Jemma and Grant met in Africa while working on separate journeys. At the time, Jemma was an overland tour guide for a UK-based company, and Grant was completing an 8-month trans-African odyssey. Their love of travel and photography and their passion for adventure and the great outdoors led them to investigate potential tourism ideas during their extended Covid layover in New Zealand. During that time, they recognized an opportunity to offer small, personalized group tours across the country. Unlike other companies, their tours would visit unique locations no one else was traveling to. With several years of overland experience and extensive world travel, they created ZigZag NZ Tours. Their tours cater to the growing number of “wunderlusters” who have made New Zealand a top bucket list destination.
Jemma explains, “It’s an amazing feeling when a passion and a career come together.” ZigZag NZ Tours had been a shared dream for several years before its launch in 2021. Jemma and Grant wanted others to feel what they felt and see what they saw. They also aimed for travelers to experience what they had during their own journeys. With that in mind, they designed an outdoor, camping, overland-style road trip across New Zealand. The goal was to include everything that would astound, captivate, and charm anyone joining them on the journey.
A 90-Day Epic Adventure
Our tour is a 90-day epic adventure through New Zealand’s beautiful North and South Islands, broken down into smaller segments that are shared alongside nine fellow passengers, all discovering together what this stunning little country has to offer.
From amazing one-day hikes to bucket list helicopter experiences, adrenaline activities galore and beaches to die for, New Zealand really has it all. One day you’ll be climbing an ice glacier, the next you’ll be sailing through underground caverns in search of glowworms.
Whether you’re on the open road in our new custom-made Mercedes Sprinter Van, speeding through the Forgotten World Highway in a jet boat with the wind in your hair or immersing yourself in fascinating Maori culture with its colourful maraes (meeting grounds) and unique history, you will experience this country’s most spectacular landscapes – straight out of ‘Middle Earth’ (minus the orcs). Cascading waterfalls, majestic lakes, towering snow-capped mountains, white sandy beaches, caves, caverns, forests, nature… the beauty here astounds.
