Wicked Wanders

03/11/2024

Got to love this time of the year. The Orca are migrating through.

10/08/2024

What an amazing thing to watch. We are so proud of all our olympic team. It has been a very successful games for New Zealand sport.

Making history 🥇🌿

An incredible night to remember.

09/08/2024

We have been expecting this. There has been some much larger than normal steam plumes coming from the island in the last few days that have been quite visible from Tauranga.

Boats warned away from Whakaari/White Island

19/02/2024

Here’s a sample of the traditional Maori welcome, the powhiri, as performed by the staff at Te Puia.

11/01/2024

It’s official!!

Influx of tourists from cruise ships bring revenue

10/01/2024

The Virgin ship Resilient Lady arrived today for the first time. She will be back this weekend and staying overnight.

24/12/2023

Merry Christmas. Have fun, be good, stay safe 🙏🏻

30/11/2023

Opening today!! After months of renovations the Bagshot Row Hobbit holes have been reimagined into a fully immersive experience. Can’t wait to check it out in the coming days.

11/04/2023

Not a sight you see at Hobbiton very often

16/03/2023

Early start today. Off to Te Puia and doing our local tours. Hope the rain holds off 🤞🏻

23/01/2023

What can I say. I love my job!

Delightful!
Tripadvisor review: 4hr Tauranga Scenic History and Tasting Tour FREE Kiwifruit Tasting
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 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.

31/12/2022

Happy New Year!!! Wishing everyone all the best for 2023. Here’s some shots of what we’ve been up to in the past few weeks showing people around our beautiful part of the world. Here’s hoping the fantastic weather continues well into 2023 🙏🏻

04/12/2022

We are so happy to be up and running again after our enforced Covid break and our customers are having a ball. This is a taste of some of the great feedback we have been getting.

Hi there,

Would thoroughly recommend this amazing 4 hour tour, Russell the tour guide and owner of this thriving business is the perfect host. We learnt so many things about culture, historical things, and the sightseeing is breathtaking with its views of the countryside. A stop for lunch with great coffee, tea tasting and a kiwi fruit orchard tasting as well, tops off an amazing experience that will leave lasting memories. Very reasonably priced, overall a great day out.

Regards
Tracy P......

02/12/2022

Gearing up for Summer! Our second van will be hitting the road from this weekend and we will be running regular trips to Rotorua attractions and Hobbiton as well as our local scenic history and sundowner tours. Need transport for something else? We are happy to come up with a bespoke trip for you. Give us a call 😎

10/11/2022

15/10/2022

Never gets old 😂 Until next time Love Boat

15/10/2022

And that’s a wrap. Great first cruise day. Everything went off without a hitch. Got passengers off to Hobbiton, Rotorua and local tours. The new local tour format was very well received. Thank you WEBSTER'S TEA for putting on a tasting and display for us.

12/10/2022

And so it begins… Induction day at the port of Tauranga yesterday to get familiar with the setup, ready for the arrival of the Majestic Princess cruise ship on Saturday. Last minute system tweaks and I.T tests and an opportunity to meet some of the other tour operators both old and new. Looking forward to a busy day 🙏🏻

05/10/2022

Not long to go….

30/09/2022

What to do on rainy day in Tauranga when your husbands at a conference? You spend the day with me 😆 Coffee at Tay St Cafe, a guided walk through the Elms Mission Station, a walk through the Robbins Park tropical garden green house followed by an Italian long lunch with wines to match at Bar Centrale. Interesting history, great conversation and amazing food. Well received and enjoyed by all 🙏🏻

06/09/2022

Getting that work life balance right before the summer madness starts 🙏🏻

05/08/2022

A great workshop yesterday with Tourism Bay of Plenty and Cruise New Zealand to get plans underway for the coming cruise season. 95% of the cruise ships are now working globally and the New Zealand season is looking good with 102 cruise dockings in Tauranga. Reports are that most ships are currently booked at around 75% capacity or more so we are all really excited about showing off our beautiful part of the world once more.

07/10/2020

06/05/2020

Seems like a life time ago now. This turned out to be the last day of work for me before lock down and I happened to get it on camera. The Seven Seas Navigator and the Celebrity Solstice docking on the 11th of March.

27/03/2020

Kia Ora everyone. With lockdown now in full effect the team and I are coming up with novel ways to keep ourselves occupied. We are on board with the Teddy Bear Hunt here in Matua and since the van is not going anywhere at the moment we thought it could participate as well. We will be adding to it over the coming weeks. Enjoy - Arwen, Reily and Russell.