Kathrin helped us plan a two week, action-packed, trip to New Zealand’s North and South islands
New Zealand
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Mar 14 - Mar 27, 2026
Kathrin helped us plan a two week, action-packed, trip to New Zealand’s North and South islands. Her choices of hotels and adventures were outstanding, closely matching our requirements. Some of our most memorable experiences included e-biking on Waiheke island, an incredible kayak journey to see the glow-worm caves, a helicopter ride up to hike on the Tasmanian Glacier and a luxury train ride up to Arthur’s Seat. Hotels were good, especially M Social in Auckland and Kamana Lake House in Queenstown both with great views, and Koura Lodge with rooms a few steps from the lake.
Working with KimKim was also a pleasure. We constantly referenced the KimKim App which showed hotels and activities, including conformation numbers and pop-up detailed descriptions.
Hotel Reviews
Very nice updated rooms, helpful staff, great location.
Super-helpful staff, great rooms, great location, breakfast buffett excellent
Room was mere steps away from the lake. Staff was very helpful, even opened the kitchen early for our breakfast
Hotel situated across busy highway from lake. Rooms and other areas show some aging
Rooms were superb, with great views across the lake. Rooms well-appointed with super-comfortable beds. Excellent ala carte buffett.
Aging, large hotel, with little character
Activity Reviews
One of the top activities on the trip, Island is idyllic, and the road passes several beaches where we swam, and some wineries. E-bikes were fun to ride.
Authentic Maori experience
A walking tour visiting varying ponds and steaming geysers. Fascinating geological/historical venue.
The kayak trip to an island for dinner, then across the bay to the glow-work caves and back to the starting point in pitch darkness was one of our top experiences. The cascading heated mineral water baths were wonderful.
Tram ride through the center of Christchurch, with a delicious dinner being served on the tram out of a tiny kitchen. We did find that the booking was for a party of 2, not 4, so we had to squeeze in and miss two of the appetizers.
One of our top experiences. We did have some issues, with a booking mixup between different tour companies, but it was all sorted in the end
Great for Hobbit/Lord of the Rings fans, too long and crowded for the rest. Feels like Univeral Studios. I guess you need to go to check it off the list, because everyone asks if you've been.
Another of our top trips. We were bused to a different location because the water level was low, but our travel companion Harry as well as the other guides were very amusing and the journey went quickly. The rapids were quite exciting to traverse, and the other swimming/jumping added to the fun.
It was a long day: driving to the ferry terminal, ferrying across the lake, then busing across the mountain pass before boarding the ferry on Doubtful Sound. The Sound was beautiful, and we saw dolphins and porpoises, but after all the other beautiful lakes and scenery we had seen before it was a bit anticlimactic given the difficulty of access. We had originally booked the overnight cruise, but it was cancelled due to mechanical issues. Kathryn jumped through hoops to help us rebook an overnight in Te Anai followed by the day cruise. I suspect the overnight cruise would have been a better experience.