Wellington tour problem

[rkhtex]

I tried to book a tour out of Wellington with Seal Coast Safari. I got a confirmation yesterday. Then, today, I got an email that basically said all of their available spaces on March 13th were allocated to the cruise ships.

 

I really don't want to do the excursions through the ship. It's more expensive and I'd much rather be in a small group than a big tour bus.

 

Anybody have any suggestions? Thanks.

[cjm66]

I tried to book a tour out of Wellington with Seal Coast Safari. I got a confirmation yesterday. Then, today, I got an email that basically said all of their available spaces on March 13th were allocated to the cruise ships.

 

I really don't want to do the excursions through the ship. It's more expensive and I'd much rather be in a small group than a big tour bus.

 

Anybody have any suggestions? Thanks.

 

We had the same outcome earlier this year. I went ahead and booked via the ship - it is a 4WD "experience" so although the whole group was about 20, we were no more than 6 or 8 to each vehicle. The first part of the tour climbs up to the mountains behind Wellington - very windy road and excellent views on a fine day to the harbour - then across the range through a private property to a sea scape lookout and then down a steep slope to the beach and that is where the sand sliding and revving starts. Stop at the seal colony for photos etc and muffins and then back into Wellington via the beach. It WAS a safari and not at all like a coach tour. We also had a tour around the "clinging to the mountain" houses of Wellington. Beware if you take this tour - the bench seating in the 4WD's is not well padded so you had better be!

[bobhsv]

Last time we were in Wellington we did a tour with Armchair Tours and Charters....I think the web site is http://www.armchairtoursandcharters.com Anyway, he was better than great. We did the Kapiti coast (Red rocks), but saw much more than was advertised, including the city sights, wind farms, seals and rugged coast. Fabulous. 100% recommend this company. We were the only couple on the tour, and his 4wd van is so comfortable/new.

The previous time we did a tour with Rover Tours. We were land based for a week then. They were also good, but didn't go as far afield as Armchair who's 4wd got us right up close, far closer than other tour operators...Rover is slightly cheaper though.

Jen