About UsMeet the Team Behind
Remarkable Scenic Tours Queenstown
Local Guides, Authentic Queenstown Experiences
At Remarkable Scenic Tours, our guides aren’t just experts—they’re passionate locals who live and breathe Queenstown. With deep roots in the region and a genuine love for its landscapes, stories, and people, they bring every tour to life with heartfelt storytelling and insider knowledge you won’t find in a guidebook.
From sharing the rich gold rush history of Arrowtown to revealing hidden photo spots around Wānaka, our local guides offer more than just facts—they offer a warm welcome and a deeper connection to this remarkable part of New Zealand. Their mission is to ensure your journey is not only unforgettable, but also meaningful—leaving you with lasting memories and a true appreciation for the beauty, culture, and spirit of Queenstown.
Meet the Founders of Remarkable Scenic Tours
Wayne and Kathy – Travellers at Heart, Locals by Choice
Wayne and Kathy are more than just tour operators—they’re storytellers, adventurers, and passionate hosts who pour their hearts into every journey. With a shared love for travel and discovery, they’ve explored much of the world together. Originally from Australia, Kathy and her Kiwi husband Wayne spent years living across Europe and Australia before returning home to New Zealand to raise a family.
In 2010, they made a bold decision: to sell everything, pack up their lives, and take their children on a two-year, round-the-world adventure. From special-interest tours and wildlife safaris to hop-on-hop-off buses and motorhome road trips, they experienced nearly every style of travel. And through it all, one thing became clear—what they loved most were small group tours that felt personal, flexible, and full of heart.
Inspired by their journey, Wayne and Kathy founded Remarkable Scenic Tours in Queenstown with one simple goal: to create the kind of travel experience they’d loved the most—intimate, meaningful, and unforgettable.
Today, they welcome guests from around the world to explore the breathtaking beauty of Queenstown, Arrowtown, Wānaka, and beyond—sharing the stories, people, and places that make this region so remarkable. Their passion is simple: to help you fall in love with this place just as they have.
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You could say the warmth in Kathy’s welcome is legendary. Helpful and friendly, she’s a self-confessed people person, who loves problem solving and making connections. This makes her a whizz at creating unique private tours with experiences to suit her guests.
Her extensive travels make her especially good at relating to what people from diverse cultures want from their tour. In fact, she delights in sharing cultural experiences with guests – from learning how to Bollywood dance (in Glenorchy, of all places!) with Indian guests, to sharing food with guests from the Philippines (although she draws the line at Balut/duck embryo).
“ You just can’t beat a local recommendation; some things aren’t mentioned in the guide books. We had an experience like this in Iceland when a local told us about a secret hot-water mineral pool. It took a lot of searching, but in the end we found it.
It’s that sense of wonder and inclusion that we want to recreate for our guests.”
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Wayne is a born-and-bred South Islander, so his knowledge of the Central Otago region goes way back, and his passion for the region is infectious. He’s the master of making people feel at ease with his relaxed and positive nature, and he’s famous for his dad jokes.
As past President of the Queenstown Photography Club, Wayne’s also happy to help you get the perfect photo – he has great insight how to best capture the magic of our spectacular scenery, whether you prefer to be behind the lens, or in front of it.
“The best memories are those where you connect with local people, where you’re a person, not just a number. We’ll always remember one Jamaican trip where our taxi driver took us to a beach, and introduced us to a lady who cooks for the homeless. We met some amazing, friendly locals and shared a drink with them, while they told us about their lives.
We want our guests to leave each tour feeling not only that they’ve had a great day out, but that they’ve made some new friends.”
Proud Supporters of the Whakatipu Wildlife Trust
At Remarkable Scenic Tours, our connection to the land runs deep. The breathtaking beauty of Queenstown and the Whakatipu Basin is at the heart of everything we do—and we believe in doing our part to protect it. That’s why we proudly support the Whakatipu Wildlife Trust, a passionate community organisation dedicated to restoring and protecting our region’s unique ecosystems.
With every tour booking, we make a donation to help fund vital conservation efforts—from predator control programmes to the protection of native birds and wildlife habitats. It’s our way of giving back to the environment that inspires us daily and supporting the locals who work tirelessly to keep this incredible place thriving for future generations.
Travel with us, and be part of something bigger—helping preserve the wild beauty of Aotearoa New Zealand.