I was recently on a tour of New Zealand and I have to say this one of the highlights of the trip!…read more The Seafood Odyssea Cruise departs from Townwharf 5 at Picton Marina and is a wonderful way to spend the afternoon cruising through the Queen Charlotte Sound, one of therein sounds that make up the Marlborough Sounds of New Zealand. This is a family owned business and the Captain, Crew and Chef could not have been nicer or more attentive. All the food is locally sourced and fresh. On the day we departed we enjoyed watching them grill Regal Salmon on the back of the boat, enjoyed fresh GreenShelled Mussels (from the farm they showed us in the water) and lots of great Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc wines. The boat has a range of indoor and outdoor areas for viewing the beautiful scenery. Some of my favorite New Zealand pictures are from this cruise with my friends on a beautiful sunny day on the water with a glass (or two) or wine. This is definitely worth the money!

"Explore Marlborough Wineries By Bike" was a ship tour offered to us while in the Port of Picton…read more We tend to opt for a small group tour while in port, but this caught our eye. It would be a bit physical, scenic and at the same time some fun comparing New Zealand's wine country to our own here in California. This tour had to be one of the best wine tours we've been on. Our guide, Andy picked us up at the ship in a comfortable small van, and narrated along the way as we drove inland to where "Explore Marlborough Wine Tours" has their gear and office. When we arrived we were all able to outfit ourselves with the correct height bicycle, set the correct seat height, get situated with correct helmets, learn the gears, and given safety vests. The bicycles were like new and top notch with a basket for your belongings and a bottle of water & a treat. We went over all safety instructions, and tested our bicycles prior to commencing our ride. We had three really nice winery stops and really enjoyed the ride. The narrative by Andrew when we stopped in the vineyards was so great and super informative with the field harvesting process. Our last stop on the bike ride was at Mahi Winery, which was our favorite. Beautiful grounds, beautiful architecture, beautiful wines! Unbelievably hospitable and generous with their wine, and the fantastic lunch that was prepared by their fabulous chef "Marcia". I'm still trying to replicate the potato green bean dish, the corn with cucumber salad, and the recipe used for the salmon. Oh my gosh it was incredible! After the fantastic lunch, we all jumped in the van and drove back to our starting point for anyone that wanted to purchase wine before driving back to the ship. Sometimes you wonder about your choices of excursions, but at the end this was a no brainer and one of our favorite excursions. We highly recommend this tour, and would probably do it again if it was in our backyard.

From the owner: Explore Marlborough Wine Tours runs guided biking and driving wine tours of the Marlborough wine…read moreregion.

One of the couple boat operators we used in the Abel Tasman park. While there is no significant…read moredifference between all of them, I would say Sea Shuttle is less crowded. Ultimately the choice will come down to the timetables of their departure/pickups, as this will define how much of hiking you get to do. They also have three day passes at about $150 NZ $, which is a great deal if you are staying around the park for a few days.

I had a tour with Kaiteriteri Kayaks and they used the Sea Shuttle bus to pick me up from Nelson…read more Our driver was HILARIOUS and such a joy. It's obvious he loves his job and is passionate about the area. I didn't ride on the Sea Shuttle boat, but it looked very crowded.

It doesn't get better than swimming with wild dolphins! Our trip with Dolphin Watch Ecotours was…read moreone of the highlights of our New Zealand vacation. We'd heard about dolphin swimming in NZ and had originally planned to take a trip out of Kaikoura, but after chatting with the people there, we realized our tendency to get seasick might ruin the experience (as it's on the open ocean). Luckily, I randomly saw a brochure for this Picton business, and noted that since it's in the sound, the waters are much calmer. I called the office to verify and the captain swore he'd "never had someone seasick on his boat". I was sold. We had 11 people total on the boat and that seemed like good number, although apparently they sometimes take quite a few more. That included the skipper (who was great) and our nature guide, Kate, who was absolutely awesome. Then there were 7 of us swimmers and 2 viewers (those who didn't want to get in the water). There are 5 different species of dolphins in the Sound, which is pretty awesome, and you have a good chance of seeing several. On our trip we saw the Dusky dolphins as well as the common dolphin. Our first two times in the frigid water was with a small pod (just 5 or 6) Duskies. For whatever reason, they weren't interested in us, so although we got in the water we didn't end up swimming with them. The third time was the charm, however, and we ended up playing with a pod (30-40) of common dolphins. The commons are the biggest dolphin species, so it was actually more impressive anyway! I do have to admit that 3 times in and out of the water made for a very cold me, but Kate sprayed us down with hot water when we came out and made us hot drinks (tea, coffee, hot chocolate) so that was nice. I really can't describe how cool it is to swim with 100% wild dolphins, and if you're lucky enough to be in NZ, then you shouldn't pass up the experience.

Our skipper Paul and guide Jack really made this a great trip…read more With their expertise, we found a pod of Dusky Dolphins quite quickly, and got some great info about them while watching their hunting and frolicking in the sea. When it was time to go into the water, we were well prepared about what to expect, and how to attract the dolphins (by singing!). The result was certainly a once-in a lifetime experience, with quite a few dolphins coming within arms-length, and both man and dolphin obviously enjoying their time spent together. Compared to the dolphin swim experience at Kaikoura, Picton is certainly the lesser known, but because of that less crowded, much more personal. You also get the distinct feeling that with this tour, people really care for the animals, making sure not to disturb them, and to only send tourists into the water when the dolphins would like it.

For $79 pp we purchased a wine tour wristband @ were given a map.. Vans stopped at 26 wineries &…read moreliquor themed venues. Vans came every :30. It took :20 minutes to get to Blenheim for our first winery. A wine museum, gift shop, gin distillery, confectionery, vine village, beer garden ... we drove through magnificent wine country with rolling hills, sheep & of course vineyards. Our driver was knowledgeable sharing info about the area, wines & stops. There were people running to the van @ he was frequently running late. We had time to stop at two wineries for :30 and one for an hour lunch. At the end of the day they checked that everyone made it back to the port. We were told that we shouldn't have an issue getting lunch at any stop. We wouldn't need reservations today. However, there were cruise ships tours & Viacor tours that tied up many kitchens & wine tastings. We would have like to make more stops.

We spent a fantastic day visiting wineries, amazing lunch, and chocolate factory with Cam and his…read moreteam on our private tour arranged by Hop 'n Grape. We were picked up in a great coach at the port (shore excursion) and taken to several wineries in Blenheim and the Marlborough area. We had an amazing lunch and tasting at one local vineyard they put together for us. Additionally, we had many great tastings throughout the day, learned about New Zealand's wine making industry and living in this beautiful part of the country. Cam made this visit so personal and tailored it to our group. We met with winemakers and a local brewmaster. If you go to wine country, Hop n Grape will not disappoint. It was one of the highlights of our trip to New Zealand

After floundering around trying to begin planning our trip, we went to a New Zealand planning site…read moreand made a couple of inquiries stating our budget. One of them flat out rejected us because our budget was apparently too small for them to work. Rachel Strahl of Experience New Zealand responded soon after. Even though our budget wasn't in the millions, it WAS in the small thousands, a considerable amount in OUR eyes, and that was definitely enough for her to plan the most fabulous honeymoon on the South Island. We gave her our parameters in terms of what we wanted to see and in what activities we wanted to participate. What she gave us was a fully detailed itinerary with directions to all the places we wanted to go, beautiful accommodations that were reasonably priced, car rental, activities with descriptions and what to bring and what the operators suplied, suggestions for additional activities if we had time, dining recommendations, AND exactly who to call and when to call to confirm our upcoming reservations. In addition, when we arrived, she had a package of travel documents that included all the vouchers for everything for which we paid. The confirmation reminders were quite useful, as the river rafting group needed to place us in a different time slot as the one we booked originally didn't have enough participants. The river rafting company did not bother to contact us, so it was a good thing Rachel strongly recommended we get in touch with them. She made our honeymoon incredible and memorable without one hitch. It was as if she knew exactly what type of accommodations would suit us. We can't recommend her and Experience New Zealand highly enough. We want to go back and can't wait to use them again. I truly believe she saved us lots of time AND money!!! I would suggest that if you submit payment using a credit card to use one that doesn't charge foreign transaciton fees, as they do charge in NZ dollars.

My wife and I took this tour from a cruise ship. Laura picked us up at the dock, picked up a family…read moreof four, nearby, and off we went. The van could hold eight, with everyone getting a very comfortable bucket seat. Laura was very knowledgeable and friendly. We drove around the small downtown, stopping at Parliament Square, a beautiful old church, through several beautiful coastal and hillside suburbs, the Rose Garden, stopping at Scorching Beach at a great, seaside restaurant for tea and pastries (Scorch-O-Rama) then off to Mt. Victoria for spectacular views - plus more places I've forgotten. I can highly recommend this tour company and guide.

This was a fantastic walking tour! It's about 2 1/2 hours long and departs from the i-SITE Visitor…read moreCentre in Civic Square. The cost is very reasonable: $20 NZD. Worth every cent! Our guide, Gerald, was great. He led us on a walk from Civic Square to Te Papa, along the waterfront, down Lambton Quay, the Supreme Court, the Old Government Buildings, the National Library, Old St. Paul's, and then (for those interested in a bit more) took us to see a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi. We really covered a lot of ground! Along the way, Gerald told us about the history of Wellington and its renaissance over the last couple of decades. We stopped at several works of public art along the way and also learned a lot about the New Zealand political system, urban design, Maori culture, good places to eat, etc. He was a fount of knowledge! And yet, the whole tour went at a nice pace, I had time to "digest" information in between our stops on the walk, and I learned a lot! Plus, Gerald was just the nicest, most down-to-Earth, and interesting guide. I had a wonderful time.

Our eyes and minds were opened to a more thorough appreciation of the sights, sounds and history of…read morethe stunning Abel Tasman National Park and the adjoining Tonga Island Marine Reserve. As amateur birders we were thrilled to see all the species that were new to us. Stewart tailored the excursion to our interests and still had plenty of time to include lunch on the beach, walk to a waterfall, gliding thru many secluded inlets with crystal clear water and watching eagle rays swim right under us. Stewart certainly is without doubt the most knowledgeable guide we have ever had the privilege to be with. The best part is that he has the personality and ability to communicate scientific information in a form that is entertaining without being stuffy, boring or intimidating. We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our day and we will never forget this high point of our month in New Zealand.