Creating immersive experiences right here in our backyard

  This was a veryinformative tour. Our guide was wonderful! We found out a lot about Tauranga and it's surroundings!

  Russell was our knowledgable guide who took us in our mini van round all the points in the tour. He was informative and entertaining. We enjoyed learning about the kiwi... read more fruit, the manuka honey and the avocado. We tasted some of the oils at the avocado farm and of course it would have been good to taste some avocado too but that was not on offer for some reason- maybe not ripened?
Overall, it was an easy going, informative relaxed tour. We thoroughly enjoyed it !

  Russell has a van that holds 6 people. It is a perfect size for a four hour tour. The atmosphere was relaxed, Russell was knowledgeable and friendly; he provided very... read more interesting information as we drove through beautiful countryside. The tour was well paced and thoroughly enjoyable.

  Our experience with Wicked wanders was EXCELLENT. Carol was an excellent guide showing us Tauranga. great value for money and we saw so much, Had a great... read more lunch at a farm on top of the hills over looking Tauranga. Fish and chips lunch was cheap and was ordered before so we just needed to drive there and pick it up. Well organised. Wood train blocked our way but Carol knew another way to get through. Very informative lovely person and great driver. Great overall. Was a great adventure in Tauranga.

  We were looking for an affordable excursion getting off the cruise ship. We found Wicked Wanders which offered a four hour tour provided by Carol and was very affordable.... read more We went to the Manuka Honey attraction, a kiwi orchard, stopped at a local place and got take out fish and chips. Carol took us to a scenic place overlooking the water for us to eat our lunch. These are just the highlights, there were other places we went as well. Carol is a wonderful tour guide, extremely knowledgeable about her country. When the time for our tour was up and there were still other things we wanted to see, she asked if we wanted to continue on or go back to the ship. We ended up with a 5+ hour tour which was absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend this tour.

  This was a terrific way to see Tauranga and the surrounding area. Russell was extremely knowledgeable and lots of fun too. All the stops were great and so was the... read more ice cream. You should take this tour.

  Russell Picks you up from where the cruise ship docks. He is very knowledgeable and makes the whole experience very interesting. We were lucky enough to be the only two... read more on the trip due to a glitch in the booking system (good for us!) two tour sellers joined us. We visited a kiwi farm and had tastings and ice cream, Manuka honey factory and avocado farm and some lovely beach spots it was all really interesting and enjoyable. I would definitely recommend.

  The Kiwi farm was fascinating and our Kiwi sample tastings along with Ripe NZ Avocados and NZ cooking oils dipped in bread were a treat. Russell was most interesting in... read more his history and culture of NZ along the way. We enjoyed perfect stops to embrace the views, ocean, rose garden and shady green ancient Monmouth Redoubt. Russell is a good driver and clearly embraces a keen knowledge for all questions.

  Russell responded quickly after purchasing our tickets. Meeting off wharf was easy. Vehicle is well suited to the tour.
Best of all it was a great informative tour - highlight... read more was the visit to kiwi fruit farm.
Lovely day - definitely recommend this tour run by enthusiastic owner operator.

  We had beautiful weather. This is a must to be able to experience the best views. Our guide was good and informative. Downside for anyone unable to walk unaided, not... read more for wheelchair, steps quite steep. Pushchair can manage,
money we'll spent.
PS: I have both knees reconstructed but able to get around the hilly terrain.

  We were on a cruise that unexpectedly visited Tauranga for 2 days. The fist day we did a hop on & hop off bus tour around Tauranga. The second... read more day we booked a tour with Russell who took us on sight seeing tour around the town and told us bit of history of the region - very interesting. We then headed out of town to Comvita Manuka Honey factory, then to a kiwi fruit farm & finally an avocado farm. Russell was an informative, welcoming & good humoured host - very enjoyable.

  What a great time. I was up from Christchurch at a conference in Tauranga with some time to kill and decided to do this tour. Russell was a great guide... read more and made the trip really enjoyable. The guides at Te Puia were great and I learnt a lot about the local geography and local culture. Highly recommended.

  Four of us got off the cruise ship at Tauranga and started looking for a small van tour for several hours. We found Carol of Wicked Wanders right at the... read more wharf and signed up with two more women from our ship. What a wonderful, fun, informative time we had for the next four hours! Carol was fun and full of great information which made our tour special. We loved the fresh fish and chips she picked up and then drove us to the perfect picnic spot to enjoy. Be sure to check our Wicked Wanders when in Tauranga!!

  Our guide Russell was a local man who was at the pier to greet us. The tour showed us around the town of the "Mount", beaches, harbour, the adjoining... read more community of Tauranga, working port, shopping precinct. We then headed out from there to a honey producing company and samples the famous Manuka honey and other blends. Coffee break welcome. Then to a small farm seeing avocado trees laden with fruit (no sample sadly). We did though sample the oil from same. Following this we headed to another farm producing the famous Kiwi fruit and were told about the two main varieties (green and gold Kiwi fruits). Overall I enjoyed the tour and found Russell to be an engaging and helpful guide, but we (as older persons),found getting in and out of the mini bus a bit of a challenge. I enjoyed the visit to the greenhouse on the harbour, but would have liked to go inside the old missionary complex instead of looking from the street.

  We were very lucky to be the only ones on this trip that day, our guide was excellent new what he was talking about and answered any questions we had... read more also the van was very clean. Started with a tour of the city then made our way to a kiwi fruit farm was very interesting and lots of different foods to sample bought quite a few things, the honey farm was good has a nice little cafe also very interesting. The just a quick visit to a avocado farm were we sampled some amazing avocado oils yummy. All up a great day would recommend this tour.

  We booked our trip through Viator, but you may be able to book w/ Wicked Wanders directly online. Wonderful tour around Tauranga with stops for local Tea & Kiwi... read more Fruit tasting. Russell is an excellent guide and I'd highly recommend booking w/ him early.

  Mum and I thoroughly enjoyed our day out. The tour guide picked us up from our accommodation and took us back the end of the day. The tour... read more guide was very informative and we learnt a lot about redoubts, kiwifruit and avocados. We enjoyed our fish and chip lunch at Maketu. Would recommend this tour to others.

  had a ball,Carol the driver operator had a idea of where we wanted to go but was very accommodating & suggested changes to the original ittinary that we had asked... read more for, her knowlage of the local area was excellent .can highly recommend this company to anyone visiting this area .

  This small group tour was very informative and we had the opportunity to see a selection of locations that had important historical significance. The guide was knowledgeable & able to... read more answer all our questions. Really liked the visit to the the Manuka honey factory & the Kiwi farm. The free sample of ice cream & kiwi was very tasty. The final visit to the avocado farm was also interesting.
Worthwhile way to spend your time

  Russel was a lovely welcoming guide who took great care of us. Very informative and relaxed. Highly recommend it

  We really enjoyed our 4-hour tour. Interesting and fun. The town is very near the port so you can walk in or take the ship shuttle. We were met at... read more the port gates by Russell and on our return we walked along the beach road which is very close to the ship. It was lovely.

  This was a really enjoyable and informative experience! Russell's encyclopedic knowledge and engaging personality made it a relaxed and interesting trip.

  I took a private tour of the Karangahake Gorge, Minden outlook and the Owhanga Falls, with lunch and a little train ride. I really got the feeling that there is... read more not much to do or see in this area - and that the guide was hard-pressed to take up the day showing us around. Scenery was pleasant, it was a nice sunny day, lunch was unremarkable; food average, service terrible. (I can't even remember where we ate; that's how blah it was). Owner/guide was engaging and fun - so it wasn't a bad experience. Just not over-the-top exciting, or something that I can recommend as a "must do"!

  What a fantastic tour guide Carol was can't fault her, very informative and also has a sense of humor which can be hard to come by these days