Review: Luxury New Zealand & Fiji Trip, Auckland, Rotorua, Waiheke Island, Malolo Island, Mud Pools, Hikes, Food & Wine

Review by traveler

Caryn T.

2.24.2019

General Info

Traveler Review

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

New Zealand

Fiji

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

Our family worked with our trip planner to plan a New Zealand / Fiji vacation. Our trip planner took the time to understand what we wanted (and did not want) to experience and our travel style.

Our trip planner had first hand knowledge of our areas of interest and was extremely responsive throughout the entire process. Our trip planner was also dealing with three separate families (paying separately) and did so with grace !

We had a lot on our "must see" and quickly realized based on our trip planner's guidance that we would need to prioritize and scale back based on our trip duration.

We would all highly recommend our trip planner and her agency and would happily work with her again.

Zicasso does seem to select the top tier travel specialists to represent their company.

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

In Auckland, we thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of Waiheke Island accompanied along with the incredible wines and food. Another highlight in Auckland was our day trip to Piha with our expert driver/guide. He took us to his favorite local haunts including hiking at Kitekite Falls, swimming in the Tasman Sea flanked by the black sand beach, lunch and more hiking in the Waitakere Ranges with spectacular views of the Tasman far below us.

In Rotorua, it was hiking through Wai O Tapu and Waimangu Volcanic Valley experiencing the mud pools, hot springs and the amazing range of colors associated with this natural wonder. We appreciated the knowledge and humor of our naturalist guide.

Finally, Queenstown - while everything we did was fun, exciting with amazing views, the highlight would have to be the scenic flight to Milford Sound over the Southern Alps along with the cruise through the fiord to the Tasman Sea. Stunning views from the air as well as from the ground. Upon our return from the Milford Sound, we ordered the iconic Fergburger and had an impromptu picnic overlooking Lake Wakatipu while enjoying local musicians playing in the park alongside the pop-up crafts market.

Fiji - the resort on Malolo Island is magical. The most warm and hospitable staff, excellent food, exquisite setting and first-class accommodations. The highlight was our snorkeling trip to neighboring Mociu Island - we spent 1.5 hours snorkeling the entire circumference of the fringing reef wide-eyed at the never-ending variety and colors of coral and marine life.

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

1. Stay longer to see more of the country.

2. We believe based on the time we had, we made the right choices. I'd say the only item we were luke-warm on was the Glow Worm Caves. While interesting - it was very touristy and crowded.

3. The biggest disappointment was the Stargazing in Queenstown. We were really looking forward to this. It was poorly organized (a lot of milling around and waiting without any communication from the organizers) prior to going outside. Then the telescope wasn't working - about 15 minutes into this, another group walked by and our guide moved us to this groups now vacant station where the Telescopes were working. The guide's laser konked out - she had a staff member get her another. Even at the end - my niece was looking forward to the promised hot chocolate ... the water in the thermoses to make the hot chocolate was cold. No one was around to bring out hot water, so we just left.

4. We really wanted to experience Fiji on the return and while it shortened our duration of time in NZ, we really loved Fiji and were glad to have a few days of pure R&R !

Travel Company Comments:

We are thrilled that you had such a wonderful trip to New Zealand and Fiji, and that some of our favorite local experiences were such a highlight for you.

We were sorry to hear of your disappointing stargazing experience, and followed up with the operator regarding their feedback. The operator has taken the feedback to heart, making changes in order to improve future guest experience, and offering a refund to the travelers as well.

It was truly a pleasure to work with you on your travel plans, and we appreciate your positive remarks and constructive feedback. We hope to work with you again in the future.

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