The people who change the way you see New Zealand

I have always believed the people we choose to guide for Aroha Luxury New Zealand Tours matter enormously. You spend a lot of time together on a private journey, often over several weeks, so I look for people I would happily travel with myself.

They need to know New Zealand well, but knowledge alone has never been enough for me. I want guides who are curious about people. People who listen. People who will notice when someone is tired, fascinated, uncomfortable or having such a lovely time that moving on simply makes no sense.

I also want them to love this country because I care deeply about New Zealand and about how we share it with people who have travelled a long way to be here. I want our guests to experience the places we know and love with someone who genuinely enjoys showing them around.

Our guides are quite different from one another, which is one of the things I love about them.

Grant Kitto

Grant came to guiding after a fairly eclectic working life. He had worked on superyachts and in five-star hotels, driven staff buses up Treble Cone ski area and driven trucks and machinery on film sets.

He grew up in Nelson and has spent much of his life outdoors. Snowboarding, kite surfing and photography are among his interests, and Kaikōura is somewhere he has returned to since the days of heading there on surf trips and going to the old Kaikoura Roots Festival.

What he loves about it hasn’t worn off.

“The raw energy and epic vistas mixed with the laid back lifestyle,” is how he describes it, with those snow-capped mountains running alongside an ocean full of wildlife.

Grant also has a strong interest in conservation, and he doesn’t shy away from talking to guests about the pressure on New Zealand’s native forests and birdlife. He shares the difficult parts of the story alongside the successes, including predator-free islands, marine reserves and the recovery of species such as takahē.

One of his favourite guest stories, though, has nothing to do with wildlife.

He was travelling with a couple who had retired young. One morning, with a bit of spare time before their next activity, Grant casually said they had some “time to kill”.

They pulled him up on it. They weren’t interested in killing time. They wanted to use it wisely and enjoy it.

Grant hasn’t used the expression since.

He also knows the feeling of arriving somewhere wonderful and deciding the rest of the day’s plans don’t seem quite so important anymore. Guests sometimes start a New Zealand holiday wanting to squeeze a huge amount into every day, then realise they would rather stay where they are, read for a while or go for a walk along the beach.

Grant is quite happy with that.

Meghan Maloney

Meghan’s route into guiding began with photography.

She is a landscape photographer who runs photography workshops during winter and guides for Aroha over summer. She is also a Sony New Zealand Ambassador and has worked as a photographer in Antarctica over three seasons.

When Meghan is travelling through New Zealand, she is always watching what the light and weather are doing.

That doesn’t mean every guest suddenly finds themselves on a photography tour. It means Meghan notices things. A reflection on a lake, changing light across a hillside or conditions that make an unplanned stop worth taking.

Fiordland is the part of New Zealand she will name without hesitation when asked about a favourite. After countless visits, she still loves the beech forest, lakes, glacial valleys, mountains and the experience of heading out onto the fiords themselves.

Her approach to guiding came through clearly in a story from last summer.

Meghan was travelling with a couple who were supposed to spend a day exploring the Central Plateau. The forecast was dreadful. By then, she knew they had an interest in Art Deco, so they changed direction and went to Napier.

Instead of hiking in rain and low cloud, they spent the day exploring the architecture and had an outdoor winery lunch in good weather.

Some of Meghan’s favourite Aroha guests have actually become her friends.

John and Vanessa were the first people she guided for Aroha, on a 12-day South Island trip in February 2020. They kept in touch through the years that followed and returned in 2023, when Meghan guided them around the North Island, and were able to to  meet her family.

This summer Meghan is heading back to Antarctica, working with Heritage Expeditions on a voyage to the Ross Sea.

John and Vanessa will be on board.

Benny Chia

Benny talks about guiding almost as a form of caretaking.

He believes a private guide should develop an “acute sense of observation”, paying enough attention to recognise what someone needs before they have necessarily asked for it.

His love of meeting people from around the world was one of the reasons he left an indoor working environment for what he describes as his “outdoor office”.

Photography is part of Benny’s life too, although his eye is drawn somewhere quite different from Meghan’s.

Benny enjoys macro photography and searching through native bush for the tiny things living there. His interest in New Zealand’s biodiversity naturally finds its way into his guiding.

He is also fond of places away from the most familiar visitor routes. Copland Valley, the Routeburn Track, Doubtful Sound, Castlepoint, Taranaki and Tongariro all appear on his list.

Benny shared an old Chinese saying about enjoying the best views by venturing deep into the bush and high onto the mountain peaks. It seems a fitting philosophy for someone who enjoys showing guests parts of New Zealand they might otherwise pass by.

Of all the people he has guided, he immediately thought of Victoria Phan and her family of seven. During their two weeks together, the relationship became close enough that Benny felt he was being treated as another member of the family.

His guests have taught him a few things along the way too. “Be genuine, be yourself and be generous,” was his answer when I asked.

Zuzana Millson

Zuzana knew the world of bespoke New Zealand travel before she ever became a guide.

She worked as an itinerary designer, putting together customised high-end journeys and working through all the detail behind the scenes. She remembers wondering what it would be like to take one of “her” trips herself.

Then she met me, and I offered her the opportunity. Thankfully, she said yes.

Zuzana describes the move from itinerary design into guiding as a natural transition, and says her trips now feel a little like holidays with a new bunch of friends.

Her other life gives some insight into the kind of guide she is. Zuzana is a certified yoga and Pilates teacher with a strong interest in mindfulness and wellness. When she isn’t guiding or teaching, she and her partner like disappearing into the mountains on multi-day hikes.

Ask her to choose a favourite place in New Zealand and she struggles. Put her somewhere in the Southern Alps, preferably near water, and she is happy. She loves how the mountains change with seasons, weather and light.

She is also particularly aware of people’s energy.

As a trip unfolds, Zuzana watches for small changes in mood, communication and enthusiasm. Once she gets to know people, she often starts thinking of ways to adjust the experience around them.

As she put it, sometimes she ends up “bending backwards”, adding that it’s a good thing she’s a yogi.

Her answer about New Zealand weather made me smile too.

Rain isn’t always bad news. In Milford Sound and the fiords, it brings countless waterfalls down the mountains. Part of Zuzana’s role is helping guests see why a day they weren’t expecting might still be a beautiful one.

She talks warmly about the friendships that develop on longer journeys. People start sharing stories, opinions and pieces of their lives. By the time everyone has to say goodbye, there have been trips where tears are shed.

Jurgen Wagner

And then there is Jurgen.

Jurgen first guided people in Jerusalem in 1981 and 1982 while working with the German Peace Corps. He became fascinated by the city, walked everywhere, read everything he could and made local friends. Eventually American visitors began approaching him and asking him to show them around.

He discovered he loved it.

What followed was a guiding career across Spain, North Africa, France, Cuba and Greece. He became Head Tour Guide for International Tourist Services and the Swiss Air Group and has trained more than 800 tour guides.

New Zealand eventually drew him here permanently in 2001.

Jurgen did what Jurgen seems to do whenever he becomes interested in something. He studied.

He completed a diploma as a Tourism Business Manager, explored New Zealand extensively, hiked the Great Walks, studied New Zealand plants at Otago University, took courses in wine and olive growing and attended cooking schools. He continues reading about Māori culture and current affairs.

We met in 2006, and he has guided for Aroha ever since.

His favourite place is the West Coast of the South Island. His description is wonderfully brief: “nature pure, still very unspoilt.”

After all his years travelling and guiding, Jurgen still puts enormous value on conversation. Our guests are often widely travelled themselves, and he enjoys hearing their stories as much as sharing his own knowledge.

Some have travelled with him repeatedly. One guest from Vienna has toured with him five times. Jurgen also catches up with former guests in Europe, sometimes heading off together on hikes lasting several days.

He is equally pragmatic about changing plans. Weather changes. People get carsick. Things happen.

And, as Jurgen pointed out when I asked whether he had ever changed a day’s plans because of what his guests needed, he has twice done so for honeymoon couples who made it quite clear they would prefer to return to their room.

After more than 40 years of guiding, he understands the hint.

Five guides, and five different ways of travelling

Reading their answers reminded me why I enjoy putting the right guide together with the right guests.

Meghan might notice what the light is doing in a valley. Benny might spot something tiny in the bush that everyone else has walked past. Grant might get you talking about the birds you’ve been hearing all morning. Zuzana might realise everyone would be happier staying exactly where they are for another hour. Jurgen has enough stories and experience to keep a conversation going across most of New Zealand.

They know the routes, the places to stay and the experiences we have planned. But over the course of a private journey they also get to know the people sitting beside them.

For me, that has always been the important part. I can design a beautiful journey through New Zealand. Once our guests arrive, I am trusting one of these people to take care of it, and of them.

After nearly twenty years working with some of our guides, I don’t make that choice lightly.