The glow worm caves might be a good trip to do but we couldn’t experience it because the agency cancelled twice, during the second time we were stocked in the boat for 30min with no explanations nor apologizes, we couldn’t even get our money back because the reception was closed when we came back to the town, how convenient! The agency obviously lacks of honesty and seriousness, their organisation and service is also very very bad, I totally not recommend it.
Doubtful Sound was wonderful. It was the 30 minutes standing outside the Real Journey Visitor Center in the freezing rain that was unpleasant. Our paperwork told us to be at the Real Journey Visitor Center 20 minutes before 0700. We drove by twice. We weren’t sure we were in the right place as the Visitor Center was closed. I doubled check the address. There were a handful of other people arriving as well so we assumed we were all in the right spot. A young lady appeared at 0650, said good morning, and went inside. She was clearly getting ready to open. They open at 0730. We were scheduled to leave at 0700. It was freezing cold, windy and raining. We were all huddled outside waiting for the bus. Why couldn’t she let us inside? We were all cold. She knew we were out there, she knew it was cold. She even looked over at us again when she walked by to turn on a TV. We would have been happy to stand inside. Instead, we were kept waiting outside. The bus finally appeared at 0710. If you’re going to make people wait outside for 30 minutes, pick a place with some shelter or open early and let them inside.
Really enjoyed the night time Kiwi trip. We saw several Kiwi on the beach.
Boat ride was interesting - we stopped for various wildlife sightings. Hiked through forest at night to beach. Hiked down the beach and saw several Kiwi's eating bugs in the sand. One came very close to our small group - about 3 feet away. Got some great photos.
It was a clear night and the stars were the most amazing I've ever seen since there was no light pollution.
Guides were very helpful and knowledgeable.
It was really great to see a Kiwi - it was the highlights of our vacation.
We had a fantastic time in the island, many thanks in special to Johnny , our tour guide , who guided us on the kiwi bird spotting and the bird watching on Oban island. He was a super friendly and extremely knowledgeable guy. 11 out of 10 experience!!!
Robyn and Bevan were fantastic guides and made this trip informative and memorable. Great sightings of penguins and kiwi. Lucky enough to hear the kiwis very loud call!
304debrag, Glad to hear that your evening included sightings of penguins and kiwi. We get a lot of positive reviews about how informative and knowledgeable our guides are - especially Robyn and Bevan. We will pass your comments on to them. Thanks for our five star review. The Stewart Island Experience team.
