Welcome to the House of Travel Riccarton team page!
We are the team dedicated to finding the holiday to suit you! Perhaps somewhere with great food, food that also feeds your soul. Or a great value family holiday full of priceless memories.
Wherever it is you dream about, we can make a reality.
So we invite you to come visit us in store and meet our team. We have over 100 years of combined travel experience, and a lot more life experience that some of us would care to acknowledge!
Here you'll begin the journey on your dream holiday. Sometimes it is hard to believe it’s our job to build dreams. It’s a wonderful reward for us to hear about the awesome experiences of our clients (the HOT family) on return from their various holiday destinations.
We are here to assist, inspire and take away any worries you may have, and save you possibly the most valuable commodity in modern society, time! We use our knowledge and experience doing what we do best; finding the best connections, destinations and documentation details so that all set in place for the holiday tailored specifically to suit you.
Have you ever wondered why people build sandcastles? All that time and effort to building to what purpose as it will just get washed away? We have thought about it, and our answer is that at the end of the day we know that life is not about the things you have, or that you can tangibly touch, but about the experiences and enjoyment of the many memories we create.
And that’s what holidays are all about, enriching lives through travel.
James Greer
Owner Operator
Jill Worrall Tours in partnership with HOT Riccarton
All Jill Worrall’s tours are run solely in conjunction with House of Travel Riccarton. Moray Johnston is the dedicated JWT consultant, who looks after bookings, flights and any extra travel you might wish to do before or after a JWTour. This partnership offers you the security that your money is safe and that JW Tours have the back-up of the House of Travel’s extensive network and expertise in case of any travel issues. Jill’s overseas operators and tour organisers are almost always people with whom she has a personal connection and who are experts at tour planning.
Jill Worrall is a Canterbury-based tour operator and manager who has been running tours around the globe for nearly 20 years. Over this time, she has taken more than 60 groups – more than 1000 people - to destinations ranging from the Russian Arctic to Sri Lanka, Mongolia to Morocco. She also runs highly successful tours to more mainstream destinations, including Ireland, Italy and Croatia.
Jill is also one of New Zealand’s most successful travel writers. She’s been named New Zealand Travel Writer of the Year, has won two Qantas Media Awards for feature writing and a wealth of other awards and has published three travel books.
Jill receives outstanding feedback on her tours and she has about a 90 per cent return client base. Many of her clients have travelled with her more than 10 times. She is recognised as highly organised, works tirelessly to make sure her travellers are well cared for and have memorable holiday, deals calmly and efficiently with the unexpected and most importantly, is lots of fun to travel with! All crucial attributes in these uncertain times.
So, if you’re longing to enjoy some overseas travel again there’s no-one better than Jill to take you.
Southern India November 9 to November 28, 2024 It probably seems an age ago but many of you who came with me on my last tour to India asked me and our wonderful Indian guide Kush to come up with a tour to South India. And we have! We’re going to start in Chennai (formerly Madras), visit the most stunning Hindu temples in all of India, experience the hill country with its tea and spice plantations, visit the extraordinary Chettinad region, cruise the Kerala backwaters and as a grand finale see the Mysore Palace, one of the most stunning and largest royal residences in all of India. If you are interested in any of these tours, please do register your interest soon as some of these tours will have very restricted numbers. Expressing interest in the tours doesn’t commit you to anything but does mean you will be first to receive the full itinerary and prices as they become available. |
Sri Lanka and the Seychelles March/April Sri Lanka is one of my favourite countries. There is so much to see and experience in a relatively small area. My tour will take us through ancient ruins, set in lush jungle, including the incredible Sigiriya fortress, the former kingdom of Kandy, one of the world’s best train journeys through the hill country, tea and spice plantation visits, Yala National Park and the historic coastal port of Galle. The tour ends with a five-day stay on the exotic, stunningly beautiful Seychelles islands with their giant tortoises and gorgeous beaches. |
The very best of Turkey May Many tours of Turkey are too short and don’t do this fascinating country justice. This tour definitely will! Along with several days to explore Istanbul’s magnificent monuments, the mind-boggling Grand Bazaar and its iconic setting on the Bosphorus Strait, we will visit Gallipoli, one of the world’s most legendary ancient ruins at Ephesus and take a day cruise along the beautiful Turquoise Coast. But we will also head further east to the remarkable cave cities of Cappadocia. |
An Island Odyssey in Scotland – Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides June Scotland’s isles are places of myths and legends, ancient history dating back to neolithic and Viking times, unique culture, superb scenery and wildlife and welcoming people. This tour will take us as far north as the Shetlands and Orkney and then across to the west coast and the Outer Hebrides. There will be opportunities to walk along pristine island beaches on Harris and Lewis, meet the locals in tiny seaside villages and as a bonus I also plan to take you on one of the world’s top train journeys, the West Highland Line – by the famous Jacobite steam train! |
Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland July/August This is a truly epic journey that will take us to some of the most remarkable islands in the Northern Hemisphere. Greenland is the world’s largest island and truly a place to see before it changes, probably for ever, as its ice continues to melt. We will visit the extraordinary glacial landscapes around Disko Bay, join a whale-watching cruise and check out the tiny capital of Nuuk. The tour also includes a grand circuit of Iceland that will include spectacular geysers, glaciers, waterfalls, mountains and fjords. We also explore the little known, but jaw-droppingly spectacular Faroe Islands, absolutely fascinating islands, many of which are linked by undersea tunnels and united by myth and legend |
The Pamir Highway – Tajikistan and Uzbekistan September This is 2025’s true adventure experience, which will take us through one of the world’s most remote landscapes of snow-capped, craggy mountains and azure lakes as we follow the Wakhan corridor, where for centuries Silk Road merchants and Great Game players passed under the shadows of the Hindu Kush. We’ll meet locals in their villages and Kyrgyz semi-nomads in their yurt camps. We then travel to neighbouring Uzbekistan to explore two of the great cities of the Silk Road – legendary Samarkand and Bukhara. |
Java by Train October This tour is ideal for people who prefer not to do long-haul flights and who also are looking for a shorter holiday. This tour will fit the bill perfectly as it will involve one longer flight to Singapore and then a short hop to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. From here we will embark on a series of rail journeys across the entire island of Java, ending up in Ubud, Bali. Travelling by very comfortable trains (sometimes pulled by steam locomotives) and staying in some beautiful heritage hotels and resorts en route, we will pass through jungle and rice paddies, past volcanoes and visit the largest Buddhist temple in the world. |
If you would like to receive a full itinerary of any of these tours, it’s very easy! Either call Moray on 03 3341 3900 or email her at morayj@hot.co.nz and we will have the info to you straightaway. Moray can also help with your queries about flights and travel before and after the tour. If you’d like to know more about the tour destinations Jill is very happy to talk to you in person over a cuppa at a time and place convenient to you, or by phone 027 538 995 or by email jill.worrall@xtra.co.nz.
House of Travel Riccarton is an IATA-bonded consultancy, managed by dedicated and passionate Owner Operators with many years of experience. We offer a commitment to helping Jill Worrall provide the very best by way of hassle-free adventures.
Moray Johnston is dedicated full time as a Jill Worrall Specialist, looking after all aspects of the booking process and will coordinate your entire travel experience from flights, tours, insurance and visa’s.
Having lived in Europe, the Middle East and Australia her travels have led her to some diverse destinations from the Great Wall of China to sailing a felucca on the Nile; from the Medinas of Marrakech to the wildlife Eden of Botswana’s Okavango delta; from the Riviera coastline of Cinque Terra to the picture postcard island of Santorini; from the skyscrapers of New York to ancient city of Petra.
Moray has enjoyed a decades-long career in the travel industry, ranging from arranging travel adventures for leisure travellers and escorting groups to complex travel schedules for high-powered executive business trips.
Wow ! As a destination, the Rajasthan in India is rich in cultural and offers a captivating experience.
Singapore, is a clean and safe holiday destination or a stopover .... always warm to hot weather, spectacular garden and green spaces such as ‘Gardens by the Bay’ and the Jewel as seen in the pics!
I loved Norway, such a unique country and diverse. Norway a modern city with history, scenic mountainous areas, UNESCO parks with epic train journey to Flam and Geiranger fjord. Viking Museums and many many more highlights.
Japan – a land of so many contrasts ... highlights for me was Tokyo’s busy Shibuya Crossing, thousands of people make their way across the intersection every few minutes.
I went to Japan in September of 2023, and it was absolutely incredible!