All Reviews
Relaxing Journeys

The trip as arranged went exactly to plan. Could not fault the arrangements made for us for our trip. Please accept these comments, not as criticism, but as advise on how we think things could be changed. 1) Our accommodation at the Alpine Pacific Motes & Holiday Park at Kaikoura was acceptable, the problem was that the room was a studio room, and not a one bedroom room as requested. 2) The Archway Motel at Wanaka, left a lot to be desired. If it was not prepaid we would have walked away and stayed somewhere else. Rooms were old and tired. The hand towels were stained. The dishes had not been cleaned and were covered with the remains of eggs and bacon. Smelt stale upon entering. No power points available for the use of a hair dryer other than in a bedroom, which could only be used with an extension lead. 3) Suggest that consideration that the Archway Motel be taken from the list of accommodation. Since arriving home have read bad reports about above on TripAdvisor. All other arrangements/tours were of a very high quality and very enjoyable, especially the glacier tour at Mt Cook. Accommodation other than that listed was to perfection. Itinerary worked well for us, and travelling times between towns was good and achievable. We must thank Marie for her help during the process of setting up our trip and for arranging a prompt refund from Thrifty on our rental car. It was a trip of a lifetime and we will have everlasting memories of our time in the South Island.

We were were very happy with our itinerary and the amount of information and attention to detail in the instructions. It saved us a good deal of time and was so much less stressful than our last overseas trip booked by a travel agent. Just a couple of comments, though: Our room at Quest Auckland had a terrible smell, which we have reported to Quest in our review form. As you are aware, the road from Blenheim to Kaikoura via the coast is closed until at least November due to last year’s earthquake. The drive via the alternative route took us over 8 hours, not 6 1/2 hours (per itinerary). This was due to numerous roadworks where we had to stop for up to 5 mins each time and speed limits of 30 kmh in those areas. The road was pretty bad in a lot of places, especially between Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura, where there were constant detours and areas of rough road. Kaikoura is pretty much still in disarray e.g. the whale watching tours are only going on average once or maybe twice a day, depending on tides due to damage to the marina. The road south to Christchurch was only open 3 days a week at the time, so we were lucky that our travel day was one of those. A caution in the itinerary about the roads wouldn’t go astray. In our opinion, it would be better to spend a day at Wellington and skip Kaikoura altogether until the coast road is open again. We got to Wellington too late to do anything on our day of arrival and had to depart the next morning so another day would have been handy.
Overall, we had a wonderful time. The weather was fantastic and we got to do the helihike to the Franz Josef Glacier, which was the one thing I was worried about being cancelled. Thank you for your assistance and planning. We would have no hesitation in booking with you again.

The trip was amazing and everything went so smoothly. We loved every minute of it and appreciated all the preparation that went into making our holiday such a wonderful experience.

Amazing, the best part of out holiday, treated like VIP the whole time from the car journey to the boat. Fantastic. Staff amazing and friendly, boat was luxurious and spotless and loads of activities and the food was great and plenty of it. Thanks so much, could not recommend it more highly.

Toni Harris thoughtfully planned everything at a pace where we don’t exhaust ourselves. That to me is a well deserved pat on the back for her. Plus she’s so patient with my questions which sometimes seems silly but she answers in a way that I feel I can ask anything. Well done.

A very well organised tour. The accommodation all around was great, particularly in Queenstown. Our Kruse GPS led us astray a couple of times probably because the GPS signal wasn’t so good in some places but we ended up seeing some beautiful countryside because of it. The Kruse didn’t initially work in Christchurch because a radio station was using the same frequency, but that was sorted once we got out of the city area. Might be worth mentioning to new customers so they don’t worry that the Kruse isn’t working. Overall the experience was wonderful, beautiful country with friendly people all round. Thank you again Toni for your assistance with arrangements. We will probably come back and do the North Island next time.

Words aren’t enough to describe my experience. We were lucky to have clear & sunny weather on 20th & 21st as well with snow fallen just a day before. The crew of Real Journeys absolutely deserve an appreciation for their sincere hospitality.

So good to come so close to an unspoiled part of the earth. Very comfortable and welcoming cruising people, good food, especially the NZ lamb, and super talks by the guide who’s name I didn’t get. Loved it all, thank you! And good to hear that some of our ticket goes to conservation.

Toni was extremely helpful in adjusting our itinerary. Would definitely recommend this tour. The only suggestion I would have is that if given the choice we would have upgraded our accommodations in Queenstown.

We had a great time. Buffet meals were very good. Milford Sound is very dramatic. Naturalist could have been better but overall very good.

Excellent service from Mani and the crew from start to finish. Thoroughly enjoyed our overnight stay on the Mariner and will definitely be back to see The Sound in different weather.

This tour was outstanding, from start to finish. The staffers were all so upbeat and friendly and worked in a great team fashion. The food was excellent! The boat and rooms were well equipped. We had a clear evening for the start of the sail, which allowed us to go out in a tender with nature guide Greg to explore Harrison’s Cove and vicinity. Greg gave an informative and fun slideshow after dinner, which helped us to better understand the habitat of Milford Sound. During the night the weather turned, but the next morning the skipper was still able to commandeer the boat expertly in turbulent waters out to St. Anne Point. The waterfalls everywhere were amazing! We will treasure our memories of this special place for a long time.