driver in New Zealand
 

Looking for reliable and inexpensive driver in New Zealand. Any good experiences and recommendations? Thank you, Inna

You mean like to drive you all around the country?
Route, size of vehicle and for how long? if so would all determine price and not cheap I imagine with both vehicle and accommodation costs.

I am looking either for small group tour to do following route or preferably private driver: Auckland - Waitomo – Rotorua - Wellington - Picton – Christchurch. Ty

This may not be helpful, but there are many buses between those destinations, including hop-on/hop-off backpacker buses, geared to all visitors, that travel those routes. For example, you can start in Auckland, travel to Rotorua, stay as long as you like, and then grab a bus to Wellington. I'm not sure if they make it to Waitomo -- those that I know who have visited to see the glow-in-the-dark worms have been unimpressed.

I visited NZ in December 2007, but that was with two friends, so we rented a car, which was a great way to see the country, affording lots of freedom. Frankly, the backpacker bus would have been a good Plan B had a car been prohibitive.

Renting a car and exploring NZ on your own is the best way to go, but barring that, you could always look into a custom tour. Not cheap though.

http://www.customtours.co.nz/

An inexpensive driver and car for a big drive like that is a contradiction in terms. New Zealand is not a third-world country with starvation wages.

Your choice, but the idea sounds like a complete drag to me. Driving yourself is very easy in NZ.

driving myself unfortunately is not an option... no one is talking or implying third world country etc... with limited amount of time and the rest i would have asked the same would have i been traveling in europe or states.. please...

As I wrote, you may want to research some of the buses, which are geared to visitors covering a large part of the country. For example, and I haven't taken any of these, so these are not recommendations, see:

http://www.kiwiexperience.com/
http://www.straytravel.com/
http://www.backpackerbus.co.nz/
http://www.magicbus.co.nz/

They cover the country and allow you to plan a custom trip, with as much or as little time as you'd like in a destination. A dedicated driver will be very expensive.

Of those four, stay well away from all but magic for they are a far fling from what you're after.

You will with a bit of a search find tours, possibly look to do

Auckland - Waitomo - Rotorua - Auckland.

Get train Auckland to Wellington if still running - it was on a last life kind of deal last I heard, or fly.

Wellington tours and W to Picton by ferry for train to CC
You may also want to do a tour to Nelson and Able Tasman region.

Be plenty of tours out of CC.

Here's some links for personalised tours of NZ. THe first 2 are for small groups, and their marketting is aimed at the German market, but not exclusively.

Custom Tours is at the top end of the market, and caters for groups of 2-3 persons.
www.silberfarntours.com/en/navigation.html
http://www.realnaturetours.com/en/index.php
http://www.customtours.co.nz/

None of these are cheap. Private car and driver is at the top end of the range, and tend to be quite exclusive. THere is nothing between these, and mass transit coach tours etc. Most visitors either hire a car, or take a coach tour.