Best 9-Day Private South Island Tour with Kids

We have just returned from a 6 week trip to Australia and New Zealand.  Our travel agents and their team at this travel company are personable, professional, knowledgeable and did an amazing job putting together our trip! Our collaboration involved several phone calls to discuss options and preferences as our trip was being organized as well as a pre-trip call to answer any questions.  Our email exchange was continuous and responses were very prompt.  We even received a call once during our travels to check in.  Our detailed itinerary was precise and accurate.  Every connection, tour, driver, hotel, etc. was on time and of excellent quality. While in New Zealand in Milford Sound our flight back to Queenstown was cancelled due to poor weather and we received a quick refund.                

In Australia we visited Sydney, Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road ( a favorite of ours!), Uluru, Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef, and Hobart, Tasmania.  We only stayed a few days in Tasmania but would love to return to enjoy more of the wilderness outside of Hobart.  

In New Zealand we visited Auckland and then drove to the Coromandel Peninsula, Rotorua, and Napier.  Then we flew to Christchurch on the South Island and drove to Mt. Cook, Queenstown, and Dunedin.  If you are big fans of the outdoors, spend more time on the South Island.                                                                                                                 

Our agent selected beautiful and centrally located lodging that usually offered laundry facilities-helpful for a long trip!  The travel company also provided a suggested restaurant list that proved to be excellent!  We would highly recommend this company for your Down Under adventures!  When we travel again to that part of the world, we will definitely call this company.

David and I were extremely lucky to have had Geoff of this travel company plan our 15 day itinerary in New Zealand, Nov 11 - 25. Our travel interests center primarily on nature, landscape and culture, and our early phone conversations with Geoff were extremely helpful in identifying areas of greatest interest. We talked to Geoff a few times going over an itinerary by email and phone that helped him create our trip of a lifetime vacation. Geoff’s own knowledge, advise and investigation for locations and experiences were amazing. Any sea animal, nature preserve, creature or bird we mentioned we would like to try to see were all worked into our inclusive, self-drive, private itinerary. Geoff and his wife, Libby were welcoming and helpful on our arrival in Twizel. Geoff gave us a great start and advice before we left and again whenever we needed it on our trip. David needed some minor medical care near the end of our trip and Geoff arranged and handled it both caring and professionally, which we knew he would. We drove the Southern Scenic Historical route which was fantastic. There was so much to see and take in at our choosing. Every small group excursion or tour we went on left us wanting to learn and investigate more on our own.

The accommodations Geoff arranged were exceptionally comfortable and beautiful. In addition, all of the staff we met were absolutely excellent and made sure that every need was met with genuine kindness and concern. When our luggage didn’t arrive with us in Christchurch one of the staff members at the hotel in Christchurch offered to pick it up the next day at the airport, because we would be out on an all day tour. Staying at the Lodge near Twizel was magical. Our bedroom opened to a pond filled with baby ducks, frogs and sounds that were delightful. One could have spent days there just watching the light and clouds change over the pond while in the background the Southern Alps lingered under the long white clouds. An entirely different memorable experience was our stay at the hotel near Dunedin where we dined at the Larnach Castle, while being able to tour the rooms and gardens. On Steward Island we stayed at a hotel, which were centrally located and easy to feel at home in. The Lodge was warm and inviting overlooking Te Anau lake, absolutely breathtaking. Lastly mentioned but not all of, the Hotel in Queenstown couldn’t make our final stay more accommodating or pleasurable when David was ill. 

We felt very comfortable planning our trip with Rick. We told him our interests, concerns and and the pace we wanted to travel at.  He presented us with an itinerary which we spent hours reviewing along with a map, photos and and a website. Our primary hub towns were Queenstown, Wellington and Christchurch. We used two regional flights and two trains with gorgeous views of the coast and mountains. We took a few cruises and a private flight over the glaciers. Our River Dartboat excursion was cancelled when the drivers came down with Covid and the swim with the Dolphins mistakenly cancelled us off this trip. Cyclone Gabriela damaged Napier and the Coromandel Penninsula and the access roads, so we had to create an alternate plan on the ground in NZ. We added two days at Waiheke Island and attempted a hike up mount Doom and visits to the Weta Projects in Auckland and Wellington.Rick was amazingly helpful with changes that had to be made before and during the trip. He was the best!

The trip was well planned. The response from Zicasso’s travel agency was prompt and helpful while planning and during the trip.

Our driver/guide was awesome; very knowledgeable in all aspects of travel and photography, well mannered and very helpful.

The ferry from Wellington to Picton was in awful condition. Most of the toilets did not work and the scenery was nowhere near as profound as described by the agency.

The three nights in Queenstown for senior citizens like us (65+) was too long if you are not into bungee jumping, rafting, kayaking, etc. Instead, it would have been nice to spend a day or two in a place like Wanaka, or one night in Te Anau near Milford Sound.

While the train trip from Greymouth to Christchurch was great and scenic, the agency should have booked the seats on the left side (facing the front of the train) as most of the nice views were on that side.

The hotel in Christchurch was way below the four- to five-star accommodation requested by us.

Overall, however, we had a great trip!