New Zealand: Best of the North Island

Customer Reviews

• A

  George Gray

  · October 22nd, 2022
  Was an amazing introduction to G adventures and will plan on doing more trips with them soon
  

  G Adventures commented on this review

  Thanks so much for your feedback - We were happy to hear that you had a great trip
  Trip date: October 2022

  Review collected by G Adventures
• 

  Jeffrey

  · September 14th, 2023
  My group was phenomenal, we all had a blast together. Our guide was very communicative, using WhatsApp and a photo circle to share information, resources and photos. I’m not used to hopping hostels, so that was a bit rough, definitively pack light and try to be organized. I should have done a better job researching temperature as well - as it got much colder than I was expecting. Overall the trip was incredible and I did everything I wanted to do.
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  G Adventures commented on this review

  Hi Jeffrey, So glad to hear that you thought your trip was incredible! Thanks so much.
  Trip date: August 2023
• 

  Marlynitz

  · March 1st, 2023
  I really enjoyed the tour & the people in my group. Our CEO had great communication & was friendly. New Zealand is beautiful & this tour is a perfect start for a solo traveler who hasn’t been to New Zealand before. If you don’t mind hostels then you’ll enjoy it :)
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  G Adventures commented on this review

  Hi Marlynitz - Thank you for taking the time to send through your positive feedback. I really appreciate it.
  
  Trip date: February 2023
• CL

  Caitlin

  · October 8th, 2022
  I couldn’t believe how much we packed into 7 days! I found Nat an incredible tour guide and having James and Taz as training CEOs mad the trip that much better. Every activity was educational and thrilling. 100% recommend Waitomos glow worms cave to anyone that visits! Highly recommend this tour!
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  Trip date: October 2022
• FH

  Felicia

  · December 22nd, 2019
  This tour was INCREDIBLE! Our mandatory fun activities were incredible and pushed me to do things I wouldn't otherwise (surfing). Our CEO, Rachel, made booking the extra activities super easy (Tubing with the glowworms was the best). Rachel was phenomenal and gave us fun facts as we drove into the different cities, showed us great places to eat, and was overall a wonderful person to tour North Island with.
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  Trip date: December 2019
• NH

  Niklas

  · December 7th, 2019
  I was forced to leave the tour early, due to a bedbug infestation of other travelers, which was not quickly reacted to and dealt with by G Adventures and the tour guide. Furthermore, G Adventures is now being very difficult with the process of refunding the days I had to miss. I cannot recommend doing a tour with them.
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  Trip date: November 2019
• A

  AdamRevel

  · November 29th, 2019
  Short Version: Our tour guide was abysmal. We missed out on activities because he got lost frequently, he knew almost nothing of our trip, and had a very poor attitude. I have sent my evaluation to G Adventures and sent an email complaint to Customer Service with no response, so I’m posting my experience on travel sites to warn others. Since my trip ended, my friends who continued onto the 21 day tour (mine was 6 days) have let me know that my tour guide has left G Adventures. Apparently, both G Adventures and Nick realized that this wasn’t for him. My trip “New Zealand: Best of the North Island” was rather disappointing. I went on a G Adventures trip to Peru to see Maccu PIchu in 2016, and had an amazing time. I made friends and travel buddies for life, which I did do this time as well… but more out of “grin and bear it” than having fun. And I don’t think my expectations were too high. Firstly, my tour guide didn’t know where to go, had very little knowledge of the North Island, almost no knowledge of any booking (hostels, events, and activities), would tell the group of important information the first time right before an event… and also randomly to whoever was around him. Let’s call my tour guide John. My group rarely knew when to actually wake up because John would throw out random times each time someone would ask him. My group didn’t know when they would be picked up for an activity (like Hobbiton or Zorbing), and we had to work together to search the internet for pertinent information. We couldn’t rely on John. An example: Half of my group continued onto a 14 day guide in the South Island, and so we stopped at a grocery store the day before they would leave. AFTER everyone bought food for the next three days and AFTER we have been driving way for 20 minutes did he tell us “Oh I hope you eat all your fresh vegetables and fruit today because we can’t take that over to the South Island tomorrow morning at 6am”. Many situations of that caliber permeated our trip. I learned more from the locals about the town and about activities we can book than our guide. Further, he relied on us to use mobile data so we could guide him to any location, especially our hostels. He had no GPS and no mobile data of his own; without us, he got lost using the notecards of directions he wrote. Our afternoon “Free Time” for Day 3, where we should be either paddle boarding or hiking for roughly four hours, entirely consisted of him trying to get gas for the van and then retiring in his room at the hostel. We sat around and walked around the hostel for the next eight hours instead of what was written on our itinerary. Why? So he could book our next day’s activities. In addition, we didn’t get to any day activities for my last day either because we arrived in Wellington at 5:30pm after driving all day. We were supposed to be able to go visit Te Papa museum or take a cable car to the Botanical Gardens. But I think we got lost again. I personally found him to be unorganized, overwhelmed, defensive, and easily frustrated often; I ultimately blame G Adventures. G Adventures clearly threw our tour guide into this without preparation, proper training, or resources. Our tour guide is from the South Island, and knows almost nothing of the North Island. Why is he driving unknown roads to unknown destinations without a GPS? Why do we have a tour guide who doesn’t know any restaurants, any hot spots of the town, or when we should be at the next activity? We had to tell him the itinerary (clear from our first morning together). We had to direct him on the roads from our mobile phones (he didn’t have data). We had to go ask locals what we can do and get together to decide for ourselves our best options. We made the best of our circumstances despite the ineptitude and emotions of our tour guide. And I blame G Adventures because they hired him and (apparently) threw him in the deep end to swim at our expense. Three of us called GAventures on the second day to tell them of “John” because we saw the total lack of preparation and knowledge throughout Day 1. On evening of the last day of my trip, another veteran CEO joined us to watch him. But my whole trip was ended and thoroughly spoiled by this point. This trip frustrates and disappoints me, leaving a sour taste in my mouth. I spent two years with my childhood friends planning and saving for this G Adventures trip to watch it all fall apart. I personally choose to highlight the good and fun activities I did with the friends I made on this trip, but I doubt that I’ll book with G Adventures again. G Adventures, you need to either give me a partial refund or a large travel credit on my next trip that never expires should I ever be willing to use you again. P.S. Three of my friends came from an Australian trip, from which they had a blast. Except their tour guide quit immediately after their tour ended and headed off on vacation to another country. Her reasoning, I was told, was because G Adventures has a weird pay structure, seemingly being cheap and underpaying their employees. Further, the following Australian trip that their other friends took (my three friends went on to New Zealand to my trip while their friends went onto a different trip in Australia) had similar situations to what I described in the above paragraphs. Their bus broke down on (I think) the second day, and then the tour guide forgot all their sleeping bags for when they went camping. So instead of camping out under the stars in Australia, they had to drive in the middle of the night to find a hostel for many people. I think G Adventures is falling apart.
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  Trip date: November 2019
• 

  Jason

  · October 10th, 2019
  I enjoyed my G-Adventures best of the North Island tour. Pam my guide was excellent and did a good job at balancing the diverse group that our tour party was. I wish we had a more exposure to Maori culture on the tour instead of just one half day stop. Accommodations were shared hostels which were fine. The most disappointing thing of the tour would have been the included meals. Breakfast being the main issue, it really wasn't a significant meal and breakfast really was just a cereal and or toast with your coffee, tea etc. If you were hoping for eggs or something a bit more substantial ensure to factor it in your budget and have sometime in the morning to find a nearby cafe before you're on to your next stop. Overall it was a great experience for me and I would recommend the tour.
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  G Adventures commented on this review

  Thanks for the balanced review here Jason, appreciate it.
  
  Trip date: September 2019
• BD

  Bridget

  · June 30th, 2019
  Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a holiday full of experiences.
  

  G Adventures commented on this review

  Happy to hear it, thanks Bridget.
  Trip date: June 2019
• JJ

  Jessica

  · June 2nd, 2019
  Relaxed but enough going on and travel days reasonably short
  

  G Adventures commented on this review

  Happy to hear it - thanks Jessica.
  Trip date: April 2019