The March 14 Rimu trip with Active New Zealand was an incredible, magical, rejuvenating experience. I went with fairly high expectations; the Active trip surpassed all of them. When I first thought about using a tour group, I researched quite a few of them. Active caught my eye because of the incredible range of activities and sights. The price seemed reasonable in comparison to other groups, but it still seemed a little high. After experiencing the trip (and another two weeks in New Zealand on my own), I'm positive that I got more than enough value for the money I spent. Pretty much everything is included -- and food, gas, and accommodations are not cheap in New Zealand! I'm a frugal person, and I think the Active trip was worth the money and then some! Our guides, Julie and Chris, made sure that our trip was safe, fun, active, and relaxing. It would not have been the same without them. Active seems to have a knack of hiring fun, interesting, motivated, fit, athletic, active, nice people. Both of the guides were knowledgeable about all activities and had traveled a lot on their own. I always felt that I was in the hands of people who really knew what they were doing. And their personalities made even tedious road travel interesting! And I know we may have just gotten lucky, but we had a great group of people on the trip. Some of us traveled on our own and didn't know a soul. Others came with a friend or partner; two of our group were a father and son team! It didn't matter if you came alone or with a friend, by the second day, we had bonded. Maybe getting thrown right into fabulous activities from day 1 helped with that! By Okarito, we were like a family! I would recommend Active New Zealand to anyone who wants to see New Zealand and doesn't have six months to spend. The Active Team did a great job of selecting incredible places and activities and organizing them into a two week trip. After my Active trip, I spent two weeks in the North Island in a camper van, and I learned how difficult it is to see everything and determine which activities to do and which ones to skip. Active did all of that work for me on the South Island. I thought I was taking a risk by using Active New Zealand, because I had found them through the Internet. It turns out, I chose one of the best tour groups in the world. The real risks were waiting for me in Queenstown -- the bungy capital of the world!!!!! Thanks, Active, for a great, great, unforgettable, rejuvenating, fun experience. And you were right, I didn't have to be in perfect shape; attitude was everything! But I still don't regret the months before spent exercising and walking! Go Active!

| January 1970