Sue L
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North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Auckland ▷
Britz Campervans
2.0/5
We arrived at our agreed time to collect our 2 camper vans from Britz in Christchurch on 7 Feb and were told there would be a 2 hour delay.
Dismayed we tried to reason with the manager apparently in charge but he seemed completely unable to do anything about what the other staff subsequently told us was a regular occurrence. The THL office resembled an airport lounge on a bad day with people and luggage everywhere. The operation was completely inefficiently run and our wait turned into 4 and a half hours so we didn't reach our first night destination of Kaikoura. The campers were in variable condition and clearly hadn't been properly checked. One hadn't been refuelled even though there are pumps on site and after setting off we realised that the hot water heater pumped out dangerous fumes on one van and the toilet leaked into the shower on the other because a cap hadn't been tightened. Our actual 2 week trip ran smoothly but when we returned yesterday, upon finding that it had been agreed we could return the vehicles without refuelling due to the original mix-up, Britz then came (literally) running after us for an extra $100 dollars which they said was a diesel tax. Having not been given any terms and conditions or told about this when we set off (due to the photocopier paper running out apparently) we were clearly annoyed. In the end Britz agreed to waive this which just confirmed to us that they were trying to recoup some of the fuel refilling costs. It's a shame this company have cornered the market owning so many camper van brands: Maui, United, Mighty and Britz are just a few, as we would not want to go with this company in the future as their poor customer service leaves a bad taste at the beginning and end of a fantastic holiday.
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Milford Sound - Fiordland National Park ▷
Milford Sound Day Cruises
5.0/5
Well-organised, comfortable coaches and John was an excellent driver and guide.
Real Journeys also have their own boat, we did the nature cruise, which was very comfortable and hardly rocked in the 45-knot winds we experienced! We would definitely recommend this company for a trip to Milford Sound. We went from Queenstown sona long journey but with plenty of interesting stops along the way so it didn't seem long and John shared a lot of knowledge with us about New Zealand, the region and his experiences.
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South Island ▷ Queenstown Region ▷ Queenstown Township ▷
Thunder Jet Queenstown
5.0/5
Great fun, informative skipper and good balance between thrilling 360 turns and admiring and learning about the scenery.
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South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ Abel Tasman ▷
Abel Tasman Sea Shuttle
5.0/5
Although it seemed pricey, the trip we did was good value for money, with a knowledgeable, friendly pickup driver who stopped on the way to the boat to tell us about the Motueka area and good informative
commentary on the boat. Well-organised and comfortable boats.
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South Island ▷ Mount Cook - MacKenzie ▷ Lake Tekapo ▷
Lakes Edge Holiday Park
3.5/5
Beautiful location and very helpful and friendly welcome on arrival.
However, the shower block needs complete renovation. I have never experienced carpet on the floor in a campsite shower block! The carpet was permanently sodden and the damp smell in the block made it all seem very unhygienic. The carpet was so wet that it was running towards the toilet floors which were then muddy and wet to stand on, not pleasant at all. Charging $2 for a shower was ludicrous in such filthy surroundings. This essential element spoilt what is a lovely campsite with plenty of pitch space.