Queenstown till Christchurch: Wānaka, Mt Cook & Tekapo 1 - Vägstur

Absolutely beautiful country and definitely worth the transit from Queenstown to Christchurch through Mount Cook. What wasn't great was the coordination and logistics of the trip. Our first driver seemed like he didn't really like people and or his job. Kind of made me feel like we were burdens to him. He told the great story about Shrek, the sheep and told us there was a nice picture of it at one of our bathroom stops, and it was on the end of where the toilets were. We would've all liked an He told the great story about Shrek, the sheep and told us there was a nice picture of it at one of our bathroom stops, and it was on the end of where the toilets were. We would've all liked a picture of Shrek, the sheep, but he didn't show us where it was until we were back on the bus. Little things like that. Guy doesn't like his job. Our second driver was great but the real kicker was the end of the trip. He waited until an hour out of town to find out where everyone was staying. He had no idea of the drop offs and I don't know if this guy is new. His personality was great and he was charming, but there are rules on how how long you can drive, and that makes a lot of sense. There should be rules like that. But there. Should be a backend coordinator who has already stacked the drop offs and made the people on the bus aware that they're not getting dropped off at their hotel. I knew I wasn't. I understood why at the end when it was explained. But it was absolutely chaotic and actually scary for one of the female solos that were on the bus. She was being dropped off somewhere that she had no idea where it was or what to do next. I'm thinking of you today Jessica and hoping you made it OK.

Had a mix up with which bus I was on but was solved seamlessly for me by the drivers, one of whom made sure to wait with me until she knew I was with the correct driver. Drive is very long but well broken up by stops and anecdotes from the driver.

Great tour to see highlights and learn about this route. We originally considered flying but would have missed out on all there is to see along the way.

Wonderful day. We had 2 guides consecutively, Martin and Phil. Martin was fun and interesting and Phil was so accommodating and attentive and fun. Beautiful sites along the way and great hiking.

Well organized and a great way to transfer between Queenstown and Christchurch while also seeing the sights (otherwise it’s about a twelve hour return tour from either city). What struck me most about this tour was the kindness of my Cheeky Kea driver, Nick, who took so much extra time to make sure I was okay (I’d just sprained my ankle on a Queenstown tour right around my birthday and was very glum). It can be hard as a solo traveler, especially when you’re injured and 10k miles from home, but Nick went above and beyond to make my day better. He also gave me some tips for places to go for live music and to meet people and I had a lovely birthday with a bunch of new friends. Mount Cook was completely hidden but the lakes were gorgeous and you always roll the dice with a mountain in any case. I honestly felt this was the best way to see the area if you’re transiting between the cities.

We did 3 separate tours that we booked through a partner company (Christchurch to Franz Josef; Franz Josef to Queenstown; Queenstown to Christchurch via Mt. Cook) - because some of these were split with said partner, this is a bit of a mixed review of both companies. It doesn't matter because all the experiences were EXCELLENT. Kudos to all the drivers who were SAFE, organized, thorough and knowledgeable about everywhere we went. I hope I have all their names right: Mark, Jonathan, Greg, and Joseph. The logistics of the company are frankly, impressive. I communicated with them a few times on booking changes for pickups/dropoffs when our itinerary was thrown into chaos from a late ferry, and they never dropped the ball with our bookings. Each tour had multiple built in touring stops that were well-planned and timed almost perfectly to the minute. We hiked waterfalls, lakes, saw glaciers, made some museum visits - and in-between learned lots of interesting facts and stories about the areas. The only rushed hike was Hooker Valley in Mt. Cook, but that was due to a late start that was NOT our drivers' fault. We speed-ran it and completed it anyway! My only critique is that the vans are inconsistent in terms of amenities. Not all have WiFi or even USB chargers, but this wasn't a make-or-break deal for us. Just something to keep in mind when you are on the road for hours at a time and using your phone cameras heavily. In vans without multiple USB ports, the driver was always happy to use the front driver's seat charger. In summary, Cheeky Kea is a great way to get from point-to-point between major sights on the South Island if you're not driving. A much better option than the Intercity Bus System (which we used on occasion) and well worth the cost when you consider the built-in touring stops and snacks. We checked nearly everything off our South Island bucket list with their help.

Very good tour u get to see quite a lot before u get to Christchurch .Our Drivers were very good especially the lady from Queenstown to Mt Cook.There was a delay from Mt Cook to Christchurch through no fault of the driver so we got to Christchurch later than expected.As a warning It is a very long day very tiring, and if u have any injuries like back problems or neck problems my advice is not to do the tour as it will only exascebate these issues.My only gripe is for the late afteroon we did not stop for a coffee break only 5 minute stops for photos and toilet breaks. Ive done quite a few of these 1 day tours and most of them stop for a proper 15 minute break in the late aftenoon But this is just my own preferance others might feel differantly

Great trip! Once we arrived at Mt. Cook we did the 3-hour Hooker Valley trek... beautiful (the weather was ideal)! We left in the morning from Queenstown and we hoped to stay overnight at Mt. Cook and then continue the tour to Christchurch the following day. When we contacted the company that started from Christchurch well ahead of time, we were told we could not join the tour in Mount Cook if we did not start in Christchurch. The strange thing is that when we got to Mount Cook we had to switch to another bus to continue to Christchurch with people who started in Christchurch on the same morning. That was frustrating to learn because basically, that was what we had asked for from the beginning and would have appreciated someone helping us to make our original preference happen. rather than just being told no.