Review: 3-Week Tour of Australia & New Zealand, Waiheke Wine Tour, Rotorua, Queesntown, Milford Sound, Hobbiton, Uluru

Review by traveler

Bhash P.

1.10.2019

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Australia

New Zealand

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

It was a well thought out itinerary covering several locations in Australia and NZ. The hotels were excellent - in terms of location, service, amenities. Transportation and reservations were arranged just perfectly. At every location, drivers and buses arrived in time and it was all seamless. The tours were well chosen though it would have been nice to spend more than 15 minutes during breaks. We loved the wine tour in Waiheke in NZ.

The agents were very knowledgeable and helpful. Overall, we had a wonderful 3 week vacation.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

Queenstown, NZ is spectacular. We also loved Milford Sound and Hobbitown in NZ.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

I would have liked to receive some feedback on the airlines that were chosen, They were the worst, and we ended up losing two days. Had I known, I would have avoided them and used my time differently. We lost a lot of money too.

I also would have liked some feedback or guidance on the itinerary. I had given a list of places I had wanted to go to and things we wanted to do. The travel agency took my suggestions and built the tours and did the bookings, but didn't really advise me of some of the limitations we could potentially face. For example, Cairns gets a lot of rain in December and while I had wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef, had I been advised that its a hit or miss in December due to rainy and stormy weather, I may have skipped Cairns. It was a very stormy day indeed when we went snorkeling and we couldn't see much. Similarly, the Daintree River cruise was canceled because of heavy rains.

While I had given a few suggestions on places and activities based on friends' feedback, I think some objective advice from the travel agent would have helped us to make better decisions. Eg, the Waitomo glow worm caves were Ok. Not worth it. The mineral water spa in Rotorua was very crowded and badly managed. Its not something I would do again - atleast not there. The quality of the tourists there were also poor. We left the place quickly. I think as a tour company, our travel agency should have advised us of the pros and cons of some of these tours and places.

Travel Company Comments:

Thank you for the taking the time to post your review of your trip to Australia & New Zealand, we are delighted you enjoyed your trip and appreciate your comments. It was extremely unfortunate you experienced two flight cancellations whilst in Australia & New Zealand, this is very unusual as they are both reliable carriers. One is a low cost carrier, a subsidiary of Qantas, and offers good value fares. The other operates a high quality product and is generally highly regarded in Australia. When flying from Sydney to Ayers Rock as you were, the only airline choices are these ones so in this case there were no alternative options to offer. For the Sydney - Queenstown flight, these are the only airline options and given you were flying from Cairns - Sydney - Queenstown we believed it would be better to keep you on one airline for the best connections and so all your luggage could be checked through -I understand due to the flight cancellation this did not work out. As discussed, the flight cancellations should not result in any out of pocket expenses for you as you wisely purchased travel insurance and will be covered under the trip interruption part of your policy.

I understand it is disappointing when the weather does not cooperate and the rain in Port Douglas was particularly heavy when you were there which resulted in an unusual amount of tour cancellations. We do advise that the northern part of Australia experiences the wet season from November through April, we don't discourage clients from traveling as the rain can range from a quick rain shower in the afternoon to heavier rain at other times, but it is definitely something to be aware of. Thank you for your comments regarding the areas in New Zealand, as you traveled over the peak holidays period these attractions are extremely busy with international visitors and all the local New Zealanders being on summer vacation, we certainly take your comments on board and will be sure to point this out to future travelers.

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