Kia Ora New Zealand Reviews

Wonderful holiday, we saw all the sights we wanted to visit plus extras. The tour director Gina and our driver Mark went above and beyond to make sure we had a great time even when the weather caused some problems. There was plenty of variety with optional tours. Everything was organised for us so we just had to sit back and relax. Highly recommend ...read moreed.

My daughter and I went on the 17day NZ coach trip on AAT Kings which incorporated both islands of the country. We thoroughly enjoyed each day. The group was cohesive and we met some lovely people. The tour director Aaron and the driver, Mike, were great ambassadors for their country. Having cruised to NZ many times, the coach trip was a way to see more ...read more deeply into this beautiful country. We would highly recommend this tour.

Global Journeys, in particular Yvonne Brooks, made the whole process simple. Her communication was friendly and personal. She returned emails promptly. I have already booked another Global Journeys tour with Yvonne and if she reads this and calls me back, I will have another destination for her to organise!!!!

A busy but rewarding and fulfilling tour. AAT and staff were brilliant, particularly the small female bus driver (Monica), wow, some of the tight squeezes she manoeuvred the bus into, many would not have fitted a car!!! Overall brilliant, so will just mention the couple of low lights. New room access cards used at one motel, didn't work, and many ...read more had trouble with them, and lift situation at one motel was woeful, it took 45 minutes for the last of our 48 crew to get into a lift to get to their room after a long day.

This was my second visit to New Zealand. The tour director Tania and Paul our driver were fantastic. My fellow travellers were mostly retired professionals from USA, UK, SA and Australia. Unfortunately in course of the tour people were joining and leaving. The highlights were Milford Sound, TranzAlpine Train, Maori village and farewell dinner! For me ...read more it was uplifting to see Christchurch being rebuilt and Christchurch Art Gallery reopened. I will certainly book another AAT Kings tour with Global Journeys.

Our tour bus driver was an excellent driver for the roads of New Zealand. Our tour guide was not as efficient as should be mainly because she did not have a break between our tour and her previous one. she was still trying to finish of that tour as well as doing ours. She was however very helpful when two of our group became ill. Thank you.

Tour was great!!! The tour guide (Mark) was very knowledgeable as was the drive (Paul). The New Zealand scenery was beautiful especially the South Island. Thanks for your help in setting it up.

Wonderful experience that I will remember for the rest of my life and I would do it again and again.

I have been home for a week however this is the first time that I have had to sit and inform you of my trip to New Zealand. Had a super time. Cannot complain about accommodation or meals and the weather was to die for. The tour became known as the 'sunshine tour'. We had cool mornings in a couple of places but really nice crisp days and luke warm sun. ...read more North Island turned on especially good weather, one day of rain but about 23 degrees for all days. Super! I reckon I met the best driver and the best tour director - two people who were passionate about their country and it showed - they provided brilliant commentary and a history of your country. If I had hired a vehicle and driven myself I wouldn't have gained the information that I did. Thx Georgie, it was all good!

Tour was of both islands. Although we arrived very late in the evening we were received both at the airport and hotel in Auckland with courtesy. Our Tour Director and Drivers were attentive in every way. The hotels were good enough we can't complain and our requests were met in every way. Free days were very beneficial. Places we saw were great. We ...read more were lucky that the group were all nice and this made it even more successful. The tour was just right, a little longer and it may have been too much. The only regret we have is for Christchurch and the earthquake which we escaped. We grew to love this small city and hope that it recovers through all this catastrophe. We can not fault the tour in any way and would be happy to recommend Global Journeys & AATKings to friends and family.

The tour was great, my husband & I enjoyed it very much. Our Tour director Julianne was excellent, helpful, accommodating & knowledgable in regards to NZ which exceeded our expectations. Our coach driver Timati was also exceptional & friendly. We found the tour options to be very expensive & couldn't justify the cost, so for this reason we only did ...read more a couple of them. Other tour companions which we met were also saying the side tours were too expensive and there were no group discounts or something like that. I'd like to also mention that the TranzAlpine train fare you charged us was $118 each & when i enquired at the railway station in Dunedin they told me $89 each for the same trip & day (RJ - The price charged by the Operator includes transfers). That is a huge difference. Nevertheless, we still had a great time in New Zealand & enjoyed it very much.

We booked our NZ holiday through Georgina at Global Journeys about 10 months before our trip. One thing I found reassuring was that before we booked, every time I made an email enquiry, Georgina got back to me very quickly, so that gave us the confidence to go ahead with an overseas company. Our trip was 17 days, starting in Auckland, travelling to ...read more Bay of Islands, then returning to Auckland to travel down from north to south, finishing in Christchurch. Everything went very smoothly. The actual tour was with AATKings and our bus driver Paul and tour guide Julie were outstanding. One advantage of being on an escorted coach tour is the wealth of local knowledge that these people can share. I am sure I learnt much more about NZ than I would have been able to achieve otherwise. Julie should be congratulated on her organisation, as each day she would give us a sheet that would outline the times and special notes about activities for the next day. She also booked wake up calls for everyone. People I spoke to said she was far and away the best tour guide they had had on a coach tour. My husband has a bad back but found the coaches very comfortable. Most people on the trip were Australian, with a fair sprinkling of English plus some Americans. Age range was generally 40s to 60s, although once we arrived in the South Island, many other people joined us, including two families, both with two teenage children. The teens got on very well and had a ball, but it may have been a lonely time for them had the other family not been there. New Zealand is an achingly beautiful country-much more so than I expected. It is also a friendly country. I was touched to have strangers come up and shake our hand, wish us well, once they found we were from Australia. People on our tour commented on how spotless the country is. It seems to be a nation where the people take pride in their country. Our hotels were, on the whole, very good, although some were stand out favourites. The Copthorne at Bay of Islands had by far the best buffet at night. The heating and cooling in the hotels is generally not up to Aussie standards though. I would not hesitate to use Global Journeys again to book a holiday, AATKings were excellent, the other passengers were great, NZ itself is outstanding. We finished our tour in Christchurch - such an absolutely beautiful city. I hope all those tour guides and drivers were able to stay safe in the recent earthquake and our hope is to one day be able to visit NZ again. (RJ - Edited for brevity)

Our trip in New Zealand was wonderful. Both the coach driver, Dennis and the tour guide, Arthur, were amazingly knowledgeable and gave us a real insight into the way of life in NZ. We learnt so much about your beautiful country, hotels were good and very good and food mostly good too. Many thanks for a memorable and relaxing holiday.