First Light Travel — Local services in Waitematā

Our family of four just returned from an amazing 16 days in New Zealand, and a lot of the credit for the success of our trip goes to First Light Travel and specifically Toni Kennedy.

We started planning this trip almost a year ago. I was looking for a travel agency that had an affordable itinerary that included both “Lord of the Rings” elements and opportunities for some adventure, and allowed a degree of freedom that would suit our family. I saw several travel companies that advertised Lord of the Rings itineraries, but First Light Travel offered the right combination of experiences, flexibility and affordability.

I clicked “Enquire Now” and asked a few questions about their services and itineraries. I received a response the next day from Toni. She was very pleasant and very professional. She answered my questions and offered additional information. We corresponded via email for several weeks with Toni making MANY customizations to one of First Light’s advertised tours. After about 2 months of planning, Toni had designed a self-drive tour for us that included five days of Lord of the Rings-related excursions/experiences, a helicopter tour of Mount Cook/Aoraki, some adventures, and some days to relax and explore on our own. Although we covered much of the country, the daily plan was never rushed and we never had more than about four hours of driving in one day (broken into two halves with a stop in the middle).

When we arrived in New Zealand, all of the arrangements were first rate. The hotels, motels, and inns we stayed in were really lovely and we were treated really well by the owners and staff. (As an example, we arrived at our first hotel at 7:30 in the morning and check-in wasn’t until 2 PM, but they were able to get us into our room right away.) All of our lodgings included separate beds for our kids – not easy to find in the US, so we were really appreciative of that in NZ. Everywhere we went the people at the hotels and the experiences knew our trip had been booked by First Light Travel. The owner of the lodge that we stayed at in Havelock said he had dinner with the owner of First Light Travel recently and felt that he was the most knowledgeable travel professional in New Zealand. When we arrived in Wellington, we were upgraded to a huge suite (two bedrooms and two bathrooms). While it is true that everyone we met in New Zealand was really nice, I have to assume that First Light Travel knows the service providers that they work with and pick those that will create the best experience for travelers.

The experiences we had were also all first rate. We saw the glow worms in Waitomo and while there are many glow worm tours, we had an excellent experience and a guide who told us he was part of the team that built the concrete paths and wooden bridges in one of the caves that we went to. Our group was small and the tour was very personal. I can’t say what any of the other glow worm tours were like but ours felt very special and had been specifically recommended by Toni as the best tour. Similarly, our ziplining experience at Rotorua Canopy Tours was special. While we had a blast on the ziplines and had great guides, they were also very knowledgeable about the ecology and biology of the region and told us all about the forest preservation efforts of their company. We were very happy to contribute in a small way to maintaining and preserving the natural vegetation. To us this was a plus of the company that First light Travel works with.

Since this was a “trip of a lifetime,” we may not be going back to New Zealand any time soon, but if we do I will certainly contact First Light Travel (and specifically Toni) before I do anything else. And I strongly urge anyone who is thinking of going to New Zealand to check out the tours that First Light offers, knowing that you can change and customize virtually...

Feb 3, 2025 - Thank you Anna for orchestrating an incredible vacation to New Zealand. On a scale of 1 to 10 you are a 12. Your attention to detail and professionalism led to a flawless and most enjoyable trip. Every stop we made, the hotel, rental car agency or sightseeing vendor was aware of our booking, and this made the trip seamless. What a wonderful way of traveling. There was not one issue or uncomfortable situation.

The self-guided trip allowed us to be ourselves and travel at the pace we wanted. We got the opportunity to see what both the North and South Islands have to offer. On the North Island in Auckland the All-Blacks Experience gave us our first glimpse into the Maori culture; the haka for both the men's and women's teams were definitely a highlight. Thank you to Flynn for navigating us through this. Hobbiton was next. A magical stop that brought us to another place and time - middle earth. Ellie made our tour memorable. She is a delight. She provided us with many details regarding the filming and the numerous homes of the Shire including the construction of Bag End. Being able to walk into the many rooms of Samwise Gamgees house was very special. The detail of the construction and furniture makes this a must see. In Rotorua the walk amongst the redwoods was very special for us. The hanging walkways was amazing. A beautiful way to experience them. A big thank you to Marcelo for his leading us through the mountain biking tour in the Whakarewarewa Forest and Jacob for his patience and guidance in leading us onto one of the Rotorua Lakes at dusk to view the glow worms in the nearby caves. A truly unforgettable experience. With no light pollution the glow worms in the caves were like looking into the night sky and seeing hundreds of stars. Truly magical.

On the South Island our adventures continued in Christchurch punting down the Avon. Our guide was very knowledgeable and provided us with lots of pertinent information. Queenstown is an outdoors persons paradise. Whitewater rafting with Mark on the Shotover River was unbelievable - in a good way. The ride to the launch point on Skipper's Canyon Road was half the adventure. Glad I didn't have to go back on that old dirt road again. The Oxenbridge Tunnel was a rush. Milford Sound was the highlight of the trip for me. Kia Ora. Seeing this natural wonder of the world was awe inspiring. We were glad to be on Makayla's maiden trip to the Sound from Queenstown. A stop for a hand pie at Miles Better Pies is a must. The Eco Adventure to Lake Wanaka and Mou Waho island holds a special place in our hearts. Our guides led a hike to the top of the lookout on Mou Waho where there was a pond/pool. One of the guides had a sapling and led our group of a dozen or so to an area to plant it. I helped plant the tree. It felt like giving back in some small way...a forever connection to New Zealand. A big thank you to Rosie for leading us on a hike near Lake Mapourika. The last of our adventures on the South Island was the scenic train from Greymouth back to Christchurch and the end of our trip.

Thank you, Anna, for everything you did for us. I am convinced our trip would not have gone as smoothly or as pleasurably as it did, if it were not for your assistance and attention to detail. Kia Ora.

P.S. We will be in touch again. I will need to check on the progress of the sapling on Mou...

My husband and I planned to take a one month driving holiday in New Zealand as we had done in 2019 in Australia and luckily my earliest internet search found First Light Travel’s site. I had done all the investigation, planning and booking on the internet myself for our Australia vacation. It was incredibly time consuming and resulted in a trip which was not nearly as educational, nor exciting as the New Zealand trip First Light Travel created for us.

We spent some time on the phone with Anna Caudle to find out what was available and to give her an idea of what we were looking for. Within a few days she provided us with a fully outlined and costed trip plan. The plan was significantly more detailed and vastly superior to the one I had developed for Australia.

Over the next short while we spoke with Anna on the phone a couple more times which enabled her to really personalize it to our dream trip and we decided Version 3 was the one.

When we arrived in Auckland she had a driver waiting at the airport to pick us up and from that point on every day was enjoyable and we never had to feel uneasy about where we should be or how to get there. With the number of activities planned it was inevitable that a couple ended up being cancelled and whenever there was an issue First Light answered the phone and resolved it quickly. At the end of the trip they refunded the cost of the couple of cancelled activities.

One of the earliest activities was a visit to the Kauri museum and neither of us had any knowledge about Kauri but we spent a fascinating few hours learning about this amazing period of New Zealand history. The rest of the trip provided many more educational opportunities and we enjoyed every moment of every day. Anna’s experience curating the trip showed over and over again. An example was when we did a half day bike ride from Arrowtown to the Gibbston Wine Valley along the river valley and over the historic Kawarau Bungy Bridge (the place where bungy jumping was invented). The path we rode about 20 Km on had many hills and would not have been enjoyable but for Anna arranging for our bikes to be electrically assisted. A very nice surprise!

In summary, unlike our Australia trip we did not have to spend countless hours doing research and booking accommodations and activities and transportation. First Light’s trip was far more interesting and enjoyable than what we would have booked. We had the comfort of having First Light available to assist us if we experienced any issues. I am convinced that we would not have saved money if we had booked it ourselves on the internet. I believe that First Light’s professional relationships in the travel industry provide them with lower prices than a consumer can obtain on their own. As well, we found that the service providers gave us “frequent flyer” style service. When we checked in we always stated that we were there as First Light had booked it and they always appeared to treat us in a way that would be positively conveyed by us to First Light. We rate our First Light trip to be 11 on a...