Gate 1 Travel
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Average excursion at best ---- 14 Day Wonders of New Zealand
This holiday started off on the wrong foot. Arrived @ Auckland Airport ... it was extremely busy @ 6:30am ... it took a very long time to get thru customs. Once we got to the ground transportation area ... there was supposed to be a Gate 1 person waiting to take us to our hotel. We hung around here about 2 hrs looking and inquiring about Gate 1 driver. My cell phone does not work in NZ. Was going to use the pay phone, as I had a loaded phone card, but it required credit card to be inserted. I declined as I had no clue what amount they were going to charge my credit card. Was about to purchase a temporary cell phone, when all of a sudden a person holding a Gate 1 sign appeared. We approached him and explained we had been waiting some 2 hours for him, only to find out he was there to pick up 2 different passengers. However, he did agreed to take us to our hotel. The Gate 1 drivers had NO LIST of names of the people they were to pick up and transport. If they did, they would have known we were MIA! We had previously traveled with Gate 1 and it was a quite favorable and memorable trip! I can't say the same for this trip. The country is very scenic and the people very nice and friendly. The tour manager Kevin, even with his bad jokes, was good. The numerous cities and towns were rather interesting. However, I didn't realize that when we signed up for this trip ... it would be ONE long boring bus excursion. I'll say we spent an average of 3-4 hrs per day on the bus. Boring!!! Boring!!! We would stop in small little towns for some hurried sightseeing, meals and bathroom breaks. Plus we were advised we COULD NOT use the onboard bus bathroom. Wazup with that??? There is NOTHING mentioned in the Gate 1 travel literature that says this was going to be a very long and boring bus trip. Granted we covered a lot of territory, but I DID NOT intend on a spending 3 to 4 hours per day on a bus!!! This should be pointed out in the Gate 1 Travel literature.