Reviews

Angela, Netherlands. The Nevis

For those thinking of doing the Nevis. Bring new under pants. I had never done a Bungy Jump or canyon swing, but me being me I wanted to do it once...and preferably the highest one available. That was the Nevis! The Nevis Swing and the Nevis Bungy!
The Nevis Swing is the BIGGEST swing in the world... its simply massive! It is 160 km above the canyon floor and scary as hell. But what a rush! For the bungy...I did it!! It was the scariest thing I ever did, but anything for a good story

Charlie UK
- About the bus
Now the bus is exactly what you’d expect; a big coach! It’s clean and comfortable which it should be considering how much time you’ll be spent on the bus throughout your travels in New Zealand. More important is the bus drivers. Some drivers you’ll like and others you’ll love. For example, Ringo (keep it Ringo) was fun, loved his job and had a great taste in music. What more do you want from a bus driver?!
- Timetable
I noticed that a lot of people coming to New Zealand seem to have quite a tight time schedule (don’t know why, New Zealand is not to be rushed!). Luckily, the bus timetable is very frequent, even in winter, so that you don’t have to ‘waste’ time staying an extra night in a place just because there isn’t a bus the next day.
- The People on the tour
A lot of tour buses have the reputation for attracting young drunks. With this Experience I actually found this not to be the case at all. On my first leg of my journey I spent a week with roughly the same group. The ages ranged from 18-28 and most seemed to be university graduates rather than 18 year olds who can’t hold their drink. It was by no means a party bus, not all the time anyway. We had big nights and then tame ones. Having said that on occasion we were split, some would chill out and watch a movie at the hostel and others would hit the town. Also a thing to note is that people had a various personal budgets. Some nights people would go out for dinner and others would cook themselves. There was also a mixture of solo, group and couple travellers. There is no specific stereotype of who went on the trip.
- Route
One thing I will never been able to comprehend is travellers who only do the north island. It’s nice up there but really has nothing on the south! For me the highlight has to be west coast of the south island i.e. Nelson to Queenstown. You’ll stop at places like Lake Mahinapua, Franz Josef and Wanaka. This is accompanied by gorgeous coastal drives and stops by places of natural beauty. I’d actually rate this journey over the Great Ocean Road in Australia in terms of scenery.
- Verdict
Short answer: go for it! I have some very fond memories of the trip, the activities, the people and the bus and the places it took me. I made some fantastic friends many of which I am still in touch with. It’s convenient, good value for money and if you are on a tight schedule you can be assured you don’t miss the best bits New Zealand has to offer.