JohnHaestad
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South Island ▷ West Coast ▷ Franz Josef ▷
Franz Josef Wilderness Tours
Fun! Fun!
Fun! I’m an experienced quad driver and my wife likes to ride with me. These bikes are set-up to have 2 riders so that was great for us. They are 400cc and have plenty of power for 2 people. You can choose to ride single of course. Marc was our guide and he was lots of fun. Our trip was only 3 quads: Marc as our guide, an inexperienced couple (who were a bit timid at the onset) and us. Marc taught the other couple quickly and was able to check us out quickly as well. We went through the wide rocky riverbeds and a beautiful rainforest. We used the glacial/granite silt for an impromptu facial (just a bit more mud!) It was a warm day so we didn’t want to use the supplied jackets (waterproof boots/pants are essential!) – and we did get our tops soaked! You can go slowly through the water/mud if you prefer but we went full out and it was GREAT! If there were 7 bikes with inexperienced people I don’t know how it would have affected our experience. As it was, it was totally awesome – great fun!
Hey John
Thanks for the great feed back, it's definitely fun to go through the puddles, puts a smile on your face!
Warm regards
Hollie
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Te Anau ▷
Te Anau Glowworm Caves
Not that great.
All the guides were very nice and worked hard, but the glow worms could have just as easily been fiber optic dots on the ceiling. It was cool to go into a dark cave, but thats about it. Very touristy. Loads of people.
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South Island ▷ Queenstown Region ▷ Queenstown Township ▷
AJ Hackett Bungy Kawarau Bridge
My wife did this - I will never do anything like this!
She is telling me what to write so... Plenty high enough for my first Bungee experience; beautiful gorge and scenery. Great safety record. The young man that tied me up was an obnoxious smart ass – he wouldn’t answer my quick and sweet questions and he had no sense of humor – so that was a big letdown. (He probably wasn’t a Kiwi). The video and pictures that they take are great (it is a $25 charge and worth it). If it wasn’t for that darn kid I would have rated it a 10. AJ needs to do a bit more vetting on his employees IMO. I recommend this place as a first bungee experience. I'll bet this kid was an outlier and won't be there for long (maybe some irate husband will push him off...)
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South Island ▷ West Coast ▷ Buller Gorge ▷
Buller Gorge Swingbridge
It was OK.
We needed a driving break and didn't know what a swing bridge was. It's kinda cool. 2 steel cables to hold on to and a small platform to walk on over a gorge. Very safe but for those of us with some fear of heights (and bungee challenged) it was reasonably exciting. We did the jet boat ride as well and it was pretty tame, but the folks were all very nice (like most NZers). So, we would recommend it if you are driving past, but I wouldn't go too far out of my way for this type of thing...
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South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Wanaka Township ▷
Southern Alps Air
We did the flight/boat tour.
Great flight. Pilot was great (he was the owner) - loads of fun and good humour. They have a Cessna 206 & 207. We were in the 206. Total of 5 passengers. Planes were in good shape. Milford Sound boat ride was OK, but really touristy - not our cup of tea. We would have enjoyed a smaller boat with less people but it was still loads of fun. Flight operation was great and intimate and we loved it.
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South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Wanaka Township ▷
Wanaka River Journeys
Best part of our trip!
Calvin was our guide and he was amazing. This is a family run operation and we heard that all the guides are great. Calvin is a wonderful story teller and an amazingly professional driver. We have never met anyone quite like him. The scenery was just great. The jet boat goes in inches of water... inches from land and boulders… through narrow rapids... We felt totally safe with Calvin but the adrenalin flowed! At one point we had 2 horses run alongside us - magnificent. We highly recommend this trip.
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Te Anau ▷
Southern Lakes Helicopters
Top notch.
Rod, our pilot, has over 16,000 hours of flight experience and it showed. We flew through a gorge that was amazing! We were in a R44 (3 passengers). We chose the $540/each flight over Doubtful Sound and it was worth every penny. 2 landings – one deep in a gorge and one on top of a mountain. Amazing!! Rod was the perfect pilot/guide for us. Check out their web site to read about their experience and accomplishments. Their landing pad is right on the water on the main street in Te Anau. Great operation.