Amy Proctor
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Hawarden ▷
4x4 Adventures New Zealand
5.0/5
I agree..
I think Bianca took a different tour. I took the 4x4 tour with my boys in April and it was fantastic. As big LOTR fans, we got to see breaktaking scenery from the movies... Helms Deep and Edoras. The tour guide stopped, we got to get out and take in the fresh air and walk into the mouth of Helms Deep! They customize the tours so if you request a stop or closer view of a location, you got it. I asked for our next tour in 2010 (because I AM doing it again) that we climb Mt. Sunday (Edoras) and was told "No problem!"
If you like the 4x4 experience, rolling through sparkling aqua rivers as you near the Helms Deep is great! We got so bounced around my son almost got sick! It was a lot of fun but comletely safe.
We were provided with refreshments several times along the way, which was great.
Even if you aren't particularly a LOTR fan, the tour is outstanding. 4x4 Adventures as access to land that other tour companies don't, so we really got to experience the place from a unique perspective. HassleFree Tours is good, I understand, but they cannot go through the private property that takes you to the Helms Deep area. You can go to Edoras but that's it.
It was a wonderful tour and I can't WAIT to come back in 2010! It's so gorgeous I want to see it again, but this time to climb Mt. Sunday!
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South Island ▷ Queenstown Region ▷ Queenstown Township ▷
Heliworks
5.0/5
10! 10!
10!! We took a Heliworks tour in April and it was arguably the highlight of our vacation. We're big LOTR fans so we opted for the 4 hour LOTR helicopter tour and it was fantastic, a dream come true. If seeing so many LOTR sites, with several landings, weren't enough, our pilot was Alfie Speight, the principle filming pilot for LOTR. He flew the Misty Moutnains scenes and many more. It was a privileage to be escorted via helicopter (cool chopper, too!) by such an accomplished pilot. He flew us over several scenes that he shot for the movie. COOL!
I'm convinced that a helicopter is superior to a plane tour. You can hover, land and get close up to mountains and terrain like you cannot in a plane.
Heliworks will also custom tour you.... if you want to see some place in particular, they'll do it. Just ask.
Heliworks is a 15 on a scale of 1-10. The flight I took was expensive, but it was worth every red cent. Heliworks has shorter flights, too, so depending on your budget you can still get a phenominal tour.
**our next tour is going to include a snow landing around Mt. Cook! Can't wait to come back!!