Companies operate simillar to kiwiexperience?

Question

Does any1 know some companies which operate like kiwiexperience ( a tour operators specialize in transportation) and also in New Zealand?

Answer 1

There is Magic Bus and Stray. Both are similar to KiwiEx is that they are hop on/hop off tour buses, meaning you can stop at each point for as long as you like.

Magic has a bit of a reputation as being more for couples. Stray has a little bit older clientele (average age is closer to 25 than 20).

I've been on both Kiwi and Stray. I think Stray stopped at one or two nicer spots, but only if you have the time to stop for a few days. However, I thought that KiwiEx was much more professionally run than Stray.

There are also full tours that are similar to the hop on/hop off tours except there's no hopping. The tours are geared towards younger clientele similar to what you'd find on the hopping buses. The two largest younger tours are Connections and Contiki. I've never been on either, but they're pretty similar.

There is also bus companies in NZ, and the country continues to be one of the world's safest to hitchhike in.

Answer 2

The most similar one is http://www.magicbus.co.nz, which is the same basic principle, but tends to have a slightly wider age range. There's also http://www.flyingkiwi.com and http://www.straytravel.com, plus lots of other tours, but many of them are the type where you do a fixed-length trip, unlike Kiwi and Magic where you can hop on and off if you want to stay somewhere for longer.

There are also lots of coach services and small tours you can do - many of the ones Driver T mentioned come into this category and aren't really the same concept as Kiwi Experience. By the way Bottom Bus is actually just part of Kiwi, but is well worth doing (you can do the trip as a stand-alone trip, as I did).

Answer 3

Yes, there are quite a few.
The main opposition to Kiwi Experience is Magic Bus.
Try searching Google New Zealand for Tasman Bus, Stray Cat Travel, Wanaka Connections, Bottom Bus, Barbecue Bus, and there's also one that goes around East Cape, but I can't think of its name.
However, they are out there, so an enquiry to www.purenz.com should bring you results