Meet our Kiwi Guide Team
- Last Updated: 24 Sep 2026
- Publish Date:
- Tanya
- About MoaTrek, Featured, Kiwi Tour Guides, Popular
When you travel on one of our New Zealand small group tours, your MoaTrek Kiwi Guide is with you every step of the way. They’re experienced New Zealand tour guides who know our country inside out, from its landscapes, history and wildlife to the stories and local places that help make a trip here so memorable.
Your Kiwi Guide takes care of the day-to-day details on tour including the driving, shares their knowledge along the way and works hard to make sure everyone in your small group has a wonderful time. All of our Kiwi Guides also hold a current Outdoor First Aid qualification, giving you added peace of mind while you’re travelling with us. They’re also a great person to chat to about short walks, sightseeing and Optional Activities, helping you decide what will suit you and how you’d like to make the most of your time in each place.
Just as importantly, our guides are friendly, approachable people who genuinely enjoy travelling with our guests. One of the things we hear time and again from our travellers is how their Kiwi Guide helped bring the group together. You may start your tour as a group of strangers, but it’s not unusual to finish as a travel whanau – a little family on the road.
Meet the MoaTrek guide team, find out more about them, see some photos of them in action and hear what guests on recent trips had to say.
Tim de Jong
Tim has more than 25 years of experience both guiding and operating tours across New Zealand. Over that time he has led walking, cycling and adventure tours. After running his own business and working as a tour operations manager, he is now back in his “happy place”, which is at the head of the pack out on the road guiding small group tours with MoaTrek.
Originally from the South Island, Tim now lives in the Bay of Plenty close to his extended family.
What a recent traveller said about touring with Tim
“Tim was wonderful. Loved how he was so knowledgeable and provided touching and unique stories from his own life. He went out of his way to personalise the trip for me, suggesting extra walks and hikes wherever possible.”
Alison, Kakapo 21-day tour, January 2025.
Jan Kirkpatrick
Jan is a true Kiwi with a lifelong love of the great outdoors! Originally from Invercargill, she has explored both islands of New Zealand and spent nearly 40 years in the South Island before heading back up North to live in Waihi.
With a strong background in outdoor recreation, Jan spent two decades leading walking and cycling tours all over New Zealand. When she’s not guiding, you’ll find her outside – enjoying everything from biking and beach swims to gardening and, in winter, a bit of skiing.
How recent travellers enjoyed their tour with Jan
“Our Kiwi Guide Jan was the best! She was so knowledgeable about every aspect of your country. From the history, to geography, the plants, animals and the Maori people, Jan enlightened all of us. She handled everything like a pro and was the best problem solver! We were impressed with her excellent driving skills. On top of that, she was funny and shared so many stories about her own adventures. You are lucky to have her as a guide!”
Susan & Alan, Kakapo 21-day tour, February 2025.
Brian Cresswell
Originally from the North Island, Brian went to university in Christchurch and loved the South Island so much, he never left! Before joining us at MoaTrek, Brian guided cycle tours and is now enjoying leading our small group tours all over New Zealand.
His favourite places in New Zealand are Milford Sound and Aoraki/Mt Cook. “I love the way the mountains rise up out of the sea at Milford and being near Aoraki fills me with a sense of awe.”
When he’s not out guiding, you will find him exploring the mountains, out on his boat snorkelling or on the hunt for deer – always making the most of New Zealand’s great outdoors.
What recent travellers said about Brian
“Brian was over-the-top amazing! We can’t imagine a better guide and representative of MoaTrek. He successfully took 18 strangers from 5 different countries and turned us into friends by the end of the trip through his hilarious stories, ice breakers, scavenger hunts, limerick writing contests and especially the endless variety of music where we texted songs to him and then we all had to guess who chose the song. So much fun! He has even kept in touch with the group after the end of our adventure to share photos of his new grandson, that we were eagerly awaiting while on tour with him.”
Joan & Rich, Kakapo 21-day tour, March 2025.
Sean McDonnell
Sean is a keen surfer, artist, musician, and traveller with a deep love for the outdoors and the environment, something you’ll sense straight away when you’re on a tour with him. He is a trained artist and graduate of the Elam School of Fine Arts, so when you’re travelling with Sean, you’re seeing New Zealand landscapes in a unique light.
From a recent traveller with Sean
“I have done a lot of small group trips like this, and Sean was the best guide I have ever had. My head was eventually bursting with interesting information about the history, culture, art, industry, flora and fauna of New Zealand, delivered in a witty style. Sean entertained us the whole way, he even sang an Irish song to us on St Patrick’s Day. It was a fantastic experience, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone.”
Susan, Kakapo 21-day tour, March 2025
Lindsay Thorpe
Lindsay is of Maori (Ngati Kahungunu) and Scottish/English descent, born in Otaki on the Kapiti Coast where he still lives today with his family.
Lindsay had several careers before settling into guiding 15 years ago and also works as an expedition leader in Antarctica. He loves bringing groups through his home town of Otaki and has even been known to pop into his house with a group for lunch! When he’s not guiding, he is usually travelling with his wife.
Hear from recent travellers with Lindsay
“We have travelled to all continents, and Lindsay rates as the best guide we’ve ever had. Knowledgeable, excellent communications, courteous, and always ensured his guests were safe and taken care of well. We were the “old codgers” of the trip, yet Lindsay took extra care of us in the most polite and special ways, which was much appreciated. He taught us so much, we will have a special place in our hearts for him forever.”
Bob & Jan, Kakapo 21-day tour, April 2025.
Gail Hapi
Gail is of Maori (Tainui and Ngati Haua) descent, she has a background in teaching and has also spent time in the army and worked as a vet. Her love of horses runs deep and her spare time is spent with horses on her property in Otorohanga and she also helps out on a farm property in the mountains of the South Island during the winter months.
Gail is an integral part of the MoaTrek Kiwi Guide team and we love the positive energy she brings to her tours.
From a recent traveller with Gail
“Gail Hapi is amazing and a terrific guide. Her ability to be a great driver, to organize the group and to agree to both group and individual needs was phenomenal. She really went out of her way to make sure every group member had the vacation they wanted. This included building in additional and more challenging hikes because we had a group full of avid hikers. Gail is incredibly personable, entertaining, humorous and knowledgeable. She is by far the best guide I have ever had while traveling.”
Marcy, Kakapo 21-day tour, February 2025.
Al Fleming
Al has spent most of his working life in conservation, alongside a career in tourism. His conservation mahi (work) has included working with the Ngāti Wai Trust Board, supporting their role as kaitiaki of the natural environment, as well as roles with the Department of Conservation and Forest & Bird.
His tourism experience has taken him onto the water too, including skippering tourist boats and working as a divemaster at the Poor Knights Islands in Northland. In his spare time, he loves playing guitar and walking the beautiful beaches of the North Otago coastline.
From a recent traveller with Al
“Our guide Al Fleming was amazing. He’s a very interesting and funny storyteller and seemed to have a limitless knowledge of New Zealand’s history, geography, wildlife, politics, culture and everything in between. He’s very even tempered and very accommodating, he was always dropping and picking up individuals to their various booked tours and hiking trails and restaurants. My husband had a bad cold on the tour and by Day 10, we thought we should check with a doctor so Al found the clinic in the town in which we were located, dropped us off after making sure the clinic was open and would have picked us up too even though there were hikes etc. going on with other group members. We especially enjoyed listening to Al singing and playing guitar when we stopped at the historic Cardrona Hotel for drinks!”
Gayle, Kakapo 21-day tour, March 2026.
Dermot Hall
Dermot lives in Christchurch’s port town of Lyttelton, where his balcony overlooks the harbour and working port which is the busiest in the South Island.
Before guiding, Dermot was a teacher but has been a guide for many years, leading cruise ship and educational tours. When he’s not leading tours you’ll find him travelling for pleasure or visiting his children in New Zealand and Canada
What recent travellers with Dermot had to say
“Our guide, Dermot Hall, was excellent! His knowledge of the country, history and people, are amazing. Dermot had GREAT material to work with (New Zealand!), and he drew upon his years of teaching experience to communicate that so well. Dermot also exemplified great compassion and decision making. We were in great hands with Dermot.
We would highly recommend MoaTrek and this tour to anyone traveling to New Zealand who wants to really discover New Zealand. This was a trip of a lifetime and MoaTrek made it so enjoyable we are already thinking of planning another trip. Thank you MoaTrek and Dermot Hall.”
Bob & Mary, Kakapo 21-day tour, Jan 2025.
The people behind your MoaTrek holiday
Our Kiwi Guides are a big part of what makes a MoaTrek tour special, but there’s a whole team working behind the scenes to make your New Zealand holiday run smoothly too. Meet the wider MoaTrek team, including more of our Kiwi Guides and the office team helping plan and organise your trip.
Ready to explore? Take a look at our New Zealand small group tours, or get in touch with our friendly team if you have any questions before booking.
- Tanya
- About MoaTrek, Featured, Kiwi Tour Guides, Popular
