My name is Mark, born and raised in Christchurch, lived and worked in the UK , Europe and Auckland, for the last 20 years the beautiful Bay of Islands is where I call home.
Not that I’m there all the time. I started as a tour guide in Europe with Contiki in 1997, and the last 7 years I have been on the road in NZ with AAT Kings and Trafalgar, sharing our beautiful country with visitors from all around the world
During that time I have shared with my guests many wonderful experiences, have learned what they enjoy most, and who are the outstanding operators providing the best of the best to visitors.
I am using my knowledge, experience and feedback from thousands of guests to create a new business to promote the best of New Zealand tourism, to give my readers and listeners all the best insider information and knowledge to make their trip better than they hoped.
Originally this was going to be for international visitors, but of course there aren’t any of them at the moment!
So now it is all about showing and helping Kiwis discover the best of our own back yard, have an incredible holiday, and as a bonus, help your fellow local small businesses survive
The only online guide created by a professional tour guide, designed to give independent travelers the in depth "behind the headlines" stories, interviews and unique, personal insights into New Zealand. Stories about the people, places, history and culture to enhance any vacation or work trip, as if they had their own personal local guide.
Plus, from my own experience and feedback from thousands of past guests, I'll recommend the must do activities. I'll introduce the people behind them, their story and why they are the best at giving visitors the greatest experiences, memories and value for money.
There are a gazillion wonderful activities and experiences for you to enjoy but as with anything, there are some that stand out from the rest, that rise above the crowd.
They have a certain X-Factor, a WOW factor, be it the people, the service and experience you receive, the location, the scenery, the uniqueness, the “Kiwiness”
It could be one aspect done extremely well, but usually these recommendations include all of them.
I think what makes them stand out is that you get several different parts all in the one trip, where any one part alone would be worth doing. But when you are getting all together in one package then you have an outstanding experience.
It's also about how they make you feel afterwards, as well as during. The best ones give you a warm glow, a sense of satisfaction, if not pride, that you chose to spend your time and money on it, because it was such great value for money.
And that value for money part is important to most of us. There are some experiences where you think afterwards “That was OK, but Holy @#%# it was expensive!” They will never be in my top picks
For all of the reasons above, these are the ones I recommend. Not only is it my view that they are among the best of the best, but feedback from of hundreds and hundreds of my past guests who have done them and raved about the experience back my opinion.
To give you further confidence many of them have won multiple awards and are ranked highly on sites like Tripadvisor
I hope the Smart Traveler’s Guide to New Zealand helps make your time rediscovering our beautiful backyard better than you ever hoped! :)
Cheers
Mark
