Reading the description for Kauri trip, it sounded a little too good to be true but not only was it as good a advertised, but even better!! We were fortunate to have a small group of 5-6 (one person joined halfway through). The ages varied from 29 to 67 (we were the oldest in the group) from all different backgrounds. But within a couple of days, we felt like family! Claire and Holly made everyone feel included and important!!

I had broken my ankle the year before our trip and was concerned about doing the Tongariro crossing. Active Adventures provided a special guide for 3 of us who did not want to do the crossing. The guide, Olivia, was great! She took us on the beginning of the crossing and then for a beautiful hike through the woods around a nearby lake. It was great and I didn't have to feel like I missed out because of my physical limitations.

I really liked that in general we stayed at small, out of the way places. Not very touristy. I especially liked that Active used local guides. Bob, who took us in his water taxi to Deep Water Cove was great! He is Maori and told us many interesting facts about the Maori people from an insider's perspective. Charlie, who led us on a twilight walk in the Waipoua Forest is also Maori and told us Maori legends as well as sang us Maori songs. Claire and Holly are also very knowledgeable about Maori culture and gave us a lot of insight. Something we would not have gotten had we traveled on our own. I feel like I learned much more about Maori culture from these individuals than our trip to Te Puia which was much too touristy and glitzy for my liking.

My favorite activity on the trip was boogie boarding on the sand dunes!! I wasn't even sure that I would do it because I am not a very adventurous person but it was SOOO much fun! I just wish that we had more time to do it longer. The mountain biking was a lot of fun as well. I had never been mountain biking before but the guides were very calm and helpful and it went great. They only brought us on trails that they knew we could handle. It was great for a beginner but I wonder if there had been more experienced riders in the group if they would have been guided to more challenging trails.

The cruise to Poor Knights Islands was great!! The personnel on the boat were very friendly and helpful. We chose to go snorkeling and paddle boarding and enjoyed them both.

All of the hikes were great!!! Some were more challenging than others but all (except Toninga crossing) were very doable even with my bum ankle and bad knees. Although I must say that we followed Active Adventures advice and trained in the months before the trip to get in shape for it. We were able to go as fast or as slow as we wanted and were given plenty of time to take photos.

The tubing in the Waitomo caves was certainly exciting!! Even though I was very apprehensive about the whole idea, the guides put me at ease and were always handy at the difficult parts to lend a hand. It really was fun.

I can't say enough good things about Claire and Holly!!! They were unbelievable! They were patient, kind, fun, knowledgeable, etc ...And on top of all of that they were incredible cooks!! I loved the fact that they made most of our meals for us. The food was healthy (a lot of green salads), we were able to get and eat our meals much faster than if we had gone out, taking a prepared lunch with us gave us the ability to eat on our hikes, we were able to have friendly conversations without a lot of background noise, and Holly made sure that our dietetic preferences were considered. It was perfect. I could not believe how delicious the food was and how beautifully presented. My only complaint is that I gained weight on the trip when I should have lost some with all of the hiking we did. :-)

While on the trip we mentioned that we had gone to Ireland with We Banjo 3 (a musical group). A couple of days later, We Banjo 3 was on the bus's playlist!! It was touches such as this that made us feel like we were on a trip with family. We ran into Holly and Claire on our trip to the South Island and we really felt like we ran into well-loved relatives.

I guess you can tell from my description of the trip that it was stupendous!

| January 1970