Accessible Wine Tour - Incredible trip! We needed an accessible tour for my daughter as she uses a folding wheelchair. Peter did an awesome job adjusting the trip to accommodate her and made the trip a very relaxing and informative experience. Sculptureum was better than expected and the views in the area were amazing. We highly recommend this tour company!

Wonderful Experience - John was the perfect tour guide. Because we got an early start our first scheduled stop was not yet open so John took us to Omaha beach, which was absolutely beautiful just after sunrise. He shared stories of his family time at the beach, which made it much more enjoyable. He then took us to a coffee shop before we were taken to a chocolate shop where we were able to sample and purchase boutique chocolates. Our visit to the Sculptarium was much more enjoyable than I expected. The setting for the sculptures was visually stunning and the signs accompanying the sculptures were very helpful to this non-artistic viewer. When John heard us saying how we enjoy souvenir shopping he added an unscheduled stop at a small marketplace for approximately 30 minutes where we were able to purchase some lovely souvenirs. Our next stop was a winery, but the one we were scheduled to visit was closed on that day (this should have been known at booking but for some reason obviously it was not). John immediately got on the phone and found a substitute vineyard where we were able to have our wine tasting and sit in a café overlooking a lovely lily pond while we sipped a purchased glass of wine along with canapés and chocolates (also our purchase). Throughout the day John gave wonderful commentary on the country and countryside as well as answering all questions. We learned so much from him. It was a truly enjoyable and wonderful experience.

Great day trip to Matakana winery - We went with Peter and Mai to Brick Bay in Matakana with a group of other blind guide dog volunteers and all of us (canine and people) had a wonderful time. The organisation was superb and both were really pleasant, helpful and obliging for all of us. The van was modern and comfortable, driving good and venue chosen was great for the occasion - overall a really good day out. Many thanks - Gavin and Regina

The beauty of Matakana and its surroundings A tour not to be missed - Peter and Mai both the owners of the company took a small group of us on a tour to Matakana "I can call it the Matakana special" such an hidden gem and definitely worth your visit. We went on the Saturday which means our first stop was The infamous Matakana Farmers Markets (fully organic and a fantastic atmosphere) After that we stopped into to another Matakana Favortite, Honest Chocolate here we were greeted by Nico Obano the Chocolatier started of with a commercial kitchen in his garage and now has a award winning chocolaterie Nico has won many awards with his chocolates and will compete again this year! we tasted some delicious handmade bonbons made from a chocolate ganaseha with water instead of cream which was to die for! so I bought some :) After this Peter and Mai introduced us to Mike who runs the Vintry (Winebar) Matkana Market Kitchen (Restaurant) and the Matakana Boutique cinema's. We had a lovely wine tasting in Vintry where you can taste the majority of the wines in Matakana and even purchase them for the cellar door price. they have a small food menu available and many board games this including with a fireplace makes it a wonderful occasion to drink your glass of wine from one of the many boutique vineyards in the Matakana Region. Following on from this we went to Sculpterum which was the highlight of my day! Tony was our host an explained us that Sculpterum was a private art collection which only opened at the beginning of this year. The amazing art collection consist of 3 art gardens and 2 art galleries. This is a must visit in the Matakana Region I was blown away with the art that was on display! topping this of with another wine tasting made it even better! Another highlight was the Sawmill Brewery, Ree our host showed us around trough the brewery and explained their philosophy, you drink one beer and that beer has to taste delicious so you want to have at least another one of the same. with that philosophy we were treated to a generous beer tasting and some fine food in their garden. On our way back to Auckland we went to Chocolate Brown which is located in a small village called warkworth, another famous chocolate shop with a variety of chocolates/bonbons/nougat/fudge here we sat down and were treated to a nice cup of warm real Hot Chocolate. This was the final stop and Mai and Peter presented us with a souvenir from the tour, which I think is a great success! now I have my own photo of me in Sculpterum to remember the day! Mai and Peter I could not fault this tour, both your passion for the industry and your dedication to excite and deliver exceptional service was truly unbelievable. After the tour I felt very happy and satisfied you are trough hospitality professionals!

Matakana - Went for a famil trip with auckland and beyond it was such a great and inspiring experience. Mai and Peter are super warm and friendly people who are very knowledgeable about their product and are passionate about what they do. Most of the places we went to are places I have never been before, it was an awesome trip learning new things, discovering places, meeting new people and just having fun. Plus they gave a cute little souvenir of a printed photo to each one of us which gave an even more lovely and personal touch to end our trip.

Great Service, Interesting Tour - Different than Other Options - The tour is great; interesting, varied things to do. The company is top-notch to work with. I was going to Auckland for work; as a solo traveler in the off season, I was having difficulty finding anything touristy to do. I took a long weekend, as this was my first time to NZ. Ahead of time, I contacted Auckland & Beyond ahead of time, by phone. The friendly person on the other side explained many tours don't run in the off season and that she'd gladly wait-list me for those that were. Pretty much, it was Hobbiton, Glow Worms... She then recommended contacting pretty much any company I felt comfortable with and getting on a list, as a way of ensuring I'd get something. Already, service focused on me, even at their expense. Fast forward; I'm in NZ and I receive an email. They can accommodate me on the Hobbiton, but also have another option: Makatana day trip. It is relatively close to Auckland, so the entire tour - while still a day - is a little less intense than some of the other day activities. This option is new for them, and I participated in one of the "trial runs". This is worth emphasizing: they included me on a trial run - not for 'general' customers - because the woman I spoke with was concerned I would have a lack of things to see and do in their country. She really looked out for me! I was floored. Great service, and I hadn't even done anything yet! We started with the farmer's market in Matakana Village. It was really nice; small, and of course a lot of fresh things don't translate to tourist. However, there were lots of fresh bites and very good coffee on the chilly morning. I did pick up a few things to bring home. Then we were onward: chocolate tasting (quality and very interesting), then off to the Sculptureum, which is a private indoor/outdoor gallery with an emphasis on (you guessed it!) sculpture. Nice collection; great grounds. Part was self-directed, part was with a docent. This was followed by a wine tasting and lunch on the grounds - very top notch. The wine was informative and interesting, and a bit different than what one would expect from a New Zealand vineyard. This was followed by another small-production vineyard and another chocolate tasting. The second vineyard was really great, especially chatting with the owner. The second chocolate tasting was so-so, though at this time we'd been wined/lunched/chocolated quite a bit already. Final stop was a gourmet ice cream shop in Auckland that was probably some of the best I've had on the planet (and I returned there every single day I had left in Auckland). There were a couple of rough edges on the tour as they were working out the kinks, but this made it fun and wasn't challenging at all. It was especially nice to see how the staff genuinely cared that everyone was individually taken care of. One of the places we stopped had a full bar, and mentioned it was some kind of special gin week. The owner referenced a local New Zealand rhubarb gin. I really like gin; the travel guide made a special stop at a store in town so that I could run in and grab a bottle to bring home. Again: lot's of individual, special attention was paid to each member to ensure they were enjoying it, questions were answered, and all around a laid-back, informative, great time... and I got to do some stuff many people don't think to do, as it's off the beaten path. You should go. You should also book these folks for other tours. I will definitely look them up when I return.

Great But Rushed - The experiences were great. The sculptures fabulous, but rushed. Needed two hrs got one. Wine tasting was rushed a bit too , good experience.

Too rushed - Too little time at yhe sculpturtorem. Other than that the trip was good except the air on the van was not working properly do to lack of instruction on someone's part.