5/5 John W. 10 months ago on Google • 8 reviews
Wonderful
trip
to
New
Zealand
We’re
just
back
(Dec
2023)
from
a
trip
that
included
a
three
week
self-drive,
mostly
through
New
Zealand’s
South
Island,
organized
by
First
Light
Travel.
For
many
years,
while
travelling
the
world,
we’ve
wanted
to
explore
New
Zealand.
And
we
couldn’t
be
more
pleased
with
the
results
from
First
Light,
especially
Danielle,
our
travel
advisor
there.
In
fact,
they
exceeded
our
expectations!
It
was
a
perfect
trip
for
we
70-year-olds
to
celebrate
our
45th
anniversary.
Danielle
began
our
interaction
by
asking
what
we
enjoy,
activity-wise,
and
what
type
of
accommodations
we
prefer.
So,
right
out-of-the-gate,
this
was
clearly
going
in
the
direction
we
wanted:
a
trip
customized
to
our
wishes,
and
not
a
cookie-cutter
itinerary
or
a
check-list
of
activities.
Danielle
is
a
great
listener,
very
patient,
is
easy
to
get
ahold
of,
and
a
joy
to
work
with.
A
draft
plan
was
created
from
that
first
conference
call
(which
was
the
response
to
our
emailed
contact
point).
We
reviewed
it,
changed
some
of
our
wishes,
partly
from
the
great
alternatives
tabled
for
us
to
consider
and
the
opportunity
to
do
more
specific
research.
We
started
our
planning
over
a
year
in
advance,
so
this
allowed
this
itinerary
to
evolve
over
time
and
the
subsequent
calls
we
had.
The
final
itinerary
was
very
detailed,
including
contact
phone
numbers
and
vouchers
for
each
activity
and
hotel.
Since
many
of
the
activities
that
we
chose
were
weather-dependent,
such
as
boat
trips,
a
hot
air
balloon
ride,
and
a
helicopter
trip,
we
needed
to
call
and
confirm
beforehand.
One
of
those
numbers
went
to
a
recorded
message
indicating
it
was
out
of
service.
So
I
simply
called
First
Light
Travel’s
emergency
line
and
they
took
care
of
it
for
me
in
a
matter
of
a
few
minutes.
We
thoroughly
enjoyed
every
aspect
of
our
trip.
The
drive,
the
scenery
and
activities
were
wonderful.
Yes,
weather
affected
two
of
our
excursions,
but
First
Light
tracked
these
and
issued
a
refund
for
the
missed
ones
within
a
week
of
the
completion
of
our
trip.
And
it
was
fun
to
run
into
another
Canadian
couple,
at
the
Clay
Cliffs,
whose
trip
had
also
been
arranged
by
Danielle.
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