Creating immersive experiences right here in our backyard

  Had a tour with Russell and it was fantastic!

Saw lots of interesting stuff, learned plenty of cool facts about what we were seeing, and had a great... read more time all round! Very knowledgeable and helpful, great sense of humour and very approachable!

Highly recommend these guys, cannot speak highly enough of their services!

  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

  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.

  On a recent New Zealand cruise we visited a number of ports. Tauranga is a stunning place and our memories will be all the more special because of this... read more excellent shore excursion. Carol from Wicked Wanders was there to meet us when we disembarked with a very warm welcome. There were 8 of us on the tour and the van was very roomy and comfortable. The tour was diverse in that we saw the popular beaches of the area, visited a Manuka Honey farm, a kiwi orchard and an avocado farm but all in a very relaxed and informative way. Both my husband and I could not recommend this shore excursion highly enough.

  This is a wonderful tour of Tauranga in a small coach with a local guide. Russell was exceptional. He took us to all the best places and told us so... read more many interesting things. I highly recommend this tour. So easy to find him, right outside the gate at the ship dock. Kiwi fruit trip was the best!!

  I enjoyed this tour quite a bit. Russel was very well informed and professional. The stop at the Elms was great. The history of Tauranga was very informative and the... read more grounds were stunning. The stop at the kiwifruit farm was also good and informative. Other stops to here history and to look at the view were great. My only negative about this tour was the ship docked mid morning which meant the tour had a late start and there was no lunch break and we were very hungry by he time we got back at 3pm. The stop at the farm we got to try some kiwifruit and avocado but it's not enough. We were provided with a bottle not water which was appreciated but I think some amendments could be helpful when the tour has a late start. Overall this was a great tour and would definitely recommend it.

  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.

  This was a great tour with Russell so informative he certainly knows his stuff!
Definitely recommend this tour to anyone wanting a bit of history as well as small... read more tastings of the wonderful kiwi fruit and avocado that we definitely don’t get at home !

  The tour was reasonably priced and went all round Tauranga but didnt stop enough for photo moments next time we would walk off port and explore the town ourselves but... read more was ok for the price I guess.

  I HIGHLY recommend to do this tour. You don’t have to rent a car, you just sit back, relax and enjoy your ride! This is also cheaper than renting a... read more car.

Russel was the best guide ever. So kind and service minded. We even got to see orcas on our way home, thanks to Russell’s great eyesight.

Thank you so much!

  Our tour guide, Russell, picked us up at the dock as soon as we arrived. We drove to Hobbiton and had a delightful time visiting the movie set followed... read more by a delicious lunch. On our return, we stopped and walked trails through a beautiful park with waterfalls. Russell was very knowledgeable and able to answer all our questions and give us details. It was a grand day on our trip and all our expectations about seeing the beautiful New Zealand countryside were met.

  The sites are lovely. Russell knew his history. Disappointed about the tea stop being closed but the elms were fascinating

  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.

  Wow! Awesome day spent with Russell! Highly recommend this tour. We covered the area of Mount Maunganti in the Bay of Plenty and all around Tauranga.... read more His knowledge of the Māori and their culture is amazing. Heard a Māori fairy tale, learned about how New Zealand came to be settled and the industry and agriculture of Tauranga. Lots of fun going to kiwi farm, got to taste kiwi, avocado, and avocado oil - Russell has the tasting down to a science! I am a tea lover, so a treat to pick up some tea from Webster’s. Enjoyed a lunch at Organico in their back garden area. Got to put my toes int he sand and water.

  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.

  This was an absolutely amazing day trip and a great way to see more secluded thermal lakes. The walk down from the top of the valley was stunning with so... read more many plants and manuka bushes around you. Following the thermal river all the way to the lake provided some really interesting views and finished with a trip on the boat around the lake. Our guide was so knowledgeable with a was real pleasure to be shown around by him. Definitely recommend.

  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.

  Russell from Wicked Wanderers met our cruise ship on time for the 4hr scenic tour of Tauranga. Small group, very comfortable air conditioned van. Tour commentary was excellent & well... read more informed, Russell was very personable & helpful too. The trip needed to be adapted slightly due to poor weather to ensure we had a great time. Well done, Russell!!

  The views was so amazing & our guide who was with us was very informative about the many locations we went to! Such a beautiful trip & highly recommend

  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.

  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 !

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

  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.

  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"!

  Took this tour whilst on a day visit by cruise ship. Great choice. Was easy to find just outside of the wharf gate. Comfortable mini bus & Russell was a... read more knowledgeable & friendly guide. Would highly recommend

  If you arrive by cruise ship with no plans for Tauranga, check out Russell Christian's Wicked Wanders tours. He's on the Pier (when his small group, mini van... read more tours have room) where you can talk to him regarding his offerings. We wanted to get out of the city without going all the way (1 hour +) to Rotorua and his 4Hr Tauranga tour was perfect. Great mixture of city/landscapes/farms/food tastings and an odd ball visit to unique toilets! Russell was a perfect guide - we didn't get the "canned" history speech to sleep by, but a lively discussion mixing a bit of everything about the area and country. Appreciated his willingness to answer all questions and recommendations. His price was considerably less than the cruise ship for a very similar tour and we were a small group, not a bus load of 40! Highly recommended and I would book ASAP - we were very lucky he had openings.

  We were on the Queen Victoria and we absolutely loved this tour! So happy our daughter booked it and happy we didn’t book with the cruise company such a better... read more experience very personal!
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about the culture and have a great personalized tour! Our guide was wonderful! Love from the USA !

  Our guide, Nicolle was excellent: professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. She kept us on track to ensure we didn't miss our ship. The tour was terrific: entertaining, educational, and beautiful.

  Having booked a small group tour of Tauranga on-line were we really didn't know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised when Carol took us on a relaxing and very... read more informative highlights tour. Carol is passionate and professional and we were so glad we didn't decide to be part of the "cattle class" on one of the larger tour coaches.
We highly recommend this tour to anyone stopping off in Tauranga. Thanks Carol for providing one of the highlights of our New Zealand cruise.

  Fantastic and very informative time we had with Russell. He was casual but very well informed on lots of general life, history, commerce and found interesting New Zealand focused... read more things for us to see. I think this is the best tour we did on this holiday.