This was the best day ever. Our tour was arranged by one of our CC members. We had two vans of five couples in each van. Terry drove one van and Carolyn drove the other. Terry and Carolyn greeted us as we disembarked the cruise ship just as they said, with our names on a white board. The itinerary was fantastic. We saw as much as we could in one day without feeling rushed. This is the beauty of a small group tour. We first went to Te Puia where we had a Maori welcome and attended an action packed concert where many of us (my husband) participated. We walked along the boardwalk and witnessed the geysers, and boiling mud pools. This is also where we had a nice lunch on their patio overlooking the geothermal activity. After lunch we had free time to venture off to visit the museum where they do carving and weaving. It's not some small carving shop. It's huge!!! The gift shop was also wonderful. Plenty of beautiful things to choose from, and prices quite fair. After Te Puia we were off to the Redwood Forest (wow!) where Terry taught us the distinction of the silver fern (one of their national symbols). Being from California it was interesting to compare their Redwoods to ours. We found many similarities in their trees and flowers to ours. We took some fabulous photographs. The bathrooms were quite unique in that they were individual cylinder shapes out of decorated metal. Making our way back we stopped at a beautiful Kiwi Orchard, where we did some tastings of kiwis and jams. The Golden Kiwi.....Yum! Kiwi ice cream....yes, we indulged! We had a little extra time on our journey so we were able to make a very quick stop at Okere Falls to watch a rafting boat and some kayakers (really quick stop). All along the way the sights were absolutely beautiful. Terry would keep us entertained with stories along with narrating as to where we were and what we were seeing along the way, happy to answer any question we would toss at him. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour, and highly recommend Custom Day Tours. Terry & Carolyn - You are such the great team!! Thank you for a great day!! Cheers! MandL read more

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