 Stray is a bus tour that offers different pass options to tour around New Zealand. You can do the North and the South Islands or just one of the Islands. We chose the Arthur's Pass to do all of the South and the bottom of the North. We would love to go back and do the top of the North! The passes enable you to travel as quickly or as slowly around the islands as you wish - there are some compulsory stays and rest days to give the driver a rest and you a chance to do the many and varied activities a long the way.
Our driver was Nana for the entire trip and he was a very professional guide and safe driver who showed us the jewels of NZ and gave us plenty of information about the sites we were seeing. He was always on time, remembered all his customers usually by name and was helpful in booking accommodation, tours and legs of the bus. Nana went out of his way to make sure every passenger was organised with what they wanted to do and experience - even when we had observed other travellers had left their bookings to the last minute! He was a very calm and experienced guide.
The accommodation chosen by Stray was excellent and well set up for the customers it caters for - many in lovely country settings or centrally in the cities. It was also great to have a number of places to choose from and still be collected from in the morning. I was very impressed with the professionalism of Stray and the opportunity to see so much of NZ - I recommend Stray if you are travelling onto NZ.
I originally chose Stray because to us it was very comprehensive of NZ and seemed to be the only company to venture to the far south of the South Island and allow us to travel over to Stewart Island. Stewart Island proved to be one of our most favourite places we did a tour of the Patterson Inlet and Ulva Island seeing some very rare NZ birds and vegetation.
Stray allowed us the time to get off and do many activities along the way including: bungy jumping, skydiving, Franz Josef Glacier climbing, Tranz Alpine Train, swimming with dolphins, a Marlborough wine tour, a museum, a chocolate factory, horse riding and a Milford Sound Cruise. By being driven everywhere it gives you the opportunity to see all the sites out of the windows, hear the information from the driver, doze off when you are tired and arrive feeling refreshed to do the next activity that awaits you. I was very amazed with NZ it was more beautiful than I had imagined.
Anna
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