About Wicked Wanders

  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!!

  What a wealth of information Russell was. We learnt so much about New Zealand history and especially liked the avocado and kiwi fruit tasting. Would highly recommend this tour.

  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.

  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 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!

  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.

  Great city tour with a visit to a honey farm, kiwi farm with great tasting kiwi ice cream and a avocado farm.

  Could not find a tour that suited us with the cruise line, so found Wicked Wanders online. really enjoyed the small group, the well thought out tour, the super tour... read more guide, Carol, and the Fush and Chups!!, and talk about service, Carol returned my Jacket to Australia after I left it on the bus

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

  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 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

  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.

  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.

  Small bus was lovely. Very informative and flexible. Enjoyed by all of us including the teenagers. Need ot be able to walk on uneven ground but we are not particularly... read more fit and were fine with the walking so it's not a big issue.

  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.

  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.

  Small group tour with Russell being very responsive in replies in enquires. Great, smooth and not rushed in timing which were good. A secret local lunch hideout (you will need... read more to join this tour to know this secret which serves fantastic food).
He went to the extend of getting red kiwi fruits for visual experimental which was a bonus.
Thanks Russell!

  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.

  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.

  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.

  My wife and I have been lucky enough to do a tour with carol today around Tauranga this lady is fantastic her knowledge of the area and itinerary is great... read more we visited the honey farm and kiwi fruit farm and then had a great fish and chips lunch up on a hill overlooking the harbour that our ship was docked a fantastic day and I would highly recommend her if you come this way by cruise ship

  Cruising New Zealand on Celebrity and booked the trip with Wicked Wanders on line before we arrived - though you could book on the day.. Meet and greet well organised... read more in Tauranga and an excellent tour led by Carol In a small van. Really enjoyed the visit to the Manuka Honey factory and the kiwi farm - great guides in both. Rain held off and saw a good range of the area round Tauranga - felt we learnt a lot. Really good tour and very fairly priced.

  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.

  All the trip was fantastic couldn’t fault it. Love Russell he was tops with everything would recommend this tour to anyone who wants a relaxing and interesting tour on Tauranga.... read more Thank you kindly
Natalie and Mark.

  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!!

  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 !

  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.

  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.

  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

  We were on a cruise ship and wanted a low key tour that didn't go too far or for too long. Wicked wanders tours was the perfect choice. Carol was... read more prompt, professional, and pleasant. Her pride of her lovely hometown was evident in the great information she provided along the way. She made several photo stops. The highlight for us were stops to see how manuka honey was made and how kiwis grew. Interesting...
We enjoyed seeing lovely tauranga with a local expert. Thanks, Carol.