About Wicked Wanders

  Wonderful experience taking you back to nature - A great place to visit to experience a great variety of geothermal landscapes. Not crowded with 3 different walks including a bus ride back at the end taking you to... read more the visitor centre and restaurant. Homemade cake and a cup of tea is highly appreciated.

  Great trip to Hobbiton!  - We had such a great time on our hobbiton trip. Russell was very friendly and knowledgeable and made our trip very enjoyable. We would definitely go on another trip with... read more Wicked Wanders if we had the time.

  Good cruise ship excursion  - Great tour, Russell was very good. Lots of good information

  Terrific day trip from Tauranga  - A wonderful balance of culture and nature! Our excellent guide Nicolle was knowledgeable, engaging, and very informative. We really enjoyed the Maori cultural center and the amazing geyser and... read more Redwood forest. I highly recommend this trip for cruise passengers, stopping here.

  This Excursion is Great!  - Wow! What a wonderful experience. I would highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in learning about the indigenous people of New Zealand and the many natural wonders in New... read more Zealand. The tour was led by a woman named Nicole and she was fantastic! She had such a assessed for life and a profound appreciation for the things we were seeing. I think she had as much fun showing us as we had seeing everything.

  Definitely a Must See  - My wife and I enjoyed the day tour taken from Tauranga after our cruise ship, the Norwegian Spirit docked. Wicked Wanders Tour was as advertised and was enjoyable, especially our... read more introduction to Mauri culture and New Zealand's geothermal events.

  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!

  We had an amazing day with Russell who showed us the beauty of Bay of Plenty. We stopped in Mount Maunganui where Russell told us the history of New Zealand... read more and specifically about Bay of Plenty. After a nice drive down to Hobbitland we were able to explore the fascinating set from the Hobbit movies.
Russell also took us to one of New Zealand beautiful waterfalls after the tour at Hobbitland.
The BIGGEST plus was definitely the orca Russell spotted near the beach in Mount Maunganui. For us who’s never seen an orca before, this was an experience of it’s own! I highly recommend Russell if you wanna have a tour with great experience.

  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.

  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

  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.

  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

  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.

  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!!

  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 !

  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 !

  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!

  Easy to book, quick confirmation, showed up on time as planned, good service. Very happy overall. Thank you.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  We are delighted that we booked this tour instead of one of the cruise ship tours. Russell was well informed and interesting, and his knowledge of the... read more district and history was impressive. We enjoyed every aspect of the excursion. The vehicle was comfortable. We appreciated being part of a small group, it seemed friendlier and more relaxed.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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!!

  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!

  Had a fantastic tour in Tauranga, Russell was superb on the tour and I would recommend this tour over the excursions offered by the cruise lines. He takes you to... read more genuinely interesting places where you have time to absorb the stunning scenery.