Two Week South Island, New Zealand Itineraries

It was great working with Zicasso's travel specialist, and the traveling was great, getting around to all the places. Below are the events that were cancelled on us due to the weather:

Tranz Alpine train ride - Scenic Plus to Greymouth, staying in the Rainforest Retreat, Franz Josef Twin Glacier, Kayak, and walk tour, Milford Sound/Fjordland. That's not the travel specialist's fault, but I would never go to New Zealand in October, ever again. All the roads were closed, and we ended up taking a taxi cab from Christchurch to Queenstown, and that was a rough trip due to the high winds. We should have started in Australia instead of starting in Aukland, New Zealand. That's from my experience.

Zicasso’s trip planner did an excellent job. Communication and the quality of the experiences were everything we'd expected and more, especially in New Zealand. The accommodations were first rate; the highlight was the lodge in Queenstown. The guides and drivers were professional and knowledgeable, especially those in Queenstown and Auckland. We loved the dedicated website for reference, as well as the detailed booklet and maps for both countries. 

For future itineraries, I would add another day in Queenstown and a full day in Christchurch. If days were limited, I would recommend one less day in Auckland and/or skipping the drive/train from Franz Josef. 

The only complication was the day we spent 10 hours going to and coming from Milford Sound.  I recommend doing Milford Sound by plane/helicopter from Queenstown, which would also permit seeing the glaciers/southern alps from the air. The only things we missed were the zoo in Auckland and the Blue Mountain day tour in Sydney. Next trip!

Zicasso’s travel agent did an excellent job planning this trip. We loved New Zealand.

If we were to do it over, we would probably reduce the hours on buses and vans by perhaps flying, for example, from Christchurch to Queenstown.

We loved our Māori cultural evening and the Redwoods evening light show in Rotorua.

We wondered why we were collected at 8am and driven to the airport in Rotorua, where we ended up spending over six hours at the airport, leaving little time to spend in Christchurch that day. It did not make any sense to us.

We loved Queenstown and the accommodation at our hotel in Queenstown. Queenstown was the highlight of our trip. Unfortunately, and beyond anyone's control, our kayaking trip was cut short due to windy weather and we were unable to do the glacier heli-hike in Franz Josef, also due to weather conditions, leaving us with a lot of time in a much less desirable town and our worst accommodation for nearly two days.

The rail adventure was superb.

We had an escorted tour to New Zealand with a big tour company, but wanted to add on a few days at the end without the tour company. So I contacted Zicasso, who we have used for African safaris. They set us up with our trip planners. From half a world away, I could have booked the three hotels and rental car myself, but I wanted the expertise and back-up of somebody right there in New Zealand in case of problems. And I am glad we did. Our agent was always available by phone or email to answer questions. We picked up the rental car at Queenstown airport, then had two nights at Mount Cook Village, with spectacular vistas of the Southern Alps, then two nights at Wānaka, another of the scenic spots of the South Island. We met our agent at the tour office on our way out of town. Then, the last night was in Queenstown.

The trouble started the next afternoon while waiting for our flight home from Queenstown airport. All flights were canceled that afternoon due to heavy wind shear. They booked us for the next day. Hundreds of people were scrambling to get hotel rooms, like we were. We just could not find anything on our own and were thinking we would have to sleep in the bushes, since the airport closed at night. But then I called our agent and, within a few minutes, she had us booked in one of the last available rooms in Queenstown. This is what I meant by “back-up in case of problems.” I am very glad we went with Zicasso’s tour company and will use them if we go back to New Zealand.

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.