We were a party of two senior parents (me and my wife) three adult children and two daughters in-law and we had only eight days to try and see as much of New Zealand as we could.

At the minimum, we wanted to see Auckland and Rotorua on the North Island and Christchurch and Queenstown on the South Island. I also wanted our five children and daughter in-laws to experience a jet boat ride, a Maori cultural performance, wine tasting, a Lord of the Rings experience, punting on the Avon, some close ups of glaciers, plus whatever else could be crammed into the short time available. In the end, we settled on Aroha Tours, owned and headed by Veronika Vermeulen, a transplanted German who had fallen in love with the country as a young girl and decided to set up her outfit after having worked for several years in and around NZ’s travel industry.

Veronika was very conscious in making the tour private in the true meaning of the word. She suggested a private dinner cruise on Lake Taupo that turned out to be a great experience. She suggested a glow worm cave that was private and where we could take pictures – unlike the other group tour based glow worm tours – though we saw less glow worms than the more popular places. She also hinted that Maori cultural dinner performances were too touristy and she suggested an actual Maori greeting and dance on historical Mokoia Island.

My wife and I were impressed with Veronika’s quickness to suggest alternatives. It was Veronika’s responsiveness to our comments, questions, and suggestions that tipped the decision in favor of Aroha. She was also the first to come up with a complete first-draft itinerary which impressed me a lot. Looking back, we made a great choice – Veronika delivered on the promises and kept a watchful eye on everyone. I would without hesitation heartily recommend Veronika Vermeulen’s Aroha Tours for couples or families wanting a top-class private NZ tour.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in October 2018