Liz Neal

New Zealand 2025

Liz did an amazing job of planning our trip to New Zealand.

She worked through all our wants and budgets quickly and was patient with us regarding changes (including some at the very last moment).

Our trip included three cities: Auckland, Tutukaka, and Rotarua. We had drivers for a group of 10 as well. Everything went smoothly and at no time were we in the dark of what to expect or had to wait on anything.

The hotels we stayed in were perfectly suited for our needs and were within walking distance of sights, activities, and restaurants.

Kelly was our driver for our rainforest hike and for our trip to Hobbiton and Rotorua. He was an amazing source of information about the places we were going to and answered all our questions.

Our other driver (to and from Tutukaka) was just as amazing. He chatted and joked with us on the long drive and made it a pleasant experience by stopping for a few breaks Ave suggesting the best place to grab a few pies for a snack.

We went on a snorkel trip while in Tutukaka; the weather was too rough so it was moved to another day. Rescheduling was easy and the travel company reached out and took care of everything for us. The trip was awesome once we were able to go.

We also kayaked at night to see the glow worms. The guide, Sam, was fantastic. One of us had never kayaked before and he was super patient and helpful.

Our last activity was a hike on Mount Tarawera. This was much more than expected from a physical sense. The 3 mile hike took a few hours and had us up a d down and even into the crater. While we would all recommend this, it is not an easy climb. Children and those not used to physical activity should choose something else. Our guides were fantastic and helpful throughout the entire experience.

We also visited Hobbiton, a few beaches, the aquarium, and explored local places off the beaten path. Liz made sure to build in some downtime for us to relax and find our own adventures.

We will be using KimKim again to plan our next vacation!

Loved NZ - we had three targets for our trip; scenery, Māori culture and wine. Liz did a wonderful job balancing a lot of different options for us. We started thinking of a long Aus-NZ trip and she worked with us to trim it to a realistic timeframe. We only had a couple of true guided tours - in Rotorua the Kahukiwi afternoon with Patrick was eye-opening about current Māori life, visiting his tribe’s marae and taking time to understand the great significance of the marae to the culture. And then Paul with Appellation Wine Tours gave a great tour of Central Otago wineries. Lastly, Liz suggested Doubtful Sound for our Fiordland tour, instead of the much more heavily touristed Milford Sound. We did the overnight tour with kayaking and swimming in the Sound. We also managed to see albatross and fur seals. So, overall, great time!

Hotel Reviews

M Social

Auckland

Very convenient, friendly staff, great food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to ferries and CBD

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sudima Lake Rotorua

Rotorua

Close to the lake (with the accompanying sulfur smell), a little bit of a long walk to town.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Park Hotel Ruapehu

National Park Village

Not much choice for this location. Room was small, bathroom was smaller! Dinner was wonderful

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rydges Wellington

Wellington

Comfortable hotel. Was a bit swamped with tour groups. No on-site parking, valet only (@NZ$45/ night). Short walk to the waterfront and cable car.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Distinction Te Anau Hotel And Villas

Te Anau

Great location on Lake Te Anau. Comfortable large room (we were in the villas), good amenities. Very close to the Main Street (restaurants and shopping), wonderful view out onto the lake.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Rees Hotel

Queenstown

Can I give this six stars? Location is just OK, needed shuttle or car to get to town, but the view over Lake Wakatipu was gorgeous. Restaurant is extremely small, breakfast was hit-and-miss to get a table. Staff were wonderful, room was incredibly comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

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Sudima Auckland Airport

Auckland

Convenient, clean and comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

TE Puia: Te Ra Guided Experience 90 minutes) + Cultural Performance

New Zealand

Good mix of Māori culture and history.

Quality of Experience

Half Day Kahukiwi Experience

Rotorua

An in-depth look at current Māori life and culture. Patrick was our guide to his family/tribe, including a visit to his marae. Sometimes was a bit tough to hear about the darker side of Māori history.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Introducing Te Papa Tour and Museum visit

Wellington

Good overview of the Museum, allowed for long follow-up once the tour was over.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Te Anau Glowworm Caves - ex Te Anau

New Zealand

Unique glow worm life

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Navigator Overnight Cruise Return ex Manapouri -2Day/1Night - Private Cabin

New Zealand

We were extremely lucky with the weather, calm waters even out into the Tasman Sea. Opportunity for kayaking and swimming. Managed to see the fur seals, wrong time of year for penguins, and no sign of dolphins.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boutique Wine Tour - Half Day

Queenstown (NZ)

Good small group. Paul (guide) was a wealth of knowledge about the wine business in NZ. Good selection of wineries. Would have liked to see more of the wine making process.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We loved our vacation in New Zealand and hope we have the chance to come back for more adventures!

Some highlights:
-Afternoon Wilderness tour: great guides, good pace, informative
-Hobbiton: on time early morning pick up, tour was lovely - wish it could have been longer; lunch was very worthwhile. Hobbiton was a magical place to visit, truly special. The transfer to transport service was smooth (though our luggage sat in van trunks and got a bit warm, so good thing we carried around any heat-sensitive items)
-Te Ra Guided Experience at Te Puia Rotorua: we learned a lot on this tour despite the misty rain - the bubbling mud pools were neat to observe and so cool to see our first kiwi birds of the trip; very easy to get to via Uber from our hotel
-Zealandia: AMAZING! We probably heard bird song (and cicadas haha) more than we saw creatures, but we did see numerous Kakas, Tuataras, a North Island Robin, several Shags, and THREE Little Spotted Kiwis. Will and Judy, our guides, were lovely.
-Full Day Lord of the Rings Tour: of course you have to use your imagination and visualize how the film crew turned locations into movie sets, but it was neat to see several of the sites. No pictures allowed on most of the tour, though it was neat to see various artists at work. And of course funny photos with Bilbo's trolls outside were fun. No 'Rivendell Ripple' at the end of the tour so that still remains a mystery...
-Gondola: really cool ride up the mountain; easy to find ticket pick up location; views were spectacular; we are glad we didn't book the buffet lunch at the restaurant at the top as we had a lovely lunch at Bespoke Kitchen at the base of the gondola
-Walter Peak High Country Farm Excursion: really cute and fun tour; loved seeing all the farm animals and even though the interaction was brief, we enjoyed feeding and petting the sheep, cows and goats. High tea was delicious! We would revisit many places, but we would love to do the horseback riding tour and high tea at the farm.

Some things we wish we knew in advance:
- Early check-in at the QT Auckland hotel was $150 NDZ. We got an extra bonus hour in NZ as our flight landed over an hour early, so we're grateful for our airport pickup (Warren - he was very welcoming and knowledgeable!) monitored our flight and was able to pick us up and we were able to check into our hotel early, so it all worked out.
-The afternoon wilderness tour included a stop for lunch! We didn't know that in advance, so we spent time in the morning finding a place to pick up a sandwich and be at our pick up location on time. Had we known there was a lunch stop where we could purchase lunch, we would have spent time in the morning doing something else.
-On the way to Hobbiton from Auckland, the transport included a stop for breakfast about 1 hour into the journey. Had we known we could purchase breakfast along the way, we wouldn't have had to coordinate a to-go breakfast with the hotel and ask for our early departure to be accommodated (hotel breakfast started at 6:30am, but our pick up was scheduled 6:30-6:45am). The breakfast stop had two different cafe/restaurant options that had a lot to offer - breakfast sandwiches, pastries, coffee, tea, etc.
-New Zealand domestic flights have next to no security (especially in the tiny Rotorua airport)! HUGE difference from the US. We did get the last sandwich at the tiny Rotorua airport cafe, which was lucky... will be good once the full cafe is available there. At Wellington airport, we are glad we got a bite to eat before going to our gate because there is only one tiny cafe option once you go through security and there's a whole large food court and set of souvenir shops BEFORE security.

Some things we would change:
-The ferry to Waiheke Island was nice, but we would have skipped the hop on/hop off bus as they weren't really able to keep to the drop off/pick up schedule, making pickups unpredictable and long waits thus less time for exploring. We would have rathered figuring out the public bus that runs seemingly more smoothly and regularly. We also needed a map that showed restaurants & shops, not just vineyards - such a highlights map didn't seem to exist and google maps wasn't as helpful as it usually is in other locations.
-Outside of really anyone's control but hotel management's: the lighting in all the hotels were pretty poor, to varying degrees; plus the light switches were overly complicated (too many combinations and permutations to try to figure out how to turn a few on or the bathroom lights on and not the entire room! never have had such complicated lighting at a hotel. Other travelers on tours we were on mentioned the same thing at their hotels so the issue seems pretty common.).
-In Auckland, we should have not included breakfast at the hotel. It was OK but we would have enjoyed going to local cafes instead as the hotel breakfast menu and continental breakfast didn't offer much that we enjoyed.

Hotel Reviews

Pullman Rotorua

Rotorua

Lighting in room was OK in comparison to other hotels. Bathroom set up was one of the best. Clean and quiet hotel and our room view was decent too. Overall the breakfast offered had a good variety (very long line at the coffee machine though!).

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Crowne Plaza Queenstown

Queenstown

Nice, clean, quiet hotel. If you are on the top floor (7th) be prepared for stairs - the elevator only goes to the 6th floor - not an issue for us but for some guests it might be. Definitely in the top 2 for breakfasts of the 4 hotels we stayed at. The location was very convenient for all of the activities we did!

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

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QT Auckland

Auckland

Nice, clean, good location. Room lighting was horrible. We would have skipped the breakfast inclusion.

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Cleanliness & Comfort

Naumi Hotel Wellington

6141

Great location on Cuba St. Having front and back entrances led to some confusion for pick ups for drivers but in the end it worked out. Interesting interior design... some quite dizzying (especially elevator and carpeting). Decent breakfast offerings. Very nice morning staff. The lighting in the room wasn't very good, and too many on/off switches. The bathroom was squeezed into a very tiny room (shower, sink & toilet all in behind a door) and there was no shower curtain so water escaped easily and only one person at a time could access the bathroom.

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

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Activity Reviews

Auckland to Rotorua visiting Hobbiton with lunch

Auckland

Just as magical as I imagined! We had beautiful weather to enjoy Hobbiton. The tour does start with a tour bus ride with a little bit of a cheesy video but it's such a small part of the tour. Amazing how they've set it all up again and are preserving the hobbit holes. Loved every minute and didn't want to leave! The lunch was very satisfying.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Lord of The Rings Tour

Wellington

This was a fun tour. Neat to see where some of the movie scenes were shot. The tour of the Weta Cave was neat too though couldn't take pictures during most of it. Enjoyed learning about the artists and seeing their work in action.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walter Peak High Country Farm Excursion

Queenstown (NZ)

We LOVED this! The tour was fun and the high tea was so good. We'd definitely consider coming back for the horseback riding or the eco tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Skyline Gondola Ride

Queenstown (NZ)

This was more fun than we expected. It was amazing to see the views. It will be even better once they finish construction on the larger observation deck.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

TE Puia: Te Ra (Day Pass) Guided tour (90 minutes)

Rotorua

This was a nice tour though it was raining the day we were there. I'm sure it would be incredible if we had better weather but nonetheless we made the best of it and really enjoyed learning from our guides. We saw the geyser on the livestream just before the tour started - it ended up too steamy to see anything once we were out there! It was very cool to see the bubbling mud as well as the kiwi birds at their kiwi conservation station.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Afternoon Wilderness Experience

Auckland

This was a great afternoon activity. Friendly, informative guides. At the end at the beach, the guides set up a table with some treats (cookies, juice, tea, manuka honey).

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Zealandia Twilight Tour - Private tour

Wellington

One of the biggest highlights of our trip!! We saw a variety of species (and heard even more) and were very lucky that we got to see THREE kiwi just waking up and starting their night. Truly incredible conservation work being done at Zealandia.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guides were fantastic. Thanks, Will and Judy!

Transport

We had a lovely conversation with our driver, Sarah, both ways. She was friendly and understanding that our tour went a bit over than planned. We appreciate her time and flexibility.

Mitai Cultural Experience & Dinner

Rotorua

Great cultural experience. We happened to be there when there was a competition going on so the usual performers were away and the performers we saw were younger (late teenage years / early 20s). We wouldn't have known if the hostess hadn't revealed that info as they were phenomenal!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Liz was easy to work with and helped me plan my first trip to NZ. She was professional and knowledgeable about the cities I wanted to visit and recommended a few options based on my preferences. The local partner was extremely helpful on the ground to support my tours throughout the 18-day period. They were responsive and provided quick coordination when change was needed. I would highly recommend Liz for New Zealand trips and would love to work with her and the kimkim team again for another trip in the future.

Liz Neal was absolutely amazing to work with. Her organization, expertise & detail created the opportunity for a trip of a lifetime!

Highlights included:
- Waiheke Island Hop on Hop Off Bus
- Rotorua Glow Work Kayak
- Mt Tarawera Crater Walk
- Maori Dining Experience
- Pohue Purepod
- Lake Tekapo
- Cass Valley 4WD Tour
- Mt Cook; Glacier Boat Trip & Helicopter
- Queenstown; Funyak River Safari
- Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise

Hotel Reviews

M Social

Auckland

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Regent of Rotorua

Rotorua

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Rees Hotel

Queenstown

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

PurePod Port Levy, Banks Peninsula (Pohue)

Pohue

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Suites

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Hermitage Hotel

Mount Cook Village

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa, an IHG Hotel

Natadola, Fiji

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full-Day Jet-Boat Adventure & Funyak River Safari

Queenstown (NZ)

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Skyline Gondola Ride

Queenstown (NZ)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tu Te Ra - Maori Cultural Dining Experience

Rotorua

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Glacier Boat Trip -

Aoraki / Mount Cook Village

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Mt Tarawera Crater Walk Experience

Rotorua

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mt Cook & The Glaciers

New Zealand

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Auckland to Rotorua visiting Hobbiton with lunch

Auckland

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Twilight Glow Worm Kayak Experience - 3 hour guided

Rotorua

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Cass Valley 4WD Backcountry tour

Lake Tekapo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Spend the night at your offgrid glass cabin

New Zealand

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Garden Onsen Outdoor Soak (From 5pm) 1 hour -

Queenstown (NZ)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Navigator Overnight Cruise Return ex Zqn - Private Cabin. Includes Dinner & Full Breakfast

New Zealand

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I wanted to plan Ia 7 day trip in Australia for my in laws after their cruise. Liz was extremely helpful in planning a doable itinerary for them and booking all the hotels, tours, and transfers. They are elderly with some mobility issues so I wanted everything to go smoothly. They just came back and absolutely loved the tour. Everything was on time and the hotels were fantastic. They especially liked the wine tour in Adelaide. I was so pleased that they enjoyed their 80th birthday trip. Thank you Liz!

Liz was wonderful to work with and collaboarate with in planning our Australia trip. The transports were flawless and tours were great! Here hotel recomendations were perfect and very centrally located for all of our activities. I will not hesitate to reach out to her again for help with another vacation.

We visited 4 different cities in Australia and NZ in 2 weeks, and Liz could not have planned a more perfect itinerary for our family of 5. She immediately understood our family's needs and priorities and suggested activities that were interesting and age appropriate for all. Highlights included a bike tour across Sydney, hiking the Blue Mountains, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, jetboating in Queenstown and seeing Hobbiton in Auckland. Each tour and transport operator was very professional and of high quality. Liz answered our (many) questions throughout the process with ultra fast response time and went over and beyond our expectations. Liz sent us all the information in a concise and clear format, so it was very easy to keep track of what we needed (itinerary, pickup times, packing info, visas etc). During our trip we even made a last minute request to add a sold-out tour during peak holiday time, and she was able to make it happen!

Hotel Reviews

The York, by Swiss-Belhotel

Sydney

Great location, spacious rooms, but very basic/dated interior.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Villa San Michele

Port Douglas

Location is perfect - right in the heart of town so everything (including beach) is a 0-5 min walk. Rooms are quite tight and one room had a bit of stench. Bathrooms looked renovated and clean.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Swiss-Belsuites Pounamu

Queenstown

Very comfortable hotel with a gorgeous view. Easy walk into town.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

heated beds, good laundry machines

Nesuto Stadium Auckland

Auckland

Great location, clean rooms. We had 3 tiny bedrooms (door couldn't close) and 1 bathroom and kitchen, and the living room was huge. Right next to harbor and town area, and many restaurants right downstairs or a few min walk.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Blue Mountains Hike the World Heritage

Sydney

Kids loved the animal conservatory and being able to pet and feed to koalas and wallabys.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sydney Opera House Tour

Sydney

Full-Day Barrier Reef & Coral Cays Boat Tour

Port Douglas

Excellent staff, well equipped, lunch was surprisingly good.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Port Douglas

Port Douglas

Very professional transport guide. Van was amazing with reclining seats.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Kuranda Railway, Skyrail & Palm Cove Adventure

Port Douglas

Train ride was ok but gondola was lovely. Spent a lot of time assembling with group and guide, getting in and out of the van and listening to him talk so we barely got 10 min to explore the village.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide talked way too much, was late, wasted a lot of our time so we barely had time to explore the village.

Transport

too many pickups, it took way too long

Half Day Best of Queenstown

Queenstown (NZ)

Loved the views, walks, wine tasting, seeing the town, getting some free time to shop. Our guide Beth was awesome.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Hobbiton Tour - Return to Auckland

Auckland

Hobbiton is so beautiful and you don't even need to be a LOTR fan to enjoy. The village is very well created and the new Hobbit houses are adorable (my 9 yo wanted to move in there!) Tour is well organized and staff is very enthusiastic.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Sydney Classic Tour (Bike)

Sydney

Guide (Andre) was very knowledgable and ensured nobody got left behind in our group of 13.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hartley's Crocodile Farm with Koala Breakfast

Port Douglas

Loved this more than I thought we would. Each group gets a few minutes with the koala away from the others, so it feels private. Guides are knowledgable and friendly. The crocodile demonstrations were incredible and you see so much wildlife.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Wilderness Safari - Jetboat

Queenstown (NZ)

My kids were wild for this one! Super fun and adventurous. Well organized, proper equipment, and professional staff.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to New Zealand north island went well and we were very pleased with the arrangements Liz made for us. All of the transportation and lodging reservations worked without any problem. Two local contractors backed out of their commitments: Barefoot Sailing in Paihia, and Taiao Adventures in Rotorua. For the first, Rie Fujita with Southern World found a replacement contractor, Carino Wildlife Cruises, which turned out to be really terrific, and we thoroughly enjoyed our excursion with them in the Bay of Islands. For the second, we arranged with Tom of Foris Eco-tours to spend an additional day visiting the Whirinaki Forest with guide Carl. All of the day trips with Foris Eco-tours were very rewarding and we would highly recommend them. The Waitomo Glowworm Caves day trip with Cheeky Kiwi Travel was enjoyable as well. I would recommend adding their visit to Te Puia for the Māori cultural tour and thermal features. We added this to our tour and found it well worth while.