Michelle Srzich

Michelle planned a fantastic trip! We loved New Zealand! Everyone has heard about the spectacular natural beauty - it is that and much more! In every corner of the country there are more awe inspiring views, fascinating microclimates to explore, gorgeous and well designed paths and treks (tracks), reserves and parks and open space, rural beauty with sheep - so many cute sheep! - and cows and horses, and rare protected species, - it makes your heart sing. What you may not know as much about are the people - their quality of life, the collective commitment to and appreciation of all the native flora and fauna . The steps they keep taking to more fully respect and integrate and honor the Maori. The pace is slow. People are patient, kind, easy going, generous. Your nervous system slows down. You realize it's possible to find a place where people live by different values and are proud of where they come from. Four 60-somethings, with two us celebrating our 70th. 3 weeks so we could see north and south islands. Our only regret - we should have planned a month. A few highlight places and excursions, thanks to Michelle. Milford sound. Stargazing in the hot springs of Lake Tekapo/Wanaka.. Farm and off-road tours. Hiking in Abel Tasman Natl Park and Mt. Cook. The Queenstown House B&B. Newton Heights B&B., visit to Flea Bay. The Te Papa Museum in Wellington. Te Karaka Lodge in Waikato. Kaikoura. And great food and wine everywhere. Thank you KimKIm, Michelle and the people of New Zealand for an uplifting adventure.

My wife and I went to New Zealand to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary and we had a fantastic trip! Michele was able to listen to what places and activities we were looking to experience and she was integral in helping us to accomplish those goals. The hotels were clean with friendly staff and transfers between locations went smoothly. We especially enjoyed biking through the wineries outside of Queenstown and the wine tasting trip via ferry to Waiheke Island. The overnight cruise in the Doubtful Sound was spectacular with great food and hospitality. Kayaking on Tasman Lake in the Mt Cook area and chipping and chewing on one -thousand year ice was sweet! I had beautiful day fly-fishing catching brown trout outside of Nelson. These were just a few of the amazing experiences we had traversing the countryside of New Zealand
We would certainly utilize Michele and KimKim's services for future trips and would highly recommend them!

Michelle was a delight to work with. She listened to our wants for the trip and then arranged some wonderful excursions. All of our hotel accommodations were well located and of top quality. We had one glitch in our first hotel in Queenstown, but the KimKim team was able to get it satisfactorily resolved.

Hotel Reviews

Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel

Queenstown

We arrived and learned that our reservation had been erroneously canceled. The staff at the hotel could not have been nicer in working with us to try to get suitable accommodations. In their facility. Plus overall the staff went out of their way to make us feel at home including the cocktails in the evening and the absolutely spectacular breakfasts. This is definitely the place to stay in Queenstown.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to town.

Staff

Absolutely great staff. Very personable.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room accommodations were top notch.

Rainforest Retreat

Franz Josef Glacier

Very unique rooms literally said in a rainforest. The big draw for our room was the hot tub.

Authenticity & Character

It is special because it is in a rainforest.

Location

Reasonably close to town.

Staff

We didn’t have much interaction with the staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

We had a large two bedroom suite with hot tub. Very comfortable.

The Mayfair

Christchurch

Beautiful Hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Scenic flight and cruise – Queenstown to Milford Sound

New Zealand

Great experience! A highlight of our trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Scenic Flight Twin Glaciers in a Helicopter

New Zealand

Once in a lifetime experience. The glacier is spectacular. He will not get closer than you do on this trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Scenic cruise on Lake Mapourika

Franz Josef Glacier

A very peaceful boat trip with a small boat of only 12 passengers. Lots of birds and interesting plants to see. You actually get very close to the shoreline. Great commentary by the guides.

Quality of Experience

The quality of the guides really added to the value of this trip.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

See above.

Transport

Glacier Region - Greymouth - Christchurch

New Zealand

A very nice train ride on a beautiful train.

My husband and I travel regularly and typically book our own travel, but wanted a local expert to assist with our trip to New Zealand and Michelle was fantastic. We gave her travel dates and a general idea of the itinerary we wanted. After a zoom call to get acquainted, she came back with a itinerary that was based on our requests. We took some time to review and discuss, made a few changes, and the trip was booked. We did not have to spend hours online evaluating possibilities, or wonder if the selections would meet our expectations.
We enjoyed a variety of accommodations and experiences, all with a unique flavor of New Zealand, which was our goal. The weather created a need to change some of our plans and Michelle was easy to contact and available to recommend changes in the time frame we needed.
We prefer not to be tightly booked, and so had much time to explore on our our own in addition to the activities scheduled by KimKim.
The travel book provided was a step by step itinerary that was extremely helpful as we navigated different modes of transportation including rental cars. tour buses and ferries. It provided directions to pickup/meeting points so that we were easily on our way moving from one spot to another.

Mel climbed a mountain with me. Wonderful. The helicopter couldn’t go due to weather, but the backup plan was great.

Overnight cruise was a highlight of the year. Dave, our captain, Mikey, our chef, and Anna were all great as were the other guests. Lobster catch turned into dinner as did our fish from our fishing efforts.

All was great.

Such an amazing experience in NZ! 18 days of complete beauty. We loved everything our agent booked for us, all the hotels & excursions were fantastic. Our Clearwater experience was beautiful , we even saw a penguin! We especially loved our small plane ride to Milford Sound, & the steamboat cruise ship dinner. We loved everything about Queenstown. Such a cool place. Mount Cook was beautiful, we did 4 different hikes, all amazing. Wellington is a beautiful city, do not miss the botanical garden. Breathtaking. Lake Tekapo is so blue, & a cute little town to visit. We especially loved the kayaking to the natural hot springs & then to the glow worm caves…. So fun. Our guides were phenomenal. Such cute guys! The night sky while we kayaked back was the prettiest I’ve ever seen. We also loved exploring waimangu volcanic valley with the cruise. So interesting, our boat guide was awesome. Hobbiton was fun, don’t miss even if you don’t love the LOTR movies, it’s really interesting to learn about. All in all we loved our vacation & would highly recommend working with Michelle.

Hotel Reviews

Distinction Dunedin Hotel

Dunedin

Beautiful hotel, very clean. Great location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to the octagon

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean! Beautiful furnishings.

Ramada Suites Queenstown

Queenstown

Great location, clean & updated Just beware that parking can be tricky unless you pay for hotel parking. We parked on the roads but often times it was a few blocks away.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Great Ponsonby ArtHotel

Auckland

Very unique hotel if you are looking for something different. Clean & good location. Late 1800’s vibe.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room was clean, but no AC in our room. It was very hot & humid.

Mt Cook Lodge & Motels

Canterbury

Super private, clean, all the amenities Restaurant was really good Easy to access washer & dryer Beauty at every turn

Authenticity & Character

Such cute little apartment style rooms!

Location

Staff

Staff was always so friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fable Christchurch

Christchurch

Beautiful hotel, spacious rooms

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean & comfortable

The Gables

7220

Darling little cottage! We had amazing service & the cottage was perfect for our needs. Very spacious, charming & unique.

Authenticity & Character

Super charming!

Location

Easy to walk to everything in Picton

Staff

Amazing service, so friendly & helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean. Did not have AC though

Bolton Hotel

Wellington

Perfect location, beautiful hotel, super friendly staff, highly recommend Very spacious suites Our suite also had a washer & dryer which was awesome!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Walk to most things, super close to the botanical garden

Staff

So friendly!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Kaitahi Lodge

Palmerston North

Cannot recommend this hotel enough. Amazing owner, the accommodations are incredible. Beautiful, spacious, unforgettable

Authenticity & Character

So unique, beautiful in every way

Location

Close to the city, but far enough away to feel secluded

Staff

Jazz was INCREDIBLE

Cleanliness & Comfort

So clean, honestly seemed to be brand new

Millennium Rotorua

Rotorua 3040

Great hotel, clean & spacious, great location, beautiful private deck

Authenticity & Character

Very nice lobby, room was perfect & spacious

Location

Walkable to everything

Staff

Super friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Activity Reviews

Queen Charlotte track (Ship Cove to Furneaux Lodge walk)

New Zealand

This was one of our very favorite days in NZ. Such an amazing & beautiful hike! We loved every second of the 10 mile track. Furneaux Lodge at the end of the hike… such a beautiful setting & delicious lunch. I could have sat there for hours. The boat ride there & back was easy & conveniently located in Picton. Highly recommend!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Te Pā Tū - Maori Cultural Experience

Rotorua

We loved this Maori culture experience, from the ease of the bus pick up at our hotel, to the authentic Maori war dance upon arrival, & the small group activities & learning. It was awesome. The music & dance show was so entertaining. The food was ok… really small portions. But the experience was great.

Quality of Experience

Food

Portions

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Waimangu Valley Nature Walk & Lake Rotomahana Boat Cruise

Rotorua

This was AWESOME! We loved the hike down to the lake, very informative pamphlet & we learned a lot about the area. The boat ride was super interesting. Our boat captain was so great, explained what we were seeing & answered all our questions. Highly recommend! Great way to spend the morning!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Loved our boat driver!!!

Transport

Starlight Gourmet Kayak Tour - Glowworm Caves

Rotorua

I wish I could give this 6 stars. Our guides were awesome. Funny & easy to talk to. The kayaks & gear were great. The hot pools were great, so fun to explore the different pools & temperatures. Dinner was great, & the glow worm caves were amazing. Cooler than I expected. The kayaking back in the dark… phenomenal. The night sky was as beautiful as I’d ever seen. Loved every minute of this excursion.

Quality of Experience

So fun!!!

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Coolest guides

Transport

Historic Steamship Cruise to Walter Peak Farm + BBQ Dinner

Queenstown (NZ)

Steamship ride was super fun, the boat is super unique. The sheep sheering & the sheep dog experience was awesome! Food was so so.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hobbiton Movie Set Tour

New Zealand

Super awesome experience! I wasn’t a huge fan of LOTR, but honestly you don’t have to be to enjoy this experience. The guide we had was so great. Super knowledgeable about what scenes were in what areas, made the whole afternoon so fun. I highly recommend!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great guide!

Transport

Loved the videos they showed in the bus on the way to the site.

Clearwater Wildlife Tours- 'Wild One' Tour

Dunedin

Such an amazing afternoon! Loved our guide, super knowledgeable. We even saw a penguin!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fly Cruise Fly – Queenstown to Milford Sound by scenic flight

Queenstown (NZ)

Cannot recommend this enough. The flight was amazing, our pilot was amazing, it was unforgettable.

Quality of Experience

So great to work with

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Everyone we worked with was fantastic

Transport

Big Sky Stargazing -outdoor stargazing tour

Aoraki / Mount Cook Village

Super knowledgeable guides Well worth staying up so late! The moon was bright so it wasn’t as spectacular as we’d hoped, but no fault of the company. Just the luck of the draw. Pick up was easy, the entire staff was awesome.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Michelle and her team planned and executed perhaps our best family vacation. After hearing about our itinerary, more than one local family questioned how we knew to do all the cool things we were doing on our trip! To list our favorite activities over two weeks is to list every activity Michelle lined up for us. Biggest wow factor was the night in Milford Sound, the heli-hike and the Timber trail. Fly fishing was spectacular, wineries were lovely - and we were even surprised how much we valued just a short visit to Great Barrier Island. (local guides on the Mt Luxmore hike, GBI and fishing were top notch) Even the driving was a highlight (and Michelle delivering the rental car to our hotel was an appreciated detail). all our accommodations were just as expected with the exception of our last night which surprised us with is beauty and tranquility - the perfect way to exhale and reflect with the family on what felt like several epic vacations over just two weeks.