MoaTrek Traveller Review – Kathy from Australia
- Last Updated: 16 Dec 2025
- Publish Date:
- Andrew
- Featured, NZ Senior Travel, NZ Travel Info, Our Guests, Travelling Alone NZ, Video Reviews
Recent traveller to New Zealand, Kathy from Western Australia, talks to Andrew from MoaTrek about her experience on one of our New Zealand tours for seniors.
Listen to her story — how she found travelling in a small group, the wonderful people she met, all the fun activities she experienced and what she thought of her guide.
Kathy travelled around New Zealand on our 21-day Kakapo New Zealand small group tour in February and March 2025.
Kathy talks about her New Zealand tour with MoaTrek
Andrew: Welcome. Good afternoon. Today on MoaTrek live, we’re talking to Kathy, who’s joining us from Western Australia. Kia Ora Kathy.
Kathy: Kia ora Andrew. How are you?
Andrew: I’m very well. Thank you. Nice to talk to you again. Now, Kathy, you live in Western Australia, but we can guess that maybe you weren’t born in Western Australia. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where you come from? And that’ll be great to hear.
Kathy: Yes, of course. I mean, with this accent, of course, I come from England, but next year it will be 50 years since I’ve lived in Perth, Western Australia. Best thing I ever did was was moving to Australia.
It’s a fabulous country, you know.
Andrew: Yes.
Kathy: And I’ve I’ve had a great life, you know, really good career. I’m retired now. I love to travel. I do it a lot and have great friends and family.
So, life’s good.
Andrew: Well, that’s great to hear. And I have heard that you have done lots of travelling all around the world and you’ve recently just got back from a trip too, haven’t you?
Kathy: Yes. I did, I just got back from Portugal and Spain a couple of weeks ago and then of course in February I did New Zealand and then the end of last year I did Central Europe and the year before that I did Morocco and lots of trips in between, so I do travel a fair bit.
Andrew: Oh, that sounds it sounds exciting. I’m jealous. And now, so you came out to New Zealand earlier in the year, right in the middle of our summer, February, March, wasn’t it? Was that your first trip to New Zealand?
Kathy: No, I had been before.
I have quite a few New Zealand friends and one of my friends was 65 and her and her husband and lots of us from Australia went over there to the South Island and spent a couple of weeks travelling around doing the Otago bike trail.
Andrew: The Central Otago Rail Trail.
Kathy: Yes, that’s it.
And I had a really great time, but I’d always wanted to see more of New Zealand because everyone raves about it.
And of course we’re just across the water, you know, in Australia so when I saw it come up, I went oh, OK, I’m definitely going to look into that and I’m so happy that I did.
Andrew: And and so what was it about this year, coming to New Zealand for you and what was it that drew you over, drew you across the Tasman and the desert from WA?
Kathy: Well, as I said, just my expectations were pretty high and New Zealand met all of those and more. It was just the most fantastic trip. It’s my favourite trip I’ve ever been on.
And I loved it because I’m a scenic person. I prefer scenery to cities, really. And I actually saw it on Facebook.
It came up. I was just looking through Facebook one day and I went, oh, OK, who’s this? Who’s MoaTrek?
Andrew: Oh wow.
Kathy: And I always look at reviews. I’m a big review person when I’m trying to find something out and you had such fantastic reviews and I love the fact there was, I think 3 different tours, but I wanted to do the 21 day Kakapo.
Because I thought that would give me the greatest experience, which it did. So that’s how I came to book a trip to New Zealand.
See Kathy’s itinerary – The Kakapo 21-day New Zealand tour
Kathy travelled around New Zealand on our 21-day Kakapo New Zealand small group tour. Starting in Auckland and finishing in Christchurch, the tour includes all the highlights and lots of off the beaten track spots too.
Find out more about our Kakapo 21-day New Zealand tour here.
See photos from Kathy's trip
Andrew: When you were looking for your trip, how did you research your trip? I mean, you mentioned online and with Facebook, reviews, what kind of things were important to you?
And did you think about travelling around, so you joined one of our tours, but did you think about travelling any other ways, what kind of trip were you looking for?
Kathy: I wasn’t really when I first saw it. I didn’t have expectations, but I read all the places you went to on that trip on that three-week trip, the North Island, the South Island, and it just covered such a massive part of the whole country.
But I thought, wow, I think this is going to be the trip for me. I like to be busy. I’m not a massive cruise person. I love cruising, but I prefer tours when I’m walking and doing stuff.
And so that’s how I picked it. And as I say, I read the reviews, which were fantastic, it just seemed to be value for money. What you offered, and I like the smaller tours, to be honest rather than the big tours which I’ve done.
Andrew: Yes. And you’ve travelled on quite a few different tours around the world, haven’t you?
Kathy: I have. Yes, I’ve done two small ones, yours being one of them, which I prefer because I think it’s much easier to travel around when you’ve got a small bus or coach.
And of course it was, I think, a near new bus from what I can remember. I think it was only about 12 months old, so it had everything that you could wish for, and it was so comfortable and it was really nice.
It’s just easier to move. It’s easier to deal with people, I think, when you’ve got a smaller group of people.
Andrew: Yes, it certainly is. And just one final question about when you were booking or look or researching, was there one thing that that really jumped out to you about MoaTrek that helped you make your decision? Was there anything you remember or reading or seeing?
Kathy: Well, just really what I’ve already mentioned to you that some of the other tours don’t do as much. They don’t see as much, whereas you covered in that three weeks, really, just about the whole of New Zealand.
Andrew:Â Yes
Kathy: And and the fact that it was a small group, the fact that everyone raved about it and said how good it was, that was enough for me to then book it.
I didn’t really look at other options after I looked at a couple what others did, and I thought no, I think you had the best tour so I was going to stick with that and I’m just glad I did because it was fantastic.
Andrew: We’re glad you did too. Thank you for coming. And how would you describe the trip? So you’ve travelled on a small group tour before and you’ve also travelled on some larger tours, so to someone who has never been on a tour before, how would you describe the difference between a smaller group tour and a larger group? What do you think you get out of travelling in the smaller groups?
Kathy: Well, smaller groups are much more personal and you tend to bond with the other people on the tour better and quicker because there’s less of you.
And so when you’re on a big tour, you don’t really get to know too many people, which is fine, but I just think it’s a more intimate experience and probably touches your heart a bit better when you’ve got a smaller group of people to be honest.
The tour I’ve just done was a was a big tour and it was really nice but I didn’t get to know a lot of people, which was fine, but also the blessing on your tour when I went in February, I was the only Aussie which surprised me. They were all Canadians and Americans, and they were the best bunch of people I think I’ve ever toured with. Such a lovely bunch of people and everyone got on really well.
So that just added to the enjoyment of the whole thing.
Andrew: Yes. Did you get to teach them how to speak English properly? 🙂
Kathy: I tried, especially when we talked about thongs in Australia and of course thongs over there as you know, ladies lovely underwear and of course in Australia they’re flip flops or what do you call them in New Zealand?
Andrew: Jandals.
Kathy: Jandals, so everyone’s got a different name for them. So it was. It was quite funny, we had a few laughs over that.
Like when Australians and I think New Zealanders also say, Yeah, Nah. ‘Did you like so and so?’ ‘Yeah, nah’. And they go ‘Yeah nah, what does that mean?’ So it was just fun.
Andrew: Yeah, nah, it’s a lot of fun when you have those groups and everyone has a lot of a good laugh about the English language.
MoaTrek Travel Tip – Why do senior travellers love New Zealand?
We’ve written a friendly guide explaining why travellers like Kathy love New Zealand — it’s our safe cities, smooth travel, big scenery and plenty to do at your own pace, in every season. Handy travel tips on when to visit, favourite activities and why small-group touring is a great choice.
Read more about why over-50 travellers love New Zealand here
Andrew: And so you mentioned the people that you travelled with. So you arrived into New Zealand, you arrived in Auckland and you met up with your guide, Chris, and your tour.
What were your impressions early on of the group? The other people that you met on the trip?
Kathy: When you first meet everyone on the first night, when everyone meets together, and then Chris, of course, as the tour guide was telling us lots, what was going to happen on the trip. And so you sort of, you know, watch people and just don’t really form any opinions. You just think, oh, well, this is going to start tomorrow and and really from day one it was great.
Just everyone got on. You soon get to know each other and then people are always there to support you if you want it or help you out or you help them out.
It’s just really nice.
Andrew: I mean it always is the friendships that you make that’s always one of the best things about travelling in a group like that.
One thing I would always remember from the tours was you have a lot of laughs don’t you? Is there anything that you remember from the trip, with the people, that you still smile about now?
Kathy: Oh my gosh. Lots of things really, just colloquialisms. You know the, that the Americans say, and the Canadians say, and we say, and the New Zealanders say.
And then of course you know Chris and I, him being you know a Maori and me being an Aussie and we’re talking about who made the Pavlova. Canadians and Americans know even what Pavlova is. But the meringue dessert, Aussies always claim to have made it and the New Zealanders say ‘no, we made it’.
And so you do comparisons of things that you say and we laugh. We all laughed at what other countries say and you know, and it was just fun. I haven’t really got one particular thing. It just seemed to be every day there was something that you laughed about or smiled about.
Andrew: And then Chris, your guide. Tell us about your guide, Chris, I know you had some good laughs with Chris, you liked his shirts?
Kathy: Oh, Chris. He’s a legend. Yes. Chris Tydings. He’s a funny man. So good. Oh, my God. So good. He was just really professional. Really friendly, really helpful. But he had us all where he wanted us, you know.
We had to be on the ball because, of course, when you’re leaving, you’ve got to leave on time and then quite often, if we were going somewhere really popular, you know, like Milford Sound and all those type of places where thousands of tourists go.
He’d often say ‘Right, we’re going to get up and we’re going to leave a bit earlier than the big coaches because we can get there sooner and before all the crowds come’ and that happened so many times it was so good. And then often we were leaving before the crowds were going and getting there.
So that was a big advantage and he was just he was just great. He was so knowledgeable. He’s so proud of his heritage. You know, his Maori heritage and he told us all about it.
And it was fabulous. He was just a joy to be around, really.
Andrew: Was there a moment when you thought, wow, it’s really good, having a guide on hand?
Was there a moment when you really kind of saw that, saw the value of having a guide with you on the trip?
Kathy: Just knowing where to go, what time to get there, how to get there and then what to do when we got there. You know, I suggest you go and do this first and then go and do that. And that was such great advice because we just ran so smoothly the whole way along.
Really, it was every day there was something that he said or he did that just made it fantastic. But there wasn’t just one thing. It was continuous.
Andrew: Yes, a bit of local knowledge and obviously some care and delivery, yes.
Kathy: Oh, local knowledge. What can you do without it?
You know, I’ve said to my friends since I came home because a lot of people, especially a lot of Aussies, do go to New Zealand by themselves or hire a car or that hire a camper van or something.
But the great thing about doing a tour, you really do go to the best places and you get driven there and you go along the best routes to get there so you’re not spending a lot of your time thinking how do I get there? Where am I going to stay when I get there? What will we see when we get there?’ Because everything’s planned to the very best, you know, that New Zealand had to offer.
We saw it all.
Andrew: Yes, yes. Is there a place which surprised you in New Zealand and you thought, whoa, we might not have seen this one if we had been driving ourselves.
Kathy: Oh my gosh, that’s a hard question, Andrew. Well, one of the very special places. Now I’ve got to have a look to see how you pronounce it. The Tane Mahuta walk.
Andrew: Yes, perfect, Tane Mahuta.
Kathy: Oh my God, to see that 2 1/2 thousand year old tree in the forest, the 5th largest tree in the world. I mean, that blew me away completely and then we had the three Maori guys singing on the walk up to the [tree] and I think it was Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah if I remember rightly, it was the most breathtaking moment and that was an amazing sight for me.
And you know, Abel Tasman, I loved. Franz Josef going up in the helicopter at the top of the glacier that you’re on top of the world and the sun was shining beautifully. There wasn’t a breath of wind – divine.
You know there were so many things, so many places. And of course you know, Milford Sound. And then the most beautiful waterfalls that you saw everywhere. And the glacial waters that look like milk.
I mean, I could go on and on and on and on because it was, the whole thing was stunning.
Andrew: Yes. And so, yes, for people that don’t know, Tane Mahuta is is an ancient kauri tree in Northland and it’s a beautiful place in a beautiful forest. But it’s a very spiritual place and we go there with local Maori guides and yes, they introduce it to us in a way that’s very special. And then to contrast that with the Southern Alps and you got up on the glacier at Franz Josef – that’s fantastic.
Kathy: Yes. Mount Cook, the National Park that is just jaw-dropping, really, you know, the most beautiful photos that you can take and the weather was superb. So of course that helped.
Andrew: And you’re a keen walker. And you mentioned Abel Tasman and I’m sure you got out and walked a bit in Mount Cook. What were some of the other walks that you did?
Kathy: Oh my gosh. Now you’ve put me on a spot. Was it Roberton Island where we went on the boat? Roberton Island. And it was just a small walk. Like up the hill to the top. And the views were sensational.
And gosh walks, there was so many walks. I can’t even remember them all. I think every day there was a beautiful walk. Another walk I loved was Punakaiki.
Andrew: Yes. Perfect. Yes, Punakaiki on the West Coast, right towards the end of the trip.
Kathy: Yes, that was beautiful where you had all the massive big rocks in the ocean, and you had the blow holes and you had walks past the most magnificent scenery. I loved that too. Really every corner you turned in New Zealand, there was something else to see that you just went, oh, photo stop! Photo opportunity!
Andrew: Yes, and it’s so different around Punukaiki, there’s a lot of limestone, so it’s like big towering cliffs, but just two hours down the road where you come from is the glaciers where it’s beech forest and the glaciers and the mountains. And that’s all just one day after another.
Kathy: Yes. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. And it was just so lovely because even though there was tourists, not all the places were really busy, busy, busy, which was really great and a lot of that, as I say, was thanks to Chris by making sure we got there when you know we got the best advantage of seeing what was around.
Andrew: Yes. So now you mentioned the walking and you mentioned the memories at Tane Mahuta. You also mentioned with the Maori culture and the kind of heritage, the cultural side that Chris introduced you to. Do you have any other memories of the Maori culture, or what did you learn, or what kind of impressed you about that?
Kathy: That Rotorua beautiful Maori cultural event where they had the hangi, and they did the the haka which I love. The only thing I like about the rugby is the haka.
Andrew: Ah yes, in Rotorua.
Kathy: That was absolutely amazing. That was amazing. And I think the chief of the tribe was there the night that we were there. So, the show was really spectacular. And that is definitely worth doing and they come round on – is it on a river? They come round on their big, long boats and all the singing.
That was fantastic and Rotorua I love because you have the Hot Springs. We got the boat to the Hot Springs. That was stunning and you just get in this beautiful water. That’s just really hot and really good for your skin.
And of course, the zip lining because I love doing things like that. I loved the zip lining or the tree canopy. That was fabulous.
Andrew: Yes, you really got out there, didn’t you? You were on the helicopter and on a zip line tour, hiking.
Kathy: Oh yes, I did everything because I wanted to and I didn’t want to miss out. And I was going to do another parachute jump when I got to Queenstown, but it was the only day the weather was bad. So I couldn’t do it, but that’s OK. I’ve done it before. I would have just liked to have done it there.
Andrew: Yes. And that’s one of the things about the tours. There’s a lot of things which are included, but we also have the optional activities we call them and the glacier hiking and the Canopy Tour, you’re right there if you want to do it.
MoaTrek Travel Tip – Why small group tours work so well for over-50 travellers
- Make friends: You’ll get to know everyone, a friendly little crew to share laughs, photos and meals with.
- Comfort & flexibility: roomy mini-coach, plenty of photo and walking stops.
- Stress-free travel: door-to-door logistics and bag handling all taken care of.
- Relaxed travel: unrushed days and multi-night stays in key spots.
- Local knowledge: we know the easy walks, best viewpoints, and secret picnic spots.
- Support: we’ll take care of all your bookings and our guide is always there to help if you need it.
Andrew: Now I remember when we spoke earlier that you mentioned something from Wellington, when you visited Wellington, that was a real memory for you. Could you tell us about that?
Kathy: Oh, I loved the museum. Oh, I know, because that was one of my absolute favourite moments of the trip. Because you know, the Aussies and the New Zealanders, of course we fought in the First World War at Gallipoli or you had the Anzac Cove terrible thing that happened that we fought against the Turks.
Peter Jackson, the director of Lord of the Rings, has got this exhibit at this Museum of these enormous, I mean they just about hit the ceiling, these figures of the soldiers and the nurses and everything to do with that war and Gallipoli.
I’ve never seen anything like it. I mean the the skin on the people, you could see the hairs on the arms and you could see the perspiration on their skin. It was so lifelike. It was so real. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. That was breathtaking. It was just amazing.
And then it showed where this young soldier had been reading his Bible and he’d gotten shot and the bullet landed in the Bible, and it saved his life. Like, just so much to see going to that museum, that is an absolute must when you go to Wellington and of course, beautiful Mount Victoria I loved which got a 360° view of Wellington and all the harbour and all everywhere.
Andrew: Yes. So Te Papa, it’s the National Museum and it’s been around about 25 odd years and lots of people visit there now and that exhibit it was originally only planned to be a temporary exhibit but it was so popular that it’s still there.
Kathy: Oh, magnificent. The best thing I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot, you know. But like, you’ve got a Madame Tussauds where they do figures. There’s no comparison. So you have to go to the Wellington Museum when you go there because it’s amazing.
Andrew: Yes, yes. So you had quite a few wow moments. Is there anything else that, I mean I feel like you’ve told us lots of wow moments, but is there anything else that you still think about from your trip?
Kathy: Oh my gosh. I mean, of course, one of the main wow moments was, that everyone knows, is Milford Sound because you’ve just got waterfalls everywhere that you look, and when you go under that big waterfall, the boat goes in and you literally get wet. The water that’s coming down from that waterfall, it’s just…amazing.
Wow moments, I think I’ve mentioned for me the main wow moments and I could go back and do that whole thing again tomorrow. You know, I loved it so much.
Because I’m sure you probably miss things when you have gone the first time, but you know I tried to sort of do everything. For me it was just, I don’t know, the beautiful scenery. That’s my main thing. That’s my love. I love trees and beautiful scenery and being by myself. Even in the Bush, you know, because I’m a solo traveller. I love to travel solo.
And I think as a female, you should never be frightened to go away by yourself because you can do as much or as little as you want to, really. And there’s always people there that are going to be friendly with you and include you in stuff, if that’s what you would like to do, and it just means that you can suit yourself. You don’t have to suit anyone else when you go away by yourself, which is what I love.
And there’s always, I mean New Zealand’s great because everyone speaks English, but of course I’ve just been to Spain and Portugal and more Portuguese speak English, but the Spanish pretend not to speak too much English, but you can always make yourself understood.Â
I love ladies that can just bite the bullet and go away because you shouldn’t be scared of doing it because it’s really heartfelt and it’s good for you. I think it’s good for the soul.
Andrew: Yes. And we have quite a lot of travellers, solo travellers, on our tours and it’s a great thing. It’s a great way to do it because you are travelling alone but the minute you join the tour, you have a bunch of people to be with, and friends, and your guide as well.
Andrew: So what would you say this to anyone thinking about travelling to New Zealand or thinking about travelling on a tour?
Kathy: Yes. Oh my God. Just do it. Absolutely do it. I mean, I’ve got nothing except positive things to say about your tour company. It was just amazing.
Andrew: Well, thank you.
Kathy: And seriously, guys, go to New Zealand. Do yourself a favour because it’s the most gorgeous place on Earth and you can’t go wrong. You’ll come back like me with the most beautiful memories.
I’ve got a girlfriend I go line dancing with three times a week and I was telling her about my trip because of course I sent lots of photos when I was away and everyone went ‘Oh my God, that trip looks amazing’. So when I got home, this one particular lady wanted me to tell her about it. Now she’s booked with you to go next February. So she’s doing the three-week Kakapo tour and I went ‘Oh my God, you are going to love it!’.
Andrew: Oh, wow. Oh, thank you.
Kathy: So she can’t wait to go. And I know she’s going to love it. So you know, there you go. There’s someone I know doing your tour next year.
Andrew: Oh, that’s fantastic. Oh, that’s the highest compliment. Thank you so much, Kathy. Is, is there anything that, any tips that you’d give to anybody travelling to New Zealand or anything that you thought that you would have liked to know before you came , you know what to bring or getting ready, anything like that?
Kathy: What to bring really is like any trip, I think, of course you’re going to look at the weather, you know, and places like New Zealand and England, of course, where sometimes you can’t rely on the weather, you take a mix of clothing, you know, layers that you always take, your sunscreen and your hats and your long sleeves to stop you getting sunburned.
And good walking shoes are so, so important. You’ve got to have good shoes to walk in. You don’t have to dress up, take a couple of nice outfits for when you go out for dinner, but other than that, be comfortable and just take your smile and take your friendliness for other people and you’re going to get that back in spades.
Andrew: Well, I don’t think I could sum that up any better. Take your smile. That’s all. That’s amazing.
Thank you so much. Kathy. Is there anything that you’d say to, if any of your other travellers or Chris is watching this. Is there anything you’d say to them?
Kathy: Oh, Chris. Miss you, Chris! You and I got on really well when we were on that tour. We had so many laughs together. And I know you would have been such a fabulous tour guide since your tours have started again. And when are they starting again now for you?
Andrew: Right now, this month. It’s springtime here in New Zealand now.
Kathy: Which is the perfect time to go. I know. When I went in February, it was the most amazing weather. And Chris is just such a fabulous tour guide that you’re just going to love it. Really. So Kia Ora, Chris, I hope you’re well and you’re happy and from this little Aussie to you – a big hello!
Andrew: We’ll pass that on. Thank you so much, Kathy.
Kathy: Lovely to talk to you, Andrew.
Travelling New Zealand with MoaTrek
We hope our chat with Kathy has helped you understand of why travelling on a group tour in New Zealand is such a rewarding experience. From the ease of having everything planned, to the joy of meeting new friends, and the insider knowledge of a great Kiwi guide, it all adds up to a trip that’s easier, richer, and more memorable.
With MoaTrek, you can relax and enjoy the views while we take care of the details — from bookings to timing to making sure you don’t miss those hidden gems.
Take a look at our New Zealand small group tours here or get in touch with the friendly MoaTrek team today.
Read more about senior travel in New Zealand
Discover our New Zealand tours for senior travellers
Why over-50 travellers love New Zealand
Safety for senior travellers in New Zealand
Interview with Michael & Julia, senior travellers to New Zealand
Compare small group and large group seniors tours in New Zealand
- Andrew
- Featured, NZ Senior Travel, NZ Travel Info, Our Guests, Travelling Alone NZ, Video Reviews
