Waiheke Island Archives - Australia 2000 Travel

March 1, 2019

Thank You from Dan & Erica Nye

We met with Karen about a year and a half before our Honeymoon trip to Australia and New Zealand. The entire process with her has been fantastic and very fun. We met a couple of times in person during the planning phase and then once more in person right before the trip. During the planning phase most of the correspondence was through email, which she did great at keeping us informed of what our itinerary looked like and what the plan was. She has been very supportive, accommodating, and had great communication (let us know when she would be travelling, how long to expect updates, etc.). She gave us recommendations of the best time to go, things to do/see, and what to expect. The activities and excursions she had us signed up for were incredibly fun and once in a lifetime experiences. All of the travelling went very smoothly and even though we were busy and did a lot of things, Karen still managed to build into the itinerary plenty of time to relax. The scenery and everything we experienced had the perfect amount of romance attached to it as it was our honeymoon.

Our trip started in Sydney (Botanical Gardens, Private Harbour Tour, Bridge Climb, Opera House tour and show), then up to Cairns/Port Douglas (Dive Great Barrier Reef, Rain Forest Resort, Aboriginal Tour), then to Brisbane (Night in the city), then over to Auckland (Hobbitton/Shire tour, Waiheke Island winery tour). Every stop had breath-taking views and awesome guides (majority of time was all private, which helped make everything more romantic). All of the flights, airport pickups, and excursion drop-offs were right on time and went perfectly.

The 2 and a half weeks spent in the land down under will be remembered and cherished forever. We’re planning on going back every 5 years to celebrate our anniversaries and as long as Karen is still doing travel arrangements we will absolutely go through her.

Thank you again.

Dan & Erica Nye

July 26, 2018

Thank you from Natalie Robinson

Karen planned the perfect trip of a lifetime for our family of 5 (kids are age 22, 19 and 16) for our 30th wedding anniversary. It had been a dream of mine to visit Australia and although I usually plan and book all our trips I wanted to make sure that I sought expert opinion for this one. I had a couple of initial meetings with Karen where we discussed preferences and options and budget and Karen then put together an initial plan. I would say our final trip consisted of 95% of Karen’s suggestions.

We stayed in 5 different locations in Australia and New Zealand and they were all superb from the flights, accommodation to the airport pick ups and drop offs to the excursions. The majority of our excursions were private with an expert driver/guide who looked after us extremely well. Our highlights of the trip were Orpheus, just paradise! Sydney harbour tour with lunch, Queenstown is a beautiful city and our accommodation at Millbrook was fantastic. Doubtful Sound is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited and the tour was very well planned. The least interesting city we stayed in was Auckland but it was worth it for our day trip to Waiheke (an island 35 minutes ferry ride from Auckland) with another expert guide where we visited wineries and olive groves.

This trip slightly exceeded our initial budget but it was well worth it to have the expert planning and attention from Karen and her team in Australia and New Zealand and to have so many exceptional experiences. I would recommend Australia 2000 to anyone looking to travel to Australia and New Zealand.

February 25, 2014

Thank you from return travelers Christine Riggle & Faith Gaudaen

Faith and I LOVED our trip. New Zealand was everything we remembered and more.

The Cottage on Waiheke Island was great. Gary and Katy were super nice. So nice they even gave us one of the fish that Gary was smoking when we arrived. We really enjoyed the catamaran charter with Phil and Maire. There wasn’t any air in the morning, but we island hopped until the air picked up and we had a nice sail back to Waiheke.

Tim and Janet of Baywicks were as nice as we remembered. Even though it was surprisingly cold during our cruise in Abel Tasman, the captain Rod Stewart still made the trip interesting and fun. We’d like to give a special shot out for Noel Kennedy, our guide in Golden Bay. He and Golden Bay, we think, were the highlight of the trip. We’re so glad you included it in the itinerary. It’s definitely an area we would like to go back to, if we have the chance.

Although we really enjoyed both of the B&Bs, finishing the trip at the Rees Hotel in Queenstown was very nice and relaxing. The unit even had a fireplace which we made liberal use of on another cold day. The changes at the Rees were a pleasant surprise–expansion of their concierge service and the shuttles to town. The dinner at True North was truly exceptional. Thank you so much for booking it. I’m not sure if we would have gone otherwise.

So we can’t say it enough how much we loved the trip and the people we met (and saw again). Thanks again for arranging another wonderful trip to NZ!

Cheers,

Christine and Faith

February 24, 2014

Thank you from Mike & Jess Wiley

Mike and I had such an amazing trip to New Zealand that we didn’t want to come home!

Everything from the airport pickup to Queenstown was beyond words. The stay on Waiheke Island was absolutely breathtaking and it was the PERFECT way to start our trip. Our accommodations were very nice and our hostess was very sweet! We loved the Lord of the Rings movie set and the various scenery that we saw across these beautiful islands. Nelson and the Able Tasman National Park was exquisite. We were really impressed at the conditions of the national park trails and how organized everything was. Christmas in Nelson and dinner at the Boat Shed Restaurant was fabulous. That was one of the best dinners we have ever had! The seafood was beyond perfection and I am very picky about seafood!!!! The drives to the Franz Josef Glacier and then to Queenstown were beautiful. Our pictures hardly capture the magnificence of the places we saw. The glacier hike was so much fun!!! We felt very safe with our guide and it was such a unique experience. Thank you for getting us a GPS with our car rentals! It was VERY helpful!

Our most favorite adventure was in Queenstown when we went to Glenorchy for the jet boat safari on the Dart River. We wanted to do it more than once. Even the bus ride to Glenorchy was breathtaking.

The food was great and the atmosphere everywhere we went was so hospitable and inviting! Everyone was very nice and gave us well wishes on our recent marriage. We would definitely go back and see some of the things that we didn’t get this time.

I have attached a couple of pictures from our trip. Thanks again for organizing this trip for us. It will truly be something we will never forget. We hope you all had a great start to the year and have continued blessings throughout the year.

Sincerely,

Jess Wiley

November 8, 2010

Thanks from Debbie and Mike

Hi Karen & Hillary,

We are still talking to everyone we see about our incredible trip to New Zealand and Australia. We were met upon arrival in Auckland, Queenstown, Sydney and Cairns by your fun and interesting local guides who delivered us to our fabulous hotels/apartments as well as providing us with your detailed itinerary that included vouchers for our total convenience.

Karen grasped the personality and needs of Mike and I perfectly. The unique and spectacular journey to New Zealand took us to the Waiheke Island with fabulous visits to wineries, artist’s studios, and a taste of the local cuisine. However, we fell totally in love with Queenstown with its view of the Remarkables and our exciting ride up the Dart River.

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