New Zealand FAM with Contiki

In late October I had the opportunity to spend 10 days in New Zealand on a FAM trip hosted by Contiki, a travel company that caters to people 18-35 years old. New Zealand is a beautiful country with lots of waterfalls, rivers, mountains and beautiful scenery We visited cities such as Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown.


New Zealand is a destination that offers many activities. We had the opportunity to participate in a Bungee jump, an air safari, a jet boat ride, rafting, sky diving and much more.

One highlight of the trip was an overnight vintage steamship to Milford Sound. The cruise was breathtaking as we passed towering cliffs and spectacular waterfalls. The cabins were very small, with four people per cabin and only one person could enter at one time. The showers were co-ed and the bathrooms were outside. Most of us slept in our clothes in case we needed to use the bathroom at night.

The highlight of the trip for me was when we visited the MINUS 5-degrees BAR.
The charge to enter the bar was $28NZ that included your boots, socks, gloves, and a hooded parka. In addition you had to purchase a drink ticket before entering. Everything in the bar was made of ice including a couch, a chair and many beautiful ice carvings. Even our glasses were made of ice.

Another highlight for me was when we went up the Skyline Gondola to experience spectacular views of Queenstown. We had dinner at the Skyline restaurant that serves a 6-course buffet.


To summarize a little about Contiki, it is a company that caters to young adults 18-35 and tries to keep the cost low while including lots of activities. Our itinerary was similar to a commercial Contiki trip. For us, many of the activities were included but we did have some optional tours that a lot of us did. All the breakfast and dinners were included but no lunches. The hotels were low end but comfortable and clean. The guide’s were very informative and the bus drivers were amazing. The activities were superb. If this was a commercially booked trip, most of the activities would be optional except for the sight seeing and the Vintage steamboat cruise.

All in all I enjoyed the trip tremendously and will definitely try to sell it.
Thank you Contiki for giving me the opportunity to finally see New Zealand.