Australia and New Zealand Uncovered

What we want to see in Australia is what is unique about Australia that we cannot see here in America. I am sure we all enjoyed Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef tours. However, what I am dissatisfied with is the two days stay in Adelaide, where we visited a vineyard and watched a cooking show. However, these are not unique about Australia. There in Napa Valley are many world famous vineyards and wineries offering free wine tasting. And cooking shows are seen on the TV every day. What is unique about Australia is its very special animals: kangaroos, emus, koalas and so on. It is a pity that we failed to see these iconic animals in our trip to Australia. However, the fact is that the Kangaroo Island is only about three hours drive from Adelaide, where we could have visited a wildlife park. In the park we could see many unique animals of Australia, such as kangaroo, koala, platypus and so on. It’s ridiculous that our rental <> tour bus drove us to a little vineyard and a cooking show instead of going to the Kangaroo Island for a visit. Collette is wasting our time and money in making such a stupid arrangement in its itinerary.

Tour Director Anna Bouzaid.

I think the tour manager was not up to the Collette standards we were used to. This was our fourth tour with Collette, and it was the worst experience ever for the money we spent.

I think the tour manager was not up to the Collette standards we were used to. This was our fourth tour with Collette, and it was the worst experience ever for the money we spent.

Loved Milford sound, Franz Joseph , and the Great Barrier Reef!! Our tour manager Sara was amazing and passionate about that part of the world!!

I think our favorite experience was an optional excursion out of Queenstown. It was a steamboat ride to a farm where they provided lunch and a sheepherding demonstration.

Was not able to complete several experiences. Tour was quite rigorous. I would have enjoyed a little slower pace. Could have skipped two of the 3 wine tasting experience for more time to explore each location.

The scenery. Brownie our bus guide

To much time spend on Airplane and Airport. Itinerary was not the same has info we received. Tour of so call farm was not accurate. Tour to great barrier reef was a waste of time if don't swim not our choice to go. Tour guide John was great. He try to fix the itinerary the best he could.

Sydney was great! Free time allowed us to see more of the city on our own time. Would have liked to see a performance at the Sydney Opera House however.

Hokitika Gorge Franz Josef Quennstown Sydney

Way too much time in airports because of flight connections that should have been direct. Tours didn't get scheduled leaving our Tour Manager scrambling to get them fixed.

Terrible planning by Collette with tours that didn't get scheduled. Flights were a mess. There were too many connecting flights which took away from our free time and we spent way too much time in airports. This took away from our free time to explore on our own and rushed us through some of our tours.

Your heading indicates that tour purchase was 3/1/2023. Our original tour was scheduled 3/6/2023 but was changed to 2/27/2023. There were a number of items that weren't scheduled by Collette and our Tour Manager had to get them fixed. Also, our original tour date was moved "to allow everyone that booked through Farmer's Union Insurance to be on the same tour". I'm not sure why they would have had others on our designated tour dates. Because of this, I believe our in-country flights were a mess. There were too many connecting flights which took away from our free time. Overall, I think this tour would have been spectacular if the ball hadn't been dropped so many times by Collette.

everything was great except too much time in the airports and flying in the australia part of the tour.

Travel and event planning was poor. Spent way too much time in airports- taking away a lot of our free time. We had 3 trips to Sydney- a lot of wasted time!!

The location of all of the hotels was excellent however, many seemed unprepared for guests. I realize this is a result of the pandemic and hopefully the issues encountered will resolve themselves as the hotels are open longer.

Great tour. Didn’t miss any sites or experiences. Lots of logistic challenges on this tour handled perfectly by the tour manager.