Jane Turner

La Jolla, California Travel Agent

Luxury Travel Advisor

Sunrise mountain biking in Wanaka

I am a native New Zealander who left home to travel the world. Working to fund my travels I have lived in Sydney, Japan, London, and New York before settling in San Diego.

In 2002 combing my love for the outdoors, nature, and travel I started my own brand ‘Active Downunder’ – an Award-Winning boutique travel company specializing in customized vacations to New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific.

I have guided walking vacations and over the years have hiked all the major walks in New Zealand. Each year when I visit New Zealand I take off on one of the many fabulous cycle trails to enjoy. With family in Australia I also visit regularly. I hold Aussie Specialist status with Tourism Australia and Fiji Specialist with Tourism Fiji.

Using my expert knowledge of these destinations I curate customized itineraries designed to fit our client’s needs. Every client has their own unique set of interests, desired travel pace and available time therefore every trip I design is different.

I believe the ingredients for the trip of a lifetime include a variety of unique and authentic experiences, a well-balanced itinerary with just the right amount of time in each location to savor the scenery and gain insight into the culture, opportunities to spend time with locals, fun and exciting experiences along with fabulous food, wine, and accommodations. All of which both New Zealand and Australia score exceedingly high praise.

Travel is a huge investment in time and money. Trust your planning to someone who knows the lay of the land, who can direct you to the must-see’s & hidden gems, who can finely tune the logistics to maximize your time, and a seasoned professional who is there for you every step of the way.

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Client Testimonials

30 Days Downunder

Hands down best Travel Agent ever is Jane Turner. We decided to travel to Australia and New Zealand and gave Jane 2 weeks notice! Not only did Jane provide a perfect itinerary but she listened to everything we wanted to do for our 30 day vacation. She maximized our time in both countries, our activities were amazing and the places we stayed were perfect! I would highly recommend anyone looking to travel in this part of the world to use Jane. She is so knowledgeable, experienced and executes flawlessly. She was so much fun to work with and oh...BTW everyone we met complimented her endlessly. She is well liked by all those who work and know her. Thank you Jane!

Provided by Shannon. R, CA

Lodges enhance experience

Active Downunder was recommended to us by a couple recently returned from New Zealand and they couldn't say enough good things about the lodges that Active Downunder had found for them......and they were right. We didn't stay in any hotels but rather first rate, comfortable, luxurious, accommodating, friendly and intimate lodges. These lodges greatly enhanced the overall experience of touring this beautiful county. We altered our itinerary a number of times during the planning stage and Jane went beyond the call of duty to satisfy our needs with wonderful recommendations.

Provided by Robert. R, CA

Perfect Vacation Downunder

A thousand thanks from Anne and me on a FABULOUSLY well planned trip! We had a perfect vacation. Everything went like clockwork, the accommodations were wonderful, transportation seamless, scenery breathtaking, food delicious, people warm and friendly. You did a great job setting everything up for us, and our memories of our time in Australia and New Zealand will be the topic of fun conversations and ear-to-ear smiles for years to come. Thank you for all you did for us, it really was a superb effort.

Provided by Mark. M, MA

Private Group Tour of NZ's South Island

"Mega-thanks” for the superior land/sea/rail tour of New Zealand’s beautiful South Island. The 24 folks (a subset of The Cruising Club of America) who you planned this tour for seek the best of the best. You didn’t let us down! From the moment we landed in Christchurch to our departure 11 days later, our needs weren’t simply met, but were anticipated at every turn. Our guides were the best – so tuned into each of us, highly intuitive and personable. They became our friends and part of our group’s fabric. The tour itself was exceptional, from the trans-Alps train ride, a jet-boat ride on the Dart River, a helicopter ride to a Mt. Cook glacier, a tour of the Yellow-Eyed Penguins of Dunedin, and even the copious quantities of NZ’s signature Pinot Noirs. You packed it all in with unsurpassed attention to detail. This was a trip of a lifetime, thank you!

Provided by Peter. P. CA - Rear Commodore

Our third trip downunder planned by Jane!

Jane Turner is an excellent Travel Agent....she has stayed at all the places we visited and has a GREAT repoire with everyone. Her timely planning to manage all the details and then follow-thru with that plan works so smoothly. The places she recommends are always the highlight of every location...the staff everywhere just seems to get such pleasure in sharing their love of their country. Kindness and helpful hints make for such easy travel. This is the 3rd trip Jane has planned for us and each was different and unique and all were FANTASTIC! We highly recommend Active Downunder for anyone who wants to visit New Zealand, Australia or the Cook Islands.

Provided by R. Lilac, CA

Second trip to New Zealand with Active Downunder

This is the second time we have used Active Downunder and in both instances, they have scored a five out of five rating. The itineraries have been customized to our interests and have met and exceeded our expectations on both occasions. We have recommended them to our friends and they have provided us with the same feed back regarding their experiences. Jane appears to have visited many of the accommodations and tours, and the majority of the owners and operators know Jane personally.

Provided by Barry. H, CA

One of our best vacations ever!

One of our best vacations ever. Would not have been possible without Jane's knowledge, contacts, and support. We toured NZ for over three weeks and having never been there before, we didn't understand the logistics and issues with travelling on such unique and charming "roads". We stayed in amazing accommodations. We had the best guides and activities. She quickly responded to all of our questions and requests even while we were in NZ. We will definitely use her again and highly recommend her services.

Provided by Ernesto. A, IN

New Zealand Honeymoon

There's no way to articulate just how happy I am that I decided to work with Jane to plan my honeymoon - smartest decision ever! She was quick to respond, knowledgeable about the cities and activities, honest about what was/was not realistic to accomplish with the time we had, and truly helped tailor the itinerary so it fit us. This was a dream vacation for so many reasons but the biggest being that Jane booked us at the most incredible accommodations with insane views. We were truly wowed, as were our friends. As I posted pictures of our trip on Facebook, many commented that they wanted to do our exact trip. It was the adventure of a lifetime!

Provided by Jaime T, CA