Review: Tour of New Zealand & Australia, Sydney, Tasmania, Melbourne, Great Barrier Reef

My wife, another couple, and I just completed a 33 day trip to Australia and New Zealand.  I cannot imagine a more enjoyable trip, thanks largely to our travel agent and the travel company team.  We consider ourselves experienced travelers; having visited all but 5 of the US 50 states including Alaska.  Additionally, we have traveled to Canada, Mexico, Central America, Brazil, many of the  Caribbean Islands, all of the western European countries (multiple times), and China.  Other than China we never engaged the services of a travel company.  We enjoyed the satisfaction of planning  our own travel and the usual challenges and spontaneity associated with each trip.  However, given the considerable travel cost, the vastness of Australia, the variety of things to see and do (knowing that you cannot do it all in 33 days), and this may be our only trip, we wanted to maximize the experience.  That is where our agent and her team proved invaluable.  From the very first teleconference call that our agent had with the 4 of us to get a feel for our likes/dislikes, lodging preferences, travel style, what we particularly wanted to see and experience, and budget we were all very impressed with our agent's knowledge of both Australia and New Zealand.  Subsequent phone calls involved many iterations that helped to put more and more detail and refinement into the trip to match all of our requirements.   

Our travel agent never over committed, nor exaggerated the claims of what our trip would entail.  Probably, just the opposite; i.e.,  we were continually pleasantly surprised on her lodging and tour choices and never disappointed.  We experienced the Australian and New Zealand customs, cultures, history, scenery, plants, animals, Indigenous people like no one else that we know that has traveled to either county.  All tour guides were very knowledgeable and obviously loved sharing their knowledge and experiences with visitors.

Without reservation, we would highly recommend this travel agent and her team to anyone traveling to Australia or New Zealand.

Our only regret is that we cannot do it again.

Tom and Allyn G

Tequesta, Florida