Shay S
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South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Wanaka Township ▷
Deep Canyon
4.5/5
My husband and I took my father on the Big Nige in March 2014.
Anna and Millie were our guides and they were brilliant, fun to be around and safety conscious. You get given all your gear and then hike up a very steep hill to get into the canyon - this is the toughest part of the day. The hike is pretty tiring, especially when in the sun and carrying all your gear. After this it is all fun! You put on all the gear and have a lesson in abseiling before being taken into the canyon. The trip involves numerous abseils (many in waterfalls), jumps, slides and ziplining - I have never seen my dad smile for so many photos before!
There is a brief break in the middle for a hot drink and biscuits and then lunch is provided at the end - bread and fillings and you can have as many as you like - great after using all that energy in the canyon.
One of the other things I was delighted about with this company is the quality of equipment. The wetsuits fitted well and had a little wear but not excessive so heat was retained. They also provided gloves which was brilliant as friends going with other companies commented how their hands went numb in the cold water.
My only criticism is that there were another couple booked on our trip who were not ready when the guides went to collect them - they waited almost 40 minutes for them to get ready during which we were just hanging around at the office. As we were given a clear start time, they should have continued without them. The delay meant we finished slightly later than we otherwise would have and had to cancel our evening plans. In their defence, they did give us a gesture of goodwill for waiting but I hope that next time they will continue the trip without latecomers.
Overall a fantastic day with a brilliant company. Highly recommended
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Whangarei ▷
Skydive Ballistic Blondes Whangarei
0.5/5
Purchased a voucher via GrabOne as a gift for a family member who was visiting from abroad.
Prior to purchasing the voucher, called the company and enquired regarding availability over the time they would be in Auckland (total of 7 days) and they had space we purchased and booked. Unfortunately weather was not on our side and conditions were not suitable for all 7 days - we still kept our plans flexible and called up every morning just in case we could dive but it was not possible. At the end of this period we were flying to South Island and voucher expiry was before our return.
Skydive Ballistic Blondes initially refused to reschedule or refund even though weather conditions were completely out of our control - their argument was they had good weather conditions forecast the following week and availability so they do not need to extend or refund. No consideration that we were not available on that week.
They did eventually agree to extend (initially asking us to double our payment then stating the voucher was sufficient) but we were all leaving the country and would not have been able to travel to Whangarei.
Eventually disputed via GrabOne who agreed we did allow sufficient time to do the activity and it was out of out control. They managed to secure us a refund but it took a while as Skydive Ballistic Blondes kept refusing it.
Would not recommend the Whangarei branch to anyone - mostly spoke to Kelly who was extremely abrupt, rude and had no consideration for customers' circumstances.
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South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ Abel Tasman ▷
Kaiteriteri Kayaks
4.5/5
We purchased the beaches and seals day trip through GrabOne and had a great day.
The kayaking was brilliant, our guide was brilliant, friendly and professional.
We had a safety lesson before starting which was good as the water was quite rough. Kayaking was still fun, just required more energy! We only paddled as far as Split Apple Rock - this was enough for us given the rough sea but if it was calm, we would have preferred a bit more kayaking.
We returned to Kaiteriteri beach for lunch and then boarded a water taxi to start the second half of the tour. This is the part which could have been improved but I will review the water taxi company separately.
Overall a great experience and I would recommend Kaiteriteri Kayaks.
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South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ Abel Tasman ▷
Abel Tasman Sailing Adventures
4.0/5
We have been sailing twice recently and the weather makes all the difference!
The first time we were unlucky to have a horrible, wet cold day - relentless wind and rain the entire day. A little rain on an otherwise good day would have been manageable though. Note there is no shelter on the boat so all the elements batter you while you are sitting still which makes it even worse. We tried having hot drinks but this only works for so long when the weather is that bad. My recommendation would be to reschedule if the weather is predicted to be like this as we were cold and miserable, plus we couldn't see much anyway in the way of scenery.
We unexpectedly were in the area about a month after our first bad experience and decided to give the trip another go on a beautiful sunny day and the experience was poles apart. There were just 4 of us on the boat this time and it was fantastic; the views were absolutely spectacular, we were able to see some seals and penguins and had a brilliant morning on the boat. Unfortunately, it was not quite warm enough to swim but still a beautiful morning. The skipper was fantastic both times and keen to show us as much as possible. Based on this experience, I would give the company 10 stars