Reviews and travel ratings on Spirit of the River Jet in New Zealand (97% from 90 reviews) Feel the Spirit and the adventure that is the Whanganui river.
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Jim
Ranking: 10/10
Brent and Claire put on a fantastic day for us. There were two families, The two men did the Bridge to Nowhere mountai…
Brent and Claire put on a fantastic day for us. There were two families, The two men did the Bridge to Nowhere mountain bike ride, while the rest of the families had a great trip up the river from Pipiriki to pick us up. Great history, some delicious food, all in all a brilliant day out.
They were very happy to customise the trip to our requirements, the kids felt instantly comfortable with Claire and Brent and had a lot of fun with them.
We would highly recommend Spirit of the River to anyone looking for a ride out or a great family experience
Thanks guys, this was a highlight of our holiday
fleurc
Ranking: 10/10
I really enjoyed hearing about the history of the settlers in this spectacular, rugged landscape and the hardship they e…
I really enjoyed hearing about the history of the settlers in this spectacular, rugged landscape and the hardship they endured trying to establish farms in this area from a very knowledgable Brent. Claire treated us like friends and we will forever remember the wonderful home baking produced on the Bridge to Nowhere for morning tea. The kids particularly loved the yoyo biscuits. Being able to accommodate our mountain biking mad husbands was a bonus with the boat set up to transport bikes. Thanks again a for a memorable day. Fleur
Goddy
Ranking: 9/10
Great service for our 8 person group. Two of us biked the Bridge to no where ride and they met us with the rest of our g…
Great service for our 8 person group. Two of us biked the Bridge to no where ride and they met us with the rest of our group. Hot coffee and home cooked loaf was great. Jet boat set up to carry bikes. The tour back down the river was interesting.
redback
Ranking: 8/10
Our recent trip up the Whanganui River with 'Spirit of the River 'Jet, was an unforgettable experience.The scenery was s…
Our recent trip up the Whanganui River with 'Spirit of the River 'Jet, was an unforgettable experience.The scenery was second to none,and even more beautiful in the rain.
Brent was a great host,stopping frequently to tell us the history of the river,and entertaining us with his humour.
Thanks Claire for the delicious apricot loaf for morning tea, and the yummy doorstep sandwiches,and muffins for lunch.
We will recommend this trip to our friends,and rate it 8/10.
Lyn Nilsen and Dennis Beets
KAAldrich
Ranking: 10/10
Absolutely great day, great guide, meet nice friends, swapped email addresses, informative and beautiful.
Absolutely great day, great guide, meet nice friends, swapped email addresses, informative and beautiful.
DustyRoads
Ranking: 8/10
Not a big fan of early morning starts and driving long windy roads "especially weekends" i joined my partner and some of…
Not a big fan of early morning starts and driving long windy roads "especially weekends" i joined my partner and some of her work associates on an adventure up the Whanganui River in March. After parking our vehicles on the road side " which we were assured was fine, and it was" we headed of up the Whanganui River to the bridge to nowhere for a day of a great excitment. The weather was fine and the day was great.
Our jet boat driver, Brent gave us all a good understanding of what it must have been like a hundred odd years ago.
The home baking that he did that morning wasnt to damb bad either. The whole journey took us most of the day by the time we got home. It was a long day, but worth the journey in the end.
Would i recomend this operation to others? "YES" we already have,
We will be back for the flying fox experiance you were telling us about next time Brent.
Got your name of a card you gave one of the group Brent, so i hope i got it right.
Elizabeth
Ranking: 10/10
I have read previous reviews of this experience and can only agree. My partner Lyn and I had a marvellous morning on 10…
I have read previous reviews of this experience and can only agree. My partner Lyn and I had a marvellous morning on 10 May 2010.
isobelf
Ranking: 10/10
I am writing to comment on the trip I did up the Whanganui River today with Brent and Claire. I had a marvellous time an…
I am writing to comment on the trip I did up the Whanganui River today with Brent and Claire. I had a marvellous time and loved every minute of it.
Brent was very informative about the geology, history and the geography of the river, as well as the Maori culture. While the river level was very low, Brent was able to read the conditions and get us over shallow areas in a very fun, yet safe way. When we got to the Flying Fox we had drinks and wonderful blueberry muffins homemade by Claire.
I rate this trip ten out of ten; it was so enjoyable.
Greg
Ranking: 10/10
> Fantastic experience on this Wanganui River adventure last weekend. Claire and Brent's interpretation of the river and…
> Fantastic experience on this Wanganui River adventure last weekend. Claire and Brent's interpretation of the river and our journey was deeply heartfelt, and personal. We were greatly privileged to hear these stories. As a Wanganui born traveller, I felt a strong connection with the majesty of the landscape and the incredible heritage it holds. 10 out of 10 for a brilliant experience on the Spirit of the River Jet.
>
> GREG
Vicky
Ranking: 10/10
Hi fellow travelers.... Ive lived in the region forever, have always wanted to travel the Whanganui River.... Brent and …
Hi fellow travelers.... Ive lived in the region forever, have always wanted to travel the Whanganui River.... Brent and Claire and the Spirit of the River jet boat, have got it spot on.... o for awesome!- The Flying Fox was great and really interesting with regards to the organic way of life (Thanks John) Im so lucky as I will be doing the middle reaches of Te Awa with Claire and Brent too. Will let you all know about this too.Thanks to Rankers too, what a great tool for people who wish to travel our beautiful dynamic and changeable.... country... PS Water was like glass!!
dechand
Ranking: 10/10
We had what amounted to a personal tour of the Whanganui with Brent - and it was one of the best experience we enjoyed w…
We had what amounted to a personal tour of the Whanganui with Brent - and it was one of the best experience we enjoyed while in New Zealand. Brent is very knowledgable about the river and it's history and a great host. The stop for coffee with John at the Flying Fox with those great muffins was a perfect break - we hated to leave.
Sue Lochhead
Ranking: 10/10
In March of this year I joined fellow staff members from St Anne's School, Wanganui and experienced a river trip with Br…
In March of this year I joined fellow staff members from St Anne's School, Wanganui and experienced a river trip with Brent and Claire Firmin to the flying fox. I have lived in Wanganui since 1981 and it was my first trip up the river. It was a beautiful day, the river a picture and the Firmins made us feel welcome, safe and educated us on aspects of the river. We enjoyed a lovely morning tea with Annette and John at the flying fox and were given a guided tour.
The trip back seemed much quicker and we were sorry our trip was over.
rebelphillips
Ranking: 10/10
The hospitality of Claire & Brent was brilliant enough let alone the fantastic experience they provide those with a sens…
The hospitality of Claire & Brent was brilliant enough let alone the fantastic experience they provide those with a sense of adventure!!!
I travelled with a friend in March 2010 where we joined the Spirit of the River Jet for the Te Awa tour. The weather was great, the boat trip was fun whilst being enlightening, and the food & accommodation at the end were amazing!
Now I realise I'm using a lot of superlatives here, but it truly was everything I was after, and I heard zero complaints from my travelling partner as this was the part of the trip that I organised. In fact he is raving about it as much as I am.
Even though it rained on our second day, and our canoeing trip down the river was curtailed we would still recommend it rain, hail or shine. It just meant we got to hang out even longer in our gorgeous cottage at the flying fox & listen to some old music on the record player as the rain came down on the timber roof. Even better was we then got an unexpected ride on the flying fox across the river to drive back down to Claire & Brents abode where our hire car was stashed safe & sound.
I would recommend for any age group (I’m in my very very early 30’s lol) and had such a great time. A sense of humour is a must with Claire & Brent – very funny people & really just salt of the earth kind of people too!
Manawatu - Wanganui (North Island, NZ)