Terms & Conditions

General Disclaimer

In any adventure activity, there is an element of risk involved. Risks in undertaking some of our activities include: personal injury, illness as a result of adverse weather, risk of drowning for water based activities.

Management and staff of Ruggedy Range™ Wilderness Experience take all practicable steps to identify and minimise potential dangers. However, you must follow instructions and use any safety equipment provided at all times. Adults accompanying any person under the age of 18 must ensure that the underage person follows our instructions at all times. You must release or indemnify Ruggedy Range™ Wilderness Experience and our staff against any liability we incur to anyone else, resulting from your failure to follow our instructions or the failure of any person accompanying you under the age of 18 to follow our instructions.

Personal Travel Insurance

Highly recommended. We do not accept responsibility or liability for loss, damage to or theft of personal belongings or for any other expense arising from personal injury, illness or hospitalisation.

Warning: Under New Zealand law it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to sue anyone if you are injured. In addition, New Zealand's accident compensation scheme provides only limited assistance to visitors to New Zealand who are injured. We strongly recommend that all visitors to New Zealand have full insurance covering any injury they might suffer, including medical treatment cover, before undertaking our activities.

Exclusions: To the extent permitted by law, all our liability for damage to your property, disruption to travel plans, or mental injury is excluded. This exclusion is subject to any rights or remedies you may have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

Hygiene Requirements

Our staff have the right to refuse your participation at our Booking Office or on a tour or service if you do not comply with good hygiene practises and there is concern for their safety and well-being and that of others:

  1. Always follow good hygiene practises: cough or sneeze into your elbows, use hand sanitisers (if you are able to), wash and dry your hands regularly, avoid touching your face, nose and mouth.  Always use clean tissues and dispose of them safely.
  2. Adults are required to ensure their children are following hygiene practises.
  3. Be considerate and kind towards others and our Staff.

Enthusiasm and a Sense of Humour

Recommended. Outdoor activities can be challenging but also rewarding. Our environment is dynamic and "nature chooses and alters at will her own time schedules". Tracks/routes can be slippery, muddy and uneven. It can rain, hail, or the sun can shine, it can be calm or windy. We share the outdoors and facilities with others, please be mindful of the needs of others. On overnight trips we encourage clients to help where needed.

Guides / Staff

We want you and all other participants to have a safe, rewarding and enjoyable experience, please follow the instructions of our guides and staff. Good staff are hard to find - please be thoughtful and considerate towards our guides and staff - we are a small business!

Environment Care

We care for and respect our environment so we ask that everyone follows some guidelines. See Environment Care.

Kiwi Viewing and Wildlife Viewing Guidelines

For the safety, security and well being of kiwi and our wildlife, we follow recommended guidelines. Your guide will discuss these guidelines with you before and during your trips with us. They include: not calling kiwi, nor using flash photography, nor feeding wildlife.

Level of Fitness and Gear

We require that you (and your party members) have the appropriate level of fitness and gear to undertake the trip of your choice. We can make alternative suggestions for your comfort and safety and that of other party members. On overnight trips you may be required to carry some group food if the trip itinerary states this or if required by circumstances beyond our control.

Safety Declaration Forms

Participants are required to be in good health and have the ability and agility to undertake their tour with us. If you have any illnesses, injuries or medical condition and / or need to carry medication with you, we ask that you notify us at the time of booking. Clients on overnight guided walks and guided sea kayaking trips are required to complete our safety declaration form prior to undertaking their trip with us.

Overnight Guided Walks - Trip Briefings

Trip briefings are mandatory for all our overnight guided walks. Not attending trip briefing may result in refusal to attend our tour.  In special circumstances only, we may be able to make alternative arrangements, subject to our staff availability.

Alteration to Itinerary

We reserve the right to alter an itinerary due to events such as adverse weather / sea conditions, track alterations, illness, injury or any other event or circumstance beyond our control.

Right to Refuse or Withdraw a Person from an Activity

We reserve the right to refuse or withdraw a person from an activity, who in our opinion is likely to endanger themselves or others. We also reserve the right to cancel the trip if we become concerned for any reason for your safety or that of any other persons.

We reserve the right to refuse or withdraw a person from an activity, if in our opinion their actions or behaviour impede or are likely to impede the trip or rights, welfare or enjoyment of other party members. This includes any participant who does not follow recommended general hygiene etiquette. No refund will be given to that person.

Images, Videos, Sound Recordings used to Market our Products and Services

We may take photographs, videos or sound recordings during our tours, for the purpose of publicising or marketing our tours and services. They may contain images or sounds of you or your party members. If you do not want your image / sound to appear in any of our publicity, you must inform us prior to or during your tour. We will seek permission in writing from you or any third party, before using any images, videos or sound recordings you or the third party has taken with yours or their own equipment. Refer also to Privacy Policy.

Photography / Video Recording / Filming

We want you to take back memories - general photography is allowed on all our trips. Flash photography of wildlife is not allowed. We are a commercial operation, full video recording and filming is not allowed except in special circumstances and for authorised film crews only. Some video recording and filming is allowed on all trips.

Acceptance of Costs

To avoid any embarrassment for you or our staff, all prices (including any applicable surcharges) are clearly communicated to you prior to your accepting and participating in any tour we operate on your behalf.

Additionally if we are required to spend unreasonable and / or excessive administration time handling enquiries for your booking, we will notify you of a cut-off point from which we will start charging extra administration costs above the cost of the tour, at the rate of $50 / hour in order to recover some of costs associated with our time spent on your booking.  

Private / Customised Tours

Our standard prices do not apply to private or customised tours. Should you require a private or customised tour, we will provide a quote for you to approve and accept before we finalise your reservation and operate a tour on your behalf. 

Package Fees

A package is an itinerary that includes travel and / or accommodation and may or may not include our activities. These are the charges we make for arranging customised packages:

  1. Package Fee
    $50.00 arrangement and itinerary fee for creating a day package with travel and minimum $100.00 for creating an overnight package with travel and accommodation, depending on the complexity of the bookng. We will notify you of the amount of the package fee when you make your enquiry. The package fee is non-refundable, irrespective of whether we cancel due to circumstances beyond our control or you or the travel company cancel.
  2. Alteration Fee
    We allow two days for you to accept or make changes to your itinerary based on your requirements. If you require further changes after approving and accepting your itinerary, we charge a minimum, additional $30.00 to $50.00 administration fee depending on what is involved to process alterations each time you make changes to an itinerary that you previously accepted as final.

Vouchers

  1. All vouchers prepared on your behalf will have an agreed validity date.
  2. Vouchers are not transferable.
  3. Vouchers cannot be redeemed for cash.
  4. The recipient of a Voucher must contact us within 14 days to confirm / provide their details.
  5. The cost of the Voucher must be paid for in full before we can issue the Voucher.
  6. If a Voucher is not redeemed by the due date, our normal cancellation policy will apply.

Reservation Policy

We require a valid credit card number to hold any reservation you make with us. Credit card details are required as a bond when hiring outdoor gear or for specific services.

Acceptable Payment Methods

We accept payment by New Zealand bank transfer, cash, Eftpos, VISA and Mastercard.  For credit card payments we charge $3.00 for transactions up to NZ $100 or 3 % fee for transactions valued above NZ $100.00.

Payment

  1. Day Guided Activities / Boat Cruises / Hire & Purchase of Outdoor Gear / Other Services
    Full payment is required at the time of booking, but we are willing to make mutually acceptable arrangements.
  2. Overnight Guided Walks
    For the Rakiura Great Walk, Kiwi Journey, Kiwi, Dunes & Beach trips, we require a non-refundable 25% deposit at the time of booking, with the balance payable 2 months prior to the start of your tour.
  3. Packages
    a) For day trip packages to Stewart Island, with travel and / or activities we require full payment at the time booking.
    b) For overnight trip packages to Stewart Island with travel and / or accommodation and / or activities or our services, we require full payment or as agreed with you a 25% deposit at the time of booking, with the balance payable 2 months prior to the start of your tour.

For special circumstances, and in writing only, we may be able to consider alternative terms to suit you.

Refunds on Cancellations by You

We strongly recommend that you have travel insurance and that you understand, and agree to our terms and conditions when you accept your booking.

  1. Guided Activities / Boat Cruises / Hire & Purchase of Outdoor Gear / Other Services
    Cancellations prior to 30 days of the trip carry a 25% charge.
    Cancellations between 29 to 15 days of the trip carry a 50% charge.
    No refunds for cancellations within 14 days of the trip.
  2. Packages
    Cancellations prior to 30 days of travel carry a 25% charge.
    Cancellations between 29 to 8 days carry a 50% charge.
    No refunds for cancellations within 7 days of your visit.

Cancellations by Us

We strongly recommend that you have travel insurance.

  1. Guided Activities / Boat Cruises / Non-Guided Activities
    We reserve the right to cancel trips due to adverse weather / sea conditions, minimum bookings not achieved for the trip, or any other event or circumstance beyond our control. Your monies will be fully refunded.

  2. Packages
    A package is an itinerary that we put together that includes: travel and accommodation and any activity that we do not directly operate ourselves:

    - If a third party operator we use cancels due factors including: adverse weather / sea conditions or circumstances beyond their control, we will assist in finding alternatives or providing you with a refund excluding the Package Fee and a 10% administration fee on the balance due to you, to cover our time and costs. Any extra costs of alternative travel, accommodation or non-guided activities if required by you will be chargeable to you.