Unexplored Kiwi Bliss: Off the Beaten Track North Island Tour

We were very happy with nearly all of the planning by our South Pacific travel agency.  As this was an action-oriented golf and wine trip, the following suggestions are being made for future travelers planning the same type of trip:

1) Never put anyone in the Deco Motor Lodge in Hawkes Bay - it was one of the worst motels/hotels I had ever stayed in.  Additionally, make sure if accommodations have two+ floors without an elevator, that women with 7 bags weighing in excess of 300 pounds are not placed on the 2nd floor as we were.  Also, it would have been nice to know that upon our arrival after golfing at Cape Kidnappers, that nothing would be open for dinner.

2) Marlborough and Hawkes Bay wine tours were amazing, both in terms of the guides + wineries experienced. The Central Otago tour was much more limited and we didn't get to experience nearly as much.  Also, it would have been nice to have been provided with more details/information on the New Zealand wine regions/wineries we were to experience.

3) While we had selected golf courses to play based on internet research, it would have been nice to have someone confirm our selections.  We stayed in Pahia (wonderful!) and drove 90 minutes north to play Carrington and it was an awful course.

4) We were very excited about our Mauri tour and Robert our guide was wonderful.  However we spent the first hour touring a school (which was interesting but way too long) and with the entire tour ending up being 90 minutes longer than planned, we were late for our next private wine tour.  Our guide had to wait for us to change clothes and we were really rushed.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip and these comments are intended to help this company with the next group of golfers/wine enthusiasts.  My friends and I fell in love with New Zealand and can't wait to return!

Sincerely,

Cindy T.

When initially planning our 2 to 3-week trip to New Zealand/Fiji, my wife and I chose to use Zicasso as we had used them before for prior trips to Asia. We were expecting the usual 3 estimates and initial itineraries from tour companies but only received 2.

An introductory phone call to outline our initial thinking was arranged with each. We had some ideas of what we wanted and some specific things that we simply did not want to do such as the generic tourism activities. The other company, and when the call happened the representative did not know our names or have any information about our needs at hand. They simply suggested the standard tourism packages. As we were looking for suggestions for a more customized trip we felt they did not understand our needs.

The company that we chose, on the other hand was totally responsive. Through several calls and emails, our agent made many suggestions and put together what turned out to be a 24-day adventure to both the North and South Islands of New Zealand. We decided to skip Fiji. Although all aspects of the trip were fabulous, there were two highlights that made it very special. First, was the day we spent in Hawkes Bay with a Waimarama Maori elder who provided us with fascinating facts about the history and culture of the Maori people as we toured around the countryside. He even took us to the Maori art school in Hastings when he discovered my wife is an artist, and we got to talk to the students and see the work they were so proud of. That evening, we attended an opening reception at the Napier Art Museum, where one of the professors was exhibiting. Second was the day we spent in Glentunnel visiting a working sheep and cattle farm run by a young man our agent knows. Not only was it truly a fascinating experience for us city dwellers, but the farm is in a gorgeous setting with white-capped mountains rising from rolling green fields, giving us lots of photo opportunities.

We want to express our sincere thanks to this travel company and especially our agent for the simply fabulous trip she organized for us. From the early planning phone calls to discuss exactly what we were looking for in our trip to even meeting us for lunch in one of our stops in Nelson to make sure all was as expected. The hotels, B&B’s, cruises, tours, transportation and activities were all 5 star. Everything worked exactly as planned.

As experienced global travelers, the work of this travel company made this adventure through the North and South Islands of New Zealand fantastic. 

This travel agent and the travel company team were out of this world! They crafted an amazing four-week adventure for us in New Zealand and Fiji. We started in Te Anau, NZ, where we focused on hiking and boating to both the Milford and Doubtful Sounds. We flew from Te Anau to the Nelson area at the top of the south island and fell in love with Mapua, located just 30 minutes from Nelson. We explored the Abel Tasman area extensively there. Next, we traveled (by plane again) to Russell, just across the way from Pahia and Kerikeri. It was a dream of a place, and we continued to hike, sail, and eat amazing food and drink delicious wines. Our accommodations couldn't have been better! Our travel company thought of everything! Last stop was Fiji - this their idea - make a stop in a super relaxing place on the way home back to Texas. The resort was out of a picture book - we had an extraordinary villa with our own plunge pool - the service, food, and staff were beyond amazing. We highly recommend this company - even when we had a travel snag, our agent answered his cell straight away and was on call to help us get to a solution. Can't say enough good things about him and his team!