Eileen & Paul Varetto

Well this is the longest testimonial and trip report I have ever received. The fact that you have put so much time and thought into this says a lot Eileen and I am so grateful. We have everything here readers - fancy dress, lost luggage, G&Ts on the beach, helpful Kiwi bobbies and Jeremy Palmer saving the day, sort of like Champion the Wonder Horse but with two legs and a phone.

Paul & Eileen all dressed up in Napier,

fortunately with somewhere to go

Our second NZ trip came about as a result of an invitation from friends to visit them there whilst they were staying with their daughter who lives north of Auckland. Paul Carberry organised some cut rate flights via Singapore for a 6 week holiday and we decided to spend 3 of those weeks travelling independently with our friends exploring Auckland and the areas north and east of the city. We then followed the well trodden tourist routes round the Coromandel Peninsula to Rotorua and Lake Taupo before ending up in the Art Deco town of Napier built in this style after the original town was destroyed in the 1931. On Paul C’s advice we timed our visit there to coincide with the Festival weekend – a not so serious celebration of the Art Deco style.

Paul C managed to get us a friendly homestay cottage at a very busy time and so, as nearly everyone seems to dress the part, we decided to enter into the spirit of things as you can see. Whilst having a delicious meal at the Masonic Hotel on the front we watched the vintage cars arrive on Friday night and soaked up the atmosphere. Saturday was the big parade of cars and people with pipe bands and a flying display and in the evening there were jazz bands and dancing. On Sunday we made our salmon and cucumber sandwiches and took a few bottles of bubbly to the Gatsby picnic on the front where everyone else was doing the same thing to a lesser or greater extent. Everyone visited each others picnic and admired dresses and antiques and listened to the bands and the barbershop choir. It was such an all inclusive friendly weekend and I have to say it cost us very little as the main events were free – in fact I think it cost a feather boa and a pair of braces!

A pensive Paul at Whangamata Beach

on the Coromandel Peninsula

At this point we left our friends and for the next 3 weeks were guided by New Zealand In Depth. We had a memorable weekend in Wellington which was hosting the Arts Festival. We went to the Circa Theatre, watched dragon racing in the harbour, ate extremely well at Shed 5 (delicious oysters) and Paul managed to shake Vladimir Ashkenazy’s hand which made his weekend complete.

Gannet colony at Muriwai Beach

The next move was a flight from Wellington to Nelson in South Island from where we were driving to Golden Bay near Abel Tasman Park to stay for a week. Having checked in we discovered that I had left Paul’s hand luggage in the taxi (Yes apparently that’s the way it works – I was in charge of it whilst Paul paid the driver!). Panic ensued and that awful feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know you’ve been a plonker! We got in touch with ID Tours (New Zealand In Depth’s partner in Auckland) since all our vouchers, flight tickets home and, most important, our medication were in the hand luggage. They assured us we could carry on without the vouchers and they would sort them out and so we took the flight and made our way to Pohara in Golden Bay where our accommodation was overlooking a spectacular beach. From our balcony we could watch the surf and the oystercatchers and also the locals sand surfing - all whilst sinking a G & T!

A phone call from Jeremy at ID Tours at about 4.30pm brightened up our day even more when he told us that the bag had been handed in by the taxi driver to the police in Lower Hutt. The police couldn’t have been more helpful and arranged for the bag to be couriered to us the next day. So we picked it up from Takaka (5km away) and inside it, absolutely everything was there – including tickets, iPod and medication. This saved us so much hassle and we were very impressed by the honesty of the driver and the speed with which the police returned the bag to us. I have to say, I did wonder if the same would happen to a tourist in the UK.

Indiana Jones still at large in Abel Tasman National Park?

A few days in Picton followed exploring the Marlborough wine region and Queen Charlotte Sound. Then we took the Interislander ferry back to Wellington – a stunning trip - and drove up the western side of the island. Not quite so touristy but I loved seeing Mount Taranaki and New Plymouth itself with its 7km coastal walkway. Our final stop at Otorohanga was really memorable. Kamahi Cottage was absolutely delightful and catered for our every need. An inspired choice Paul! Liz cooked us some wonderful meals and we left feeling we had made a friend. Sadly Auckland and the long flight home beckoned but, once again, New Zealand In Depth had delivered a memorable holiday.

Mark & Alan

Thank you Mark and Alan for your great feedback and some excellent pics selected from the 4000 you took!

Mark & Alan by the Buller River

Hi Paul

We had a fantastic time on the South Island (despite the snow and freezing accommodation on the Catlins – however Fergus and Mary’s hospitality certainly made up for that, they are really lovely people). Probably the only thing we would do differently in retrospect would have been to skip Wellington (didn’t like it there much) and probably the Cook Islands too, which although lovely and a great chill out, we would probably have enjoyed the time more in NZ.

Quite a view from Fergus and Mary's

place in the Catlins

We loved Dunedin (especially the railway journey and Olveston House stand out in my memory) and Christchurch (and would have really liked a couple more nights there), the glow worm caves Alan still mentions often as an amazing experience. We loved the accommodation at Arrowtown – an amazing place to stay, and although Queenstown didn’t blow us away, we really liked Arrowtown. The lupins on the beach at lake Tekapo were another highlight – an extraordinarily beautiful place.

Lupins, Lake Tekapo

Probably the highlights were the cruises on Milford and Doubtful Sounds which were very, very special. We managed to take over 4000 photographs over the month, which are going to take a while to sort out! All the arrangements went smoothly and we were very impressed by the quality of most of the restaurants we tried.

The last few days in Golden bay we thoroughly enjoyed – we visited a fantastic private garden, possibly the finest ‘English’ garden we’ve ever visited in private ownership and once again the accommodation was great. The Mussel Inn is fantastic – very very sociable and great food – we enjoyed both a poetry evening and an Irish folk music evening there. Sadly the very last full day was very very wet – but even so it is a lovely part of the world.

Anyway Paul, we are very grateful for your efforts in making the trip truly wonderful – the most extravagant holiday we’ve ever had! I have on my return, and out of interest, filled in the online immigration qualification form however sadly I don’t have enough points, probably too old!

Best wishes

Mark & Alan

Rarotonga

Anne & Peter Haywood

Many thanks Anne & Peter and well done with that weather in the Southern Alps!!

Hi there Paul

Well here we are returned from our epic journey. We absolutely loved NZ and its people. We had the time of our lives. The holiday not only came up to expectation but really exceeded it so thank you very much for your hard work. We certainly spread your name around in a positive way while we were there.

Anne & Peter

The Tathams

Many thanks to Judy, Peter, Amy and Jimmy for some great words and photos.

Just to let you know that we have had the most amazing time and thank you so much for all your help and for planning such a wonderful trip. Everything went very smoothly and I will send you the feedback form about the motels shortly.

You started us off magnificently at the Commodores Lodge in Russell, we loved being on the waterfront.

Sunset from Commodores Lodge

Hokianga Harbour

We enjoyed our experience in Stewart Island and the guided tour of Ulva Island with Furhana was fantastic, it makes such a difference when someone explains about the wildlife and trees amd mosses etc. we saw so much more than if we had been walking around on our own. I have to say that the boat trip over was pretty rough and I was sick, despite my vast experience of ferries and taking medication!! So I was quite relieved to be flying back.......the plane was pretty small though, but it only took 15minutes!

The Awatea Beach house was rather large for us, but I think that was because it was late booking....we did find it a bit cold though as there was no heating, but we managed to get the stove going in the living room. I think we are not as tough as the Stewart Islanders!!

Amy and Jimmy also thoroughly enjoyed their week away with us and the cruise on Doubtful Sound was so good, they went out in the kayaks and even went swimming in the rather chilly water afterwards, mind you they had brought their wet suits! The cruise was really worth doing, the staff were so friendly and helpful and the food was amazing. We met all sorts of people (including another set of your clients from Beaconsfield!). We saw dolphins and seals and Amy and Jimmy even got to drive the Navigator on the way back!!

Amy & Jimmy kayaking on Doubtful Sound

We followed the itinerary, except we did a couple of hikes and didn't do the glowworm caves at Te Anau as Amy doesn't like caves!

The internal flights with Air New Zealand were so easy, and we had a great stopover in Singapore with Singapore Airlines (talking to people, it seems to be the best way to get out there).

Lake Marian, Fiordland

All in all we've had some amazing experiences and it will take us a while to come back down to earth and to sort out our hundreds of photos!

Thanks again Paul