We (my wife and I) were planning to attend a family wedding in New Zealand and combine this with a holiday as I was also celebrating a significant birthday. I had already booked our flights and worked out an outline itinerary when a friend to whom I mentioned our plans - a very experienced traveller - recommended Silver Fern to me and send me his itinerary, saying "Silver Fern did it all for us - a great service." The South Island section of his tour (which was quite similar to the 'South Island Spectacular' tour on the Silver Fern website) fitted closely with what we were planning to do. So I contacted Silver Fern with our dates, my outline plan and the mention of our friend's itinerary. John at Silver Fern responded promptly and efficiently and very soon we had agreed and confirmed our own travel arrangements. NZ is an expensive country, we were going there in their summer high season and we had never been there before. I am sure it was money well spent to get the advantage of the Silver Fern's knowledge for this holiday. It would have been silly, knowing nothing about NZ, it being so far away and with the risk of mistakes when one is only there for a short time, to attempt to DIY. Once we got there, we were very satisfied with the quality of the accommodation and other arrangements Silver Fern had made for us. The written information provided was practical and just right - not too little, not too much - and their local contact staff were also good. Most everything worked out well on our trip - very good weather in Doubtful Sound and perfect photography conditions at Matheson Lake were special highlights - but not everything one plans works out. In our case it wasn't possible to drive to Milford Sound because an exceptional deluge had washed out the road before we arrived. What one needs in such a case is quality support. The local rep warned us when we landed that there was a risk that the road wouldn't be reopened in time for our planned visit and then followed up with a confirmation and alternative suggestions a few days before we were due to be there. Silver Fern arranged a refund without any prompting either. So an excellent quality of service before and throughout the trip. Thank you very much - and I am very happy to recommend Silver Fern to others.