Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Private Tours AU &NZ?

I just returned from a fabulous 3 week trip to NZ last week. We took several day tours and I saved the brochures just for answering these types of questions (and to remember where I went and what I did). Anyway, for Christchurch we also took a canterbury Leisure Tour to Arthur's Pass. We didn't do the jetboating part and since we were the only two on the tour (yes, they still ran it for only the two of us) we didn't go to the jetboating place. Anyway, the tour and tour guide were great. The scenery is beautiful - it's the area where some of Lord of the Rings was filmed (I haven't seen the film). In talking to the tour guide - and since it was just the 3 of us in a small van we did alot of talking, he said that the cruise ships often run their own tours up to Arthur's pass and that they don't see as much as we did. Another option from Christchurch is to go to the Gondola - which you can take a city bus to for about NZ $1.50 from the Cathedral Square. The view is unbelievable - it's 360 so you see the mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and what I thought was even better the Lyttleton harbor area (set in extinct volcanoes). You can take the same bus from the Gondola on to Lyttleton. I didn't think much of Lyttleton although I did the self guided historical walking tour. The main reason we went to Lyttleton was for the wildlife cruise (www.blackcat.co.nz) which we really enjoyed. Saw the world's smallest dolphins (Hector's). They also have a free shuttle to/from Cathedral Sq and will drop you off at the Gondola on the way back. In Auckland we did a day tour with bush & beach (www.bushandbeach.co.nz). The first part was a city tour and the afternoon was a trip out to the west coast of NZ. We also took the ferry/tour (www.fullers.co.nz) of Rangitoto which is a volcanic island. The ferry/tour costs $49 and departs at 11 and 1 and returns at 2:30 or 4:30. You can just take the ferry (for $20) and walk to the top of the volcano. There's nothing on the island - no facilities. But the scenery is gorgeous - you can see lots of islands as well as the city of Auckland. The ferry/tour takes you around the island and within 900 meters of the top of the volcano - you then have to walk the rest of the way uptop. But you get a good guide who talks about the plants, what you're seeing, etc. I think Tauranga is the stop for Rotorua? We actually stayed in Rotorua so not sure if this info would apply to you. We took a day tour with Carey's (www.careys.co.nz) and again were the only ones on the tour. Our guide was a Maori named Benjamin and he was quite entertaining. We took the Full Day Adventure. Since we were the only ones, again we got special treatment and Ben gave us a tour to the town. I was quite surprised with Rotorua. After having been to Yellowstone (my favorite national park) and Iceland within the past year, I thought I'd had my fill of geisers, hot pools, mud pools, etc so I was greatly surprised at how much I enjoyed Rotorua. From my trip to Australia last year, one of the things I learned was to try to take day tours with the smaller companies - ones that have 18-20 person buses. You usually see more - it's surprising how long it takes 30-40 people to get on/off the bus.