It was great working with Vicky planning our ...
Australia
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Mar 3 - Mar 20, 2024
It was great working with Vicky planning our Australia/New Zealand trip. Vicky is very knowledgeable about the areas we visited and was available for us every step of the way both in planning and during our trip. Communication was very easy with the KimKim chat function and response time from Vicky was always very timely. Vicky helped arrange some of our tours (as we left some days open to allow flexibility to choose tours or things to do after we arrived), airport transportation, flights and accommodations. After a quick 24 hours in Fiji, we started our New Zealand adventure in Auckland. We landed in Auckland and were promptly greeted by our driver, who delivered us to our accommodations. The Adina Apt Hotel Britomart was conveniently located within walking distance to some great restaurants and coffee shops, grocery store, Britomart Shopping Centre, Takutai Square and the Harbour where the cruise ship port is. Most notably, our favorite dinner here was at Amano, which also has an amazing bakery attached and favorite coffee shop was 1920's Cafe. We were able to walk to Auckland Domain, a park which led us to some great gardens, the Auckland War Memorial Museum and then down into the city where we visited the Auckland Sky Tower. Day 3 in Auckland we had a Private Full Day Rotorua Tour booked. Our driver arrived on time that morning at the hotel with plans to take us to Te Puia Geothermal and Maori Cultural Experience and Kiwi House, a brief stop at the Redwood Forest for a 30 min walk and then a visit to the Skyline Gondola for some great views from above. We really enjoyed TePuia and learning about the Maori culture. My only regret in Auckland is not getting to book a trip to The Waitomo Gloworm Caves.
Day 4 took us from Auckland to Queenstown, South NZ. The flight into Queenstown was amazing. Flying in between the mountain's surrounding Lake Wakatipu was so scenic. We were again promptly met by our driver and delivered to Heritage Queenstown Hotel. Located up on the hill, it made for great exercise going to and from into town for shopping and dinners. Our first night there we promptly booked the steamship cruise to Walter Peak Farm, where we enjoyed a delicious BBQ dinner at sunset, and sheep shearing show. I highly recommend the TSS Earnslaw Cruise and BBQ Dinner tour. The ship itself is pretty neat too. The town of Queenstown is great! Lots of great restaurants and shopping. Fergburger is a must (the long line goes fast), as well as Patagonia Ice Cream and Chocolatier. Vicky arranged the best MIlford Sound Fly, Cruise, Fly tour with Air Milford. Tom, our pilot, was great! We can't say enough good things about this tour! It's a must when in Queenstown. The views were awesome!! Great experience! We also visited the Skyline Gondola here too for more amazing views.
Day 7 took us from Queenstown, NZ to Sydney, Australia. Our driver Osman sent us a text notifying us that he was waiting outside in the pick-up area. We arrived at the Pullman Hyde Park Hotel. This was another hotel that was in a good location, with great views of the city and Hyde Park (it's beautiful by the way) and walking distance to everything we wanted to do including the Botanical Gardens. Although I think if we were to go back, I might book a hotel near Sydney Harbour for water views and closer to more restaurant choices. We were told we should check out The Rocks weekend market and we had a great time shopping there. Highly recommend this to other travelers. Great vendors, lots of great local made gifts, jewelry and art. We also enjoyed high tea at The Tea Cosy and the Sydney Sky Tower. Vicky booked us a great Hunter Valley Tour for day 10. Another all-day private tour where our driver took us to a great little breakfast spot at the marina on the Hawkesbury River, then gave us 2 options for places to experience koalas and kangaroos. We ended picking The Australian Reptile Park. What a treat! Not only did he get a great price for entry, but also for a one-on-one koala experience. We finished off the day with a wine tasting at Pepper Tree Winery and great lunch at another local winery called Ben Ean Cellars. A few additional tours we booked on our own while in Sydney that we highly recommend are the Sidney Opera House, a private Sydney Harbour Night Cruise with Sydney Luxury Cruise, (Stephan our Skipper was an awesome guide) and lastly a sunrise hot air balloon ride with breakfast over Camden Valley with Balloon Aloft. All of the crew with Balloon Aloft were great!
Day 11 we headed to Ayers Rock by flight. We loved, loved, loved Uluru. What a great location to take a breather between big city adventures. Being in the desert away from the hustle and bustle was just what we needed. We were shuttled by air-conditioned large shuttle bus to Sails in the Desert. I should probably mention the FLIES, there are a lot of them, but it was a small price to pay for the amazing time we had. Buy the fly net at the hotel lobby desk. It's worth it. Loved some of the shops in the Town Square, we found some of our best souvenirs there. We were able to do our laundry at the resort. Vicky booked our Sunset Uluru Experience with BBQ dinner, and it was awesome. We stopped at the Anangu Cultural Center before heading over to watch the sunset on Uluru with drinks and appetizers, then off to the dinner set up. After dinner the lights went out for the most amazing stargazing experience. The next morning, we booked ourselves on the AATKings Sunrise Field of Lights tour which was also amazing. Our only regret was not having an extra night there and experiencing Kata Juta.
Day 13 We arrived in Melbourne via flight. Our driver was timely and delivered us to the Novotel Melbourne Central.
In Melbourne we enjoyed The Sky Deck for overhead views and all the cool alleyways where you will find some great cafes and gelato shops and even some cool street art. Our best meals were at Palermo's and Red Spice Road both done family style to get a good taste of it all. A visit to Haigh's Chocolates was a must too. We booked a couple tours on our own and loved them both. Loved the Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles tour through Wildlife Tours. Steve, our guide was really great!! If offered, do the helicopter over 12 Apostles. It's worth it! Our grand finale tour was booked on our last night at the recommendation of another traveler. it sells out fast, so do the Penguin Parade with the bonus of a stop at Brighton Beach and Moonlit Sanctuary (which was ok, but good for a bite to eat and some really pretty birds). We did ours through Go West Tours and Bree was awesome!
Our trip truly was amazing. All of our tour guides and drivers were great. All transportation vans were of good quality and showed up on time. I highly recommend Vicky and the services that Kim Kim provides. Thank you so much Vicky! This was the best itinerary! Our family came back with so many great memories.
Hotel Reviews
Great Location. Within walking distance to the Britomart, the cruise ship port and some really great shopping and coffee shops. The room was comfortable but just ok. Our shower had some mildew in it and the kitchen was lacking in utensils. We only had 1 fork, fortunately most of the eating we did was out. The hotel lobby was good and had a restaurant for breakfasts and late-night eating too.
Great location. Within walking distance to all things downtown (if you don't mind hills), though plenty of local transportation available. Breakfast buffet was ok. Hotel was clean and beautifully decorated.
Though you can tell the buildings are older they are well maintained for the nature of the environment, like the heat and the bugs outside. They are beautifully decorated inside and very clean. We enjoyed the pool and the ease of walking to the Town Square. It was nice having laundry facilities available to use.
Activity Reviews
The Visit to Te Puia and the Maori Cultural Experience were the highlight.
Absolutely amazing trip from start to finish. From the coordination of the taxi (ride to Air Milford) that picked us up to Tom, our pilot who did an amazing job and the views were stunning. The tour operator was on top of communicating from the moment of booking.
We loved the visit to the Australian Reptile Park where we got to personally experience the koalas and kagaroos. It was a fun place. The winery was nice and the lunch at Ben Ean was delicious. The drive was very pretty.
While my husband and I did the Fly Cruise Fly, it was my sister in law and her husband who were traveling with us that did this particular tour and they really loved it.
This tour far exceeded our expectations. We enjoyed the visit to the Anangu Cultural Center. It was so nice watching the sunset on Uluru. The dinner set up was fantastic as well as the food they prepared. When the candles went out after dinner, we were in awe of the stars that were out. The hosts knowledge of the constellations was impressive. What a wonderful evening! Well done!!
Thank you for your amazing feedback Deanna. I am so pleased you guys had such a great trip to NZ and Australia, it was a pleasure working with you to create your ideal trip plan.