"We enjoyed it very much travelling with your club. We can recommand everyone to travel like that, it's fabulous."

Dear Adrian 

It has lasted for some time, but here we are again, wit a letter about our journey in NZ. We wrote already a letter when we just came back in November, but when I read it over again, it was too much a travelling story for our own pickture book instead of information you need for the club. We enjoyed it very much travelling with your club. We can recommand everyone to travel like that, it's fabulous. The whole journey was for us and the people where we stayed a kind  of premiere, where whe had to invent the rules ourselves, because the hosts did not knew either as we what to expect of each other. Because we had to travel a lot in NZ and home again, we could not effort it to buy something at every place where we came along, but at half the places we bought something, and were ashamed that we did not spend much money, just because there was not allways the things we us or needed. So f.i. we did not drink alcohol on our journey, but just bought a bottle of wine because we were pitty for the owner of the vinyard near Pleasant Point who's vines were all frozen, including the already viseble blossems. We tried to convince the lady of the watergardens of coromandel island to join your club, because she jus had the place for it and was the nice person to be a host. But she had already had some contact with you and was angsius to have people overnight. Overall everyone was very relaxed, and on every place we were the first to stay. I could give you a quote for every place were we stayed, if you are interested, but just because we were the first, it should not give a honest example of the special place. You see that we now try to find out what bonus we can give all those lovely people where we were allowed on the property, but I think you could do something in asking us the right question about what kind of information you need more. One nice thing I have to tell you,  that happened in Echo Valley. There we met our hosts Don and Theresa, and it was just as if we had known them for years and years. When the next morning our host took his picturebook from his youth for 25 to 30 years ago, it was if I looked in my own old picturebooks, I have never met someone who lived te same life at the same time, and I can tell you, that my own was very special at that time. Our host must have felt the same thing as I did, an I am asking you, where do you stay for a night, where you are looking in the most private things like a pickturebook from your host within two hours after we started talking to each other. And like this we have seen a lot of charming things, too much to tell in such a short letter.

Wonderful Experience

Adrian,

Just a note to let you know that we just spent 24 days in NZ cruising around in one of Kendrick Mitchell's well kept campervans from New Zealand Frontiers. We purchased a Native Parks pass through him that we endeavored to use as often as possible. We stayed at your affiliate camps at Mamaku Blue Winery, Loopline Vineyard and Clifford Bay. Of these three places, Mamaku and Loopline were the most enjoyable as they were a bit off of the main roads keeping traffic noise to a minimum and had the most hospitable of hosts. At Mamaku we woke to the smell of fresh blueberry pancakes and at Loopline, we sampled many of their wines with friendly Ian and his dog Lucy who let us park in their beautiful vineyard.

Places we visited but passed on staying at were the Arataki Honey Centre and The Store. The Arataki Centre is a wonderful place to visit but the rather industrial parking lot did not have comfortable karma. The Store was also an interesting place to visit with a fanastic view but it was somewhat of a tourist trap with extremely high food prices and the campervan parking is right on the the edge of the highway and therefore very noisy.

We think you have a great concept and we plan to purchase a NP pass on our return trip as well as recommend it to others who plan to travel to NZ.

We thought you would appreciate a little feedback from a couple of users.

Regards
Mario & Anne
California
USA

If you have travelled with Native Parks and would like to share your experience we would be delighted to hear from you.