Unexplored Kiwi Bliss: Off the Beaten Track North Island Tour

Thanks to the amazing, perfectly planned Australia and New Zealand vacation itinerary provided by Zicasso's travel agency, and specifically the travel agent and her wonderful colleagues, this was the perfect vacation. We were well taken care of and flights were planned within the countries, with someone always greeting us at the next stop to move us through to our next adventure.  

We were always busy and saw the most wonderful things... a sunset dinner cruise on Sydney harbor, the march of the penguins at Phillip Island (she arranged for us to have a front-row seat!), snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, and touring the rainforest with an Aboriginal guide was very interesting! She arranged for many tours and activities, like a jet boat ride up the Dart River, a helicopter ride onto a glacier, and a TranzAlpine train ride in New Zealand. We also had a first-time-ever encounter with a pod of orca while on a boat tour in New Zealand. The whole trip was an unforgettable experience!

We wished we had taken the travel agent's advice and stayed longer. There was so much to see. We packed a lot into our four short weeks thanks to them. We highly recommend using them to plan your Australia and New Zealand itinerary.

I am very pleased to have worked with Zicasso’s travel agent and her company. I wanted to travel to Australia and New Zealand, and our agent’s suggestions on what and where to go and see were great. Where does one begin in planning for the trip and all the logistics to make it happen? I depended on your group and found the results exceeded my expectations. The trip flowed well and the experiences were great. Thank you for making the trip about seeing and experiencing rather than worrying about the logistics!  

There were many positive experiences, but the little details, like choosing the right rental car for the NZ roads and having a great limo service, made the difference. What was the highlight?  I wish I could distill it to one or two. I would rate Milford Sound and the Great Barrier Reef highly, but it was the overall experience that stood out. My personal thanks and those of my travel mates.

Zicasso's travel agency put together a fantastic itinerary for our trip to NZ and Australia. We asked for an “active” vacation, and they gave it to us! Our trip was filled with great adventures that we will remember forever. They did a great job of listening to what we wanted and making it happen.

Our itinerary in NZ was incredible. They really know both islands and all of the cool things to do there. We did some things that weren’t “mainstream” activities but they were really awesome and we’re glad we did them (most notable was the glow worm adventure – super cool!).

The Australia part of our trip wasn’t quite as good. We LOVED the lodge in the rainforest and Sydney (especially the Harbor Bridge Climb). But we went to Hamilton Island and it rained the entire time. The locals told us that February is the rainy season and it wasn’t a surprise to them that it was raining. It seems to us that the agency should have been aware of that and not sent us there at that time.

Overall it was a great trip. Our agent was very responsive to us during out trip when we had questions. She worked hard to make our experience a great one.

The itinerary was awesome! We had a few snafus with hotel reservations, but they were quickly resolved. The tours were perfect and all private, with excellent guides. The pace made good use of the time we had and maximized seeing the most locations in our time frame. The hotels were beautiful (especially the one in Queenstown, WOW!) and the rooms were perfect for our needs (kitchens and laundry). It was so great having everything pre-booked and guided, as it allowed us to relax and enjoy the trip and not worry about logistics. It was a trip of a lifetime.

I would highly recommend this Zicasso travel agency! When traveling so far away, it made such a difference to have everything coordinated by a professional. I have had many people ask how we managed to do so much with the time we had. Now, I don't think I can travel any other way.

Our trip was incredible. Zicasso’s tour operator was fantastic in planning and executing this special trip. We were in New Zealand for almost nine weeks.

Twice during our travel, we were able to get instant help to adjust our travel schedule, once because we wanted more time in one place and later to accommodate for being sick for a week.

Our trip involved 20 different hotels, inns, and guest houses, while experiencing boats, trains, and car driving to navigate both islands. The tour operator helped to arrange about 50 different events for us and then we added in many more ourselves before we left.

It has been almost a year since we traveled (Feb-Apr 2025). We have praised the tour operator (and Zicasso) to all our friends for its incredible attention to details and help anticipating all contingencies. The app for the trip was incredible in supporting the travel and collecting all the details of the arrangements comfortably in one place on our cell phones. We drove more than 2,000 miles during our trip and used Google Maps continually to navigate everywhere.

All our accommodations were comfortable. We carefully planned our packing to match the temperatures predicted for each location. We each traveled with a carry-on suitcase and a small backpack, and had everything we needed.

What helped with our planning was that we actually rehearsed the trip for several nights two months before we left and pre-planned special dinner reservations.

This was a great trip. We enjoyed many of the activities, especially the Māori experiences, the garden tours, the glowworm cave, the first wine tour on Waiheke Island, the kiwi hatchery, and Arthur’s Pass. The guides were excellent. All were courteous, prompt, and knowledgeable, and showed a high degree of enthusiasm. The reasons we give this travel company four instead of five stars is due to the poor hotel room we had in Queenstown, the slow response from the company concerning the hotel room, and the fact that they gave us no help in choosing restaurants or making reservations. One change I would have made in the itinerary would be to have just one wine-tasting day instead of two. The other activities were wonderful… fine choices.