My husband and I have traveled through most of the United States and Asia, a bit of Europe, and many other places. Traveling is our love and addiction. We often put together trips ourselves, but for Australia/New Zealand we needed an expert in the area to help us. We started by first looking at some tour companies. (My cousins used one to go to the same destination.) But none had some of the things we wanted, and I needed a few accommodations. I found three firms online that specialized in this area and that drew my interest. I emailed asking for quotes. Two called and I spoke to the agents, outlining my requests. The Aspire agent responded to a query from my husband on Zicasso. And I let her know (via email and then on the phone) what we needed. She listened to me and provided a quote with items and times that I had requested at a reasonable price. So she was our top pick, and we began to work together to cull the best items for the trip. We never paid a fee until we were ready to book the tour. I worked with Sharon T. And she was amazing. We got the cities we wanted, in the order we wanted, and with a few special accommodations. (For example: With a recent knee surgery, I couldn't climb the 300 steps at the Sydney Opera House, so she booked us an accessible tour. I sometimes have tummy trouble early in the mornings, so mostly I wanted tours that started at 10 am or later. I did have to give in to early times in a few instances, because they were not avoidable. I even had a specific order to the cities we visited, because I wanted to end the trip in Auckland, New Zealand, where we planned to meet with a friend we hadn't seen in more than 30 years.) Suffice it to say that Sharon and I exchanged tons [hundreds? :-)] of emails from May through the end of the trip in October. I even emailed her at least three or four times while on the 19-day trip, and I always got an immediate response (if the timing was right with the 15-17 hour difference). As a former assistant travel editor for a major daily newspaper, I may be more particular than most people and harder to please. Aspire (Sharon) was patient, detailed, and offered stellar service. P.S. The VAMOOS app was incredible. It provided every detail at our fingertips for the entire trip, along with reminders. read more

See all

Shelley and her team planned and executed a perfect 30 day introductory trip to Australia and New Zealand. Everything was simply fabulous during the entire trip, and we could not have had a better experience in the communication/planning phase. The itinerary included a great mixture of geographical areas, culture and wildlife. All of the accommodations fit my request of no large hotel chains, and a preference for local small boutique hotels. Not only were the hotels a good match for us, but all were in the perfect location for our planned activities. Every private and small group tour that they arranged for us in fit our interests and pace of travel, and greatly enhanced our experiences in each of the different areas we visited. This travel group obviously has vetted the best local tour providers and transfer services, because all but one or two superbly delivered on all that was promised. Shelley promptly followed up with those two that did not meet our expectations and I know they want and expect the best for their travelers. We also had local contact information if any problems arose during the trip, and we got prompt assistance each of the two times we contacted them. Overall, everything met and exceeded our expectations and we definitely recommend Aspire Down Under and feel that they deserve more than five stars. read more

We have had a wonderful experience with Sharon from ADU for several years now! we finally got to go to New Zealand after having to reschedule due to covid. It was the best trip of my life and I could not recommend this company enough! We brought our 8 month old son along with us and Sharon made sure everything went smoothly to accommodate bringing him. We had an adventurous time in NZ with a lot of beautiful hikes, cruises, a helicopter tour, and of course a lot of Lord of the Rings film locations. Sharon- THANK YOU!!!! I hope to return to NZ one day soon. read more

See all

My family and I had an amazing time in New Zealand, and we couldn't have done it without the help of ADU & the guidance of our fantastic travel advisor, Joanne M. I knew we wanted to see both North & South Island, but I had no idea where to start & didn't have the time to research it all. That's where Joanne came in. Based on her experience, she proposed a great itinerary right off the bat. We then tweaked it along the way to meet my family's travel wishes. It was fantastic!! She worked with my budget, had great recommendations, steered me away from things that weren't as high priority in order to fit within our timeline, and took care of all the little details that I wouldn't have thought of. She also had a candidness that I really appreciated, made me feel like she truly wanted the best for us instead of just trying to make a sale. We had a few snafus along the way with the glacier road being washed out, my parents backing out of an excursion last minute, and a hotel miscommunication, but Joanne & Shine (from the NZ office) took care of everything quickly and painlessly and our trip continued on without a hitch! I can't thank the staff at ADU enough for helping us plan such an epic trip! Of course, there were a few things we didn't get to see, but it was the perfect bucket list trip for my dad & we definitely got a great taste of what NZ has to offer. Guess we'll just have to come back to see the rest! read more

While looking at Yelp it is clear Aspire doesn't need another 5 star review, here it is! Our Honeymoon was 1 week Australia, 1 Week New Zealand. Shelby worked with us to create a personalized itinerary that fit our likes and interests. Her communication skills are incredible and she was able to give us exactly what she wanted, at the price we wanted. Some of our friends cautioned us about using a travel agency (in general, not specifically this one) but I have to say with an itinerary so personalized, not one thing was amiss. It felt as though we had planned it ourself, without all the stress. The hotels we were placed in were in amazing locations. While we had printed out everything and brought it with us, upon arriving at each hotel, a packet from Aspire Down Under and their Australia/New Zealand affiliate ATS was waiting for us. This made contacting each excursion flawless and allowed us to just relax and not have to worry about the little details like remembering confirmation numbers. We couldn't have had a better time and would recommend Shelby and Aspire Down Under to anyone looking for a personalized, stress free, memorable experience! read more

Aspire Down Under - A view atop a mountain, looking down at Queenstown,NZ. Our favorite place during our trip! - Travel Services Near Me - New York, New York

We worked with Sarah @ Aspire Down Under for our January honeymoon. She was working with us for approximately two months before we finalized on the itinerary. She was flexible with our requests while keeping us under budget and also took care of all of the required documents. Recommendations were pretty good overall, although some of the tours and excursions were either too long or too uninteresting for us. Either way, I don't think Aspire can do too much about that. On a plus side, we got a lot of free complimentary items along the way from our hotels, so thanks Sarah! They have affiliates in Australia and NZ, where we were going at the time, in case of emergencies or issues with our tours, which was a nice perk. I still recommend trying to call the tour company directly to handle any immediate issues since the emergency contact number for Aspire's affiliates are pretty unreliable, no one picked/returned our call the two times we called. read more

We are experienced travelers and don't use travel agents as a rule, but felt Australia and New Zealand were too unfamiliar to book on our own. Shelley Madsen at Aspire did a terrific job of booking every detail of our trip. I was uneasy about being "scheduled" but every single aspect of our trip was flawlessly orchestrated. Highly recommend. read more

We just went on our two week honeymoon which was planned by this company. Our travel agent, Shelley, was helpful and listened to what we wanted and didn't want. We ended up going to Melbourne (and the Great Ocean Road), Adelaide (and kangaroo island), Uluru, Sydney and around Bondi. Everything that was coordinated for us went smoothly! They planned everything for us from the transportation to and from the airport to all of the excursions. Besides wanting to stay for another week, I wouldn't change a thing!! We highly recommend this company to other travelers! read more

Thanks to Shelby Albo for planning 3 weeks of pure luxury travel through New Zealand. From the activities, to the 8 lodgings and transfers - everything was seamless and top notch! Even my dietary restrictions were communicated in advance so I was always greeted with great food that I could enjoy without concern. These small, but important details made everything that much more enjoyable. I would trust Shelby and Aspire Down Under for all travel "down under". Truly AWESOME! read more

Aspire Down Under - View of Queenstown from the Gondola - Travel Services Near Me - New York, New York

My (now) husband and I went to the Travel & Adventure Show in Chicago in Jan 2012 to get some ideas on how to plan the honeymoon of a lifetime. We met with Shelley of Aspire Down Under first and after talking to her for a few minutes, gave us some ideas and her email address to go further on those ideas. (We had also met someone else from a different travel agency but she was abrupt and just plain mean via email.) We wanted to do a three week trip to Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. We wanted to see as much as possible without going too much overboard and to us, it didn't matter if the hotels were 3 star or above. The experience was the most important part. She also had to take into account that we were traveling during the Christmas and New Year's holidays (aka their summer and the busy time), for Christmas we'd be staying in Christchurch to visit family, we wanted to visit Mt. Cook area of NZ, see Sydney, and go scuba diving at some point on the trip. It was a lot of info, but a wide enough net to cast. Shelley was amazing to work with, especially considering we mainly worked together via email. She gave us a starting itinerary just over the budget we gave her (which, honestly, 3 weeks in 3 countries... easy to do!) and a couple of options to change it up. We changed one or two things, but overall stuck to the itinerary she gave us. The trip was unbelievable and amazing. Everything that Shelley booked for us worked out according to plan... except for Fiji, but that was not her fault. She recommended that we take travel insurance out and we didn't. (Seriously, take the travel insurance!!) We hunkered down in a hotel ballroom in a new/different hotel that we had to pay for ourselves for 30 hours while a Category 5 Cyclone passed over us. (So not kidding.) Had we had the travel insurance, we may had been able to get that money back. All in all, a great trip with very memorable experiences (see above) that made it so much better that I didn't have to plan. I would use Shelley and Aspire Down Under again in a heartbeat. read more

Trip Ruined by HORRIBLE customer service. The hotel the company booked for my brother and I did not meet expectations and Aspire has not rectified. In fact, in my last correspondence, they too nearly a month to get back to me. Here is what went wrong: 1) Reservation system at hotel they booked me at was down. It took an hour before anyone knew what they were doing, multiple other guests ended up leaving the hotel because the front desk could not provide a legitimate answer to when we would get our rooms. 2) My brother and I reserved a two bed room. We were provided a one bed room instead. My brother had to sleep on the sofa the first night. 3) Hotel didn't even know what rooms were vacant. Front desk personnel led us to the room, knocked and were unsure as they entered. It was ridiculous as well as unsafe to ask a hotel guest to endure this. 4) Hotel nor Aspire feels responsible. They feel that the strawberries provided made up for the mistake 5) When I wrote to Aspire about my grievances, they forwarded my email to the hotel. Aspire is a travel agency. I pay them a fee to make arrangements and be my agent. When things do not go right, take care of the wrong...dont' forward my email. That's your job. I have spent over three months now with multiple correspondence and just get the runaround. Most recently they said the hotel would speak to me directly. After multiple attempts there, it seems the hotel has no intent to do so.. FRUSTRATING!!!! read more

We worked with Aspire to plan our trip and Shelley was simply amazing. We started planning almost a year out and everything on the trip was executed to perfection. Her recommendations on accommodations in some of the areas we weren't familiar with were spot-on and she also checked in periodically throughout the trip. She knew specifics of the different excursions and helped us choose what would be right for our travelers (myself, husband and my older father). Our excursions were all lovely with excellent guides. As the planner in my family, it was wonderful to have her expertise and professionalism at hand, I only wish this company could take care of more of my travel plans! We are already considering when we can travel to Australia again (and any other South Pacific locales) and will definitely be using Aspire. read more

Joanne Morgan helped us plan us plan our 2 week trip to Australia and Fiji. She sat down with us to discuss what our most important sites were and helped narrow down where and what to do. She rearranged our itinerary as many times as we needed while we were planning out costs etc. and never questioned it at all, she was extremely patient and made the planning process so simple and smooth. Our trip was flawless and could never have planned all the travel and connections without her. We had a flight get canceled while we were on our trip and she was on it as soon as she had the notice and rescheduled us without us missing a beat. 10/10 would recommend using them for your next travel. 100% worth scheduling a call! read more

We had an action packed vacation in Australia thanks to Aspire Down Under! Shelby is AWESOME and was a great help in planning our excursions, which exceeded beyond our expectations! We stayed traveled to three cities (Sydney, Port Douglas and Melbourne) and two of the three accommodations were great. We would suggest to reconsider bookings at Mercure Melbourne Albert Park for future customers. Thanks for making a memorable experience we will never forget! read more

After working with Aspire Down Under to plan our honeymoon, I would not recommend their services. While a few hiccups are to be expected on any trip, our problems with Aspire ranged from minor inconveniences to significant ones. Even after several months of corresponding with their staff, they were unable to help us correct some issues. The most significant problem included an unstaffed "emergency" number, where no one reached out or responded to us via phone or email regarding a severe landslide that affected several days of our trip. Other issues included an unconfirmed reservation, incorrect address for a hotel, flight problems, and a general lack of attention to detail - for example, not a single vendor in NZ was told that we were on our honeymoon. On Aspire's website, it says "bona fide honeymooners...benefit from added bonuses such as room upgrades or wine in your room on arrival." We did not experience this at all with Aspire. Our honeymoon was an incredible life experience that we spent a long time planning, saving for, and looking forward to - I genuinely regret working with Aspire and would not recommend this agency to anyone planning a major trip to New Zealand. * As a note to Sharon's response: one of our very generous and kind hosts shared a bottle of bubbly with us after realizing that the details of our honeymoon hadn't been communicated, and it was one of her personal bottles. read more

My husband and I worked with Shelby and she helped us have the most amazing honeymoon to New Zealand and Tahiti. Shelby was very knowledgable and responsive. We are so grateful to her because we had an incredible time! read more

I had an excellent experience working with Sarah Smith at Aspire Down Under to plan a 3 week family trip to New Zealand this December (2019). Because of medical issues, we unfortunately had to cancel. Sarah was great throughout the process - from going back and forth on our travel details to helping us deal with insurance because of the cancellation. I felt like I took a chance using Aspire Down Under, as I only heard about it via Yelp reviews. Wanted to add my stamp of approval- at least for the planning and cancellation process. We would definitely use them again once we resolve our situation and are able to go to New Zealand. read more

We worked with Joanne Morgan to plan the honeymoon of a lifetime, and wow! Our trip was absolutely incredible; words do not do it justice. Joanne was so easy to work with, and we actually planned the entire trip via email! It was so easy to do, especially because we live in AZ, and were a few time zones away from Joanne in NY. Joanne was accommodating to all of our requests and was able to answer all of our questions quickly and efficiently. We wanted to do so much on our trip, yet also stick as closely as possible to our budget, and Joanne made that happen. We emailed back and forth for a couple weeks honing our ideas and our budget, and we got to do everything we wanted! About a week before our trip, Joanne emailed all of our documents and everything went off without a hitch. It was truly the smoothest trip we've ever taken. We went to qualia, on Hamilton Island. We then went inland to the rainforest at Silky Oaks Lodge, and then down to Syndey (we were in AU for a total of 2 weeks). Every leg of our trip was incredible, and Joanne planned everything out to a T. It was especially helpful that Joanne set up limo transportation to and from each airport. On our final leg (in Sydney), we did a Sydney Harbor cruise, which was a special for Aspire clients, and honestly, it was one of our favorite things about our whole trip! Lots of drinks and great sightseeing, with a really unique stop to swim in crystal clear waters. The cruise workers made us a really delicious lunch and were so knowledgeable about all of the buildings in the harbor and Sydney's history. It was a great way to end a gorgeous, memorable, amazing honeymoon! read more

Just returned from a 23-day custom tour arranged by Shelly at Aspire Down Under. What a great trip! We had to plan this with only a week in advance. Shelly put together a fantastic itinerary. Our major towns were Queenstown NZ, Melbourne, Adelaide, Port Douglas (Cairns region), and Sydney. The genius of travel planning is pacing and where and when to put your money. This was extraordinary. Shelly picked perfect hotels for our needs, smaller guides for the key sites, open days in the right places for pacing. Shelly was available during the trip when we had questions. Trips like this are complex, requiring many flights, transfers, bookings, etc. not one glitch and all great arrangements. My brother used her for his trip 6 months earlier, and also had a fabulous time and experience. This trip was truly "No worries, mate!" read more

Words can't describe the gratitude we have for Aspire Down Under and specifically Shelby. Even though my husband and I have traveled quite a bit and have no problem planning/doing research we knew we were in over our head when we decided to go to Australia/Fiji for our honeymoon. I was connected to Shelby through a friend of mine and she was nothing but patient, understanding and EXTREMELY helpful in all aspects of planning. They'll work with your budget, your interests, requests, etc to create a package perfect for you. The hotels we stayed at were all clean, friendly and centrally located in each city (Melbourne, Sydney, Uluru, Port Douglas). The tours and travel arrangements were all on time and have no complaints. Even though we wanted to try to go to New Zealand this trip, we're so glad we listened to Shelby who advised focusing our 2 weeks in 1 country instead and relax for a few days after (Fiji). New Zealand is definitely top of our list of countries to go the next time we can take 2 weeks off and we will definitely be using Aspire Down Under/Shelby without question. read more

Let us start out by saying A HUGE THANK YOU to you and your entire staff for making our honeymoon the most memorable trip we will ever take. Please allow us to make just one negative comment about the trip, while the rest are positive comments for you: * Shantara was beautiful and we certainly enjoyed our secluded time there; however, they did not have a restaurant or even a bar. With that, there wasn't even the opportunity for us to have breakfast prior to our full days of excursions. We're not sure if this is indicative of all the resorts there in Port Douglas, but honestly this was the only downside to the trip. We ended up going to the grocery store and purchasing some items on our own, which I guess we were ok with. We did notice though, that perhaps only the bigger, more commercialized (and therefore more busy and more families) may have had bars/restaurants - so from the point of view of seclusion and privacy, Shantara was perfect! :) Ok, now on to the good stuff :) * If you fly anyone over there and Virgin Australia is available, FLY THEM ON VIRGIN! As a frequent flyer all over the world, I can honestly say that my best experience to date was our trip with Virgin. Hands down the best airline experience I've ever had. * All of our ground transportation was on-time, 100% of the time. So whoever you used for us, keep booking them! * All of our tours/excursions were amazing, especially our scuba diving trip. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE continue recommending and booking your future clients on Poseidon-absolutely fantastic!! 3 different reef locations, much more private than what the other reef operators appeared to be, just an incredible experience with them! * While we ended up finding this out on our own, one of the only places in the world where you can hold a Koala (as I'm sure you know) is in the northern state of Queensland, and for us was the village of Kuranda...this point may be worth mentioning to future clients As a side note, we saw one (and his 2 babies) of the very rare Cassowary in the wild!!! If we may, we have just one suggestion for your clients departing out of Sydney and back to the US (or whatever country they may be returning to): we suggest a scheduled departure time from their hotel in the city of 4hrs prior to their airline departure time. We changed our's with the tour company due to the craziness of downtown Sydney, and the airport for that matter, and it ended up working out perfectly. Had we kept the original time, we would have been cutting it too close. Lastly, if we had our choice to do this same trip again, and not this is NOT a negative thing, we would chose to do the Sydney part first. That way we could have the calm relaxation of the secluded resort atmosphere at the end. Again, we would like to sincerely thank your entire staff and especially YOU, for all of your hard work and dedication to making our trip enjoyable, memorable, and something we will cherish for a lifetime. V/R Happy Honeymooners :) read more

Shelby and Shelly helped us plan a pretty last minute trip to New Zealand that was one of the best trips my family has taken. We decided late in the year that we wanted to visit New Zealand over the Christmas to New Year's break, which just so happens to be the busiest time of the year for New Zealand. Shelby and Shelly took our desired itinerary, booked the flights, scrambled for lodging at the places we wanted to see, and secured tickets for all the events we wanted. I was amazed at how quickly they were able to pull everything together. Aspire Down Under definitely knows their way around New Zealand. I'm quite sure we wouldn't have been able to do as much as we wanted without their help. We will definitely use them again. read more

We worked with Kerrie at Aspire Down Under to create a month-long tour of Australia and New Zealand that included 5 different family members joining and leaving the tour at various times. Each had their own wishes (and budgets). They were coming from 4 different towns. Kerrie didn't miss a beat. She had something for everyone and nearly everyone enjoyed nearly every single plane ride, train ride, meal, excursion and hotel stay. Coaches were on time. Everything had been checked and re-checked. We even received an upgrade a a spectacular resort near the Great Barrier Reef because the management so loved Kerrie. We would have to agree. We LOVE Kerrie and Aspire Down Under through association. Well done! read more

Just returned from our 2-week vacation to Australia, and Shelley did a great job! The tours and accommodations were excellent, and Aspire Down Under staff were accessible before and during our trip! Perhaps the most notable part was their willingness to jump in and help us make adjustments to our itinerary... even during the trip! read more

Aspire Down Under planned an incredible honeymoon for us! We spent 2 weeks in Australia and visited Melbourne, Port Douglas, and Sydney. Their expertise was absolutely critical to our having an amazing time. They knew all of the best day trips at each city and had great food recommendations to boot! Considering the complexity of our trip, our agent, Joanne, was so professional and helpful. We probably changed our itinerary a half dozen times and she was always responsive and helpful. She even saved us a couple thousand dollars when we had to make a last minute change to our flight plan. I don't know how we could have had a better trip! read more

We worked with Shelley Madsen to plan our trip and she did an amazing job. We told her what we definitely wanted to do, and gave her an idea of the types of activities we like, and she presented us with a variety of options. Once we selected everything we wanted to do, she arranged our entire trip, from hotels and excursions to transportation and flights within Australia. Every detail was taken care of, it all worked out flawlessly, and the timing for everything was perfect. There was no way I could have organized all of the timing and travel logistics so well myself. We had an excellent time, thanks to her knowledge and expertise! read more

I really can't say enough about the fine folks of Aspire Down Under. I was planning a trip to Australia and...even as a seasoned traveller...I needed the kind of advice that only a specialist could provide. The staff here helped me decide where to go (my initial thoughts were a bit too aggressive) -- and then made all the arrangements seamless! I'd happily recommend them to anyone planning a trip down under! read more

We worked with Shelley from Aspire Down Under for our two week honeymoon (4 days in the cook islands and 10 days in New Zealand) -- this way by far the easiest part to plan of our entire wedding adventure!! They gave us a beautiful brochure/catalog when we first expressed interest which allowed us to look at the different countries and islands and give us an idea about what adventure that we would like to embark on!! After giving Shelley a time frame, budget and some of our interests she was able to put together an itinerary for us that included flights, hotels, excursions, and even a rent a car!! We received a detailed itinerary that included timelines and details of the events! Our actual vacation was a dream come true; everything went off without a hitch - there was nothing that we even had to worry about. All of our flights, transportation and outings were well planned and on time. We took over 1400 pictures and can't wait to return. Aspire Down Under put together the best itinerary for us which included relaxtion on the beach, adventures, and an unforgettable time! Thank u! read more

Aspire Down Under made our honeymoon PERFECTION!!! We worked with Shelley Madsen who we highly recommend. She created the most amazing trip for us from New Zealand to Sydney to Hamilton Island to Melbourne. Every tour we went on was top notch and everywhere we stayed was beautiful. When there were weather issues and a tour got cancelled they handled the refunds. We wish Aspire did trips all over the world! Wed use them for everywhere!!!! read more

We used Aspire Down Under for our once in a lifetime, 21 day trip to New Zealand and Australia, celebrating my husband's 70th birthday. Typically I plan all of our travel, being budget minded and a bit of a control freak. But for this trip, that was far more than we wanted to take on, and we didn't have a sense for how to pare down the scale of the two countries and the scope of all that we could see and do in the amount of time we had. Our agent/trip planner, Joanne was absolutely amazing. She very quickly had a good sense for the kinds of things we were interested in, our desired level of activity, questioning us about likes/dislikes, accommodation preferences, must see and dos, and of course, budget. Because of her knowledge and extensive travel through both countries, she was able to develop a detailed full blown itinerary and budget for us in a matter of a few days. Together, we tweaked the itinerary a few times over the period of several weeks, and finalized it a few weeks later, just after the first of the year. I had researched flights on my own, and found that we couldn't come close to the fares that Joanne secured for us. Our itinerary included 5 in-country flights, as well as the US/international flights and she managed to save us a significant amount over anything we could find on our own. All of the details of the trip were taken care of for us. We didn't have to worry about timing of pickups and drop offs, the itinerary included ample time for exploration on our own as well as relaxation, and the quality of all activities and accommodations chosen were excellent. We can unreservedly recommend Joanne and Aspire Down Under to professionally and pleasantly handle all of your Australia and New Zealand travel needs. As a side note, our trip coincided with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and Joanne was in regular contact with us, keeping a pulse on what was going on in the US as well as our travel countries, reaching out to all airlines and securing return flights for us when our originally booked flights were cancelled. This ensured we had a great trip, right up to the very end, with minimal stress as she handled all the changes and bookings for us. Just wonderful! read more

We just returned from our 3 week vacation in Australia (5 days) and new Zealand (14 days). The trip was truly amazing, and probably the best trip abroad we have ever taken and we have taken many. We have to give the credit to Shelley Madsen, our expert planner at Aspire Down Under, who maximized the use of our time while providing us with the best possible experiences to suit our needs and preferences. Through a clever combination of fights, rail, car and boat transportation, we covered great distances while having ample time to explore and enjoy each destination. We originally had planned to travel last year but had to delay because of unforeseen circumstances. Shelley revamped our itinerary, switching us to Air New Zealand (great airline) from Qantas, and changing the order of our locations. We started off in Sydney, then flew to Melbourne, and then to New Zealand which we explored on land from Queenstown to Auckland. We truly made the most of every day, starting early and ending late (long days in summer there), with plenty of hiking, dining, and experiencing along the way. She spent our money wisely, mixing luxurious Bed and Breakfasts with hotels, inns, and venues that we could never have identified. For example, the Black Swan Hotel in Rotorua was beautiful and well located on the lake, with excellent food and incredible accomodations, while the Museum Art Hotel in Wellington was an art gallery in itself. We loved sea kayaking in the Abel Tasman Park, flying to Milford Sound followed by a 2-hour cruise of the fjords, and learning about Maori culture in Wellington at the Te Papa Museum. We had a wine tour near Nelson with a half-Maori guide and two Lord of the Rings jeep rides in Queenstown. We climbed the Sydney Bridge ane attended an opera, went to the Australian Open in Melbourne, and visited the Blue Mountains. We took the ferry between the North and South NZ islands, and the Trans Alpine train from Greymouth to Christchurch, and spent a few hours in Middle Earth looking at Hobbit holes. We could just go on and on, and we owe a deep debt of gratitude to Shelley Madsen (who we discovered on the Internet) for providing us with the experience of a lifetime. read more

Sharon planned the perfect honeymoon for us! We had an amazing time in New Zealand and the Cook Islands! We had worried that our time in New Zealand would be too busy but Sharon spread everything out wonderfully, calculating travel time, lodging and activities that all came together perfectly. No detail was left unnoticed and we were able to fully enjoy and relax on our honeymoon because all the work had been done for us. What a luxury! We would recommend that anyone use Aspire Down Under the next time they head to that part of the world! read more

We went on a 2 week trip to Sydney, Port Douglas and Melbourne. Joanne was instrumental in planning our trip. She had alot of suggestions for what to do in each city. Loved the Sydney Bridge Walk and the Penguin Parade in Melbourne. Hotels were great, shuttle pick up and delivery were very well organized. Would go again tomorrow read more

I had a wonderful experience with Sharon at Aspire. After performing some research on flights, hotels, and tours on my own, I decided to see if there were any tour companies that specialized in where we wanted to go in the South Pacific. Aspire had great reviews. I called to get a quote, and it was surprisingly cheaper (and less stressful) than booking everything on my own. Sharon asked great questions to get an idea of our needs, budget, and interests. She was professional, courteous, and patient. We enjoyed the trip immensely, and would definitely use Aspire again! read more

Shelby did a great job in helping us plan our honeymoon for us. She asked us to start our budget and our desired destination, then proceeded to ask us about our preferences on what we like to do/what we want to do on our trip. She took all of that down and then proceeded to get us the best package we could, along with quality hotels and quality excursions. The best thing about it all, was that we were a bit scared of our transportation services not being prompt or on time, or even showing up, but it was perfect, they all showed up 5 minutes early, and we had no issues with anything. My wife and I both agree, this was a trip of a lifetime, and she definitely made it happen. Thank you Aspire Down Under and Shelby for such a great trip! read more

My husband and I just returned from our honeymoon in Fiji and Australia, and it was absolutely perfect thanks to Joanne at Aspire Down Under. From the accommodations, to the transportation, the excursions and the special champagne waiting for us at each hotel, Joanne's planning was exceptional and exactly what we wanted! I would highly recommend anyone planning to visit Fiji or Australia to use Aspire Down Under...our trip was perfect! read more

When my family decided to take a "bucket list" trip, I got online and picked out everything we'd like to do and priced it out. Then, just for a comparison, I got a quote from some travel agents. I was amazed at how much more we could do for the same amount with Aspire Down Under. So we used Aspire Down Under to create and book a 3.5 week tour of New Zealand and Australia and were thrilled with the results. All the tours they booked us for went off without a hitch. Shelley, our agent, gave great recommendations for what tours were best, and we were not disappointed. The lodging they found for us was excellent - we loved each place we stayed. Shelley was careful to stay within our budget, while at the same time maximizing our experience. I booked us an apartment for one phase of the trip and ended up wishing I'd let Shelley do it, as the one I picked was not as advertised, while all her picks had been tested out and were excellent. In addition, Shelley remained available to us throughout the trip to iron out little details and answer questions. She was incredibly helpful throughout the entire process, thinking through little things I likely would have forgotten, like transfers from airports to hotels, etc. As an Australian, she also understood regulations and culture in a way that was very helpful - for instance, she arranged discounts for the children based on Australian family passes that I never would have found. Overall, the trip was the best vacation our family of 6 has ever taken, it was within our budget, and Aspire Down Under saved us a tremendous amount of money over what I would have paid if I'd booked it myself. read more

My wife and I recently worked with Joanne at Aspire Down Under and she planned the most AMAZING honeymoon to Australia for us. If you are thinking about going to Australia for any type of trip, make sure to use them. I originally found Aspire online and noticed that they were endorsed by the Australian Tourism Board and after looking at a few Yelp reviews, I figured I would reach out. In my original conversation with Joanne, we discussed why we were looking to go to Australia for our honeymoon and what we were looking to do. She prepared an outline of the things we could do given our budget and the amount of days we were working with, and we immediately fell in love with it. Working with her even further, we never once felt like we were being pressured into doing something we didn't want to or that we weren't getting the best pricing. She did a great of listening and asking the right questions so that she could plan the best trip possible. When we were in Oz, all of the reservations, transfers and excursions were as advertised and seamless. This really allowed us to feel at ease when we were there and only focused on having an amazing time. Joanne really knocked the cover off the ball and I wish I could give her 6 stars because it was THAT good. We will be using her again for our next trip down under! read more