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Connie Campos

I have travel to Australia and New Zealand every year, and I've been to all the places you are looking to visit so I can speak to you from experience and first-hand knowledge.

What places and activities do you specialize in?

"Australia, New Zealand and Island of the South Pacific"

How did you get involved in travel?

"Travel have always been my passion. I started to work as a flight and I was able to sample many parts of the world. Travel took me out of our comfort zones and inspired me to see, taste and try new things."

Please share a unique travel experience you will never forget.

"Australia , Great Barrier Reef- Taronga Zoo - experience the zoo behind the scenes.
Opera house , going behind the stage!

New Zealand -from From glaciers to beaches, whale-watching to wine-tasting, New Zealand has so much to offer. Not sure where to begin? walks, hiking, zip-lining and more."

Top itineraries and travel advice
Family itineraries
Road trip itineraries

Recent trip reviews for Connie

A trip of a lifetime to the land down under - NZ and Australia
New Zealand | Mar 23 - Mar 28, 2024

Ann
Ann K.
Santa Monica, CA | Reviewed on May 06, 2024
Connie was an incredible resource and understood our vision with our 2 young kids so well.
She brought it together with a care and attention to detail we appreciated.
Also, she shared her first hand experience being there.
When we ran into weather issues, she helped to sort out the issues.
We would use Kimkim again for any other itinerary.
Highly recommend! Read more

Connie was an incredible resource and understood our vision with our 2 young kids so well.
She brought it together with a care and attention to detail we appreciated.
Also, she shared her first hand experience being there.

When we ran into weather issues, she helped to sort out the issues.
We would use Kimkim again for any other itinerary.

Highly recommend!

Hotel Review
The Rees Hotel
Queenstown

A stunning location with a beautiful view and a short walk to town. Loved it!

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington and New Zealand | Replied on May 06, 2024

Dear Ann,

We appreciate your feedback and are most happy to hear you had an incredible vacation and brought great memories with you. We are thrilled that you had a seamless and stress-free experience with us. Your kind words are a great testament to the hard work and dedication we invest in each job.
Our partners in New Zealand are amazing and they help us make all this happen.
We look forward to seeing you again on one of our fabulous trips.

Thank you again,
Connie

trip to New Zealand
New Zealand | Feb 14 - Mar 8, 2024

Nancy
Nancy K.
Largo, FL | Reviewed on Apr 03, 2024

John and I have completed our trip to New Zealand and had a wonderful experience thanks to Connie. We were greeted at every
stop with friendly ground transportation people allowing us to travel worry free. Our hotels were all impeccably clean and located within walking distances to city centers. The excursions she set up were wonderful including the wine tasting tour and TSS Earnslaw evening in Queenstown, and the boat ride on Milford Sound.
We would highly recommend a trip to New Zealand planned by Connie at KIMKIM.

Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington and New Zealand | Replied on Apr 03, 2024

Dear Nancy and John,

We appreciate your feedback and are delighted you enjoyed New Zealand. Your satisfaction is our top priority, and we look forward to serving you again soon. Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. We are thrilled to hear that you loved your experience with us. I am so happy I met you and John, and I hope to see you again on one of our trips.
Thank you very much
Connie

Amazing New Zealand honeymoon
New Zealand | Feb 12 - Feb 24, 2024

Steven
Steven F.
Lino Lakes, MN | Reviewed on Feb 27, 2024

We ha an amazing trip to New Zealand, and Connie was wonderful in getting it organized. This was for our honeymoon, and she took care of finding us the best hotels and some excellent ground tours. There were even surprise cakes along the way which was a great touch. Plus the service and customization to exactly what we wanted was excellent. Would deflintely work with Connie again in the future. It was a great combination of being able to travel independently while not worrying so much about the planning, which can be so time consuming with all the options these days. Definitely A+++++!

Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington and New Zealand | Replied on Feb 28, 2024

Hello Steven
I am thrilled you enjoyed everything we discussed for your trip and that you celebrated your honeymoon in style. We are thrilled that you had a seamless and stress-free experience with us. Your kind words are a great testament to the hard work and dedication we invest in each job.
We hope to see you soon on another of our trips.

Take care, and thank you again for your fantastic review
Connie

Fantastic trip! We'll be back!
New Zealand | Jan 21 - Jan 29, 2024

D
Dylan T.
San Jose, CA | Reviewed on Feb 03, 2024

Our trip was fantastically planned by Connie. Connie was amazingly fast to respond and had answers to every little question that my wife and I had.

The events that had been planned were a blast and we got as much in as we could. The only thing I wish was that I had planned to be there for more time.

If you need help organizing a trip, Connie was absolutely amazing. I'm sure we'll be using Kimkim again and will reach out to Connie in the future!

Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington and New Zealand | Replied on Feb 03, 2024

Dyland and Rachel,

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such an excellent review! We are thrilled that you had a seamless and stress-free experience with us. Your kind words are a great testament to the hard work and dedication we invest in each job.
I agree with you, it is always too short... We hope to serve you with another great trip shortly.

Thank you very much

Connie

East Coast Australia Trip
Australia | Jan 7 - Jan 19, 2024

MapMan
MapMan L.
Quincy, MA | Reviewed on Jan 20, 2024
We booked a 2 week trip along the east coast, starting in Sydney and then driving north to Brisbane. Everything arranged through Kim Kim went well. The hotels selected were excellent, the car and tour arrangements that were made went off without a hitch. We lucked out and only had 1 rain out day of the two weeks, the locals said were lucky as the 2023-2024 spring / summer season has been especially wet. If in Sydney don't miss a guided tour of the Opera House, and in Brisbane be sure to... Read more

We booked a 2 week trip along the east coast, starting in Sydney and then driving north to Brisbane. Everything arranged through Kim Kim went well. The hotels selected were excellent, the car and tour arrangements that were made went off without a hitch. We lucked out and only had 1 rain out day of the two weeks, the locals said were lucky as the 2023-2024 spring / summer season has been especially wet. If in Sydney don't miss a guided tour of the Opera House, and in Brisbane be sure to visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Gold Coast Beaches are not to be missed and Sydney is very sightseeing friendly with an excellent mass transit system including ferries to visit parts of the town adjacent to Sydney Harbor.

Hotel Reviews
The Convent Hunter Valley
Pokolbin

Boutique hotel in the middle of "wine country", we plan on staying here again if we ever get the chance to visit Hunter's Valley in the future!

Authenticity & Character
Restored old convent, like visiting an 19th century Victorian mansion.
Location
Staff
Very helpful and friendly
Cleanliness & Comfort
Discovery Parks - Emerald Beach
Emerald Beach

Glamping on the beach, if that is your thing rent a cabin here.

Authenticity & Character
It is a campground, cabins available.
Location
Only about 100 yards away from a fabulous beach.
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Cabin was modern and very clean, think Glamping!
QT Gold Coast
Surfers Paradise, QLD

The room, staff and views are top notch!

Authenticity & Character
Location
Just 1 block off the Esplanade, close to the beach, shops and dining.
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Activity Reviews
Morning Private Hidden Gems & Historic Artefacts - Australian National Maritime Museum
Morning Private Hidden Gems & Historic Artefacts - Australian National Maritime Museum
Sydney

If you are into history, take this tour very worthwhile. you can visit the archives with a docent and go behind the scenes where they are restoring items and exhibits. One can visit a number of ships while there.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Sydney Opera House Tour
Sydney Opera House Tour
Sydney

We had an excellent tour guide a Texan actually. Very informative on the creation of and the construction of the Opera House.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington and New Zealand | Replied on Jan 21, 2024

Dear Mark and Lori,
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave an excellent rating. We appreciate your business. Please let us know what we can do for you in the future. I am so glad you enjoyed everything during your trip. I see you would like to stay again in the wine country; I can't wait to hear back from you and put another incredible journey together.
Looking forward to working with you in the near future!

Best regards
Connie

Seeing NZ with Connie's expert help
New Zealand | Dec 26 - Jan 3, 2024

V
Varsha D.
San Jose, CA | Reviewed on Jan 08, 2024

Connie arranged an amazing trip covering both the North and South Islands of NZ for me and my family. We decided to use kimkim because of our very busy schedules to do any of the planning ourselves. Connie had to make do with very little guidance from us but still managed to make it an enjoyable trip with just the right pace. The overnight stay on the boat in Fiordland was very special, as were the cute boutique hotels we stayed at most nights of the trip. I look forward to working with kimkim on future vacations given how positive my first experience has been. Thank you, Connie and kimkim!

Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington and New Zealand | Replied on Jan 08, 2024

Dear Varsha,

I want to express my gratitude for taking the time to write such a wonderful review. Your confidence in me means a lot, and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to experience so many locations and tours in New Zealand. It gives me great pleasure to share my knowledge with our clients and help them have an enjoyable trip.
I am very happy you enjoyed the accommodation we selected for your trip and agree, the overnight tour on the boat is very special.
Yes, please, we hope to see you soon on another amazing trip.

Best regards
Connie

Australia and Queenstown, NZ
Australia | Dec 1 - Dec 16, 2023

Daniel
Daniel B.
Lawrence, IN | Reviewed on Jan 05, 2024
Connie was fantastic and made many great recommendations throughout our trip! Our absolute favorite place was Queenstown, NZ—so much to see and do. Our other favorite place was the Reef House Boutique Hotel in Palm Cove... The staff there was ridiculously professional, and it was a great place to stop and relax at the halfway point of our trip. Sydney and Melbourne were both incredibly beautiful cities with a lot going on for tourists. My only suggestion to others: don't go to the Outback in... Read more

Connie was fantastic and made many great recommendations throughout our trip! Our absolute favorite place was Queenstown, NZ—so much to see and do. Our other favorite place was the Reef House Boutique Hotel in Palm Cove... The staff there was ridiculously professional, and it was a great place to stop and relax at the halfway point of our trip. Sydney and Melbourne were both incredibly beautiful cities with a lot going on for tourists. My only suggestion to others: don't go to the Outback in the peak of summer! Other than the extreme heat, our trip was amazing, and our services provided by Kimkim were great.

Hotel Reviews
The Reef Retreat
Palm Cove, QLD

Extremely upscale and accomodating. An insanely amazing staff with a lot of amenities and a beautiful property. A really cool operate-on-your-own bar. Highly recommend!

Authenticity & Character
Extremely authentic and upscale atmosphere
Location
On the main street in the town of Palm Cove
Staff
Absolutely incredible! I wish I remembered everyone's names.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Desert Gardens Hotel
Yulara

There were other places on the massive property I would have rather stayed. These rooms were quite ghastly, but probably were cheaper than other spots on the property.

Authenticity & Character
The character is old school and needs some rennovating. Mice can get into the rooms at night if you don't put a towel in the corner of the door.
Location
Everything is in one compound, so there's really no other location it could possibly be.
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Needs rennovation and the rooms are dull.
Radisson Blu Hotel
Sydney

A great spot in the middle of downtown Sydney.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
The Savoy Hotel on Little Collins
Melbourne
Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Activity Reviews
Morning Panoramic Sydney Sights
Morning Panoramic Sydney Sights
Sydney
Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Dinner Cruise Sydney Harbour
Dinner Cruise Sydney Harbour
Sydney
Boutique Wine Tour - Half Day
Boutique Wine Tour - Half Day
Queenstown (NZ)

This was our favorite experience of our trip! Kiwis are all so nice, and our driver was so friendly, fun, and perfect for a whole-day tour. The wines were amazing, and the scenery cannot be beat. Loved everything about this tour!

Quality of Experience
Food
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Skyline Gondola Ride
Skyline Gondola Ride
Queenstown (NZ)
Full Day Mt. Conner Outback 4WD Adventure
Full Day Mt. Conner Outback 4WD Adventure
Uluru

I would not recommend this tour. While the area is beautiful, the endless drive through the middle of no where was not ideal. The trip advertises Kangaroos and Emus... Our tour guide told us that in the year she'd been working with the company, she'd never seen a Kangaroo. Its on a cattle farm—you will only see cattle. You might see a camel, but even the camels are not good for the cows, so they drive them away. If you're looking to see wildlife, the whole area around Uluru probably isn't great. Our time would have been better spent exploring Uluru or Kata Tjuta for the natural beauty.

Quality of Experience
See review.
Food
Guides, Drivers and Staff
The drivers were kind and fun, and so were the cattle ranchers whose house we stopped at on the way.
Transport
The vehicle was comfortable.
Sydney Opera House Tour
Sydney Opera House Tour
Sydney
Sunset Camel Ride
Sunset Camel Ride
Uluru
Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington and New Zealand | Replied on Jan 05, 2024
Hi Daniel
I am thrilled you had a great time and enjoyed your holiday. I am happy to hear that, overall, the expectations of your trip were met, and you brought great memories.
About the tours, I am sorry about that long tour that did not meet your expectations, I am going to speak to the Australia operator and also request information from our product manager. It is supposed to be a scenic tour with lots of wildlife; if it is like you said, we should omit it and avoid disappointment. I am... Read more

Hi Daniel
I am thrilled you had a great time and enjoyed your holiday. I am happy to hear that, overall, the expectations of your trip were met, and you brought great memories.

About the tours, I am sorry about that long tour that did not meet your expectations, I am going to speak to the Australia operator and also request information from our product manager. It is supposed to be a scenic tour with lots of wildlife; if it is like you said, we should omit it and avoid disappointment. I am sorry about the misunderstanding and bad experience.

Overall, it sounds like we met your needs and expectations. I am taking your comments very seriously and sharing them with our AU team and product manager to improve and continue offering great experiences.

We hope to see you soon on another beautiful trip.

Happy New Year, and thank you

Paradise enjoyed in a short 12-days
New Zealand | Nov 30 - Dec 10, 2023

Dana
Dana V.
Kansas City, MO | Reviewed on Dec 19, 2023
Flights, Hotels, Tours, Itinerary Ideas were all on target. We had, unfortunately, only 12 days to be on the two islands and KimKim helped us really focus on the types of activities we like to plan for ourselves. Having a tour group shuttle us from Queenstown to a beautiful hike 3 or so hours away and then have another tour group pick us up to complete the leg to Christchurch worked perfectly.
Accommodations in Auckland and the Northern Peninsula were beautiful as well. We could easily...
Read more

Flights, Hotels, Tours, Itinerary Ideas were all on target. We had, unfortunately, only 12 days to be on the two islands and KimKim helped us really focus on the types of activities we like to plan for ourselves. Having a tour group shuttle us from Queenstown to a beautiful hike 3 or so hours away and then have another tour group pick us up to complete the leg to Christchurch worked perfectly.
Accommodations in Auckland and the Northern Peninsula were beautiful as well. We could easily include walks, hikes, runs, fine dining, casual dining, great breakfasts, a scenic train ride, and scuba into the days without stress.
I like to plan my own trips, but found New Zealand had too many wonderful choices and using a trip planning service that new the lay of the land was extremely helpful to let us enjoy 2-3 nights in locations and not spend the majority of our time in transport.

Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington | Replied on Dec 20, 2023

Hi Dana,

I am thrilled to hear that you had a wonderful experience. I have to agree with you that the places you chose were spectacular and had amazing scenery. And you are right, for such a great destination, it always feels too short. We hope to see you back soon so you can experience other locations of spectacular New Zealand. I appreciate very much your review.

Happy Holidays

Connie

Incredible Service from Connie
Australia | Oct 30 - Nov 5, 2023

S
Scott R.
Seattle, WA | Reviewed on Nov 21, 2023

Connie was wonderful to work with. Her replies were timely, her attention and responsiveness to what we were looking for was appreciated, and the final trip she put together was fantastic, according to our friends. My wife and I were unable to take the trip due to serious health issues with my mother.

Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington and New Zealand | Replied on Nov 21, 2023

Hi Scott,

Thank you for taking the time to write this review. I really appreciate it. I am aware that your friends had an amazing time on the trip, and I am sorry that you weren't able to join them.

I hope that your mom is doing well, and my thoughts and prayers are with her.

Best Regards
Connie

The people of Australia are amazing! Very fr...
Australia | Nov 6 - Nov 15, 2023

M
Mary P.
Campbellsville, KY | Reviewed on Nov 18, 2023
The people of Australia are amazing! Very friendly and helpful. The scenery was beautiful and the experiences were awesome.
Our flight had issues and we were already in Australia before our specialist notified us that our flight had issues. In addition, we were booked for a tour in a park in Uluru, but when we were getting on the bus we’re informed that we needed park passes to get in the park. Our specialist booked the tour - but not the passes to get to the tour. It was a frustrating...
Read more

The people of Australia are amazing! Very friendly and helpful. The scenery was beautiful and the experiences were awesome.
Our flight had issues and we were already in Australia before our specialist notified us that our flight had issues. In addition, we were booked for a tour in a park in Uluru, but when we were getting on the bus we’re informed that we needed park passes to get in the park. Our specialist booked the tour - but not the passes to get to the tour. It was a frustrating experience to get these in a very few minutes before the bus left for the tour. Our specialist also had all of our flight arrangements, and did inform us on the Visa needed for Australia. However, she did not tell us anything about any requirements for New Zealand - which she knew we were going thru. We found out about the transist VISA requirements when we went to check in and had to pay the exorbitant fees associated with immediate turnaround of the requirement.

Local specialist: Connie Campos
Connie
Connie Campos
Local specialist in Washington and New Zealand | Replied on Nov 21, 2023
Hello Mary and your group! I am very sorry you had a bad experience and I feel awful to know you have had some sour situations during your trip. The park pass should have been included, it was an assumption on my part as this is a tour that we book very often. This is my bad and I regret not having double-checked.
I do not have any clients coming back to let me know they did not have it. I should have doubled, triple check and my honest answer, I did not. I am very sorry for the...
Read more

Hello Mary and your group!

I am very sorry you had a bad experience and I feel awful to know you have had some sour situations during your trip. The park pass should have been included, it was an assumption on my part as this is a tour that we book very often. This is my bad and I regret not having double-checked.
I do not have any clients coming back to let me know they did not have it. I should have doubled, triple check and my honest answer, I did not. I am very sorry for the inconvenience.

I did not book your flights, I was not aware of any issues, delays, and or anything related to your flights. I am not sure why New Zealand requested a visa when it was a connection. Passengers with a connection do not require a visa. I need to investigate that and I will get back to you via email.

We strive for perfect vacations and great memories, I sincerely apologize for the situations you experienced.

Connie