Definitely visit New Zealand!

New Zealand | Dec 14 - Dec 24, 2024

Our time in New Zealand was amazing because the country was absolutely gorgeous and our local specialist, Michelle, booked us into some really great accommodations and events. Some of the highlight experiences I would recommend for others:
-Christchurch walking/food tour
-Kaikoura: Haipuku Lodge and Tree Houses was a gorgeous property, with great meals! On top of that, the Haipuku Kitchen Seasonal Feast cooking class was a wonderful experience with great hosting by Fiona and Becca. If you get a chance, this wasn't an official itinerary item but you should go to Nin's Bin for super fresh caught crawfish/lobster!
-Lake Tekapo Farm Tours stargazing: We got to take advantage of the dark sky reserve to really soak in a gorgeous night sky and beautiful near-full moon.
-Lake Tekapo Lodge was a great accommodation with really friendly hosts that made that stay but it sounds like those hosts will be retiring so can't vouch for the new owners
-Cass Valley Backcountry Tour was an amazing 4WD tour with a personal tour guide of the space -- one of our favorite experiences of the entire trip!
-Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise was my personal highlight of the trip; a fun mix of activities (kayaking, fishing, sightseeing) plus delicious meals (fresh fish and crawfish/lobster) and stellar hosting by Shaun and Juanita. Bring lots of bug repellant because the sandflies are absolute terrors; I'm still scratching a couple of bites from them.
-Ahi restaurant in Auckland was delicious and absolutely worth checking out!

Regarding our local specialist, though -- she quite honestly could have been more on top of trip details (there were multiple examples I can cite) but these issues *thankfully* did not ruin the trip.