I'm a retired US National Park Service Field Ranger, an active outdoors person and veteran traveler so I have been around a bit and have had a lot of experience with tourist groups and visitors in general. I have dealt with all sorts of organizations for 50 years and have a good eye for judging how well they operate and the efficiency of employees and management. I took this trip for several reasons. One was to complete my long-time goal of traveling around the world, (it came about during an 8-month walkabout of Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranian in 1971) and to see Australia and New Zealand. The other was to recover from a recent profound personal loss and adjust to a new lifestyle and journey of rediscovery. I had never taken an organized tour I liked. I was hesitant about doing one. After a lot of careful research, I looked into Active Adventures because of my desire to get out into the countryside and not ride around in a bus all day, have to deal with large herds of sheep-like tourists, have to keep to a regimented schedule. I wanted to be with like-minded people who enjoyed the adventurous side of life outdoors. Individuals who did not mind long challenging hikes, getting wet, muddy and cold, hot, dusty and covered with sweat being rained and hailed on. Challenging physical events and the like. From the first e-mail contact on, the Active Adventures staff was very friendly, understanding and responsive to my needs. No detail was too small or large for them to help me out with. They gave me leads on numerous details such as travel insurance, cheap airfares, and lodgings to name a few. So well organized. When we met our wonderful guides Clare and Aster along with "William" the bus the first day they were there on time and ready. A wonderful orientation, all the details were covered. The "girls" as I called them,(no offense intended, they were young enough to be my children) were complete experts on everything. They were friendly, knowledgable, resourceful, pleasant, diplomatic, knew how to deal with us and keep us on track. Outstanding leadership skills along with exceedingly pleasant personalities and tact to deal with any situation. Damn fine cooks. They worked very long hours to ensure everything worked out well. They had our safety in mind all the time. Even when unexpected events happened they made things work out. On our last day floods had washed out roads north and south of us we were stranded with several having evening international flights to catch management of Active Adventures flew us out of a rural airport at their cost to Christchurch. That's real service.

Every day was filled with pleasant outdoor activity and our guides were a wealth of information on almost everything. It was all outdoor activity in the truly beautiful and impressive rural areas of south Zealand. Lodging ranged from a couple of very nice resort hotels, rustic rural resorts and very basic backpacker cabins in the hills. The company exceeded its promise of active events. Our group members bonded well and we all found new friends.

My suggestions for individuals taking this trip are to follow the guidelines they give you to the letter. They know what is going on. Make sure you are in good physical shape. It's hard work, but worth it. Pack light with practical proven, broken in outdoor clothing and equipment. Good rain gear is a must. This is not a fashion show, It's about being comfortable and well prepared.

I give this company my highest recommendations for this trip. Outstanding in every respect.

Clare and Aster did make good coffee after some practice. But with veteran coffee drinkers among the participants they had a demanding standard to meet.

| January 1970