to place. The countryside was so beautiful & something we will never forget. I would definitely recommend others to visit NZ & use New Zealand Self Drive.

Hi Louise I would just like to say thank you for creating such a wonderful experience for us. As you can imagine, from our perspective, there is the opportunity to get information wrong and ideas confused, however you created the perfect trip.

We greatly enjoyed our Lord of the Rings Scenic Tour! All accommodations were excellent and there were no issues with any reservations (hotels and/or tours). Touring during the winter turned out to be great as crowds were never an issue.  

Hi Lauren, We 're back home, already reminiscing of our wonderful adventure. Everything went smoothly, with not one mishap. Even the weather fully cooperated. Thank you so much for your assistance in making our New Zealand trip one we shall fondly remember. We'll gladly recommend you and your company to any friends who want to experience your beautiful country. All the best, Paul and Fred

We recently enjoyed a wonderful two-week driving tour of New Zealand. Erynn did an excellent job with the arrangements and was extremely easy to work with, incorporating all of our requests for additions and changes in the schedule and contacting us quickly when we asked for more information. My wife and I travelled with our adult daughter, so we were concerned about appropriate accommodations. Erynn was able to book us into apartment hotels that had two bedrooms, which worked out great.

Christina did a fantastic job planning our holiday! We appreciated her suggestions for activities and agreed to almost all. The printed out itinerary, driving directions and map were incredibly helpful and we consulted the additional information for suggestions for additional activities or restaurants. We had a fantastic holiday and would highly recommend this travel company and Christina to anyone considering a South Island driving tour!

Great trip! In terms of lodging, Matakauri Lodge was of course was the best, but the others were all very good as well. The Wellington hotel's in room laundry facilities were a HUGE help mid trip. The Waters' self cook breakfast facilities were a distinct step below the other ones, and we were late arriving there because we thought the Waters would be closer to the ferry terminal than it was. In terms of the itinerary, it was great, though I think we could easily have spent another full day in the Rotorua area (the Waimangu Valley was terrific and took a full day for us, so we could have seen more there).

Our fabulous trip to NZ was such a success! We appreciate all the planning, details and super suggestions. We had such a fun time, did so much and loved every minute of your beautiful country! Our highlights were Mt Cook and the Glass bottom boat tour! The Coromandal Coast is magnificent! All the hotels were wonderful, friendly and so clean! Thank you again for all the brilliant work to make our trip seamless and exactly what we wanted. Melanie & Claudia from Cambridge, MA

Hi Lauren, Sorry for only getting back to you now. We have been delighted by our trip in NZ and organising it through your services couldn’t have been easier. Very straight forward to start with, you understood our needs perfectly and the content and itinerary were just perfect. I have already provided your company details to one of my colleagues who is thinking of visiting NZ as well. Only one regret, but you could have done nothing about it is that South Island is so amasing and beautiful that we wish we could have done a bit more and stayed in some places longer, sad we only had 8 days...  Best regards, Thierry Defrène.

Our overall experience was pretty positive and we enjoyed our family holiday. Thank you Christina for your work with our trip, your itinerary was very easy to follow. Hobbiton was brilliant and definitely one the highlights for the kids. We loved Rotorua and Wellington.

Our group of 8 good friends went on the 17 days NZ tour in April arranged by New Zealand Self Drive Tours turned out to be a life time memory for all of us. I would give a thumbs up for their fantastic service, their excellent arrangement on the itinerary and accommodation were beyond our expectation.

Where do I begin? First of all, let’s just say I am a bit of a planner, so I was reluctant to have someone else plan my 30th wedding anniversary itinerary for me. As I was researching online all the different tour groups, I kept coming back to New Zealand Self Drive Tours. Some of the top reasons I decided to go with NZSDT is because I could change up the itinerary and pick what days, how long, and where I wanted to go. I saw that other tour companies weren’t as flexible. Secondly, all their impressive reviews over the internet from people who had used them to book their tours.

Well it was a sensational holiday with everything going to plan. The pick up thru to the final drop off was so professional and hassle free. Our introduction to NZ was an eye opener and will definitely return and hopefully with some friends in tow. Once we left Auckland city the fields opened up and so did the welcome in Rotorua with all staff at various establishments happy and helpful. On to Napier after TC Cook blasted the east coast but life carried on and all where smiling.

Amazing holiday in the South Island NZ, beautifully organised, didn't have to worry about a thing. We don't know NZ that well, but had a rough idea of what we wanted to do, so just gave our consultant Shelley Ryder our arrival and departure dates, explained accommodation preferences, activities and sights we would like, a rough price guide and she came back with the perfect itinerary.

The entire trip went according to the planned itinerary. The map book included in the initial package was very useful. All the accommodation was very good and more importantly clean with comfortable warm beds. The overnight stay of Doubtful Sound was most enjoyable, but you must advise people about the sandflies. Wanaka was beautiful and peaceful an well worth the couple of day stay over.

Really good concept to get the vacation planned via New Zealand Self Drive Tours. The accommodations were ok, and the activities exactly what we asked for. I did a lot of the research myself but it was great to get help with the bookings and detailed planning.

We had an awesome trip discovering NZ on our 27-day self drive tour, set up by Jane. She did an awesome job. The motel accommodations she chose for us were more than we expected. Even though we spent 27 days in NZ, we could have easily spent another two weeks to include some of the sights we didn't see. It's just such a beautiful country. This of course leaves room for a return trip! T

Thank you, Salli, for putting together our fantastic New Zealand holiday to the South Island! We appreciate your friendliness, professionalism and efficiency in putting together our 10-day self-drive tour itinerary. We had very little time (and knowledge) to research all the NZ destinations, activities and accommodations, so it was wonderful that you took on that task for us. All the accommodations you arranged were clean with all the amenities required (usually more than!) The motel proprietors were friendly and very helpful in providing local recommendations and tips.

We had an amazing trip and we met so many wonderful and interesting people. Everything was so well planned out, all we needed to do was get in our rental car and go. New Zealand is so breathtakingly beautiful, pictures while wonderful, do not begin to capture the beauty. All I can say to anyone, if you can, go to New Zealand.

Had a good to great holiday. itinerary well organised. Most of the accommodations booked were of high standard. However, the accommodation at Punakaiki was average compared to accommodation at other places.

Hi Shelley, Well, back to the real world now, work etc, We had a wonderful time, Uncle from Auckland could not do enough for us, a real gentleman. Our mystery night was organised by us girls, whilst we were at Lake Tepako, We stayed at a B and B called Dalry Country House run by a wonderful couple, we went to the local pub for dinner that night. The B and B was 9 ks out of Hastings but was worth the drive.

We very much enjoyed our holiday in New Zealand. Highlights include: Milford Road coach trip and the plane ride back to Queenstown. The scenery on the South Island was spectacular, especially the Mount Cook National Park. Rotorua was an interesting place to see with the mud pools etc. The Maori Village was a bit touristy but they did a very good show and I learned about their culture. The Coromandel township was beautiful but we got caught on a road closure due to cyclone Debbie.

Lauren helped us customise an 8-day itinerary driving from Christchurch to Queenstown and was very responsive throughout the process. The website is also fast and easy to use. The suggested accommodation, driving route, and attractions were carefully chosen and helped us make the most of our short time in beautiful NZ. It was a wonderful experience and everything went very smoothly thanks to Lauren's planning. We highly recommend this company.

Dear Shelley, Thank you for helping us plan our honeymoon around the South Island of New Zealand! We were so busy with planning the wedding and greatly appreciated how simple it was to organise our trip through your company! You made the whole process straight forward and we didn’t have to worry about a thing.

We had a great holiday and everything was arranged just the way I envisioned it. So thanks! Couple of suggestions: 1. When I received my package in Wellington, most of the activities did not have vouchers and we did not have train tickets. I spoke with Shelley and she assured me they wouldn't be needed (and they weren't), but it would have been nice if the instructions had made that clear. 2. The hotel in Snells Beach was less than exciting. There wasn't anything exactly wrong with it, but it was easily the least interesting place we stayed. Loved the Waipoua Lodge! And all your suggestions about where to go and things to do were just perfect. I very much appreciated the road atlas--it was very helpful.

Thank you Salli and everyone who helped make this a fabulous 'trip of a lifetime'. The B and B's and hotels were beyond terrific, the hospitality of all we met was perfection and the trip put together highlights that were just right. The only problem was our desire to spend more time in New Zealand. I guess we will simply have to return! I must add that Salli was amazing in terms of how fast she got back to us and how she was always patient, regardless of how many times we needed clarification. I highly recommend her services. Feel free to use the Schers for recommendations for others.

We had a wonderful time! New Zealand is beautiful and the people very friendly. The cars for both islands were spacious and easy to drive. All of the hotels were excellent locations and several with spectacular views. We liked when we didn't have to pay to park or pay for internet. We especially feel that hotel guests shouldn't have to pay for internet. Our optional trips were all we hoped for and the pre-booked trips were more economical. My top 3 were Maori Village, Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary Night Tour and Whale Watch Kaikoura. The Glowworm cave was also a wonderful experience. Thank you Lauren for your advice, help, and kindness.

My wife Bev and I had a thoroughly enjoyable time during our 18-day drive-around of NZ. Christian Brockie did a superb job of making all the arrangements for accommodation, hire car and activities - there were no 'surprises' except for the astounding beauty of the country that we experienced, on both north and south islands. From the opening Mitai Village evening in Auckland to the final visit to the Antarctic Centre in Christchurh and everything in between (including visits to three glaciers), we had an unbelievable time and would do it again! Steve Swartz

Thanks for your arrangements,only the one hiccup, the tour of Auckland. Do you intend refunding the amount to me? The accommodation was brilliant, except for Wellington, which was my fault as I requested to be nearer the airport. Dunedin, Mount Cook,Christchurch,and Paihia were our favorites.

Hi Laura, It's been a while since we came back but I'm finally getting round to sorting things out! I thought I'd send you some feedback: Firstly we had an absolutely amazing time, everything was wonderful and we have some lovely memories. I've just finished sorting through 7000 photos to make 2 photo books! We were very impressed with the quality of the accommodations considering this was your entry level property. 

Hi Shelley! We had a GREAT trip, enjoyed it all wonderfully. Your aid and suggestions were tremendously helpful in making this a fantastic trip-of-a-lifetime. You did a FANTASTIC job and we are all very grateful! If we ever return, I'll be sure to contact you! The Milford Track was great we had no rain at all. The downside was very limited waterfall pictures... but we all agreed that was a small price to pay for warm and dry hiking! White puffy clouds and blue sky... the perfect weather for walking with a big pack on our back!

Fantastic accommodation, really appreciated having laundry in suite at the perfect time. Also appreciated the kitchenettes and barbecues... it was great to be able to cook "at home" rather than eating out constantly. And we felt like we saw most of the country without being too rushed.

Colin and I would like to thank you Shelley for putting an incredible trip together for us. The accommodation was extremely clean and comfortable and hotel staff were very helpful. The ease of checking in, picking up cars and embarking onto the ferry and the Trans Alpine train was so well organized so thank you. Our trip was great from arriving in New Zealand to departing without any problems what so ever. We will certainly recommend your company to friends and family. Shelley thank you again for all your assistance. Colin and Wendy

Dear Louise, Just wanted to thank you for the wonderful trip we enjoyed while in New Zealand. All of our contacts were made and we thoroughly enjoyed the time you arranged for us. We had an interesting time getting to Hobbiton because the GPS wouldn't hook up and connect to the satellite but a couple of people gave us accurate instructions and we arrived on time. We stopped at a travel store along the way and got hooked up with Budget Rent a Car at the Hamilton Airport who replaced it for us and from that time on everything was lovely. Appreciate all you did and if any of our acquaintances plan a trip there we'll be happy to refer them to you. William and RuthAnn Parker.

Thanks to Shelley Ryder and the rest of the New Zealand Self Drive Tours crew, our recent two month trip to New Zealand was extraordinary. Shelley shaped an extensive itinerary for us focusing on what we wanted to see and do and arranging it with enough flexibility that we were able to take advantage of countless unplanned experiences along the way. The few glitches we did have were immediately taken care of by New Zealand Self Drive Tours. Without Shelley's help we could have missed so much of her wonderful country. Thank you, Shelley, and we look forward to working with you on our next adventure to New Zealand.

We have had a great time. I think you have done a fabulous job. We loved everything except for the dolphin swim. That was overbooked and not our thing. I thought they were cruel to the dolphins. I cannot un recommend it enough. They were very nice and let us off at an island where we hiked and got the ferry back to town. Loved kiwi Dundee we have loved the places we stayed. Weather made us cancel pee jay white island tour & the boat tour we were supposed to be on yesterday in Rotorua. Thank you for keeping tabs on us and doing such a wonderful job Cheers Dr. Nancy Kimbrell, DC

Hi Christina, Thanks for providing us with a great self drive holiday. Our accommodation was great and all the activities we chose enhanced our knowledge of New Zealand. I would also like to thank you for arranging a couple of additional trips while we were on the road. I would highly recommend this company. The only fault I could raise was the time it took to collect our hire car in Picton. Budget cars need to priorities pre booked rentals instead of leaving us to wait over an hour to get our vehicle.

Hi Christine, We’re finally back on schedule. We were very pleased with the arrangements you made for us. “Uncle” picked us up at the airport and drove us to the hotel. “Early check-in request” - no luck with that. You might want to advise future clients that if they can’t check in and freshen up until later in the day, they would do well to take the “Hop-on, hop-off” bus tour that gave us an excellent overview of Auckland. The last stop was the Sky Tower, and we still had an hour to put in so we went up to the top and enjoyed that experience.

Hi Natalie, Well, we’re home – finally! Everything you arranged worked out perfectly. Our flights though went a bit sideways. We were delayed leaving Auckland so we missed our connection in Houston. Air New Zealand rerouted us through Detroit on Delta Airlines which also got delayed. The long and short of it is we didn’t arrive home until 3:00 AM our time! We had a wonderful trip and covered a lot of ground. We are so grateful to you for all the advice, coaching, suggestions and work you put into our adventure. And to top it all off, the weather in Milford Sound was awesome!

We had an incredible trip through your beautiful country, New Zealand. We were often blown away by the sheer beauty of the country. It was a truly memorable trip and a very fitting celebration of our golden anniversary year. Christina (Brockie), you did an excellent job in organising the whole itinerary, making very suitable suggestions and making all the reservations. We are most grateful for all your help. A trip such as this would have been very difficult to plan and organise without your very capable professional help.

Kia Ora Hayley! Thank you so much for arranging this PERFECT Holiday! You were very responsive assembling our customized 21 - day North Island Adventure for Nature Lovers. Auckland was our start and end-point, a nice University city where we heard all tongues of the world, and also offering good restaurants. New Zealand deserves to be congratulated on its conservation efforts. Our Tongariro Northern Circuit was a delight and its wonders at the coast - The Kauri Forests, White Island (Active Volcano), Poor Night Islands (World Heritage - Snorkeling) and The Bay of Islands where we hiked across beautiful Urupukapuka Island - well worth the day we spent exploring it.

Thoughrally enjoyable and well planned tour. Everything worked like clockwork from the time we landed in Christchurch to the time we returned the car. The motels were all expecting our arrival and the rooms were ready. All the motels were clean and well maintained with good cooking facilities for those who want to make light meals.

Louise: We are now home in Milwaukee. We appreciate your assistance in planning a last minute visit to NZ for us! We enjoyed everything you planned for us. The suite at the Hamilton Novotel blew us away (not necessary--but enjoyed). Our ride to the airport came on time. We felt cared for! Loved the Eden Villa--wonderful welcoming experience. We kept our left over NZ currency to use on our next trip to NZ. We look forward to working with you on that itinerary! Many thanks! Marge and Jeff

Dear Shelley, my wife and I thank you for all the arrangements you made for our recent trip - no hitches at all. We also were lucky to enjoy a lot of good weather - essentially no rain to speak of - and absolutely clear views of Mt Cook and range. Some brief comments:

Thank you Christina and New Zealand Self Drive Tours. In all 21 stops we were greeted with enthusiasm and smiles. Christina assisted with numerous suggestions of places to consider around New Zealand and all those that we visited or involved ourselves in worked in with great pleasure and hassle free. To have all accommodation and ferry's etc. pre booked made the entire tour much more enjoyable and without worry or concern. We had to alter some of our itinerary at late notice but that was no problem for Christina. Thank you again Christina for making our tour of New Zealand an extremely complete one and leaves us with a feeling of enormous contentment. Ross and Robyn Bate - Australia

Hello to the team at NZ Fine Touring now that we have been home in the UK for a week and re-adjusted to ‘real’ life we wanted to thank-you for providing a superb service in arranging our holiday personal touring itinerary. Every aspect arranged by yourselves – car hire, accommodation and activity bookings went entirely to plan, making for a carefree and enjoyable holiday.

Christina Brockie organized our month long trip around New Zealand (Feb/Mar 2017) with our two kids. Using Self Drive Tours & Christina was the BEST idea for our vacation. We can't say enough good things about the service and support we received. Every place we stayed at was perfect and the attention to detail to make sure that we knew where we had to be made every day relaxing.

Putting this tour together on such short notice was great. The document pack was well prepared and helpful. Lauren was great in following up once the trip was booked, making sure that we were able to get the document pack on short notice. Great customer service.

Hi Michelle

We are just home from our 8 day North Island tour. What can we say everything was organised to the finest detail. Your second choice accommodation in Paihia was great. We had a room at the front with magnificent views of the bay. All our accommodation was first class and we had plenty of time to take in all the sights along the way. We have been singing your praises to anyone prepared to listen.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Jim and Vivienne Armstrong

Jane, we wanted to thank you the advice, arrangements and execution were flawless. It did rain every single day we were there but will not hold you accountable for that ;)) Only negative observation is that Budget would not provide GPS at either location without $10/day charge! Hope you had not paid for that! All the accommodations met or exceeded our expectations and the people were charming. Ti Kouka was both funky and particularly beautiful.

My husband and I send a sincere thank you to our wonderful tour consultant, Shelley Ryder. She put together a package for us that could not have been more pleasant. Every step of the way was laid out for us, and the details made traveling in a foreign country effortless and friendly. We enjoy the independence of driving ourselves and being on our own, but having the details of motels, transfers, and car rentals taken care of saved me a lot of time and energy in the planning stage, and all of our accommodations were perfect.

We had a really wonderful holiday and thought that the service we had from New Zealand Self Drive Tours and from Natalie in particular was excellent. The judgements about where to go, how long to stay in individual locations, where to stay, what we might be interested in doing and the information pack provided were all spot on.

We had a wonderful trip made easy by Laura and New Zealand Self Drive Tours. We did the B&B option and were delighted with all of our arrangements. We felt like we saw the entire country on our 23 day tour - the pace was perfect and the routing and tour guidance made it a fun and stress-free adventure. We did have a couple of changes to our itinerary due to an earthquake and a brush fire but Laura was on top of the situation and we adjusted seamlessly. Thanks for a wonderful experience.

Thank You Hayley for giving us a fabulous tour of your beautiful homeland. You provided us with great maps and documentation to find our way with no worries. Our accommodations were great. I felt so blessed after the November earthquake that I didn't need to contact our 26 days of accommodation to find out if they were still operating. You provided the alternate route and accommodation since we couldn't visit Kaikoura.

We spent a lovely 13 days in the south island of New Zealand through New Zealand Self Drive Tours, and would highly recommend this company to other travellers to New Zealand -- particularly those visiting for the first time. Starting from the planning stages, our consultant Shelley was so very helpful in figuring out how to best fit the highlights we were hoping to see, with a local's knowledge about realistic driving times, the quality of accommodations, etc.

Planning a family trip to a country you've never visited before is no easy task. However, with the help of Ms Salli Smith, our holiday to New Zealand at the start of 2017 played out wonderfully and smoothly. Ms Smith was both very patient and helpful during the planning process and on top of that, friendly and prompt.

We had an absolutely marvellous time in New Zealand. We have already recommended New Zealand Self Drive Tours and our consultant Natalie DeCaro to friends. Natalie designed a perfect tour for us, meeting and often surpassing the goals we set for her.

Really enjoyable trip. We liked the accommodations the sites were absolutely awesome. Maybe, some smalls changes could have been made about the time spent at some locations.

We had a nice trip to New Zealand. The trip booked by Salli was very seamless and well organised. We appreciated that she took care of our logistics for us and that she was also very responsive with communication with very prompt responses to any inquiries. It was also nice that Salli automatically took care of issues related to the earthquake that we would have had no idea what we needed to do differently as we didn't even know what was and wasn't open.

Appreciate the help. Kaarlo and Jen

We had the most amazing holiday in New Zealand organised by NZ Self Drive Tours. As it was a first time visit for us, it was great having the booking and planning done for us. We found both Dan and Salli very responsive with communication and we had very prompt responses to any inquiries.

Great service, excellent support with a personal touch. Superb hotel and activity recommendations (except for one but that was of no fault to NZ Self Drive Tours). We really like your concept and it beats sorting it all out by our-self's (competitive rates). Already recommend you to several of our colleagues and friends here on Sakhalin Island, Russia.

Thank you Natalie DeCaro, for your patience with us as we planned our trip to South Island, all the way from South Africa. We had to trust that all the arrangements would happen as planned, and we were not disappointed. At every stop along our route, we received a good reception, and we were very pleased with the extra activities that we included in the week long tour. I would definitely recommend you to friends/family who may be travelling in New Zealand in the future. Thank you. regards Sharon and Steve Thorne

Thank you NZ Self Drive especially our consultant Shelley Ryder. She had given us a memorable trip. Both itinerary & accommodations she arranged was excellent. She not only arranged us a scenic drive, but also some activities to enjoy. The activities she suggested were fun. Shelley always responded to my enquiries/request very promptly. I highly recommend her to my friends or anyone who needs assistance planning their NZ trip. Thank you Shelly once again for your excellent services.

I would like to thank our tour consultant Jane Zwerrenz not only for putting together a great South Island tour, but also for how prompt and flexible she proved to be when we had to make last minute modifications along the way! Wonderful tour recommended to everybody! Gian Mario Enrigo & Elisa Vargiu

Dear Shelley, Happy new year to you. I apologise that I took so long to get this email to you, but we only arrived back from our trip this morning and I'm finally able to sit down and get to all the admin. I would just like to say an absolutely huge THANK YOU to you for organising this trip and everything that you did for us! The trip was absolutely spectacular and ticked all the boxes with everyone. We had so many laughs and the activities were fantastic!

Hi Jane, Thanks. We had a blast on the bridge walk (it was indeed a Walk, with the Syndey Harbour bridge being more of a climb). We arrived in Aukland two hours early, no traffic on Saturday morning, so had two hours to kill. We just walked around the waterfront and had breakfast, very pleasant. After the walk, we were still at the airport by 12:30, again no traffic. The whole trip went like clockwork, never a reservation mix up anyplace. Very nice. And we had incredibly fine weather, total contrast to our last trip where we were mightily doused daily.

Hi Salli, just wanted to follow-up with a personal thank you for helping coordinate our trip to New Zealand over the Xmas holiday period. We had a fantastic time, and really enjoyed each and every stay. The hotels/motels were excellent, and we really appreciate the small personal feel from several of them. The owners were great, and all costs were taken care of ahead of time. We especially enjoyed the rooms in Rotorua and Christchurch.

Happy New Year Natalie, Wishing you the very best of health and happy days in 2017. It was super meeting you too; and being in your lovely town. Our visit to Rippon Winery was very productive albeit a knock in the pocket :-) We had a fabulous time again on the South Island thanks to your guidance and great planning. We certainly have a better understanding of distance, travel time, road conditions and many other facets of touring in New Zealand.

Hi Christina, As you know we are a media company looking at how we can make something positive business wise out of what is a very personal 50th birthday experience. Meeting at airport seamless despite late arrival. Service airport to hotel impeccable. Our room at the Sebel Viaduct Harbour was adequate, but deluxe one bedroom marina view turned out to be a quarter marina view from the sitting room, a slightly better view from the balcony, but no view from the bedroom other than the block opposite. Room was 211. There are lots of rooms directly facing the marina over several floors so I’m not sure what level of deluxe they must be.

This was a most wonderful tour. Everything ran like clockwork - accommodation was excellent and we were expected at every place. We were picked up by chauffeur (even at 1 am) from the airport after our delayed flight, and every pickup by tour operators was on time. We had plenty of time to explore in our hire car between towns.

As mentioned before trip was great. Weather was ideal, accommodation was excellent and hire car was good. Itinerary undertaken was great for our needs. In Christchurch we visited the Antartic centre close to the airport which was good. Mt Cook was beautiful as was Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki. Very much enjoyed Edmund Hillary Alpine centre. Loved the documentary on Everest.

Hi Michelle, Our Self Drive Holiday in New Zealand was absolutely fantastic! The accommodations arranged for the family were spot on! I am so envious of you folks in NZ. You do have God's Backyard in your country. Its so scenic everywhere we went. We had to pinch ourselves a few times to make sure we were sober. Thanks a Million for your help in arranging such a wondrous itinerary. We will definitely be coming back again. Regards, Eric

Hi Jane, the trip was AMAZING and thank you for all your reservation help along the way. The hotels were nice but the bed & breakfast were the best. Sorry we could not stop over at Wanaka during our trip. At this point we are back in the US, a little tired from with our trip and working on the gazillion photos that I took. The natural beauty of New Zealand is unparalleled. People there are amazing and so is the landscape. Thanks for making it extra special for us. Cheers Sree and Sukee

Kia Ora, Hayley.

We have been back for a month and still remember our trip to NZ with huge fondness. We are so happy that we used NZ Fine Touring for our arrangements. I could tell you and your associates are quite experienced, as you handled our “high maintenance” situations with calm and grace. And, we are very appreciative that you rearranged our tour after the earthquake. We love NZ - it truly is the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited. Thank you for your excellent service. If anyone asks, we would give you and NZ Fine Touring an A+. Thanks, again. Riffi OBrien

Ross and myself would like to send you the biggest thank you! to you and everyone at NZ self drive tours. As you know I wanted to surprise Ross with a "secret holiday" and I had some ideas where I wanted to be, I have always planned all my holidays personally because I felt that travel agents gave a generic experience at an inflated cost and thus was a little sceptical about the whole idea of using a touring company. Your team won me over from the start, the level of service and care taken was AMAZING. The support did not stop when I booked, I really felt cared for during the time between booking and leaving for NZ.

Hi Salli, Thank you for the great help in planning our family holiday to NZ. Very much appreciated your responsiveness, including booking our Hobbiton tickets at short notice and at a discounted rate. We had a great time and would warmly recommend others to consider New Zealand Self Drive Tours. Warm regards, Chung Han

Hi Jane, We're back in England now, with many happy memories of our time in New Zealand. I want to thank you most warmly for your help in reorganising part of our itinerary during what must have been a very busy time for you. All the arrangements for the trip went very smoothly and the range of accommodation was great (the only unwelcome surprise was at the Hotel Ibis in Wellington, where parking is only available if pre-booked). So thank you, NZFT - we will recommend you. With best wishes, Martin and Charmain Rickerd

Hi Christine, Thank you very much for the great arrangement and planning, the tour was fantastic. Accommodation very nice, especially the stay at Blue Peak Apartments in Queenstown. The tour itself was nicely planed, car rental, pick-ups at the Airports, Train station and Airport drops, Not a single hiccup or problem. I have to thank you for your advise, your patience , and your friendly and professional service. Best Regards, from us Kassim, Yasmin and Harris.

Hello Louise

Well we are finally home after an exhausting but exhilarating holiday. The hotels were all wonderful and everyone was friendly and helpful. Organisation was fabulous, and although we were often asked if we had vouchers from our travel company, the mention of our surname resulted in a “Hi Peter and Wendy,” and we had no problems anywhere.

New Zealand Self Drive Tours provided us with a very memorable experience. The staff are great to deal with and we even had the opportunity to meet with them in person. We chose the 31 Northbound adventure which gave us the opportunity to have a great cultural experience,great hikes, unbelievable scenery. Accommodation and vehicle hire were awesome. We selected just about every tour option which kept us fully occupied .

Hi Jane, We had a fabulous holiday thanks to your thoughtful arrangements on our behalf. We were very happy with the accommodation and it was lovely not to have to worry about any aspect of the trip, including the transfers from the train station and to the airport. Your itinerary took us to stunning parts of the country that we will treasure in our memories for years to come. In fact we decided to return to Queenstown and the West Coast as often as we are able in the future. Thank you for a most enjoyable and comfortable holiday. Deidre Briesch

Firstly, we would like to thank Shelley for putting together and seeing us through our holiday. The process was smooth and worry free, particularly given the fact that we landed in Auckland the day following the earthquake with part of our itinerary up in the air. Our holiday was absolutely wonderful, and even the cancellation of a few activities due to poor weather / natural disasters did not reduce our enjoyment one little bit. Your company offers a wonderful service and executes it professionally.

From start to finish, our 10-day tour of the south island was amazing! The motels used were perfect for what we needed. Jane did a fantastic job in setting everything up. She went above and beyond by scheduling a north island tour for us that we inevitably had to cancel. I would use this service again in a heartbeat.

Hi Salli

Thanks for your excellent tour arrangements – we had a great time – we both agreed that there was too much to do in the time but it was after all a 'taster' so now we know where to go to for a longer stay next time.

Some notes: Our pick-up driver at Christchurch airport was excellent – he even took us on a 30 minute tour of the city on the way to the hotel so we could orient ourselves, and see some of the awful devastation caused by the earthquake. He was very informative, and efficient – as he also was when he picked us up on the next morning for the train trip.

Hello Laura, I wanted to post a comment on your company’s website but didn’t see an option to do so. I also wanted to say thank you for the quick refund! We just wanted to say thank you for the most enjoyable trip we have ever had. All our accommodations and tours were nothing less than First Class. Although we were unable to go to Kaikoura because of the earthquake, our re-route to Hanmer Springs was wonderful. And we couldn’t have asked for a better person (Laura Davidson) to help us get through that hiccup in our trip. We absolutely loved the drive that started in Auckland and ended in Christchurch. This was definitely a great way to see the country and meet many wonderful Kiwis along the way. We are already talking about a return trip to New Zealand! Thank you again for everything! Linda Wilhelm and Mike Lasher

Michelle,

I can't thank you enough for planning and executing a flawless trip of the North and South islands. When I say everything was perfect, I mean it was spot on. If someone was to meet us at the airport or train station or pick us up from our hotel, they were right there every time. No question at all. The hotels you selected for us were perfect. Each had such lovely rooms for us. Sometimes they were so nice we didn't want to leave. The activities and tours you recommended were all wonderful.

Hayley,

Margaret and I are back in the states, slowly recovering from a day and a half of travel to get here. Was all that time in a metal tube travelling at 36,000 feet worth it? Without a doubt! We both want to thank you for the excellent trip you arranged for us in New Zealand - it far exceeded our expectations. Your attention to detail and organisational skills exponentially added to the wonders and beauty of New Zealand. Plus your ability and willingness to make last minute changes made for an excellent ending to our journey; the extra day at Franz Josef along with a full day in Christchurch worked out perfectly.

We were so lucky to find New Zealand Self Drive Tours as a resource for planning our once in a lifetime trip. Salli Smith was incredibly informative, knowledge and flexible creating an itinerary that specifically addressed our wish list. She made quick adjustments and offered many helpful suggestions of activities, routes and highlights in each city. As we learned more and did other research, Salli was incredibly responsive to our every request and question. She was also there for us during the trip when we had a few questions. The trip was outstanding and I wish New Zealand Self Drive Tours could plan all of our other trips! We would highly recommend them as a resource and if you're lucky enough to work with Salli, you'll be in great hands!

Thank you for everything ! I must say it has been an amazing experience for us here in New Zealand. We went for the Christchurch gondola and took the tram on our last day here. In any case, I want to say that all the activities arranged and the motels booked for us was superb and beyond our expectation! Comfortable and close to places of interest and eateries. I must say that we loved Queenstown, Wanaka and Tekapo the most :) Thanks much for all the assistance Christina! You've been a great help and we really enjoyed this trip! Regards, Farah

My husband and I just returned from a fantastic 22-day self-drive vacation in New Zealand. Many thanks to Michelle and the New Zealand Self Drive team for helping us plan our trip. This was our first time in New Zealand and they gave wonderful recommendations on places to go and things to do and also made reservations for lodging, cars, ferries and activities.

Our trip went without a hitch, thanks to Laura Davidson, despite a major earthquake while we were in New Zealand. Fortunately, we were on the west coast when the quake occurred on the east coast. Although there was some concern about whether or not the train from Greymouth to Christchurch would be running, it turned out to be okay.

Hi Louise,

We had a wonderful time on our trip & all the arrangements went smoothly Thanks for all your work. Hotels were good with cooking facilities in almost all. Only problem was the number of times we ended up in a handicap room (guess they thought it would help the old folks) Best lodging was in Whitianga & Wellington. Weakest was Christchurch for future planning. All in all excellent organising on your part next time we will choose a drier time of year.

Cheers Wayne

Pat and I had a marvellous 22 day tour from Auckland south to Queenstown, thanks to Michelle who suggested activities and made arrangements to our preferences. We anticipated a terrific trip and learned to love New Zealand... people were very friendly, we learned a lot, and the seascapes and landscapes...breathtaking.

Christina,

Our excursion in New Zealand was marvellous. From our welcome greeter at Auckland airport to our 5:30 AM transporter to the Christchurch airport, we found the people of New Zealand to be warm, open, friendly, helpful and kind. Every motel owner was welcoming and charming. Our favorite accommodation was Quest Central in Rotorua. Another favorite was Omau Settlers Landing at Cape Foulwind, which would be very nice in summer. We were there in the rain after being detoured by the earthquake. All other motels/hotels were very good. Our experiences varied, but each were rewarding to 70 year old tourists.

The lodgings throughout the trip were great - perhaps at a level a bit higher than I usually use but I’m not complaining. Peter and Iris were great hosts on Stewart Island, and I lucked out by having Peter one-on-one during the Ulva Island visit (where we did see a real, live, in-the-wild Kiwi.

6 Oct - 23 Oct 2016 (Awesome 18-day trip - North & South Island of NZ) First of all, we have to admit that we were so lucky and happy to have found this website when we first started to do some research on the road trip in NZ. As this was our honey moon trip after we got married in October 2016, we really hope this would be the best of the best travelling experience for both of us.

Hi Shelley,

We just got home today after a wonderful trip to Hawaii and New Zealand. We wanted to thank you for all that you did to arrange our driving tour. Everything was perfect, from the pick-ups at the airport and train station, our accommodation, the trains and the activities we chose. Not a single hiccup or problem!

Hi Jane

Thank you very much for your concern. The tour was fantastic. Accommodation very, very nice, real Gems, all the Heritage houses. The tour itself was nicely planed, car rental was well organised, and all the other bookings like Doubtful Sound etc properly booked. And what should I say about you? Although you destroyed us terribly in the last game (Rugby), I have to thank you for your advise, your patience , and your friendly and professional service.

Best Regards and Kia Ora Hans

We greatly enjoyed the entire trip. Everything was superbly organised and everybody was exceptionally nice. The accommodations were all luxurious and the breakfast options plentiful and very tasty. We particularly liked the Kamahi Cottage and its owner Elisabeth Cowan. She is a delightful and stimulating host with a great degree of knowledge.

From the moment I contacted you to organise a complicated itinerary I knew I had chosen the right company. 4 weeks, 2 islands, trains, planes and automobiles. I provided dates and a list of things we wanted to do and you guys put it together. I could never had done this myself and I am used to booking independent travel.

Thanks to Hayley and all the staff at NZ Self Drive Tours for a wonderful 3 week holiday in the South Island. The car rental, accommodation and the optional tours were all ready for me when I arrived. A very well organised trip. Brilliant! Ken O'Neill

It was certainly an amazing trip. I do recommend everyone. Especially Shelley was wonderful. She did take care of all of our tantrums. Thank you for everything.

We had a good trip and enjoyed the well plan schedule provided. The only disappointment was not getting the HOBBIT Inn which we were much expect. But it was not caused by New Zealand Self Drive Tours. We recommend everyone to take a planned vacation as we did.

Our trip to New Zealand was truly amazing. Laura Davidson did a great job in helping us plan our trip. The only thing I would recommend is that the driving instructions be a bit more thorough. You should give the distance between turns. Our GPS was outdated and had us literally going down farm paths. However, the wonderful atlas saved the day. It was truly the best holiday we have ever had and we would definitely recommend New Zealand self drive tours. Thank you!

Hi Shelley,

Thanks for taking time on your day off to meet with us near the end of our trip. As we mentioned then, everything had gone smoothly for the first 4 weeks of our trip and that continued for the final week. Before you set our itinerary, we discussed the types of hotels we preferred and all of your choices were of that kind of accommodation and very convenient locations. Everything went smoothly with all of the transportation-airport pickup/drop off, car pickup/drop off and TranzAlpine train.

Firstly, a huge thank you to Hayley for organising the trip, very prompt in responding, and had some great suggestions for activities. We were so impressed by how well things worked, from the initial greeting at Auckland, the accommodation, the selected tours and the ongoing support through the trip. The detailed itinerary was fantastic, just walked into the hotel reception or tour booking office with "the book" and never had any hassle - it all just worked. We had an awesome holiday, some great trips and sightseeing tours - many exceeded my expectations, saw a lot of wildlife, did a lot of walking, enjoyed seeing the natural beauty of NZ. I have passed on your details to friends who have expressed interest in touring NZ, and would not hesitate to contact you when we visit NZ next time. Thank you, Anne.

We want to thank Michelle Chave for arranging the most amazing time for us in New Zealand’s South island. The rep was there to meet us with our tour package when we arrived in Christchurch. All the accommodations she recommended were perfect for us. We were greeted at each one and had no problems checking in. A highlight of the trip was Ulva Island. Peter Tait provided a superb 4 hour tour and was quite entertaining. His knowledge of the island made it quite fascinating.

We finished our trip and overall we where very please with the accommodation. The only snag was on the first day. We were greeted at the airport and brought to our accommodation. But the next day we had to make our way back to the airport to pick up the car. It would have made much more sense to get the car on day 1. The only other issue was a one way car return charge. We picked up the car at Christchurch and returned the car at Greymouth. The care rental company tried to hit us for the $50.00 charge. I called NZSDT and they cleared up the discrepancy. All other aspects of the trip were wonderful and I would use this service again.

Everything was very well executed in terms of the arrangements. The hotels were good and very comfortable and close to restaurants etc. the tours worked well. We especially liked the Stewart Island Lodge - it is very comfy and both hostesses were really warm and helpful. Wendy particularly went out of her way to make sure that we could leave the island which was problematic because of the fog! We both enjoyed our holiday very much. A big thank you to Salli for organising it. Linda Lyon

Hi Hayley, We have spent the last 4 months travelling around the world, and the 42 days we have spent in New Zealand were just amazing. Everything from the first contact with you, planning our tailored made self drive tour until our flight back home worked perfectly. We enjoyed also very much the possibility of the "last minute" changes in our tour, where our second daughter joined us during her school holidays on her study exchange program. This was really a great time and we had so much fun that we will never forget. Thank you for the opportunity to get to know your beautiful country and for all the new experiences. It really was a once in life time holiday and except one day, we were lucky with the weather as well. Even though we have spent almost 1.5 months travelling around New Zealand, we will for sure come back, because there are so many places that just need more time to explore. One more time a big thank you. Erich, Daniela, Alexandra and Barbora

My 12 year old daughter and I had an amazing time. All the accommodation and pre booked tours were perfect. Every thing went to plan thanks to our consultant Shelley. The extensive literary made for an exciting, enjoyable and hassle fee holiday.

First of all Christina, thank you so much for organising all of our trip details. You were amazing and very quick to respond. Our trip was definitely the trip of a lifetime! We got all of our activities in without any weather interruptions! We really enjoyed all the scenery, other than the scary, sharp, curvy roads on the "wrong" side of the road throughout New Zealand! We were able to enjoy 3/8 of the great walks: Tongariro Alpine Crossing, The Kepler Track, and the Routeburn Track. We loved all three. We really didn't need a guide on the Routeburn since the trail was clearly defined, but it was great getting to meet another couples and learning a lot from our guide.

Cape to Capital 18-day Tour. Our thanks to Jane whose meticulous planning ensured our trip went smoothly. Jane always promptly replied to our queries and double checked our plans with us. Having everything pre-booked made our travels so much easier. We didn’t have to worry about taking time out looking for accommodation or finding things to do. It was also really useful to be able to pay our trip in installments on line. It was lovely to have been met at the airport by “Uncle” who gave us a few tips for our stay in Auckland. Another surprise was a car upgrade from a Corolla to a diesel Ford Territory. This made for comfy and economical travel.

Thank you Shelley! We ventured from Port Angeles, WA, USA to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary exploring New Zealand on this self-drive road trip. We told her our desire to hike, be outdoors and stay in rustic accommodations. She set us up with an itinerary that was extremely memorable. We travelled through the major parts of both islands. Each destination was completely different and a surprise since we chose not to research the next location. We found our favorite eating experience. The "Mussel Pot" in Havelock. We would highly recommend booking this type of adventure. Shelley, many thanks! Jon & Lori Jacobs

Thank you for a great time. Everything was set up beautifully. We really wish we were still there! Natalie did an excellent job for us in setting up accommodations, itineraries and assisting us in getting from one place to another.

Hi Charlie, Well we made it home safe and well. Thank you for putting together such a wonderful package, both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I don't believe there was any element that we did not like but we were disappointed in not enjoying any of the helicopter adventures because of unsuitable weather conditions. We did make up the time with other activities which were enjoyable as well. The whole part of the South island that we saw had us in awe of your beautiful island and we will certainly be returning some time in the future. Once again Charlie a Big Thank You George & Jill Phillips

We had a fantastic holiday - we loved New Zealand and all the arrangements worked without a hitch. We're looking forward to coming back sometime!

Hi Charlie! I've been looking forward to writing this feedback to you about our trip because I LOVE reliving all the wonderful sites and experiences. I'll start with accommodations. We liked ALL of the accommodations that you booked for us! They were all spacious, clean and well-located. Unlike properties in the USA where website photos often exaggerate features, I found that the photos on the websites didn't do justice to the rooms. I was always positively surprised. Some specifics: We especially liked Punga Grove in Franz Josef. The location is lovely and the patio at the back of the apartment with lush rain forest growth was beautiful. We could look out our loft bedroom in the morning and see the snow-capped peaks! Another notable property was the Quest in Wellington. The building is charming and historic. The rooms have high ceilings and huge windows.

Dear Shelley, many thanks for a fantastic trip! We were so impressed with the spectacular scenery of both islands. New Zealand is so clean and it is clear that your government puts tax dollars back into infrastructure, i.e. nice level roads, well maintained parks, good signage, etc. We were impressed! You somehow managed to fit all of our requests into a well thought out itinerary. We had time to rest, but were able to explore so much of the country! Our rental car was new and we never had a problem.

Well we are back home and our holiday is now at an end. We had an amazing time and I must thank you for your faultless planning and organisation of our trip. Everything flowed brilliantly and all our bookings and tours were in place when we arrived at each destination. The car we received was brand new with only 20km on the clock...can't get much better than that, and all tours and pickups ran right on time. The staff at each place were really friendly and looked after us well. Of course Azur at Queenstown was amazing and I must admit we didn't want to leave and if we had to pick the best place, this would certainly be it. One thing you couldn't do for us was control the weather. We had some bad luck in Franz Joseph and they cancelled all helicopters. So you could contact Helicopter Line for us to arrange a refund it would be much appreciated. We've come home a little larger than when we left, compliments of some beautiful wine and food and brought home with us some amazing memories. Thank you once again, Regards Paul and Kerri Vico

Dear Natalie, So sorry to take so long to give our feedback. Have been really busy catching up with huge pile of work after being away for so long. Anyway, my husband and I wish to express our deepest thanks and appreciation for arranging such a wonderful holiday for us. As I mentioned before, this is the first time I did not have to do any arrangement and it's such a breeze to be able to leave everything to you. The pick-up at the airport was so nice. It warms our hearts to be met at the airport of a country we were visiting for the first time, especially after almost 10 hours in the plane. The hotels were great! especially Peppers Clearwater. We pampered ourselves silly. The Lakeview Suite was lovely. It was like a huge welcome hug on our first day in NZ. And to end the trip at this same hotel was unbelievably wonderful.

We had a fantastic time in NZ and found that the itinerary was very well organised. Accommodation was great- we particularly enjoyed the view from our room at the hotel in Mt Cook. Argo tour was good fun as well. The pick up service was really helpful and drivers were very pleasant and professional. Milford sound cruise and the bus trip to and from would have to be the highlight of the trip- fantastic photo opportunities and wonderful guides. I really want to point out that your service was fantastic, Christina- with the limited time I have to organise our trip and lack of time to spend on the phone, it was really good to be able to organise things with you via email- your prompt replies and organisations skills were much appreciated so thank you very much for making it so easy for us! We look forward to returning to NZ again in the future- maybe check out north island and go back to south for the glaciers! Regards, Angela Suen

Hi Jane, it was a great trip! The car rental was handled seamlessly, the accommodations were great and spacious. We were suspicious of Motels, having only been introduced to them via shows like CSI. The only damper was that due to inclement weather, we were unable to go for the fox glacier helicopter ride. Will save that for the next time we visit!

AMAZING! I could not recommend it high enough. Everything ran seamlessly, the accommodation was beautiful, all the recommendations we did were great. It was such a relaxed and easy holiday. Michelle, our rep, did a fantastic job. Thank you so much! I've travelled a lot but this was the best holiday I've ever been on.

Our trip was very well organised and the atlas was beneficial, but we would have liked to have had our path highlighted. We should have bypassed Christchurch because it has not recovered from the 2011 earthquake and it was sad to see so much destruction. The hotels and in particular their views were wonderful. We were pleased with the side excursions we chose. Perfect time of year to go because the Fall colors were delightful. The car rental hand off went well and we were pleased with the cars. The GPS was very beneficial and could not have done without it. It was a comfortable way to travel - having an agent set up the trip and handle the details, but be on our own. Thank you Laura for your help to make this a wonderful vacation experience.

Hi Michelle, Thank you for your email. We were both very impressed with all the organising of our tour, everything went like clockwork, the weather was a bit up and down but we did experience some beautiful days. We liked all our accommodation, it was great to be within walking distance of attractions and shops if we needed anything. Our favourite place was the Abel Tasman National Park, it is so beautiful, unspoiled , quiet and perfect for walking and boating, we had two lovely days there and our accommodation was lovely too. We had one sunny day on the Doubtful Sound cruise which was really nice but it was a miserable day on Milford Sound. Never mind, we enjoyed seeing it anyway. We were a bit disappointed to miss our whale watching cruise at Kaikori but the weather was not good and it was cancelled, we did wait to see if it improved later in the day but no luck. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our whole trip. An added bonus was meeting my cousin and his wife for the first time in Dunedin. I thought Dunedin was a lovely city, full of many reminders of my homeland, Scotland. Thank you and all involved with the organisation and transport providers for our trip, it was amazing, great job. Regards, Martin and Kathy Smith

Rather belatedly - but better late than never. Agroup of 7 of us, all family, did a 12 day driving tour from Auckland to Queenstown (10/10-13/10/15) all arranged by Michelle. Not a budget trip but definitely brilliantly arranged by MICHELLE. From day 1 all requests and suggestions carefully and thoughtfully catered for (note average age 70!). Accommodation all in convenient or excellent locations, vehicles, both in North and South Island delivered in excellent condition, included tours - perfect. In a nutshell would highly recommend NZSD - and if pushed to give a mark out of 10 - perhaps a 10.5 Maurice & Anne, Perth Australia

I have downloaded my photos from the Sandisk and thought I would send to you a picture that we treasure for your desktop. It was taken at Milford Sound at around 10:00am before we departed on our cruise - it was just an amazing sight, still, overcast and Mitre Peak fully in view which seldom is experienced by travellers and just a whiff of low clouds here and there. When the boat went out into the sea and turned back, the weather changed, and it rained all the way back so we were privileged to see the waterfalls cascading down the slopes making our trip there perfect.

We were in New Zealand for almost six weeks and split our time equally between the North and South Islands. Being picked up in Auckland by "Uncle" started out trip off on the right foot as he was very encouraging, informative and made our first encounter with New Zealand a very welcoming experience. All of the bookings, car rentals, ferry, train and excursions were without incident and everything went just as planned. When we did contact the office to arrange a tour for us that we decided to do part way through the trip we found everyone helpful and once again everything worked without a hitch. We would definitely recommend NZFT and Jane and staff to be very helpful right from the planning to the end of our journey. The accommodations met our expectations, the car rental went flawlessly, the tours were all on time and scheduled as planned and we found the itinerary, road maps and travel guides that were provided very helpful throughout our trip. Thank-you for making our time in New Zealand enjoyable and for giving us a very relaxing, trouble free vacation Darwin and Veronica Robinson Feb-March 2016

Hello Shelley, We’re still in the US, but I thought I could take some time to give you a detailed feedback of our trip. I’ll make some general comments and give specific feedback about, accommodation, food, activities. So here goes: 1. Pick-ups: Handled very well. Very friendly, efficient people who picked us up and dropped us at Christchurch and Wellington. 2. Itinerary: Perfect. We got to see all the places we wanted to see and things we wanted to do in an unhurried way, with long stays where activities were scheduled and longer drives well spaced out. It was very relaxing, thoroughly enjoyable and the least stressful vacation we have had. Everything worked like clockwork, weather excepting in some places. In hindsight, if I were to tweak our itinerary, we would perhaps extend a day in Te Anau and do the drive through the Catlins to Dunedin.

Natalie, the trip was great for us. Thanks for clearing up the GPS uncertainty at the Auckland Budget office so quickly, as well as changing our pickup time to go to the Christchurch airport. We loved New Zealand and the general itinerary and hope to return someday to revisit some sites and see others. All of the people assigned to meet us were prompt and especially friendly, the autos were ready as promised (except for the GPS mentioned above), and check in at all accommodations and tours were very easy. 

I had been planning the trip to New Zealand for some weeks but couldn't decide how best to cover the two islands in the 20 days we had available. A web search revealed 'New Zealand Self Drive Tours' so I rang at 11pm UK time, on the Toll-Free line, to ascertain if they could assist. Michelle answered the phone, we had a twenty minute chat about requirements and by the next morning there was an emailed itinerary which, with smallest of tweaks, was exactly what we wanted. We would like to thank Michelle and her colleagues for arranging a fab holiday, at relatively short notice, there wasn't a single hiccup and everywhere we stayed was as we'd hoped it would be. We also got lucky with the weather: 2 weeks in the South Island and no rain. I can whole heartedly recommend Michelle and her colleagues and we will certainly make use of their expertise again in the future. Thanks again and kind regards Mark & Hild

Dear Laura, Our trip to the North Island of New Zealand was brilliant from beginning (Wellington) to end (Auckland). All of the cultural performances you recommended were of a high standard and invaluable in order to understand better the beautiful Maori Culture and people. We were naturally disappointed that a couple of boat trips were cancelled by the one company however your effort to contact us, re-book alternatives and keep us informed were immaculate. Thank you so much for re-funding our money and for all your support in booking this trip and making it such a great 60th for my husband. We will book again in the future. Kind regards Bernadette and Ian

Before I go into any detail with respect to the actual holiday, it would be remiss of me not to say what a fabulous job Michelle did in arranging everything for us. Everything went of without a hitch. Every tour, every hotel, every car rental plus the ferry crossing! We never had that 'heart in the throat' feeling of what do we do now. We were always expected, always welcomed and never had to give more than our family name for our reservation to be quickly confirmed and verified. 

Our 10 day tour of Fiords,glaciers and mountains self drive tour was a very nice experience. Shelly Ryder Did a fine job ,to arrange the tour even we were late in making our arrangements due to a misunderstanding about the down payment for the trip. Still Shelly came thru, of course we had some change from our original plans. Still everything worked out fine. Any disappointment we had was for the breakfast at a couple hotels. The Queenstown house boutique hotel was excellent, the location and the breakfast was superb. Also, the Edgewater hotel in Wanaka. We would give it a 9 on a scale from 1 to 10. We wish we could have had more time there. We do not want to forget the Mt. Cook Hermitage hotel, another fine experience. Thank you Shelly for the nice arrangements, we hope to do it again south NZ is beautiful. ED & NANA

We had Shelly from New Zealand Fine Touring arrange a wonderful 16 days self-driving round trip on the South Island for our family of five. In no time she put together the perfect itinerary, that included our must-see wishes, suggested numerous other en route highlights, respected our lodging- and driving distance preferences and gave us an unparalleled and delightful tour of the island.  

Michelle, The trip to NZ was very enjoyable. All the organisation was excellent with all accommodation, excursions and pickups happening on time with no hassles. Our accommodation was excellent with even the lower star ratings being more than acceptable. The provision of road maps was excellent with the backseat navigators being able to plan stops well ahead. Maybe the naming of intermediate towns in the driving instructions would have been of assistance but no real problem. Thank you for your efforts they went a long way to making the trip memorable.

We enjoyed the trip, we discovered a beautiful country to tour and visit. Having all of the accommodations arranged made for no hassle upon arriving. The tours that we booked through NZ Self-Drive were all first rate, we especially enjoyed Abel Tasman Kayak and Hawk Bay Wineries. When we wanted to modify part of the trip NZ Tours was fast and responsive to our needs.

Hi Natalie Well what can I say but our trip was brilliant. Everything you organised was perfect, from our pick to our drop off.Our hotels and apartments were great especially Radford on the lake in Te Anau which was the highlight of the trip. I would definitely recommend New Zealand Self Drive to anyone going to New Zealand for the first time. Thanks again Alan & Lesley

Laura--- you and the company did a fine job meeting our travel needs. People we encountered were pleasant, helpful and most of all on time and on task. This trip was a perfect combination of structured travel with room for all of our hikes between other scheduled activities. We are impressed and would recommend your services to others. The only thing we would change would be hotel for the night we fly out of Auckland. We left @ 9:00 pm and only had about 3 1/2 hours of hotel usage that day. We really enjoyed your country, it is so beautiful!

This was a magnificent trip. Planning was a fun process using the toll free telephone line. Natalie was so helpful and thoughtful that I was sorry when it was complete. As for the trip itself, it was exactly "as advertised" and extremely smooth in actual operation. All the reservations, telephone, lodging, cars, train and air were without error and ready for us without vouchers, reservation numbers or additional charges. Calls to the office once or twice during the five week trip were answered promptly and helpfully by knowing agents. We travelled from the Bay of Islands to Dunedin and Queenstown with an ease and confidence which greatly contributed to our enjoyment of New Zealand. Many Thanks to Natalie CeCaro and the staff of Self Drive New Zealand

We booked the 21 day Discover New Zealand for our honeymoon in Feb/March 2016. We had an absolutely fantastic time. Our trip was very well organised, communication was great and everything ran to plan and went very smoothly. Everything was extremely well organised. Accommodation was good, some was fantastic. We found the suggestions of things to do in the various places very useful. No problems with the car hire. Decent car and sat nav worked very well and found everywhere for us. Driving around New Zealand was very easy. Overall everything was great. Thank you for an amazing holiday!

Louise was wonderful. We booked about 3 months in advance with fairly inflexible dates and we started off with another tour company. When we said we were thinking of doing the west coast of the south island they found it was fully booked & because we couldn't change our dates, wished us a good trip. We started the same scenario with Louise & when she came to the same conclusion, her response was - so let me give you some other options. What we ended up with was a wonderful customised 15-day 2 island family holiday with many suggestions & inclusions which we will remember for a long time. Thanks so much.

Hi Shelley, I will respond here and then copy the response into the website. We are getting very close to welcoming our baby girl to the world. Kim is due in just 8 weeks! We are moved back to the US as the New Zealand trip was our last before leaving China. First of all, I want to thank you for all the help you provided during the booking process. You were awesome in understanding what we were looking for and matching that up with the fact the winery aspect of New Zealand wouldn't be a good thing during this trip to New Zealand.

We had an fabulous 23 day tour of both islands. Everything was so well organised including transfers, car rentals and tickets. The quality and locations of the accommodations were also very good. The itinerary was well thought out and enabled us to see a lot of New Zealand without excessive driving. That said, there was a lot more to see, but maybe that's for another time! The only slight annoyance was a long wait to pick up the Europcar rental car in Picton. Overall, an outstanding holiday, and we would recommend this company to anyone who is visiting New Zealand for the first time.

Well I don't know were to start! We had the most amazing self drive tour of New Zealand North & South Islands organised by Natalie. We were totally happy with all places of interest, towns & cities to visit and the accommodation was all that we could expect. We would be more than happy to recommend your services to all family and friends. Sorry we missed meeting with you in Wanaka Natalie. Many thanks again for your help and patience with us.

We completed our tour on 6 March and thoroughly enjoyed our time in NZ. The itinerary prepared for us allowed us to get a good appreciation of both islands in 15 days. The car rental arrangement was well organised as was the accommodation. I will recommend your services to any family or friends intending to tour NZ.

Many thanks to all involved in the coordination our Self Drive Tour from North Island to the South Island. Jane Zwerrenz thanks a lot! It took more than one month to customise our tour to our needs, but the result have been amazing. From the moment we stepped off the place in Auckland till the day left from Queenstown we enjoyed magnificent areas in north Bay of islands, Rotorua, Kaikorua, to Milford Sounds and Queenstown in the South Island. Lots of other great places complete the tour. We were very pleased with the self-drive tour content prepared by the agency. Everything was taken care of from private transfers from the airport, to the hire car, prearranged accommodation and reference numbers for scheduled activities. The carefully planned trip gave us the necessary time to visit the surroundings. We had an excellent vacation. I would highly recommend this to others (already 2 friends of us are preparing there own tour). New Zealand is a beautiful place and this was an excellent way to see it! Thanks so much!

We had a great vacation. Saw and did a lot but in a very relaxed way. Everything worked well in terms of the car, motel, and tours that we went on. I would highly recommend this to others.

Many thanks to all involved in the coordination our self drive tour of the south island. Being able to customise our tour to our needs allowed us to spend some long awaited time with relatives in Invercargill. From the moment we stepped off the place in Christchurch till the day left, we were in awe of the beauty of the south island, the ease of travel and the friendly locals who went out of their way to help. Our holiday was stress free thanks to the folks at New Zealand Self Drive Tours. Everything was taken care of from private transfers to and from the airport, delivery of the hire car, prearranged accommodation and reference numbers for scheduled activities. We were able to travel at our own pace which allowed us to enjoy the best of what the south island has to offer. We enjoyed ourselves so much we're already planning our next trip.

We were very pleased with the self drive tour programme prepared by the agency. Everything in the schedule went smoothly, all on time, no delay and it was easy to do the programme as proposed. The carefully planned trip gave us the necessary time to visit the surroundings. Mostly a two day stay in each town was ideal. The hotels were very good, very well located and comfortable. In Rotorua we paid a nice visit to a Mauri village and also the vulcanite parc was very worthwhile visiting. The Milford Sound cruise was quite exceptional and anyway very beautiful. The transalpine train journey was an excellent way to close our stunning visit to New Zealand. Unfortunately the weather in both Mount Cook and Fanz Jozef did not permit to see and visit the glaciers there. We are very thankful to all people who contributed to the success of our trip and we recommend this beautiful tour to all those who want to visit this exceptional country.

What a fabulous trip! New Zealand is a beautiful place and this was an excellent way to see it! Our trip was well planned and organised - no one was surprised to see us and our transfers were always there to greet us. We customised our trip to include Deco Days in Napier in late February and for us, it was a real highlight. Natalie and company did an outstanding job of providing a real world class experience for us. Thanks so much!

Michelle, We enjoyed the trip very much. Thank you for putting it together. I do have some detailed comments and other musings; take them for what they are worth. First, the GPS in the car was a life-saver. We probably would not have gotten it if it had been up to us, but I'm so glad we had it. The driving directions and the road atlas were helpful, but it would have been much harder to find things with those alone. The driving directions would have been much more helpful if distances between various turns were indicated, as they are here with Mapquest. All the hotels were fine, though some were much nicer than others. Some also had more space than we needed. I assume you put us into what was available. The only real disappointment was that the Sea Spray Suites in Pahia did not have a swimming pool. A pool would have been nice, as the beach was not very user friendly (shallow, hard on the feet). The room with shared bath facilities on the boat in Doubtful Sound was not as bad as we had feared. A cabin would have been much nicer, but I assume none was available when we booked. Waipoua Lodge was fantastic, and something we would never have done on our own. In terms of what I would do differently based on what I now know and assuming availability of hotels was not an issue (this is not a criticism, but just my views that may be helpful in advising other people): I would spend more time in Abel Tasman National Park, and as close to the park as I could manage. Ideally, at least 3 nights in the park itself. I would have been happy to skip the night in Westport, but the hotel was very nice and my husband really liked the hike to the seal colony (we took the long route). Greymouth was not worth much, but I realise you only put us there because nothing was available in Franz Joseph. If I had known about it in time, I would have tried to go to the Oparara Valley. Is there anyplace to stay there? Franz Joseph would have been worth 2 days, had rooms been available. The rest of the South Island was wonderful. Mount Cook is worth at least another day (weather permitting). If I were to do it again, I would skip Auckland and the Far North. The Bay of the Islands was nice, as was the Waipoua Forest, but probably not worth the drive, all things considered. If we did go to Bay of the Islands, I would consider staying in Kerikeri. We stumbled onto Mapouri Beach which as absolutely fantastic. But again, there must be other wonderful beaches in the southern part of the North Island. I would also have skipped the Waitomo Caves (or spent more time in the area, so as do have time to do more things). We saw glow worms other places, and it was pretty far out of the way. We enjoyed Rotorua, even though it rained pretty much the entire time. All in all, we had a wonderful time. There is still so much we did not have time for. Thanks for your help. Judy

Hi Michelle, we really liked the tour and we’re still impressed by the perfect organisation of it. Everything was well prepared, all recommended places were great and the chosen accommodations were really very good. We liked all of them especially because we always had the best category in each hotel. Only the one at Mt. Cook we did not like so much because the room was not as clean as expected. Our favorites were the one in Queenstown, the one in Picton (what a view!) and of course the Hobbit Motel ;-) All activities were just perfect. We will definitely recommend you to our friends if they will ever come to NZ. Thank you so much and all the best for you, Edyta & Alex

Shelley, Thank you so much! You planned such a wonderful trip for us. We were able to make all of the stops for our tickets with time to spare and planning the three separate two night stays were great. We were able to relax a little and see more in those places. We would greatly recommend Self Drive Tours to anyone. From the personal meet and greet to the very end, it was wonderful. Thank you again for making this a trip of a lifetime. Darren and Jennifer Sharp

Rosanne and I had a fantastic NZ adventure. The accommodation was very good especially in Queenstown. The car was upgraded to a Captiva which was very good. The itinerary suited us very well. We had very good weather with no rain at Milford Sound. The operators of the Amore Motor Lodge and the Chinese guests were very friendly. The only hic-cup (nothing to do with NZFT) was with the Double decker bus in Christchurch. The first hour was very good. The second two hours were very disappointing. They changed the itinerary without telling us and took us to Deans Bush which is a five minute walk from the Amore motor lodge instead of Sumner Beach. Rosanne and I were very pleased that we used NZFT to organise our trip and will recommend you to our friends. Please find two photos attached. Thank you. Cheers, Gary Demby

Best holiday of our lives. The route and arrangements were excellent. The accommodation was at least good, and mostly excellent. We particularly liked the quirky high class B&B's, especially "The Factory" at Kaikoura - lovely people, lovely place to stay. We covered much of NZ, but in right sized chunks - we never felt tired of the journey, and we were always ready for the next place. Every day was filled with highlights. Very well done - very good planning and excellent execution.

Hi, Shelley. My apology for the delay in providing feedback. Overall, we had a wonderful time in New Zealand and looking forward to visit again. The pace of the trip is just nice with combination of self-drive and tour. The selection of accommodations is excellent; all of them are comfortable. The trip was as I envisioned; I can tick all the boxes, especially on whale watching, Hobbiton, Hooker Valley, Milford Sound - but really disappointed that I got seasick and missed my planned crayfish lunch at Kaikoura. We also missed the pick-your-own cherry as it was not in season yet. Among the best surprises are the Wanaka visit (should have visit you) but I missed the damn tree, Hooker Valley tracks and Royal Albatross Centre. I will visit New Zealand again, and tried to cover what I've missed last time. Send my regards to your associates, Uncle Harding, tour guides in Auckland/Christchurch/Queenstown - they're all very good and helpful.

Excellent tour and great detail for driving and visiting different locations. All transfer personnel were friendly and helpful. Rooms were fine, some better than others. We really liked the Milford Sound fjord cruise and glowworm tour. The Alpine train ride was OK but did not live up to its advertising. Our rental car was in great shape and perfect for touring S. NZ.

You and your company! John and I can't tell you how awesome this adventure was. New Zealand is an amazing country filled with wonderful people. We were talking earlier about what was our favourite spot/thing here and each place we were at has its own special place in our hearts. This has been seamless, stressless and the best vacation we have ever had. Natalie, from the awesome maps, directions and information about where we were going, and what to do along the way Thank you again, Nanci and John

Everything was arranged to perfection making our holiday one of the most stress free and enjoyable family holidays ever. From airport arrival onward it was a smooth series of being met with our itinerary, booking references, maps etc, then transport to our first night accommodation. The next day we were picked up from the accommodation and taken to the car hire place. Off we went with our GPS, maps, and the NZ itinerary arranged for us, and had the time of our lives exploring the North island of New Zealand. All pre-arranged tours were booked accurately and were well suggested and most enjoyable. Accommodation was well planned and suited our family of five and the ages of our children. It is obvious that this tour company has a good relationship with all concerned with the tourist industry. It was a pleasant surprise to be upgraded on a couple of occasions (room & car type). A tour refund required at one point was attended to seamlessly. NZSD's attention to detail made the whole experience even more enjoyable. Thanks to Natalie and the team at NZSD. Warwick and Cavelyn Jones

We had a great trip on a 13 day self drive tour. Michelle was great in helping us customise a couple of the 'standard' trips to suit our needs. Everything from the transfers, accommodations, activities booked, ferries, trains and automobiles went smoothly so we could focus on enjoying our holiday. The best review I can give is that we would use NZ Self Drive Tours again for our needs and will recommend them to others who are heading to NZ.

Dear Jane, Happy New Year. We are just back from our lovely New Zealand holiday. I cannot tell you how much we enjoyed it. The program you put together for us was PERFECT. From the second we were picked up until the time we left, we enjoyed ourselves. We found the New Zealand people we met to be friendly and kind. The accommodation you booked was of a very good standard. The activities were great. I will go into them in more detail if you want more feedback, but on the whole they were just wonderful. Your advice, your listening skills (to work out what we wanted ), your attention to detail and your thoughtfulness (yes, particularly with your suggestion to not go all the way to Wellington), was all spot on. The highlights were the special activities - especially the bike ride, the Tongoriro hike and the Waitomo caves. We loved Okahune and the Tongoriro Chateaux was amazing. Who would have thought we could have experienced such luxury in the middle of no-where. I had one of the best meals of my life - in their dining room. Unforgettable. We saw 2016 in with style and have fallen in love with New Zealand. Thank you so much. Kind Regards, Jo and Andrew Patrick

All travel arrangements went smoothly. Meet and greet, car pick up, and hotel bookings were as described. Quest Rotorua was especially good, and is recommended. Copthorne Auckland is customer unfriendly and should be avoided. Staff are fine, however Management have implemented an unworkable "free" internet policy that causes endless complaints to the front desk, and do not care despite negative reactions from many. (very limited download cap often times out in as little a six minutes a day). Avoid this place, the youth hostel would be preferable. Other hotels good but make little effort to cater to international visitors. Often no electric adapters provided and rooms lack international plugs. Christchurch as a whole is a hole. Not visitor ready. Very little progress made in the several years since the earthquake. Third world cities recover faster than this. Downtown resembles a war zone, with devastated buildings and empty sites all around. Skip it other than to exit through the modern and pleasant airport.

Hi Laura, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your team at New Zealand Fine Touring for the brilliant holiday package you put together for my partner Jenni and I. We enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime in what turned out to be a well thought out itinerary. The accommodation was excellent and the hire cars ran like a dream. You live in an incredibly beautiful part of the world with amazing scenery from the mountains to the sea and everything in between. The lakes and Flora of New Zealand are spectacular and I don’t think I have ever seen such beautiful roses as the ones that grow in New Zealand. The food was excellent and the people we met were so friendly and helpful. The contrast between the North and South Islands was remarkable with both islands unique in their own spectacular ways. Xmas day spent cruising The Milford Sound will live in my memory forever as well as the fantastic day I had celebrating my birthday in beautiful Queenstown. Our visit to a Maori Village in Rotorua as well as Whale Watching out of Kaikoura and a visit to where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed were among the numerous highlights of our trip. Every day was enjoyable whether it was spent on the road or relaxing in first class accommodation. The restaurants and Cafes were awesome. I had one of the best steaks I have ever eaten in the Café Affair in Nelson and an excellent fish dinner in the Le Chef Restaurant in Vulcan Lane Auckland. I took nearly 800 photos in New Zealand which I will save to DVD’s and bring out often to relive a great holiday. Once again thank you from the bottom of my heart for facilitating such a fantastic adventure holiday. Kiora and Haeremai New Zealand.

Firstly Shelley did a great job - very few hitches in a very tight and busy schedule Highlights were Tongariro Crossing with legend - expensive but made transport and trek very smooth; Franz Josef - quad bike tour and helicopter landing on glacier; sky diving at Glenorchy. No charge highlights were scenery in general, Routeburn summit hike, Hokitika gorge, blue lakes, mirror lakes, Cape Foulwind and Te Papa museum Great accommodation - Edgewater Wanaka, Nelson apartment, Blue Peaks Queenstown and Rocky Mountain Chalets Bad accommodation - Auckland, Wellington and Parklands Turangi - the Waitamo accommodation was definitely run down - novel but glad only 1 night. If I had a crystal ball pre-trip, would have skipped Waitamo (average) and replaced with 4 hour cave experience near Punakiki; would have gone from Rotorua to Taupo and done free hot pool instead of Hells Gate; would have spent longer in Wanaka; glad we did north island first as Queenstown great place to finish at and south island even more beautiful than north kind regards Darren

The expert itinerary meant that we got to see so much of this wonderful country, but 4 weeks is clearly not long enough! Will have to go back again sometime. I have summarised my thoughts on the trip at http://helengray.net/wise-turns-gray/new-zealand-dec-2015---jan/my-discovery-of-new-zealand.html, and will be adding webpages for each day of travel if anyone is interested to know what to look forward too!

We are a family of six, and are blessed to be introduced to this website by a friend of mine. Our tour agent, Natalie, is a very helpful and pleasant agent, and served us from the day we planned the itinerary (somewhere in August 2015) till very last day in New Zealand (31 December 2015). I was surprised the agent called to arrange reservations from abroad! Kudos to Natalie who took the extra mile. When we arrived in Auckland (first leg), we were greeted by a cheerful personal pickup driver, arranged by Natalie. We were rather worried before that as by the time we retrieved our baggage and cleared Customs, it was well over 2am. The booking pack received from the driver was rather professional, the pack consist of extensive maps and leaflets for the whole of our journey, our travel and flight itineraries were printed and well bound, all kept in a nice professional looking bag. I was very amazed at their professional standards. Contiki and Trafalgar did not even provide us with such extensive information packs when we travelled to Europe. All our accommodations and activities' bookings were made in good order. We managed to get through our days as planned. Accommodations were superb, clean, and receptionists were very kind and helpful too. We had comfortable stays throughout our trip. Many thanks Natalie for helping us make dining reservations for super peak days. My elderly parents especially were satisfied with the trip and service we given. Once again, thank you Natalie and other agents along the way who helped us. We deeply appreciate your kind assistance. I will certainly recommend this tour to my friends and relatives.

We went for 14 days South Island Coast to Coast Self Drive Tour on December 2015. Found that everything were arranged perfectly. Pick up were on time, all check-in went smoothly, brand new car ( we booked for Toyota Rav 4 WD and got Nissan X-Trail 4 WD instead. But the car was brand new and everything works perfectly including the GPS, no complain). We like most of accommodation arranged for us, clean, very good location, friendly receptions especially George and Sally from 858 George Street Dunedin. We had a very pleasant stay. Except for a bit of disappointment at Mt. Cook where you need to pay for the wifi and all 3D movies were not showing due to repair - the roads, the facilities, the excursions, the people and the view all the way of our trips are just fantastic ! Recommended to anybody. We would definitely be back. The only thing gave us a bit of struggle was the unpredictable weather, summer but feels so freezing cold - cold weather turn into hot day within minutes. Really need to prepare your clothing well. Thank you Michelle Chave for arranging everything for us, giving us such a great time in NZ !

It has been a wonderful and fantastic 22 days of self drive tour, professionally organised by both Verity Gemmell and Shelley Bates of New Zealand Fine Tours. We travelled from Auckland through Cape Reinga up north and down south all the way to Invercargill and everyone in the family enjoyed every moment of the trip. Everything was perfectly organised and have no problem accessing our motel rooms when we arrived late at night. Our family and friends followed our trip via Facebook and will definitely recommend them to use NZFT for their future plans to visit New Zealand. Thank you.

I sent in my enquiry in August and Natalie,the tour consultant contacted me within the next 2 days. She had been responding to my enquiries promptly and provide me with info which I asked for even when I was in NZ. My family and I were worried as this was our 1st time to NZ. However with the service provided by New Zealand Self Drive Tours, our worries were unfounded. Everything was arranged, from where to go, how to go to where to stay, we went on a journey without any fuss. My family had enjoyed the trip so much and had a real good time. My kids want to go back to NZ again after all the exciting tour, superb accommodation and beautiful scenery sites recommended. Thank you Natalie and NZ Self Drive Tours for giving us such a wonderful holiday!

NZ was absolute stunning. We had a fantastic time and its definitely on my do list to come back perhaps in winter to go skiing. Overall it was well organised and accommodations were located in good locations. Our favourite was the Camelot Motor Lodge. Very cosy rooms. The self drive is a great way to explore NZ. Thou the 6 day circuit was a bit short and rushed for us as there is so many places to see and things do on the way. So we did stop quite a lot. So its hard to take it all in and relax when you need to get to the next town. Our only major issues was to navigate the scenery route in the provided map with the GPS. The GPS wanted to follow the fastest route especially getting out of Christchurch. It would save time if favourite destinations address were already set up in the GPS instead us trying to search the correct one. Though overall it was fantastic and definitely recommend NZ touring to other people. Its easy and convenient to organise with the company. Thanks for an amazing holiday.

It has been a wonderful 2-week journey in New Zealand. New Zealand is a beautiful country with many amazing scenery. The tour consultant Ms Christina Brockie was very helpful in arranging the trip and the itinerary was made flexible to meet our request. The arranging for rental transport for the journey was excellent and really helpful for our trip. The only surprise was while checking-in in Dunedin. The Victoria hotel was fully booked and luckily the hotel was made arrangement with Mercure Leisure Lodge for our stay. The proposed itinerary also allow us to include other activities. We've visited the famous Hobitton Village at Matamata even though it was not in the original itinerary. Overall, the trip was excellent and worth the money spent. My family and I really enjoyed the trip and now back home with wonderful memories. I really wish to thank Ms Christina Brockie for arranging the wonderful trip. Regards Abdullah

I wrote a blog post inspired by our NZ vacation: bit.ly/1HaBUeR Here is a segment of it here: I’m back. Back from Middle Earth, a driving tour that led me around New Zealand’s south island. I love getting away and being able to ponder life’s wonders. During that time my soul was doused with a triple dose of Mother Nature. Being able to witness the splendour of Mount Cook with a back splash of cirrus clouds, to crystal blue glacier lakes, fjords of Milford Sound on a mysteriously rainy day, an end-to-end rainbow with 2 pots of gold, the glory of spring flowers, to Fangorn’s Forest all connected by rolling hills and flatlands of farmland with flocks of sheep dotting the countryside from coast to coast to coast. Nothing could be finer, truly. Middle Earth? It felt like living a fairy tale. There and back again with Bilbo Baggins of sorts… As I reflect about what was most captivating aside from “nature in your face” was the (almost) absence of big corporate anything, met with warm and genuine hospitality of unpretentious New Zealanders. Rarely a logo, a billboard, a golden arch, a fancy handbag was sported with a casual, comfort and acceptance of being as you were whether at a gas station filling up or a dining room of a remote lodge. How refreshing. I relished listening to the silent whispers of nature whether a waterfall, sweet bird songs, the bark of a seal or wind rustled leaves. I collected souvenirs of rocks from the blue pools, some feathers of a red hawk and twigs of a grand Cypress tree found on the grounds of Larnarch’s Castle. How odd for me being a self proclaimed Material Girl, nothing seemed finer than those treasures I stashed in my suitcase…. There aren’t words to fully express the magnificence of it all as I mull over the jarring sumptuousness of my experience.

I usually do my own research and bookings for holidays, but found it was hard to work out what would be practical for my short touring holiday after a conference. Shelley made it easy for me - chatting about what I wanted to do, and then delivering a great itinerary that matched my needs. The two Maori cultural tours that she suggested were superb and exactly what I wanted: a blend of history, tradition, and a glimpse into modern life with a Maori perspective. Highly recommended.

We had loads of fun during our stay in NZ! The arrangement by the company was flawless! They gives sincere recommendation and fast response to our booking! Even though I had booked and confirmed my trip just 2 week before we set off. The vehicle (Holden hatchback) arranged have served us well throughout the whole trip except that it's quite fuel exhausting. Accommodation was much better than we had expected with easy access to town area. The only disappointment was the GPS system. The system guided us a few times to some deserted area which eventually landed us in some private property area, after one hour of drive. Always have your phone Google map set and ready as second reference. Overall, We give 4.5 out of 5 for this fantastic trip! I will be back to NZ again! and definitely will book everything from this company!

Truly fabulous, stress free, as the amazing Natalie DeCaro went over and above in helping us with our, both island 21 day tour. Private transfer means you can ask a local - great. Love too that you receive a detailed itinerary personalised with your names. This included driving information and pointed out places of interest. Thinking of seeing New Zealand for a short time or a long time just let New Zealand Self Drive Tours help you plan. Anne, Jim, Leonard and Elaine

We are now safely back home after our tour. Everything went smoothly from the moment we arrived in Auckland, to our departure from Queenstown. Thank you for your assistance, especially the rescheduling after Jillian broke her leg last year. Kind Regards, Bob & Jill

Hi Louise Well the trip is over and we have all settled back into our home/work routine. The pity is that it all went so quickly. I want to firstly thank you for all your hard work in helping me put this amazing trip together, as I have already said and will probably say a few more times, it was wonderful and very much appreciated. We got to see and do so much and you made it so stress free by making all the arrangements. It all went so smoothly. Another thing which was so helpful and amazing was the satchel that you gave us. The brochures, the New Zealand Photo Album and especially the personalised itinerary were brilliant. You must of put in so much work and we really appreciate it as it made travelling through your lovely country so much easier. I can't stress enough how useful and helpful everything was. Thanks. In relation to the arrangements which you made on our behalf, we had no issues except in relation to the car at Auckland (which was the result of the car company, not your arrangements) which you fixed so quickly; everything else went great. There is only one thing I would like to raise and it relates to the accommodation at Taupo (Beechtree Suites). Maybe there was something wrong with the person at reception but she was not friendly and didn't want to help us with information or booking of a tour. She just told us to go to the information centre in the town. Also, the accommodation was not on the lake front which we would of liked as it is a beautiful spot (especially as we could see Mt Doom from there). We know that there is nothing you can do about the people but we felt strongly about this so I felt I had to let you know. All the other accommodation was great and we had no issues. Everyone else went out of their way to help us which made a big difference to the trip. I am so impressed with the way that you helped me that I have already recommended to people that they should use you as you made everything easy. I will keep recommending you to everyone that I hear is thinking of travelling to NZ. You are tops! All the activities that we undertook were also great and went smoothly, they were such fun. Except for the two that were cancelled of course. On that note are you able to tell me where the refunds are up to? Again I must thank you greatly for all your hard work which made it all so easy for me. We all so appreciate it. Thank you, thank you. Kindest regards Joe

We recently completed an 11 day trip on the south island. I usually do all the bookings myself when planning a holiday, however heard good wraps about New Zealand Self Drive from friends. Natalie Decaro put together a package which included hire car, 4 star accommodation and the trans alpine train from Greymouth to Christchurch. It was that simple, everything went to plan. All the pick ups were on time, friendly and gave some good tips of what to see. The vehicle was brand new and came with snow chains, which we did use travelling from Queenstown to Wanaka. We first drove to Akaroa before driving to Lake Tekapo which is well worth the stop. Queenstown was fantastic which included a jet boat and multiple rides on the luge. Plenty of nice restaurants and bars to keep us happy at night. All in all the accommodation was very good, however we probably should have booked an apartment in Queenstown to have a bit more room and have a break from restaurants and cafes. New Zealand is perfect for driving. Good roads, not much traffic and scenery to die for. Thanks again, we will definitely be back.

We found NZ Self drive tours after searching online for a company that would work with us to customise our trip. Our experience was very positive in every way! We were lucky to have Jane Zwerrenz assigned to work with us as we planned our day to day itinerary. Our time was limited to 12 days and Jane's knowledge and experience helped us maximise our time in New Zealand. Most accommodations were wonderful, all scheduled pick ups were timely and excursions arranged to perfection! We cannot thank Jane for enough for her patience with countless emails back and forth with questions and clarifications. Everything about our trip to New Zealand was made even better because of the expertise offered us by NZ Self Drive Tours. I am happy to speak to anyone who would like more information! Susan Pettis

We have just returned from a 12 tour of the North and South Islands. Michelle and the other agents did a wonderful job of setting everything up, answering questions and building a tour that met our requirements. The hotels were above and beyond expectations and the locations well chosen. All the reservations were flawlessly set up and the trip went without a problem. I can honestly give NZ self drive tours 5 STARS. Use this company and you will have a wonderful, stress free vacation.

Everything went beautifully, despite the incessant rain! Eliza's comfortable, welcoming and convenient. Hire car service friendly and prompt. Mt Cook Hermitage a overpriced for what you got. Adjoining village accommodation would have been as convenient but cheaper. Glacier Explorers very good. St Clair hotel Dunedin very comfortable, good adjoining restaurants. Enjoyed Blue Ridge Te Anau: friendly people! St Moritz Queenstown: given a room with no direct light, in under the hotel carport. Upgraded after one night at cost of $60/night to room with lake view. Spent a lot of time in Arrowtown: autumn colours, great theatre, general ambience: probably would have preferred to stay there. Fantastic golf at Jack's Point. Only had 2 rounds in all due to flooded courses. Dart River jet boat good fun, tho Shotover more exciting! Guided walk was excellent; great guide, nothing like tramping 18ks thru the bush in the rain! Seemed lots to do at both Hokitika and Punakaiki. Weather was foul, and trip got a bit rushed; got to Punakaiki at dusk, did blow holes at high tide at 7am, then back to Grey Mouth; perhaps another night at Punakaiki? Train was fun, and car was waiting at station. Hermitage a most interesting hotel. Thanks for all your planning! Cheers, David and Sue Laurie

We loved and enjoyed our North to South driving tour. This is one of our memorable holiday. We loved every single thing we saw and there was nothing that we don't like. The itinerary that Michelle Slater did and organised for us was fantastic including accommodations. Score of 1-10 I gave her 9. Thank you very much and we will recommend your company to our relatives and friends. Well done! Eva, Carlos, and Karlo from Melbourne Victoria

Thanks to Verity, our trip to New Zealand couldn't have been more perfect. It was so helpful to have everything taken care of for us once we arrived. Any questions we had or activities we wanted to add or change were quickly and easily taken care of. I could not imagine how much more difficult and less enjoyable this trip would have been to plan ourselves. The recommended activities were great; we especially loved our dinner cruise on the TSS Earnslaw which had amazing scenery and equally impressive food. We also went on the Shotover River Jet boat, a Milford Sound bus tour, and enjoyed the magnificent scenery from the Skyline Gondola as well as from the top of our hike up Queenstown Hill. We spent four days in Queenstown and it was the best part of our trip --there is so much to do, see, and eat. Our accommodation was just what we were looking for. Our car rental was even better than expected and the information we were provided with made travel quite easy. Even with our lower budget we got to see and do so much... Our only regret is that we didn't have more time! There is so much to see in beautiful New Zealand we both hope to return someday as it completely won us over--we were devastated to have to leave! Thank you for making a trip of a lifetime so special and unforgettable! -Rachel & Mary

We travelled to New Zealand in April for a self drive tour around the country. Every motel, care hire, transfer and tour booking that was made by Shelley for our self drive went with a hitch and that made our holiday perfect. We would highly recommend anyone who wishes to do a self drive holiday in New Zealand they should contact this company and the tour which will be arranged will go as perfectly as ours did. Thank you again Shelley for all of the work you did for us. Cheers Gavin and Amanda (Australia)

So quick time flies! Two months ago on the 8th of April we six Chinese started 17 days self drive Autumn Photography Tour of New Zealand. Thanks to Natalie DeCaro and Michelle Slater, our tour ended perfectly with everything as arranged. Ever since I got your company by surfing the internet, reading your website, I knew that I've found a right company to organise our tour. The past tour and our experience proved it. The itinerary was planned according to our interest and went exactly in all respects as planned. The rental car eight seater Hyundai I Max was just bigger enough to accommodate us 6 adults and all our luggage, 6 cases plus more. The accommodations were far better than our expectation, except Bella Vista Motel in Christchurch which has one bath room only. As we would be back again in Christchurch after one week, so I contacted Natalie asking if the accommodation could be changed, She immediately checked and later changed a good one for us with upgrade charge of NZD205, but without cancelling money. We appreciate the communications between us clients and the consultants are very smooth and your help are right at hand at any time throughout the tour which make us really feel at ease. We enjoyed our tour very much and the photos we took would be our eternal memories of beautiful New Zealand. It's a pity I didn't meet Natalie DeCaro when dropping in the NZ Self drive tours' office in Wanaka, I wish to thank her once again for all the things she have done for us and also my thanks should go to Michelle Slater who did all the planning work of our tour in nearly four months, but resigned from her position with New Zealand Fine Touring just before our tour going to be true, just as she said "after booking so many wonderful holidays here in New Zealand I have now decided it is time to take one of my own", I sincerely wish her all the best with happy holidays and same all the best to Natalie and NZ Self Drive Tours. Jingen Zhu

We had the most wonderful experience. The trip was very well planned and the services provided were outstanding. Accommodation and meals were excellent. We were not very lucky with the weather towards the end which made us miss a scenic helicopter flight to the glaciers. However, the arrangements made by Michelle Chave our consultant Travel agent was absolutely outstanding. All the staff were very friendly and helpful at NZSDT. We have no hesitation whatsoever to recommend this trip to anyone. Our 10 year old daughter enjoyed the most. This is a very family friendly tour, and excellent value for money. Our special thanks to Michelle Chave for her professional service. We will certainly be back. Deepak. Padma and Esara Chettri, Sudney, Australia

Hi Michelle. Thanking you for doing such a great job on organising our trip to New Zealand. We thoroughly enjoyed it and have some very fond memories of the trip. Unfortunately, we are back to reality now, however the photos etc we have brought back are constant reminders. It was a bit hard getting back into work mode after our time away. Sorry we missed you in Wanaka. Hoping you did not suffer too much from the earthquakes you have experienced recently. The 25 day itinerary was wonderful. It allowed us to have quite a bit of freedom of choice as to our daily activities as well as see some of the highlights New Zealand has to offer. It was a very manageable trip for us. You did a great job organising accommodation for us. The balance of apartment style and single rooms was good. The cars were good and provided us with enough room for our luggage. We loved the different opportunities your tour provided for us - cultural experiences, sight seeing, adventure opportunities, train, ferry, gondola, jet boat and helicopter rides etc. everything was booked and we had no issues with attending pre-booked tours or with our accommodation or car hire. Thank you so much. If we could do the same trip again, we would have liked to somehow include an extra day in Rotorua to allow us to see the town (we felt like we got there with only a bit of time before the Mitai Maori experience, and then to be out to see the Lady Knox Geisel the next morning, we felt pressed for time. However, in saying that we don't know what we would have compromised on and so pretty much conceded we would have had to add an extra day (which in hindsight maybe we could have but didn't know). The only other thing we were disappointed about what's missing out on the ice explorer tour due to bad weather. I understand this was out of our control, but if we had again an extra day without having to be in Greymouth the next day to catch the train, maybe we could have been able to do that the next day. When talking to the helicopter pilot, he said they probably only fly half the days of the year. Wondering if it would be feasible to allow 2 days for the bigger tours (3-4 hour ones) to allow for bad weather. In saying that though, I guess there is nothing to stop the weather form being bad for 2 days in a row, and Franz Josef is not that big a place to do a whole stack of too much else. Just some thoughts for adapting your tours for the future. In giving you that feedback though, we were very, very happy with your organisation, what we were offered, the choices available to us, the fantastic time we had. All credit to you. Thank you too for your patience with us in organising our time away, for refunding our tour, and for organising for us to spend 3 1/2 weeks in your beautiful country. Much appreciated. We certainly have a company to recommend to others. All the best Sue

Hi Michelle, Now that we are back home in Vermont I thought I would drop you a line to say how everything worked out. We had a fabulous time! Everything worked out perfectly with no glitches at any stage of the itinerary. New Zealand is certainly an ideal place to see by car. The hotels you chose were all up to our expectations and the number of included sites and events you included seemed to have been just right for the time we had. We just should have had an extra 3 or 4 days to take in all that NZ had to offer. To comment on a few of the things and people we did and met: 1. The Magical Scenery Cruise at Whitianga with Ken. He does a very nice job and the size of his craft was ideal to get the right experience. 2. Rotorua Forest Canopy Tour - now that was a risky event to have included for someone like my wife, but she ended up doing it and loving it. 3. Hawkes Bay Wine Experience - our tour guide John, did a very personable job. 4. Milford Sound Cruise and scenic flight - doing the flight back from the Sound was definitely the right choice! A lovely flight back that saved 4 hrs and gave us a wonderful and different view of the Sound and surrounding mountain ranges. Everyone who chose to take that route was very happy they did. 5. Europcar worked out flawlessly, both at origination, drop off in Wellington, pick up in Picton and at our final destination in Greymouth. We were about 3/4 of an hour north of Wanaka when I realised that we had just past through your home base. Sorry that we did not stop by your office to introduce ourselves. We could not have been happier with New Zealand Self Drive Tours and the services you provided. Please feel free to give my email to anyone thinking of using your services who would like to have references or who might just like to get a better idea of the self drive concept in New Zealand. Thanks again, and we will certainly recommend you to anyone we talk to who might be interested in seeing New Zealand. Lyle

We have been meaning to send you a note since we got back. We had an excellent trip and everything went very smoothly. We would be hard pressed to find fault with anything - except perhaps the weather some of the time! All the arrangements you made worked as promised, airport and train pick-ups, train, cruise and rental car delivery. We had a Hyundai SantFe as our vehicle and it too was excellent and a pleasure to drive - 4,000km was our total for the trip. The accommodation was all interesting, comfortable and well situated and the reception on arrival was very welcoming everywhere. I might add that the company's reputation with the motels we stayed at was very positive too! The documentation provided was very good and gave us excellent suggestions on things to do. We travel a lot and we were most impressed how easily the logistics all worked and we didn't have a mountain of vouchers to battle with either! So our congratulations to you and your company and we have already been recommending you. Regards Derek and Gwynnyth Williams

Kathy Powell and Steve Griswold, 23 day tour, North Bound Navigator - Christchurch to Auckland, travelled March 17, 2015 What an awesome trip! Our first to New Zealand and a great way to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We found NZ Self Drive Tours on the Internet and liked the idea of driving ourselves while having a local company reserve accommodations, transportation and some tours. Freedom to explore at our own pace without the hassles! And it all worked beautifully. Michelle Chave was great to work with, fielding our interests and questions promptly. Every accommodation and tour had our reservation when we arrived and was as described or better. Roomy rental cars (fit a 6 ft 4 inch man) with good gas mileage (kilometerage?), delivered to our motel or we picked up at the ferry terminal. Having a GPS was SO helpful along with the Photo Atlas and spiral notebook they gave us with our itinerary, driving instructions, maps and suggested points of interest. We followed those and added some of our own. All but one motel/hotel had a kitchenette so we could refrigerate food; fix breakfast or some light dinners. Internet access was a challenge as you usually were allowed only 250-500 MB/day free or had to pay for any access. City traffic was stressful but worth enduring to explore interesting sites. Returning cars in Greymouth was a challenge as there was no Europcar parking lot so you had to park on the street then go to their booth in the train station. We loved both Islands, especially the South. Wished we had stayed longer at Mt Cook, Kaikoura and Abel Tasman National Park and added a couple of B&Bs or a farm stay to interact more with locals. Day hikes were great. So cool to see our first yellow eyed penguin, kiwi, Pukeko, green lipped mussels, Tuatara and giant Kauri tree. Living near Yellowstone National Park in Montana we enjoyed seeing New Zealand’s thermal features at Rotarua. Fascinating to learn Maori history and culture at the Te Pappa museum in Wellington and at a Maori Hangi dinner in Rotarua. Driving on the left side went pretty well. Nice to start on the South Island where there is less traffic. Biggest challenges were narrow windy 2 lane roads and signalling accidentally with windshield wipers (turn signals and windshield wipers are reversed on Americans cars). We highly recommend New Zealand Self Drive Tours. A professional, friendly company that help you travel efficiently around the islands (little back tracking), offers reasonable travel distances between accommodations and gives you the assurance that there is a person you can contact if you need help.

This March my husband, his sister and I travelled for 24 days through New Zealand and I want to share our experience. We worked with Shelley Bates and New Zealand Self Drive Tours and I would highly recommend them. Shelly took our wish list, shared her own ideas and then put together a plan that went smoothly and was more than we hoped for. From the time we arrived in Auckland until we flew out of Christchurch all our arrangements were at least what we expected and often much more. Upon arrival we received a very helpful packet with our daily itinerary and maps that we used. We also received a picture atlas that is a great keepsake. We opted for the motel units and this worked well for us. We could have a light breakfast before heading out for the day and then a light meal in the room at the end of a long, active day. The kitchens all had basic cooking needs covered and most had some additional items. I was able to cook simple meals or heat left overs and serve them with no difficulty. The one item that was missing in all but one of the kitchens was paper towels but I just picked up some rolls of my own and carried them with us. We had no difficulty finding a grocery store and we had a cooler that we used to take essentials with us like butter and wine. All of our units met our expectations and several of them far exceeded them especially when it came to location and view. As for driving, it did not take too long to learn to stay on the left. We did not run into heavy traffic anywhere. In our arrival packet we received driving directions but we didn’t necessarily us them because we had a GPS and felt comfortable heading off the beaten path to see things we had read about. The roads are well marked and we didn’t worry about getting lost. They are also in very good condition and, although they were winding in many areas, we did not have any problems. By driving ourselves, we had the freedom to set our own pace; to stop whenever we wanted and we did this often. We found quaint coffee shops, nice wineries, scenic lunch stops, and most importantly scenic spots/walks that we could take advantage of. Things you cannot do on a bus tour or if you fly from place to place. We certainly saw more of NZ this way and it was well worth it. Along with Shelley, we planned a trip from the North Island to the South Island. We visited all the major spots like Milford Sound, Mt. Cook, the TranzAlpine Railway, Queenstown, Rotorua, Kaikoura, Napier and so much more. She helped us make reservations for fishing, kayaking, hiking and then made suggestions for other activities that we could do on our own. I won’t go into everything we did because that is such an individual thing and we did too much to list but I will say we enjoyed everything we did and it was all well tailored to our interests. Our highlights included the Franz Josef Glacier Helihike, the Routeburn Track Encounter Guided Day Walk, and an ocean fishing trip with Epic Charter. We may well go back to New Zealand and we would certainly work with Shelley again. Our only regret is we only planned 24 days, we would have loved to have another 2 weeks.

We had two weeks to tour the South Island of New Zealand, and if you know anything about New Zealand you know it is basically one road that loops around the country with some of the most beautiful and amazing landscape, with each town and stop being totally different than the last. We travelled from a town on the east coast to see whales, to Mt Cook - the highest peak in New Zealand, to the adventure city of Queenstown where my sons did a bungy jump from the bridge where commercial bungy jumping all started, to glowworm caves, to the fjords of Milford Sound like in Norway to the Southern Alps and their glaciers to taking a train across the southern island of New Zealand. Who could possibly plan the logistics to make it all possible in two weeks except New Zealand Fine Touring and its highly qualified staff like Natalie DeCaro. To tour the South Island of New Zealand you really need to do the full circle around the island. The challenge is it is such a beautiful country that you have to plan the miles you drive each day and know you have a place to stay each evening. Imagine trying to figure out how many hours and miles you need to drive each day and where you will stay. Unless you have an expert like Natalie DeCaro who works for the firm New Zealand Fine Touring Ltd doing the planning for you it is almost impossible. Even arranging a rental SUV that uses diesel fuel makes the journey easier and cheaper. In a country like New Zealand every stop is more beautiful than the next. Each drive is more beautiful than the day before. Each town is like being in a different country. And if the weather shifts and your plans for a whale watch or star gazing are impacted, knowing you can pick up your cell phone and call Natalie or someone else at the Tour company to help you figure out your choices or worst case even get a refund on a planned attraction. I can't recommend New Zealand Fine Touring any more highly. They were great to deal with and made our family vacation the best ever. It was like we had our own personal tour group guiding us every step of the way.

We just returned from a three week tour of the North and South Islands arranged for us by Michelle Slater. It was a dream trip that went like clockwork. Every hotel, car rental, special tour feature and arranged hike exceeded our expectations. There can not be a better way to visit and travel in New Zealand than to use this travel agency to arrange everything. We feel really fortunate to have had such friendly expertise at our service. Thank you, Michelle, for a wonderful, memorable holiday. "No Worries" should be your company motto. Jill and John Ortner Hamburg, NY USA

Hi Shelley, just wanted to thank you for putting together such a fantastic holiday for us. The accommodation was great and car was better than expected. We had a great time and will certainly use your company again. Many thanks . Peg and Liz

Hello Michelle, this is Paul and Margaret Taylor here and we just want to thank you and you team for such a memorable amazing trip we had on both North and South Islands, the hole in the rock tour with Explora was out of this world they where fantastic, the accommodation was really good all the way through, in Rotorua loved the spa in our room, what a treat. We couldn't believe our luck when we went to pick up the car on both islands and they upgraded us, we were very, very happy with that had a lot more room, the pace of the trip was good but each day I would say to my husband if only we had one more day ha ha. At least I have seen both islands and will come back and spend three weeks on the south island, the whole island is out of this world, I loved Kaikoura - what a special place unfortunately the whale watch cruise was cancelled so have to go back and do that one again, would love to go back to Franz Josef and do the heli hike as our trip got cancelled due to cloud cover there's nothing you can do about that but so disappointing I called to let you know (still waiting for our refund) it was great to have our last night in Paparoa national park it was the icing on the cake such a stunning interesting place once again the accommodation was superb, the drive back through Arthur's Pass was breath taking we stopped for a BBQ lunch there. The accommodation was always easy to find as we entered each town, and it was nice to see each day where we where going on the map the distance that was very handy and all the interesting sights to see on the way. The big book you gave us i will treasure thank you so much, we enjoyed our tour very, very much and will be back for more but do some different accommodation next time maybe bed n breakfast? bye for now Margaret and Paul.

What a truly outstanding holiday we have had. It was our special retirement celebration and totally lived up to all our expectations. everything arranged for us ran smoothly and made it such a joy not to have to worry about anything - from being met by a lovely friendly face on our arrival, through to the very end of the trip. cars were always ready and two were above the standard we had paid for. All the accommodation was ready and waiting for us with perfect locations, views and standards. The outstanding motel would have to be our 2 nights in Rotorua, but Coromandel and Abel Tasman stood out for the friendliness of the hosts. The itinerary worked out perfectly and the photographic map book was such a helpful addition, providing us with ideas of things/places we wanted to see as well as having such useful detailed maps. We can't wait to go again!

NZ is truly a scenic and lovely country with friendly people. The itinerary was very well planned and organised. There is ample time from one town to another. Accommodations that were booked for us are clean, with friendly helpful hosts and central to most tourist attractions and amenities. Thank you Laura for the effort. Really appreciate it. Thank you New Zealand for flying flags at half mast at public buildings today to mark the funeral of our founding father Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.

We had a 3 week self drive holiday in new Zealand - one week in the North Island and 2 weeks in the South Island. Our brief was "visits to most places, good to very good apartment accommodation, very little walking, no helicopters and no tiger moths", in other words "not to much adventure - although the jet boat ride at Queenstown was great". Everything was just fine. We certainly got very good accommodation, and in most places we had a "room with a view". We were upgraded on both islands by Europcar. The roads are good, the people are friendly, meals are priced at about Australian prices. (Bottles of wine at restaurants were a little pricey. Buy some in Countdown and have a glass or two, then go out for dinner). It would not be fair to write negative comments about anything, because you would have to get down to the level of "the sand flies on the West Coast of the South Island, which in the context of a holiday is a pretty trivial complaint" The highlight of the trip was the scenery, the Milford Sound and the many lovely, yes lovely, places that we visited. (Favourite "big" towns - Dunedin and Wellington. Favourite "little" towns - Napier and Te Anau) I liked the way that Michelle Slater was always there as a "back up". Indeed we did contact Michelle twice to add something to our itinerary. I am sure in an adverse situation e.g. car breakdown, it would be comforting to know that Michelle "will fix it". I also liked the all encompassing holiday price, so you didn't really know, for instance, how much the "you beaut" accommodation at Queenstown cost (it was very, very beautiful). New Zealand Fine Touring are a very professional organisation, their planning was meticulous. However, from "go to whoa" you develop a rapport with your consultant, and that is really nice. Triple A is a very high rating, but this company and Michelle deserve this. I always read reviews, but never write reviews - so this is a first. On this occasion, this company and our consultant deserve a big "pat on the back". On my experience I would, without reservation, recommend New Zealand Fine Touring. Thanks for a great holiday.

Our tour was well organised, accommodation suitable - thank you. For future reference, we would suggest the following: We reversed your suggested route for going to and from the Bay of Islands because you had us returning on the longest drive - via the west coast - on the same day we had to drive through Auckland (peak traffic), return car to airport and back to hotel. Even going via the east coast, it was dark before we got to the hotel. Quite a few hours difference between the two routes. We would also suggest you include info on the Kauri Museum at Matakohe, en route via west to Bay of Isles, which is the best dedicated museum we have seen both sides of the equator! Allow at least two hours. (Description on this page differs from one we received.) Bay of Islands Hole in the Rock tour. You advised we ring and confirm the day before, which we did. However when we arrived at the boat they were quite rude about us not having tickets. Thank you, too for the beautiful tourist book of NZ. Sadly, it was too large and heavy for air luggage and we had to leave it behind. The GPS on our car was very basic, not including many towns. It was also set in German! Suggest visitors take their own. Thanks again, Verity.

We had a wonderful late summer tour of the South and North islands. The temperatures in the South were mild and warm in the North with mostly sunny days and starlit nights. With the combination of driving, the train and ferry, the photo opportunities were unbelievable. What a beautiful country with clean air, pristine countryside and oceans. Thank you, Michelle, for setting up a perfect 15-day tour. Mike and Bennie, USA

We had a good time but it could have been a great time if the driving directions were better - using street names only caused problems and a GPS would have been helpful. Leaving the airport car park for example the road is not signed so we already had to guess The maps was not useful at all. We tried to cover too much distance and really two nights at fewer destinations would have made for a more pleasant trip. We had no time in Auckland whatsoever and had to squeeze in Napier early in the morning before driving to Auckland. Because it is dark by 6:00 at this time of year you want to be at your hotel before the sun sets and that means sightseeing really can only be done in the daytime.

My wife Mary Ann our two friends Paul and Joanna and I have recently returned from a vacation in New Zealand which was booked and put together without any hitches or hiccups by fabulous, delightful Shelley Bates. From being met at the airport in Auckland by "Uncle Harvey" to dropping off our rental car at Queenstown airport every facet of our itinerary went as planned. We had made changes in our original itinerary and Shelley was on top of everything! My experiences as a traveller have shown me that you can expect a glitch or two along the way in your travels, but that was certainly NOT the case with NZFT and Shelley Bates. We were lucky enough to meet with Shelley and her colleague Michelle as our itinerary took us through Wanaka where the NZFT office is located. We were fortunate to be able to take them out for dinner after their work day was done to thank them, but you just can't thank them enough! If you are considering visiting this incredibly beautiful country, by all means contact Shelley and I guarantee you'll be so happy that you did! A short note to the New Zealand Fine Tours management team - that Shelley is somebody special! She's a keeper!

Visiting New Zealand had been a dream of mine for a number of years, which I was finally able to realise in March 2015. It was everything I dreamed it would be from the beautiful scenery, amazing day trips to the wonderful people I met along the way. I highly recommend visiting New Zealand through the Self Drive Tours company. They work very closely with you to design a route and activities that meet your specific needs. For me it was to hike and see as many natural wonders as possible. I quickly realised there is so much to see in New Zealand I could be there for 6 months and still not see everything! With the careful planning however, I was able to create a trip where I saw some of the major tourist attractions as well as able to get off the beaten path. Every B&B I stayed in were unique and wonderful. I had never stayed in B&Bs before and was very impressed with the comfort, cleanliness, atmosphere and warm welcome I received from every host/hostess. Having pre-planned my rooms took a lot of pressure off and gave me a piece of mind each day. A couple of times when I was running late I was met at the door by the owner concerned that I was OK - let me tell you when you're travelling on your own, this makes a big difference! A special thanks to Michelle who took great care of me. She responded to all my questions in a very timely manner (and believe me I had lots) and created a route that took all my interests into consideration. Thanks for the memories. Anna Foshay

We would like to thank you for your impressive planning and superb choice of accommodation venues. Everything went extremely smoothly and the high quality of all the apartments made our stays in all the places very comfortable. We thoroughly enjoyed all the trips and visits and are so glad that you recommended such a wide range of experiences. We both said that had it been left to us to book things as we arrived in each place we would definitely not have done anything like as much as we did. We are delighted that we booked through your company and would like to extend our thanks to everyone who was involved in the planning of our holiday.shall definitely recommend your company to any of our friends still to visit your lovely country.

The tour company took all the pain out of planning the trip and let us keep all the fun. Verity was very responsive to all our questions and changes. Uncle Harding - the driver in Aukland was exceptionally helpful and informative. Since we went over the Chinese New Year celebration, there were lots of other tourists. Having reservations to popular tours was very helpful. We were travelling with an elderly person. Next time I would make sure to request ground floor apartments (most American hotels have elevators). That might be something for your tour company to keep in mind. In Te Anau the hotel personnel were very helpful with suggestion about mosquitoes. They also had the best breakfasts. The other breakfasts - especially Wellington was very basic - no fresh or canned fruit. Thanks again for a wonderful trip, Leslie, Eric, & Mary

Shelley Bates prepared a grand tour of the North Island and the South Island. The trip exceeded our expectations! We highly recommend New Zealand Self Drive Tours.

Hi, We are barely a week back from our 16 day North and South Explorer self-drive tour, and are already planning our return in 2018! All we can say is that the trip was perfect! From the initial contact to the airport pickup to the motels to the excursions, it was handled professionally by Michelle and her team. We never hit any kind of a snag – always had the motel rooms ready / tours booked / pickup and meetings on time. The woman at Thermal Springs even guessed who we were! Rooms were over the top for the price, and make us feel at home. Our only regret was not booking the Whale Tour in Kaikoura or the Heli Hike at Franz Josef. We decided to book the Whale one on our own, but it was cancelled due to weather. We replaced it with the Glacier Excursion at Mt. Cook – a must do! Looked at the Internet when we got back and we realised we should have done the Heli Hike as well. Next time! Kudos to all the motels for the accommodations we had. It just kept getting better and better as our tour extended. Our only disappointment was the Waldorf Stadium Apartments, review on Trip Advisor. Best of breed was Anchor Inn, Garden Court and Punga Grove. Beyond that subtle speed bump, it was a trip we will always remember. Next time? We plan on 12 to 14 days on just the South Island, with 2 t 3 days at each location. More time for hiking and exploring. Specials thanks to the entire team at Self Drive Tours New Zealand! Pete and Sara Smith Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA =========================== Hi, We thought you would enjoy seeing the photos we took -- full Monty was over 1,500 -- this one is just 200 :} Click on the link, then the play icon. Hover over the middle-right of the screen to click forward, or middle-left to scroll back. https://plus.google.com/111994955869631056841/stories/30509544-a051-3620-817f-af23e1e7d8fe14bb734cedb?authkey=CLL86ajA06fYCw

Dear Michelle, We would like to thank you and NZ Self-drive Tours for a fantastic trip. From our pick up at Auckland airport to the hotel bookings, trip reservations and final transport to the airport at Christchurch, everything ran like clockwork. We have been impressed by the whole service; the booking was easy and you were very helpful and accommodating in tailoring the trip to our requirements and making minor adjustments on several occasions. Even though you are on the other side of the world contact was speedy. Rest assured, we will be recommending you to friends and family. The documents and literature you supplied were comprehensive, very useful and with a professional finish. Hotels and motels booked were generally of a high standard with good facilities. Both hire cars were new (one brand new) and a perfect size for our needs. All booking references were accurate and recognised wherever we went. The only criticism we would have is that the driving directions, although full, were over-complicated and would have been more useful with major towns throughout the route mentioned rather than just road names. It was not easy to work out where on the route planner we were and usually we referred to the more detailed maps of our destinations or a large map we had purchased before the trip. New Zealand was awesome in the true meaning of the word from the friendly people, to the clean towns and countryside, spectacular scenery and the wondrous wildlife. We had a month to remember. We are not on Facebook but kept a record of our trip with selected photos on a blog at nztour2015.blogspot.co.uk if you are interested. Once again many thanks for all your help with the organisation. All the best, John and Alison Currah

Thank you for organising such a super holiday in New Zealand. Everything worked out just fine and the car and all the hotels were most acceptable.

we had a great trip in this wonderful country We just didn't have enough time to do all we wanted to do. The excursions that you set up were great! and the hotels were great And the food: I am having lamb and green lip mussel withdrawals! We had two small issues: The hand held GPS was not the best in the world - we found it hard to operate. the car that we had in the north island had a built in GPS and it was great. The other issue was that we arrived at the rental car return in Auckland at around 5:40 and it was closed and there was absolutely no place to park the car so we had to wait until the next day to turn it in

we had a great time in New Zealand (NZ). Everything went well, lifts were there, cars ready to pick us up, and the hotels were good too. A couple of things to consider: 1.I had no idea what size car a Toyota Corolla was, we do not have them in the UK. We were fortunate that we were given a Hyundai 35i which we learned later was an upgrade at Auckland which was a good size, and we could fit our 2 big cases in the boot. The car we got in Christchurch was a Holden Trax LTZ which we felt was a bit small. We had to fold down the back seats to get all our luggage in, but we managed and the car was fine.The point we are making is that the vehicle does need to take 2 big cases and 2 smaller ones especially for those people who have travelled some distance as we had, the option to upgrade should be available if possible. It is not a big point but one worth considering. 2. When we asked for a second night in Wellington we know the cricket world cup was on and that many rooms were booked. We were offered another room at the Wellesley Boutique Hotel for our additional night, and then we had to change to the room we had booked for the original night. The room for the extra night was stated as a single room by the hotel, we queried this with Karen Buckingham asking if it was a double room. She informed us that she had been in touch with the hotel and that it had been confirmed that the ''single room'' had a double bed in it. She did offer to look for alternative accommodation, but based on the fact that she had confirmed that the room had a double bed we agreed to have it for that one night, and then change to our previously booked room for the next night. The ''single room'' was in fact a single room with a double bed in it, fine accept that when we got our luggage into the room, there was no room to move and we had to take it in turns to open our cases. We put the air-conditioning unit on, because we couldn't open the window because it was sealed, and all the AC unit did was re-circulate the air inside the room with no cooling effect. We did inform the hotel of this the next morning. It was the most uncomfortable night we spent during our entire holiday, hot, sweaty and cramped. It is the only real criticism we have of the trip, the rest was just great, but I think we were mislead into accepting this inferior room. We had booked a helicopter flight to the glaciers at Franz Josef unfortunately the weather conditions was poor on the day that we were due to fly however, the helicopter company squeezed us in the next morning, but due to the weather we had a shortened flight. We were told that we had to inform you of the shortened flight and that you would seek a partial refund from the company on our behalf and refund it to us. We hope this is the case. We had a marvellous time and have some great photos, and memories of our trip to NZ. Thank you for organising such a great trip for us. Best wishes Frank & Jan McAleer

We just came back from a 28 day driving tour arranged by Michelle Chave. Michelle did a great job customising our trip. We just did a cost comparison and realise that we "got a great deal" booking through New Zealand Self Drive Tour. Thanks! Claudia and Roger from Ottawa, Canada

Thank you Laura for arranging a fantastic itinerary for our 15 day self drive tour from Auckland to Queenstown. Rental cars were great and accommodations exceeded our expectations. Routes enabled us to see "tourist sites" and had the flexibility to see the countryside. This trip rates as one of our top vacations to date. Thank you again, we really appreciate your effort.

We just completed a 12 day tour of both Islands. It was one of the best vacations ever. Shelley Bates did a fabulous job of customising the tour based on our preferences for both activities and for lodging and also arranged for us to hit the highlights of both islands within our much too short time frame. She did a great job of screening the large number of activities (hikes, tours, jet boat rides etc.) offered and directed us only to the best and most high quality ones at each location. My only regret is that we did not schedule more time for this incredible vacation.

We had a great trip and are planning a return when we have more time. The itinerary you organised for us gave us a quick snapshot of what NZ has to offer and left us wanting more. The accommodation was all very good as were driving times each day. The trip to Milford sound was particularly good as our coach driver (Keith) was very knowledgeable about the landscape and points of interest, delivered with a dry sense of humour lost on some of the other passengers! All in all a well organised dash around South Island. Thank you

Dear Michelle, We returned from New Zealand on Wednesday evening. I would like to thank you and your company, so much. As the driver said, "this company dots the i's and crosses the t's. We were surprised by the thoroughness of the paper-work and found all the driving instructions so clear. The choice of b&b/ hotel, was excellent. We had a wonderful trip. The weather at Franz Joseph was not conducive to flying in the helicopter as there was too much low cloud, we did manage to walk to the Sentinel rock, so saw some of the glacier. Otherwise the weather was perfect every day. The earthquake prevented us from using the train, but we saw so much while driving. We will definitely be returning and will use N.Z Self drive tours again.

Hi Shelley A very belated but massive thank you for arranging our fantastic two week tour of New Zealand. Thank for your patience in accommodating all of our various requests. You obviously have extensive knowledge and experience of the New Zealand tourist industry. I don't know how you managed to arrange our Xmas dinner at The Skyline in Queenstown, but it was superb. All the recommended activities were worth it with our highlight being the Glacier Helicopter Flight along with Hobbiton - every booking ran smoothly. Everything from rental cars, accommodation and food was of a very high standard. As for New Zealand - what a place. You New Zealanders are rightfully proud of your beautiful country. The only problem we found was that we could have spent twice as long at each destination! A very sincere Thank You and keep up the good work. The Wilson Family from Belfast Xmas 2014

Hi Michelle, thank you for putting together a wonderful itinerary together. Everything was well coordinated and we did not have to flounder any where for lack of details or information. We appreciate and acknowledge your eye for details and for all the information provided in the kit that worked out to be very helpful. I appreciate your patience in taking us through the journey right from the formative stages till the time the Itinerary took its final form. Please convey our thanks and gratitude to all the individuals that were involved in making our NZ visit a truly memorable one. Thanks, Sanjay

Dear Michelle, Thank you Michelle and New Zealand Self Drive Tours from me, Abdali Alwazeer, my wife Najah Ghareeb and my son Yusuf Alwazeer for organising this fantastic tour for us. Our tour was to three towns, Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown. We enjoyed exploring the area by driving through the country. The hotels are very good except Waldorf Stadium Apartments which didn't give us Internet access and charged us for cleaning the rooms and parking. The other two hotels, Amore Motor Lodge in Christchurch and Garden Court Suites and Apartments in Queenstown were very good. Garden Court Suites and Apartments in Queenstown is exceptions which is more spacious and contains two bathrooms. Rented Cars were very comfortable and new. We enjoyed driving 4WD through the green fields of everywhere we went in New Zealand. I just want to quote my wife who said New Zealand is like God Paradise on Earth, in Arabic (New Zealand hea jannat Allah fee Elardh ). We really enjoyed the two weeks that we spent touring these three towns. We encouraged our friend to visit New Zealand using a self drive car. Merry xmas & happy new year.

Having just returned from our NZ touring holiday , I had to upload our feedback to the website as we were so impressed with the service we received from New Zealand Self Drive Tours . From the moment we booked and even prior they were completely professional and tailored our trip to exactly what we had wanted. Everything ran like clockwork the pick ups / drop offs and the organised tours. The hotels that were chosen were all high quality with friendly and helpful staff. I would highly recommend to anyone looking to book a trip to NZ

Thank you NZ Fine Touring for making the arrangements for our first self-drive tour to be almost hassle-free. It was indeed a fabulous trip for us, with breathtaking views every mile of our drive. Upon arrival at the airport in Auckland, we were warmly greeted for the hotel transfer which started our trip on the right note. It would have been a bonus if the driver could have shared more about NZ along the way. Hotels booked were generally comfortable & accessible to amenities/ attractions. Checking in was smooth as most hotels were easily able to retrieve our booking; with the exception of Copthorne hotel in Auckland. Best reception received at Sudima Lake Resort in Rotorua, followed by Ibis Hotel in Christchurch. Car rental was also a breeze on both islands, with superb service in Picton. Routes suggested enabled us to drive at a good pace with several scenic pit stops. Use of GPS was more accurate as compared to the suggested driving directions printed in the welcome package, though. Places we visited were all enjoyable, especially Hobbiton, Agrodome & Te Puia. We also decided to take up your recommendation for the Gondola & Tram rides in Christchurch and even added the River Avon punting. With such a memorable experience, we would definitely consult NZ Self-Drive Tours in the future. In fact, we have recommended the company to our friends planning to visit NZ in 2015. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

We had an amazing experience and time in New Zealand. Our tour consultant, Verity Gemmell was a delight to work with and was very accommodating with our schedule and preferences. Would highly recommend Self Drive Tours to assist with planning your trip to New Zealand - took the stress of planning and was a relaxed experience the whole way through. Thanks again Verity!

New Zealand was amazing! Thank you Michelle and the NZ Self Drive Tour team for arranging the most unforgettable trip for us. We really had a great time. The journey went very well according to itinerary. Both cars were excellent, accommodations were exceeding our expectation and we loved Mitai Maori and the breathtaking Milford Sound so much.We will definitely recommend your company to friends and family. Thank you again for your outstanding work. Regards Haslizawati,Mohd Azmir and Amir Asyraf

Enter your story here...It was an excellent trip, well organised a few hitches nothing major and sorted out by your company without fuss. Staff in hotels and car hire companies very helpful. Weather was wonderful, scenery excellent. The welcome pack supplied by your company contained everything we needed for touring. We intend to return to New Zealand in the near future travelling to areas we have not visited and not trying to cram everything in one go. We would be delighted to use the services of your company on our next trip. Regards, Teresa & Pat Quinn, Dublin, Ireland.

A big thank you to the team at New Zealand Fine Touring for planning a great holiday for us at the South Island. Whale-watching, riding on the TranzAlpine, Milford Sound Cruise at Te Anau, Dart-Boating near Lake Wanaka, Mount Cook glacier experience and taking the Luge at Queenstown - our schedule was clockwork perfect. Accommodation was well-planned and drives well-documented. We will be back... Esther and Chuan Lim with family of 3 teenage girls, 2 elderly parents, December 2014.

My wife's mother moved to the UK just before the second world war. When researching her family history she discovered that her family arrived in New Zealand before the treaty of Waitangi. They arrived on what is now Petone beach on the Cuba and Adelaide.New Zealand Fine Touring amended their standard tour to enable us to visit the areas that were settled by her family.Everything that was arranged worked perfectly. Our rentals were upgraded free of charge by Europecar on both North and South Island. Two of the Motels also upgraded our rooms. In Roturua we ended up with a Hot Tub on the balcony. I cannot praise this company more for their attention to detail. Every single activity went ahead on schedule with great success. The highlight was the ski landing on the Tasman Glacier. The flight was also upgraded free of charge to include a landing on the Franz Josef glacier as well as an extended tour of the mountains including the Fox glacier. Communications with Michelle were always promptly answered and it was a [leasure to meet her and the team when we dropped into the office at Wanaka during our tour. We loved it so much my wife is sorting out her citizenship and we intend to come back for an extended stay.

I've always wanted to go visit New Zealand, your self drive tour option made my dreams become reality with ease. I was able to be on my own time table and enjoy the activities that require more than one person to attend by arranging me into groups that were also looking for adventure. Anytime I visit New Zealand, I'm going to use this same format of travelling. I was completely relaxed while also receiving the adrenaline rush I was looking for! Thanks again!

Our self drive tour was a huge success The whole 22 days were perfectly timed which enabled us to see the entire South Island at a leisurely pace. We also got to places that we would have missed on our own. We would thoroughly recommend your company to anyone visiting this beautiful country. Peter & Paula Barton Brisbane Australia

My wife and I want to especially thank Michelle for all the work she did making our tour a once in a life time event. We did a custom South to North island tour of 15 days during July of 2014. We started planning with Michelle a couple of months in advance and she worked very had to make everything perfect. When the Ferry company cancelled our ferry while we were in Christchurch she contacted us and made sure that the arrangements were changes so that we could make the transit without a problem. Both cars were great and having the GPS was really nice as it helped us see things we might have missed otherwise. The hotels were all good with a couple being truly outstanding. Everything went as planned except the winter weather which cooperated for the most part. A couple of notes for people planning trips that we found out. First you cannot go as far driving in a day in New Zealand as you can else where in the world (especially the Western USA). I over planned a few days and the drives were much to long due to the slower speeds you have to drive because of the winding roads. I am use to the wide open freeways in the USA where you can go much further in a day. The best days were those of about 300 KM or so. When it gets to 400 KM or higher the days turned out to be really long and we did not have time to explore at the destination. Second most of the hotels were in the central business district of the city you are in. This is a good/bad thing. You are within walking distance of food and other things in town, but you also have to drive into downtown to get to your hotel. Those comments are just mine to pass on to others. In a number of the hotels we were the only guests or less than 5 guests in the facility. The two B&B's booked for us were outstanding (Split Apple and Matakana Country Lodge) making the trip all the more memorable. I can easily say that without booking through New Zealand Self Drive Tours our tour would not have been nearly as nice and we would not have seen as much as we did with there help. They are worth it to make a great tour of New Zealand. Thanks again Michelle, you did an OUTSTANDING job. John Cowan

Thank you Verity for organising a very good stress free trip. We did not have any issues at the accommodations or locations and really enjoyed our trip. Maybe the accommodation at a couple of places could be better. Camelot was lacking air conditioning on a very hot night and there was very little privacy. But overall, we had one of the best family trips ever. Regardless I have recommended you to my Friend Dr Asif Ashraff who has received a quote and should be going ahead . Good luck guys

Our self drive tour was a huge success The whole 22 days were perfectly timed which enabled us to see the entire South Island at a leisurely pace. We also got to places that we would have missed on our own. We would thoroughly your company to anyone visiting this beautiful country. Peter & Paula Barton Brisbane Australia 18/11/14

My wife and I recently returned from our first visit to your wonderful country. We had an amazing time and can't thank you enough for your help in planning our adventure! Normally, I do the research and plan our vacations, but I thought I'd give your company a try and see how your itinerary compared to what I was putting together. First off, I have to say that I was impressed that I wasn't given a "high pressure" sales pitch - I was able to bounce ideas off of Karen, who told me where I was on point and where I should probably change my plans. She was spot on! We decided to go with your company and I'm so glad we did. The arrangements and details were solid and the peace of mind that your company was there to back us up (which we leaned on when the weather turned sour for one of our planned tours) helped make this one of the most enjoyable vacations we have ever taken. Thanks again!

We booked a 16 days tour with NZ Self Drive Tours and we have been more than satisfied by the experience. We felt that everything has been done to make sure we had an excellent trip. We will keep fond memories of our trip, too many to describe there but we particularly enjoyed the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise. A must! We had only the disappointment to miss the helicopter flight at Franz Joseph Glacier due to bad weather. It will be for the next time. A special thank-you to Michelle who have been looking after us all the time and has been only a phone call away when needed. If “word of mouth” advertising works, we will surely contribute! Patrick & Lee-Anne

We had the most wonderful holiday driving around the South Island. Shelley had arranged everything, so all we had to do was turn up! The accommodation, tours, hire car and transport were fantastic. As everything was so well organised, it meant we were able to relax and truly enjoy the wonderful delights of New Zealand. Thank you Shelley for making our holiday so enjoyable. Justine and Michelle

We enjoyed our tour it was great! Our Feedback in German would be: "Wir würden immer wieder mit New Zealand Fine Touring fahren, alles hat perfekt geklappt! Danke"

I owe Michelle a big thank for her kind arrangements of our little trip from Auckland to Christchurch! I was running on a limited time and budget, and Michelle helped to choose the one best suitable to me. Upon our arrival, everything goes exactly as the itinerary said (except the Kaikoura Whale Watch, which is cancelled due to bad sea weather), and the voucher book proves to be of most convenience to us wherever we go! Accommodations are up to our expectation, the suggested activities are fun, and I really enjoyed our ride across the country. Again, thank you, Michelle, and I shall definitely go back to visit this amazing country again!

The whole arrangement was excellent, Thank you very much NZ SELF DRIVE Tour for great experience that I had during my recent visit to New Zealand. Special thanks goes to Ms Verity Gemmell for a very prompt service and accommodating my request in small changes my the itinerary. We would surely recommend our relatives and friends to contact NZ Self Drive Tour should they wish to visit New Zealand in the future. Thank you again from me and my wife for the great experience in New Zealand. Regards. SULAIMAN MENANKUTTY - Malaysia.

Hello Michelle, I just want to say thanks for the trip you organised for us. NZ is great, and I enjoyed it very much, everything on time, great quality in the hotels, tours, services and you have a great country, I hope someday will have the opportunity to visit in summer. Thanks again!

We had an incredible vacation! New Zealand has now replaced Norway as our favorite country on earth, and that was quite an accomplishment. The country was beautiful and the itinerary close to perfect. And the hotels! They were all good, but several were truly stunning. One highlight was the stunning restaurant at Whare Kea, where we had the luck of being on the only guests, as the chef made a 5 course meal just for us, on our 10th anniversary! We could not have planned it any better. The Matakauri Lodge also deserves special mention as a stunning place, with exceptional facilities, setting and service.

We have not long returned from our NZ holiday to the South Island. Shelley did a fantastic job organising our itinerary. In the beginning I thought maybe it was better to plan our own holiday but I am very glad we decided to go with this option. Everything was so easy from the moment we landed at Christchurch airport with a driver to meet us. Our hire car was dropped to our motel which also made things incredibly easy. The standard of accommodation was extremely good. The Amore in Christchurch deserves a particular mention for the amazing service we received and the motel in Dunedin (858 on George) was also really lovely. The only accommodation I was disappointed with was Mt. Cook as our room was very much in need of a refurbishment and the a la carte restaurant was particularly underwhelming given the price. Mt. Cook itself however was stunning especially as it snowed the day we arrived. All the activities you suggested were fantastic. We especially enjoyed the Dart River Wilderness Safari in Queenstown and the wildlife cruise of the Otago Peninsular from Dunedin. We experienced heavy snow at the beginning of our trip and Shelley did a great job keeping us up to date with road closures etc. I have already recommended your services to my friends and family should they be planning a trip to NZ.

What a wonderful holiday! Having someone else do all the hard work to arrange our holiday was well worth it. All my questions and concerns were answered quickly. I made changes to the itinerary and that was never a problem. The itinerary for the 10 day Fiords, Glaciers and Mountains Self Drive covered all the highlights. We booked an extra night at Mt Cook on the recommendation of Shelley and were not disappointed (a must see). The standard of accommodation was high and always conveniently located. The family agrees - a truly exceptional holiday! Thank you!

Hi Michelle, Just a quick note to say a very big thank you for all your help with our very first over seas trip for both Lyn and I. We had a ball the whole time, even though due to the weather a couple of the exertions were either cancelled or altered slightly. Having the freedom of self driving through the South Island of New Zealand was great We seen New Zealand at its best and worst (weather wise) and enjoyed all of it. Seeing it snow at Queenstown was probably the biggest highlight, could not have timed it better. Anyway, thank you again, we will be back to have a look at the North Island and do the South during summer also, see you then.

Hi Shelley. First, Thank You for arranging such a wonderful tour of NZ. We would absolutely recommend your company to our friends & fellow travellers. Overall rating 4.9 out of 5 stars. You, of course, are a 10 out of 10. You were always there to answer our many questions, accommodated our route changes, understanding about our concerns, helpful when we thought we might have to return home early. All the accommodations were great, some much better than expected, except for Christchurch which was a great location, old, well worn, but serviceable. It is slim pickings in Christchurch and certainly having the least best first made the following accommodations better & better as we went along. The tours were all great; tour operators were all timely and first class. Would be nice to be able to book the kayaking trips through you the day before since weather was an major issue at more than one location. Although the heli-hike on Franz J was expensive, we are very glad we did it on your recommendation, it's now a highlight of our trip. The trip plan was excellent except for our stay at Tutukaka. It was not an interesting town and out of the way. If we had thought it through better we would have opted for another day in Bay of Islands or Auckland. We liked that we could review our trip plan on your internet site and check out the accommodations you recommended before we paid. The custom day by day tour book we got on arrival was excellent and so was the map book with pictures. Using the map book, we deviated from your route several times to take in a cheese factory here or a winery there. At the start of our planning we thought we could do all this online until we saw all the many types and locations of accommodations. Second option, just do it "on the fly", so if we want to change locations or leave a day early we could. WRONG! We met a few travellers who were attempting this and they were very unhappy at the time, using lots of energy and finding poor accommodations in not the best locations. We definitely made the right choice booking through NZ Self Drive, you are experts with all the best locations, local knowledge, and even better rates than booking online. Booking the car, train & ferry travel through you also saved us time and $'s. Thanks again for making our NZ trip very special. Janet T, Dave, Vard & Rita Whittick

Thank you for your excellent service. Our journey went smoothly and get to meet with your friendly counterpart. My family and I had a really great time exploring New Zealand. Although 6 days were not enough but we were thankful to get the opportunity to witness your beautiful country. We will definitely come back. I personally will recommend your agency to friends and families who wish to visit New Zealand. Regards, Najua

Nancy & Michael had a wonderful time. We wish we had more days to spend in the country. We enjoyed all of are lodging stays. Every one was nice. Shelley was very helpful and set up a great tour for us. If we ever go back to New Zealand we would use you people again. Thanks for everything All the best, Michael and Nancy Sipko

We decided on our tour of NZ South Island at very short notice. We contacted NZ Self Drive Tours and they very quickly put together a package for us that met our needs for our available time. Our experience was fantastic, everything that was promised was delivered on time and without fuss. The activities planned were first rate and our accommodation fantastic. We would recommend NZ Self Drive Tours to any one wanting to take the fuss out of organising their own trip - cheers Peter & Roslyn

From the time we landed at Auckland till we boarded our flight from Christchurch, the arrangements were simply impeccable. Shelley Bates, who was my travel consultant, went the extra mile to ensure all arrangements including hotels, car and pre-booked activities were adequately taken care of. And what an awesome place to visit....lots of places (especially in Europe) will take one's breath away but never have I seen a whole country that's beautiful, welcoming and makes you feel that this is perhaps the place to settle down. Hats off to Shelley and colleagues for presenting us with the most memorable vacation experience.

Thank you Shelley for arranging such a memorable NZ holiday. We saw so much amazing scenery and had some great adventures, including whale watching, white water rafting, para-sailing, luges, ziplines, Dart river funyaks, Hiking Glaciers, glow worm caves, numerous scenic cruises and National Park hiking. So much amazing scenery too numerous to detail but including Milford Sound, Queenstown, majestic mountain scenery everywhere including snow-capped mountains, waterfalls and amazing thermal areas. Your assistance in planning and level of detail and helpful suggestions was invaluable. The level of accommodation and hire cars you arranged were exactly what we wanted and the GPS guide to each accommodation made them so easy to find. Thank you again for doing such a fantastic job, we would highly recommend you and NZ Self Drive Tours.

We used New Zealand Self Drive tours to book South Island vacations in March 2013 and April 2014. In both instances, the trips went very smoothly. The logistics and bookings all delivered as expected. The booked hotels were fine for our purposes. The tour operators showed up on time or were expecting us when we showed up. In all, there were no hassles with logistics and bookings to distract from having an absolutely wonderful time in an absolutely brilliant part of the world. We used the same consultant, Shelley Bates (Ryder) to help us to organise both trips. She was very willing to customise our arrangements to fit our interests and schedule. Her recommendations for stops and activities were spot on. I absolutely do not hesitate to recommend this company to the attention of future customers. If you are considering a self-drive tour of New Zealand, give them a call. I have tried to lodge a similar review on Trip Advisor, but apparently "tour operators" is not a recognised category on that site. Jeff Jurinak

One of the best holidays i've ever had! I spent three weeks in NZ, and every day was absolutely fantastic. Shelley was great at organising my itinerary, accommodation and car hire. She was also very patient as I was messing the itinerary about with trying to fit different things in and see my friends in the North Island! It was a great help to have someone with local knowledge who could recommend tours and places to visit when I had trouble deciding myself! All in all, I had no problems with any of the tours and the car hire went without a hitch. Every place I stayed was amazing, and the accommodation was perfect. It's hard to pick one highlight out from the whole trip, but The Hermitage at Mt Cook is a stunning location. And a perfect base for walking around the area. Very happy with that recommendation! Will certainly visit there again! I'd also like to say that the Welcome Pack provided by NZ Self Drive Tours was brilliant, and greatly appreciated! Many thanks for helping me organise this amazing trip, i'm already planning what i'd like to see on my next visit to NZ!

Sorry it has taken me some time to get back to you, but things have been hectic here, trying to sell our house. Any way: Thank goodness we had the GPS. It was a wonderful life saver. The written driving directions were too detailed and confusing. Simply directing us by road/highway number would have been easier than a new instruction each time the road name changed. The mobile phone proved helpful. Rental auto pick up/drop off and hotel check-in went smoothly with the voucher system, as did all the excursions. The lodgings were fine, overall, but there was variation. By far and away the best was Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodge. We had very personal service from the owner, as there were only 2 other guests two of the three days/nights. It was a special treat. The least impressive lodging were the two Copthorne facilities. I suggest ALL the lodgings get on board with free, unlimited WI-FI for their guests. Great Ponsonby Art Hotel was cute. Great birding (Gannets) at Muriwai Beach. We enjoyed the Waitomo Glow worms and all the excursions in Rotorua, even though there is the sulfur aroma there. I picked up a virus in Rotorua and cancelled Rosco kayak trip as a result, which turned out to be a good thing, as it would have been way too much for us after the rainy Milford Sound cruise. Great gourmet dinner at Breckinridge Lodge. Thanks for booking us there. Wellington is a picturesque city. Our LOTR tour guide there did a much better job than the one we had in Queenstown. Luckily we were tipped off to reserve parking at Ibis in Wellington. They had very few spaces. Not sure what we would have done without the reservation. Kaikoura was spectacular. We saw Sperm whale and a large fleet of dolphins and sea lions. In fact all the wildlife excursions were great. Kudos to the yellow-eyed penguin reserve. Our hostess at Eliza's Manor in Christchurch was quite motherly...a joy to meet her. She took good care of us. Mount Cook was out and spectacular on our drive there, but by evening the clouds rolled in, so no stargazing that night there. We saw Mounts Cook and Franz Josef on the drive to Greymouth, along with their glaciers, however. Unplanned excitement occurred while at Lake Moerkaki. We got word of a bad guy suspected of murdering a woman and then abducting to foreign female hitchhikers, was on his way towards us from Franz Josef. We learned later that Franz Josef town was locked down and the bad guy later captured. I could go on. We had a great time. No bad experiences. Te Anau lodging was great, too. Dunedin picturesque. Great intro to New Zealand, which we found to be similar in many ways to the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington here in the States. Thanks for planning such a great trip and arranging all the great lodging (Copthornes aside). Take care.

I spent the most fabulous month touring the north and south islands of New Zealand with 2 friends, all of us over a certain age! We requested various destinations and sites to visit, all if possible with apartment accommodation allowing us flexibility in eating arrangements. I cannot recommend New Zealand Self drive tours highly enough for the consideration and attention to detail that went ,into the planning of our tour. The accommodation was exactly what we needed and in some cases exceeded expectations, specifically The Chateau Tongariro and Kahami Cottage, Otorohanga. Included in our itinerary were 9 trips as requested by us and included in the cost of our trip. One aspect we found particularly helpful was to be met at the airport on arrival and taken to the first hotel and at other locations as the need arose and on our final day to take us to Christchurch airport for the flight home. This took so much worry out of our trip and the staff we met couldn't have been more helpful. The only fly in the ointment occurred through the hire-car firm as the vehicles we had selected both on the north and south islands were not the ones we found on arrival and were only made available after my friends husband "had a few words"! The travel pack we were given on arrival was a great help with so much information of the areas we were to visit. We did have a problem with the Google driving directions but the beautiful photo atlas, also included, more than made up for this with added info on sites to visit en-route and countless photo opportunities. This did however make some of our journeys considerably longer! The atlas also made a wonderful souvenir of our holiday and helped me remember where all my photos were taken! I would recommend the company to anyone planning a similar holiday and would love to come back and visit some of the places we didn't have time to see, when I have raided my pension and got my new hip! Regards to Shelley and the team Julie Morris

We had a great time. Brilliant organising by Shelley. We started our trip in Singapore and then on to Sydney. Then arrived in New Zealand Auckland. Our pick up guy was very good and friendly. The accommodation in Auckland was excellent. As was all the accommodation with 2 exceptions, one being the IBIS in Rotorua, they seemed to squeeze 2 king size beds in to one room, which made it very squashed and no need for more than 2 nights here. The other was the IBIS in Nelson, too far from the town, ok if you have time for the beach. These are the only negatives. All our pre booked trips were really good. The trip along ninety mile beach and the Abel Tasman was good. The sand surfing was good fun. The visit to the visit amber site could be missed out and longer spent on the beach trip ( depending on the tide). All of the boat trips were excellent, Milford sound, whale watching, we also did Tasman Glacier that was just fantastic. Even though the weather was not good that day. Mount Cook and the accommodation there was once again very good. But remind people to take supplies as it is a long drive back to get any as there is no where to get any thing. I could go on for ever but I have to say it was an amazing trip. I would only suggest that when we were in places like Paihia and Kaikoura which had beautiful beaches blue, blue sea, and warm. But because we were trying to see so much we did not allow our selves enough time. Akaroa a small town was a beautiful place again a nice beach, we did our trip to see dolphins etc and this again was brilliant. All of the glaciers were amazing and worrying at the same time when you see the rate at which it is receding, but this is history. Dunedin this was a city that I feel we could have missed out, because it is a university city we did arrive as what we know as freshers week and as our accommodation was right in the student area we were subject to a lot of noise, broken glass etc, which is apparently quiet normal for this period of time, but were told that the students do settle down after a couple of weeks. So this may be a city that you avoid during this period. The trip on the Trans Alpine train from Greymouth to Christchurch should and could have been good but the weather for the previous day and the day we travelled was awful left Greymouth in sunshine, but the weather got worse. We were unable to enjoy the views, on a good day it would be amazing. Christchurch what can you say you have to admire the people of the city and how well they are doing. The container city is amazing well done to who ever thought of this. Our visit to see family in Hokitika was very good, see great niece and nephew was really good as this is the first time we have seen them, as they were both born in NZ.On a personal note I think we need not have spent so much time in Hokitika as our relations were both working. We did visit Pancake rocks this was amazing, we also went to Hokitika Gorge which was good but be aware of the sand flies as they do bite. From a personal point of view, I wish we had spent less time to Hokitika and a few more days on North Island and other areas where the beautiful beaches were. All in all a brilliant trip, very well organised. Our thanks to Shelley

the whole tour was just brilliant. All the arrangements worked perfectly and your itinerary matched our needs very well. Our accommodation each night was of a very good standard. We would certainly recommend you to friends.

New Zealand was beautiful. Your tour was perfect for us. We were met at the airport by a very nice lady who took us to our hotel and explained our tour packet and answered all our questions. The next morning our rental car was delivered to us and we began our amazing trip. We loved Mount Cook, Milford Sound, Queenstown, and the wonderful wineries. Thank you, Michelle, for making changes for our hotels, and sending the vouchers. We were very impressed with New Zealand Self Drive Tours and all your help. We have already passed your name on to a relative who is very interested in your tours. Thanks again, Tom and Jeanne Steen

Shelley was extremely helpful and prompt in setting up our tour and suggesting various options. We had a fabulous time, and would recommend your services without hesitations. Just a few comments: 1. The driving instructions were both too detailed and not detailed enough. Too detailed because they listed various road names for Highway 1, for example, that we rarely ever saw along the way. Not detailed enough because besides distances, it would be useful to have place names along the way, such as Warkworth etc. "Upon reaching Warkworth at km. 65, you will turn left into...." Would be a useful kind of comment. 2. In one case, at the end of our trip, the directions to reach our hotel near the Auckland airport were incorrect, as they would have had us travelling into downtown Auckland before turning back toward the airport. Fortunately we detected this in time and followed our own directions! 3. One annoyance: most hotel properties at which we stayed did not provide free internet. I had thought that all charges aside from meals, petrol etc. were included, and I was unhappy to have to pay additional amounts for internet access, though often 20 minutes were provided free; this however was insufficient. Some proprieties did offer us free internet for the duration of our stay, and for that I was grateful. I would have preferred to know of this practice in advance, or to have internet included in the package. 4. While the initial Auckland property at which we stayed (Heritage) was quite adequate, I would have preferred a room with a view of the city instead of an inside courtyard. I had assumed that we had booked early enough to secure such a room. And I'm not certain why the room we did occupy was described as superior. On a positive note, the Puhoi and Rotorua properties were outstanding. The Cream trip was delightful in Pahia, though the accommodation there was a bit tired. I will send additional feedback as I think of it. Thank you once again. We loved our trip.

I’d like to express our gratitude to David and yourself for arranging such a wonderful trip for us. The self-drive experience in New Zealand was remarkable. I and my wife, we all thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks largely to your fantastic and detailed information pack. The instructions on getting to the various locations were such that there was no way we could get lost. Hotels was excellent too and so with the excursion tours as suggested in your programme itinerary. Our journey went very well as arrangement like hotels, car rental and excursion tours that been arranged went smoothly without any hitch. Thanks for making this trip a memorable event for us.

Had a great time. Appreciated not having to toil up stairs except for Wellington where the lift stopped the flight before ours, but that was not difficult. Our only concern was the car we collected at Auckland. It hadn't been cleaned out - cigarette butts and food crumbs on the floor. Not too sure that it was completely full of petrol but the worst bit was the fact that after a while we realised the rear door could not be locked. A nice policeman also checked it for us. We handed it in early as we were reluctant to keep luggage in it. However, the lad at the Europcar desk at the interislander terminal was very helpful and even drove us back to the hotel. Could have stayed a lot longer, so much to see and do. As on a previous trip Shelley organised a great holiday which was borne out of the attention to detail and planning. Cheers, Jen

We had a fantastic time thanks to your organisation. We were very impressed with the standard of the accommodation and the few tours that we selected. We'd recommend your group to any family/friends that might travel to NZ in the future. Thanks for all the help and the attention to the detail.

We fully recommend the self drive tour, we loved our tour. There was no stress, everything was organised and we didn't have to worry about anything!

Excellent, all perfectly done. Regards Vladimir Debelak

Dear Michelle, Thanks so much for fixing the refund. The afternoon we were booked for the flight was really the only negative experience we had on the whole trip. We were booked to arrive a the helicopter office at 1610 & when I rang at 1400 the fellow said to come at 1630. We went for a walk to find the office and walked in at 1500 just to confirm that's where we had to go. The fellow said to come back at 1630 and the lady sitting next to him said "Won't that be a bit late?" He said "No, it will be alright" and a look exchanged between them. Anyway when we arrived at 1630 we were told sorry all the flights are over for the day as the weather is closing in. As you can imagine we were pretty upset as we would have expected they would have seen that weather coming when we were there at 1500. So we asked if they were flying in the morning & they said, not till 1000hrs. When we rang your office and got the advice to try across the road that was great as the fellows there were much more pleasant and told us to come at 0800 and we booked in to fly if the weather was good. And it was, so we were very happy. We just didn't think the attitude was right from the original company and would recommend the competitor across the road as much better in their attitude & service. Apart from that the trip was excellent. Everything went according to plan, the accommodation was great, the cruise & TSS Ernslaw brilliant & the car went well. We will certainly be recommending your company & services. The south island of New Zealand is a spectacular place, we ran out of superlatives to describe it. Thanks again, Danae & David Jenkins

The rental car company (Europcar) refused to pick us up for delivery of our rental car as promised d/t the Auckland triathlon being held during our stay. It took several phone calls, but we were able to finally secure a vehicle. NZFT was responsive and did assist with the mix up. They also did reimburse us for the taxi fare back to the airport but it was a bit of a disappointing start to the holiday. The accommodations that they had arranged were all wonderful. Wishing we'd had better weather to enjoy our beach views in Napier at the Pebble Beach Motor Inn and the Anchor Inn in Kaikoura -unfortunately the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Ita made themselves a nuisance for most of our stay (totally out of NZFT's control :-) ) - we however carried on and explored this beautiful country and met wonderful people. NZFT also provided detailed step by step instructions to get from place to place which was helpful. I would use NZFT again to assist in arranging a holiday to NZ. For some of our pictures, you can visit their FB page. Lynette - Florida USA

Hi Michelle, Jeanette and I really enjoyed our trip, the beauty of the South Island is at times breathtaking. Probably due to maturing years (70 this year) we didn’t jump on board a jet boat or do a bungy jump, but we did do the comet ride across the Buller Gorge. We found all the accommodation excellent, although, the motel in Franz Josef Glacier must have no sound insulation in the walls, our adjacent neighbours were a little noisy. I was really impressed with the roads, they were excellent, when required, they were well sign posted. The road maintenance crews do a magnificent job in the, at times, difficult terrain. The itinerary, driving instructions and maps were very helpful. The hire car sat. nav. was helpful in confirming speed limits, road names and designations. We were happy we chose the Ford Territory SUV, it was most suited for the trip. ( And that’s coming from a Holden man) We were fortunate to have had excellent weather for the two weeks and our photos. are stunning, particularly, Milford Sound and Queenstown area. The people we met were most friendly and helpful. Thank you for a well planned trip, we have been left with some excellent memories and photos of the South Island. For a stress free holiday on the South Island, we would have no hesitation in recommending New Zealand Self Drive Tours plan the trip. regards, Doug. and Jeanette.

Thank you New Zealand Self-Drive for a wonderful trip to the South Island. The materials you sent us were perfect and loaded with the info, directions, and drive times we needed for a hassle-free trip. We encourage everyone to see Christchurch, even though it is still in re-build mode. The people are fantastic. Eliza's Bed and Breakfast was worth the trip alone. Ann and Harold are wonderful hosts, and everything is within walking distance. Do not miss the botanical gardens. Mount Cook was awe-inspiring. Star gazing was great. Book a view room in the Aoraki wing at the Hermitage Hotel. You won't be disappointed. Queenstown was great fun, with something for everyone. We did the gondola (outstanding views) and the luge ride (thrilling if you are 10 years old; otherwise pretty tame). The paragliding off the top was unbelievable . . . well worth it. Milford Sound with Real Journeys is a must-do. We decided to take the tour rather than drive. Glad we did. It is really a long way unless you decide to stay in Te Anau. The west coast was rugged and beautiful. We could have spent a few more days there hiking and exploring Franz Josef, Hokitika and Greymouth before catching the scenic train back to Christchurch. The only bump we encountered is we ordered the Kruze GPS system for our car, and it never showed up and we never heard from them. New Zealand Self Drive made sure we were refunded right away. Thank you Michelle for a perfect trip!

Our tour of both North and South Islands was most enjoyable. It was well planned with a good standard of accommodation. Things ran smoothly with respect to travel and the arrangements to pick and drop off our pre booked rental car. Fly drive suited us as we could explore where & when we wanted. We prepared our own breakfasts in our studio accommodation, sometimes making sandwiches for lunch & sampling haute cuisine when the regional food source just begged to be tried. New Zealand has such variety in scenery, climate, and types of activity it is a great place to visit.

Hi Michelle, Well, where can i start? The trip was very much the most enjoyable of our lives! Everything from the beginning to the end was perfectly planned by you and we are so grateful. Thank you for changing our plans in Queenstown. The weather was on our side for Milford Sound and it was majestic, we even got to enjoy a flight back (which couldn’t have been done the day we had planned). The wine tours were so great, informative and delicious. I would recommend both for everyone interested. If we were in Blenheim again, we would rent bikes and go on wine tours. Hobbiton was right up our alley and we had a lot of fun. Just to let you know-- we are the people that wore our Elvish cloaks, stylishly sewn by our daughter Noelle. Rotorua was our favorite B and B, it is too bad that Brian and Val are closing up shop! They were delightful! That being said our other B and B’s were incredible-each one! loved our accommodations in Wellington and wish we could have planned longer- it looked like such a nice city to explore. The only thing that cancelled on us because of weather was our Heli-flight. Bummer but we enjoyed our hikes along the Fox and Frans Joseph Glaciers. Mt Cook is incredible! We took our most favorite hike there to the glacier. We were so impressed with the warm welcome and general niceness of New Zealanders. They are much like the people here in the mid west of the USA. We will be back because there is so much more to explore. We kept thinking, this is a place we could live (but we know this is almost impossible). I hope you realise how lucky you are to live in such a beautiful place. Every turn brings another postcard picture. Every path a new adventure. Thanks to you and New Zealand Fine Touring, for sharing your beautiful country and people. We loved it! Sue Gartzke

We had heard so much about New Zealand, our expectations were high. Our expectations were exceeded. We were able to relax, take in the most amazing scenery and enjoy the warmth and friendliness of the New Zealand people. All the arrangements made for us by New Zealand Self Drive Tours went without a single hitch. Michelle Chave was very friendly, efficient and professional in our many discussions from what to wear to what was the best mobile phone provider. From our experience no travel trip completes without a small problem. Well this one completed without any problems or issues. Largely due to the work that Michelle and New Zealand self drive did before our arrival. All of the accommodation was to a high standard and fully met our requirements. We received a sat nav with our car; this was useful in finding our way out of Christchurch. After that it was not really needed. It predicted that our first trip from Christchurch to Mount Cook , a distance of 329kms would take just under 5 hours. In fact it took a little over 8 hours, the roads were great the weather for driving was great. The problem was the scenery; we had to keep stopping to take it in! The people are very friendly and helpful. A stop for fuel resulted in directions from the garage owner to Mount John observatory overlooking Lake Tekapo. A great stop for a coffee and something to eat. We able to fully enjoy our tour of the south island due to the arrangements and advise fro New Zealand Self drive tours. Who are only as good as the folk they employ and in Michelle Chave they have an excellent professional. Many Thanks. Paul and Sandie Grace. PS forgot to mention the wonderful photo atlas provided in the travel pack, which also contained detailed driving instructions and maps.

Thanks to everyone at New Zealand Self Drive tours and in particular Michelle. We have had a wonderful holiday exploring North and South Islands. This is the second time we have booked with you and both times have been excellent. The detailed knowledge that you have, the tailor made itineraries you provide , the speed of response and the impeccable organisation of the whole trip are all First Class. We stayed at some lovely places, at the North Island accommodation in small motels we met some great owners. All of them were very helpful and welcoming. Kamahi Cottage was outstanding. South Island, the accommodation was larger hotels and they too were excellent. The cars provided were new and very comfortable for long road trips. Driving instructions provided assume use of a sat nav, which we didn't have but we did manage okay. We had a great time and have no hesitation in recommending you to our friends. Thanks once again from Martin and Maureen Whitehead

Well planned trip with excellent luxury accommodations. Recommended tours to Hole in the Rock, Mitai Maori Village and Maori Rock Carving cruise aboard the Barbary were very enjoyable. Peppers on the Point in Rotorua was our favorite accommodation. For anyone taking a self driving tour recommend renting a GPS (only $11 per day). Just be sure it is set to English language before leaving the rental car counter Consider a visit to Hobbiton if you enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies.

If you want to see NZ I would definitely recommend this company. Everything was so easy and the voucher system worked beautifully.They put in the perfect amount of trips and gave us a lovely mix of places to stay. The drives were all easily managed and beautifully scenic. I enjoyed reading the extra information and deciding what to see along the way. It was also good having paid before travelling so less cash needed on holiday. If you are debating whether to do it or not GO FOR IT.

We are very pleased with the prompt response from Michelle Slater - our tour consultant, after our initial internet query. She did an excellent job in arranging our custom tour - car rentals and hotel accommodations. The icing on the cake is the custom tour brochure that Michelle had prepared - step by step directions in color - the best to date from any tour organiser. We had a minor problem with one of our hotels and Michelle got on it right away - excellent service, courteous and prompt. I certain would recommend NZFT to all my friends. We enjoyed our tour very much and look forward to returning to NZ in the future. Thanks Michelle for excellent job. Dave Chiang

We would like to give you a great big thank you for organising our holiday. Faced with so much choice, and not a lot of knowledge about your country, we left it in your capable hands .   The itinerary was excellent, especially the facilities in the hotels, as were the directions, although we had a GPS it was good to cross check.
 

The trip was everything we expected and more. All accommodations and travel arrangements worked out well. There were absolutely no major hitches. The car and driving went smooth. So far Europcar was great to work with. We really enjoyed the Split Apple Lodge and the Murrells' Grand View House.

We found the overall self driving tour to be a great way to see New Zealand. Driving on the "other side of the road" proved to be easier than we thought. Saw many interesting sites and we enjoyed the tours that were arranged for us. We especially enjoyed the B&B's on our trip as we felt we got to experience N.Z.

Arrangements you made were first class all round - even the late changes we made in Auckland.  We have already passed on your name and contact details to two other couples thinking of doing something similar later this year or early next year.

Hi Kerry We had a wonderful time in New Zealand all the arrangements went perfectly. Only problem was my fault when we arrived in Picton the car was only put in my name but the following day we drove back to sort it out and spent a lovely day walking the track along Queen Charlotte sound - excellent.

We were very happy with your responses to our requests, emails and the way we were handled. The accommodations ranged from very good to exceptional. Exceptional were the Copthorne Hotel at the Bay of Islands (exceptional view) and the Waipoua Lodge. Activities were good. We had a great vacation and we thank you for that.

Dear Michelle,

We had a wonderful holiday and were overjoyed with the beauty of New Zealand and for the service your company provided. As far as the itinerary was concerned  everything ran like clockwork, times, distances and routes worked well especially as we were concerned that we might have tried to fit too much in.

We had the best holiday of our lives.  Naturally this was due to the beautiful country side and we were blessed with near perfect weather. I am also very happy with absolutely every aspect of the tour, accommodation and activities that were arranged for us everything went off without a hitch.

Hi Michelle
Sorry I haven't been in touch earlier, we were just blown away by South Island. Louise says everything was sweet with her! Thank you for all your help it was reassuring to know there was someone that could help us if there were any problems. We just need to save now to do a more in depth tour of the South Island!
Many thanks
Tony ,Liz & Louise Grantham

We had an amazing trip! First of all, all of the pre-arranged pick-ups and drop-offs went off very smoothly. We never had to wait and were treated most courteously by great drivers.

Dear Kerry, yes, we got home safely and had a wonderful (albeit tiring) holiday. New Zealand is a wonderful country and has a lot to offer. We encountered many English people there and agreed that we were lucky to escape the awful weather in the British Isles. We were very satisfied with your company, everything went like clockwork. The hotels were mostly great, I should specifically praise the one in Auckland, where accidentally I left my eye-drops that I need to treat my glaucoma in the fridge, and when I phoned them they immediately dispatched them to the next but one hotel where the package was waiting for me on arrival. Fantastic service.

In 15 days we did both South and North Island. The travel planning we did together with Shelly, who is a good listener and give the best advice so our trip was a tailor made success for us. We had focus on nature, wine and convenient accommodations with walking distance to restaurants. The highlights were everything!

We wanted to thank Shelley and the team for arranging this wonderful trip for us and for looking after us so well when we were 'on the road'. It really was a 'Holiday of a lifetime'. Our favorite bits were probably the Hike at Fox Glacier and Eliza Manor Hotel in Christchurch. Although the stunning views around Lake Wanaka were breathtaking! We saw some incredible landscapes, lakes and skies on this trip - NZ was certainly everything we expected it to be!

Hi Shelly,

We planned a 5 week tour of New Zealand and did an Internet search for a tour company. Shelly from New Zealand Self Drive Tours answered immediately. She suggested an itinerary and had a wonderful tour planned. After a few minor suggestions we accepted the tour. Everything was done efficiently and quickly.

Shelly - Good to hear from you I have been meaning to contact you with our comments since we returned to the UK on the 12th February - so your prompter is timely.  Overall we had a very good and enjoyable trip and subject only to the few comments noted below were satisfied with all the arrangements which were clear and precise and helpful.

We had a fantastic time, and only wish we had another couple of weeks. The service and professionalism of all who contributed to our trip can not be underrated. Standouts were the glacier (snow in summer!) and Queenstown, the TSS Earnshaw and Oamaru and the glow worms and Milford Sound and the wine and the food and the friendly people. Loved it all

Thank you arranging a wonderful holiday; we had an incredibly enjoyable 2 weeks with only 1 bad day of weather. The accommodation was what we expected and provided exactly what we needed.

My wife and I just returned from a wonderful one month trip to New Zealand. Thanks to the staff at NZ Self Drive Tours our trip went off perfectly. The choices of accommodations were just right for us and gave us a chance to meet the most interesting people.

We spend a good time in NZ, the tour was very good organised, on time, friendly and exactly what we wanted to see. Thank you Shelley

Dear Jessica, everything went well, the hotels were great especially Quest Rotorua - very clean and beautiful and Colin was very helpful and actually waited for us to check-in! I must say New Zealand is a very, very beautiful and amazing country.

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with some feedback on my recent trip to New Zealand. Overall, I would suggest that this was one of the best, and most well organised trips my wife and I have ever been on.

Arrived safe in Charlotte last night. Just wanted to send a quick thank-you for all of the fine work you do in organising these trips. Everything went so smoothly and all of the folks we dealt with had nothing but praise for your company.

Hi Jessica,

Our trip was unbelievably wonderful.  We fully intended to visit you in Wanaka, but in the excitement of the trip, we totally forgot!   

We can't thank you enough for the wonderful trip. 

Hi Jessica and thanks for the feedback invitation.

Nearly everything went very well thanks, but there were a couple of little hiccups which caused mild concern and wasted an hour or so of time. 

These were firstly, when we arrived at Auckland the man was there to meet us, but his sign was turned round the wrong way, so there were other people's names on it (ours was on the reverse side.)  It wasn't a big deal and the guy who met us was very pleasant and helpful - but next time he might make sure his sign has the right names on.

Hi Jessica,Well yes, it's all over now I've been back 2 weeks tomorrow and it all feels like a dream now in more ways than one. I'd be happy to submit the following feedback.

OUTSTANDING! My husband Alan and I had been trying to plan our holiday of a lifetime in NZ for over 10 years. With my 50th and his 60th looming in Jan 2014and May.

Hello Michelle,

excuse my late answer, but we are very busy in Australia travelling and making different activities. Our New Zealand Holiday was unforgettable, perfectly organised and in very nice accommodations.

thank you for making our holiday so pleasant and easy.

All the services that you arranged for us were just great - the accommodation and the car (upgraded) - and we think you must have had a hand in the weather, too.  It was perfect.

We will certainly recommend you and your Company to our friends.

Thanks once again.

Regards - Phyl and Michael Clisby

Hi Michelle,

On behalf of Ross, Alyssa and myself I would like to say a big thank you for your suggestions and organisation of our short trip.

We absolutely fell in love with your country and 17 days was not long enough!  Paul and I would like to thank you and your company for an amazing vacation! We were so impressed with the DETAILED copy of our itinerary with driving instructions and the wonderful New Zealand Photo Atlas and Guide book, which will make a lovely keepsake and help us plan for our next vacation in NZ.

New Zealand Fine Touring offered very helpful info, and excellent arrangement; that also saved us a lot of time and energy or even trouble.

We can't thank you enough for helping us plan a wonderful honeymoon. I was a little wary to use an "outside" USA company but your company was very easy to deal with and we were even 'assigned' Michelle who was great and answered all our questions promptly.

Dear Shelley,

Sorry to take long time to reply. We had a great time in New Zealand. Everything went smoothly from the moment we land until we came home. It could not have been so by chance, but surely due to suggestions and arrangement you have made during our tour design phase.

Hi Shelley,  Happy New Year to you too.  We all had a fabulous time in New Zealand, we were very impressed with the tour you arranged for us, all the accommodation was excellent and the directions were spot on, we would definitely recommend you to our friends if they were planning a similar trip.