Aoraki Mount Cook Tour Companies

Our leader Danny was so welcoming and really looked after us. I really enjoyed my time in New Zealand!

Brilliant experience with great people and tour guide

The trip is well organised and you get to cover a lot of places in the southern island. Our guide was Josh and he tried to make sure everyone felt included and learned as much as possible about New Zealand. We were asked for opinions, what we would like for breakfast, we had time for ourselves too, we even went out for dinner and had a nice and relaxing time.

This tour is excellent for anyone wanting a quick trip to see all the major spots in the South Island. Heaps of amazing activities that you can do. Highly recommend going for walks at each spot to find all the hidden gems. :)

An absolutely brilliant three weeks in the most wonderful country. Everything as described in the trip notes, and more.  What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? Difficult to decide, but some of the highlights were the trip up to Abel Tasman NP, including camping on the beach - watching the sun set across the water, then seeing the southern night sky in all its glory; the helicopter flight in Mt Aspiring NP and the next day a very welcome lift back down the final stretch of river by jet boat, after a 7 hour hike; the stupendous scenery around Mt Cook; and paragliding from 1400m up in Queenstown. And not forgetting rainforests, thermal springs, kiwis, active volcanoes, glaciers and fjords...  What did you think of your group leader? On North Island leader Kath - what a character! Really knowledgeable and upbeat even in the face of 50mph winds, hail, sleet and snow on the Tongariro crossing.Chris - great guy too. Arranged for the sun to shine the entire two weeks on South Island and even managed to produce home made scones when we arrived!  Do you have any advice for potential travellers? UK citizens need an ESTA visa if transitting via the US (return flight was via Los Angeles) - the Exodus office didn't know this for sure. Anyway it's easy to obtain online - I did it while in NZ.The weather in NZ (see earlier comment above) really can be "all four seasons in a day" - temperatures we encountered varied from freezing to 30 degrees - pack accordingly but try to travel as light as possible as you'll constantly be packing and repacking. Is there anything else you would like to add? Despite the long walks I don't think I lost weight - the Kiwis like to serve generous portions of food. Great bunch of people in our group - we even won the Mt Cook pub quiz! At the beginning, I did wonder what I'd got myself into when I found out I was sharing with a guy who'd bagged all the Monros in Scotland and been up Everest (hi Pete!) but, as a not particularly fit 54 year old, I had a blast.In conclusion, if you are at all considering this trip, just go for it!

The trip was an unending variety of activities and experiences; physically tiring but without the stresses sometimes felt in non English speaking countries.  It was a superb trip but 3 weeks is barely enough time and I have returned home with a list of things/places to return and visit again or anew. What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? I find it difficult to choose a single most inspirational moment of the trip but would include the sceneries around the Tongariro crossing and Mount Cook which were really beautiful and unique.  It was awe inspiring just being there.I also chose to jump out of a plane, skydiving from 12000 feet near Queenstown.  This was our single rest day on the trip, but by this time the adrenaline was flowing.  That was pretty memorable. What did you think of your group leader? We had separate group leaders for the North Island (Kath) and South Isalnd (Chris).  Both were from Hiking New Zealand and were excellent.  They both had the same well balanced mixture of Enthusiasm with Energy, Professionalism with Knowledge.  They were always happy to enthuse but remained flexible in order to provide the best for people on the day. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? On arrival in NZ open your minds to a non stop rush of movement and experience.  On return be prepared to feel shattered from the whole trip.  Enjoy! Is there anything else you would like to add? Take seriously the signs at Auckland airport arrivals point which warn against taking any foodstuffs into the country.  A single apple can cost you NZ$400 fine. I saw it happen.