Feeding the Crimson Rosellas and Lorikeets.

Welcome to Helen’s Home Page

A bit about me …..

I was born in Holland and my parents migrated to Australia when I was 8 years old. I grew up in Australia and whilst I may be biased, I think it is the best country in the world! The boat trip to Australia started my lust for travelling and I’ve been in the travel industry for 27 years and love it. I've travelled to over 80 countries and all 7 continents and am always on the look out for my next destination. In the near future, I want to travel to Eastern Europe and return to Egypt and Israel. My favourite countries include Sri Lanka, Turkey, Greece, Kenya, Peru, Israel and Egypt. I live 3 hours east of Melbourne in Loch Sport, a beautiful, quiet little resort town (pop. 900) which is on a peninsula situated between the Gippsland Lakes & the 90 Mile Beach. The Gippsland Lakes are the largest inland lake system in the Southern Hemisphere. My house overlooks Lake Victoria, the largest of the lakes. From my balcony I watch pods of dolphins playing in the lake and mobs

of kangaroos graze in my backyard and keep the

grass trimmed. Laughing kookaburras and wild parrots come to visit me each day and I hand feed them  This is where I am "Living the Dream”. The photo on the right was taken on the balcony of my house and shows Lake Victoria in the background.

My birthday is February 14th - Valentine's Day.

 

With a friendly koala at Featherdale Park near Sydney.

 Great Wall of China

Sydney Opera House & Bridge  e.

Temple of Heaven, China

Mt Kenya Safari Club, Kenya

Group at Eling Park, China

Join a group of like-minded people travelling to a destination with a knowledgeable and experienced leader to take care of all the details during your tour, leaving you free to relax and enjoy yourself on your vacation!

If you are interested in joining me on a tour, send me an email and I’ll send you    the details of what I have coming up: On the drawing board for 2008 & 2009:

Prague, Vienna & Budapest and cruising the beautiful European Waterways from Budapest to Amsterdam — May 19 to June 14 2008—27 days

Africa— Kenya & South Africa— see Kenya’s incredible wildlife and spectacular South Africa, including Kruger Park & the famous Garden Route from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town—August 7 to September 2, 2008—27 days

           South America—Peru (including Machu Picchu), Chile, Argentina & Brazil             with extension to the Galapagos Islands  - 2009

           Russia—cruising the waterways of the Czars—2009                    

           China & cruising the Yangtze River— 2009

………….and much, much more !

 

My contact details are:

PO Box 301

Loch Sport VIC 3851

Australia

Ph. (03) 5146 0115

 

     Antarctica

With Masaai children in Kenya 

Moai at Easter Island

                               We met Helen on our tour to Australia and subsequently traveled to Kenya and Tanzania with her and it was a most memorable tour. Apart                                from the obvious highlights – the animals – the whole experience was fabulous. Helen had everything arranged beforehand, the local guides                                and drivers  were very professional and knowledgeable, the lodging was good all over, and the tempo and itinerary was well planned. It is easy                                to see why people travel with Helen again and again, she is efficient and professional and at the same time very friendly and funny! We would                                love to go on another tour with her, and we would recommend her to anyone!

                                                                                                                                                                                           Hanne and Ole Hansen, Winnipeg, Canada

At North Cape, Finland

Scandinaviia         Britain

Russian Waterways

Sedona, Arizona USA

Toronto, Canada

Thrilling Jet-Boat ride in New Zealand 

Keeping warm in Antarctic waters.

Giant Panda in China

Group at Uluru (     Ayers Rock) 

Reunion in California

4WD Safari, New Zealand

Group in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Flying over the New Zealand Alps

Antarctica, here we come!!!! 

Equator, Kenya with Don

Ballooning in Kenya

Canadians in Chinese Hats!

Proudly Australian, but made in Holland !

“When you travel with Helen Van Den Berg you have so very much more than a Tour Manager – you have a truly caring travel companion whose goal is to ensure you have the very best travel experience.  RoseAnn and I, along with our son and his wife and their two teenage sons, took a 3-weeks tour with Helen to Australia and New Zealand. We were somewhat apprehensive about traveling so far away and at considerable expense, but when Helen met us at the Melbourne airport all our concerns vanished. The overall experience was an absolute delight! The attention to every detail, thorough knowledge of the tour history and cultures, advance planning and coordination, and personal touch that Helen gives each traveler will certainly leave you exhilarated and, as well, looking forward to booking another tour with Helen!”  Happy touring!                                                               Chuck and RoseAnn Janda, San Jose, CA, USA.

 

I first met Helen Van Den Berg when I traveled to Australia and New Zealand with Collette Tours. It was the luck of the draw. We had a great time for three weeks on that trip. Helen seemed to know every vendor we met along the way and her plans and logistics were excellent.

            When the trip was over, several of us suggested that we would like to travel with Helen again. After several near misses Helen informed us that she was planning a tour to Africa. I sent in my reservation by return mail. That was my third trip to Africa and I thought I had already seen it all, but I did want to travel with this wonderful lady again. I knew it would be a great time. That trip was even better than I thought. First Tanzania, and then Kenya. It was the best tour I have been on - bar none.  We had great drivers, and saw all of the “big five” animals the hunters used to go after, and the accommodations were wonderful. If she schedules another such trip I will probably sign up.

          Helen is personable, happy. and knows where all the ice cream parlors are.  Her knowledge of the service providers is outstanding, and she is able to make last minute adjustments without getting frustrated.  I have stayed in contact with her even though it has been several years since our last trip together.  I am ready to go on one of her tours again.                     Donald C Healton, Dana Point, CA, USA  

 

 

There is no other tour guide in existence, on any continent, that I have found as capable and enjoyable as Helen Van Den Berg!  I am a travel agent who has been on many trips with a variety of guides.  Some are "fun" and some are able to get the job done, but absolutely NO OTHER has ever had the qualities Helen has; she has it all!  She has a wealth of knowledge about the places to be seen, not just reading information from a guidebook as she goes along, as if for a first time, as some guides I have had!    She is always able to answer any question asked.  She has a wealth of knowledge about the process of planes, transfers, check-ins, all of the practical procedures of travel.  As the "group leader," it really relieved me of much stress!!  I could just confidently say, "Helen is taking care of it." She is authoritative without appearing to be so, without condescension.   She tries to foresee possible problems, and stops them before they begin.  For example, in the group I took, two women were not getting along.  Helen was able to deal with the situation capably, allowing the whole group to continue smoothly.   She arranges the stops with special needs in mind.  She seems to be one of the group, while at the same time, caring for the group!  I know that everyone in my group to Australia and New Zealand with her as our guide would try to go on any trip, anywhere, that she was leading!  I cannot recommend her too highly!                                           Faye Wiese, Modern Travel Service, Inc., Glendale, CA, USA

 

 

  Elephant  ride in Sri Lanka

Do you love to travel but don’t want to do it  on your own?   Well…………..

We cannot begin to tell you what a superb travel agent and guide Helen Van Den Berg is.  We first traveled with her in Australia and was in awe of her knowledge, efficiency and ability to handle all guests and problems.  She is extremely efficient and everything is done in great detail, including literature she sends, some of it written by her. Helen was not our originally designated guide, but we were so delighted  with her that we requested her to be our guide for our China trip.  We were so impressed by Helen that we traveled on our 3rd trip with her to Antarctica.  Again, we were in awe.  Our entire trip had to be changed the moment she arrived in Chile.  (This included many plane flights, hotels and a cruise ship)  After a long plane trip, she still had a smile and energy and forcefulness to revamp everything (many people were not as fortunate as we and had to return home).  She is by far, the best travel agent and guide we have ever had and comes with our highest recommendation.    Carol and Donald Neu, Scotch Plains, NJ USA

I have travelled with Helen Van Den Berg on her tours 14 times over the last 12 years,  sometimes twice a year.  She’s a delight to travel with and has perfected every detail in planning her trips for the comfort and expertise of her clients. Her ability to make all details so easy and without any problems occurring for her travellers. I can highly recommend her tours and her as a thoroughly capable and pleasant tour operator to travel with. Nothing is too much trouble with her outgoing and wonderful pleasant disposition., I’ve always enjoyed all the tours I’ve done with her!                             Shirley Hillier, Heathcote, Victoria, Australia,

 

Some more Tributes from my travel companions:

Email: Helen@LetsGoTouring.com

Winter in Holland

In HUGE clogs!

  Uluru sunset

            Feeding Kangaroos

Beautiful Loch Sport

Rickshaw ride in Beijing

You've taken trips, but when you've taken a trip with Helen, you have experienced new things - off-the-beaten-track things - unheard of things - and you have also had a lot of fun, with a great deal of information passed along, and met a really lovely lady.  I often think so fondly of 28 days in Australia & New Zealand with Helen—and how she made a long-time dream of mine the perfect vacation.             Wynn Weidner, Colorado Springs, Colorado. USA

"Helen, we thank you so much for making our trip to Australia and New Zealand a wonderful experience.  You really did go "above and beyond" our expectations in every way.  You do an outstanding job...everything was perfect.  Hope to be able to travel with you again some day!  

                                                    Web and Jan Hansen, Duluth, MN USA"

I am senior citizen and have done a fair amount of travelling, but the most unforgettable experience of my life was a Helen Van Den Berg tour of Australia and New Zealand.  Helen makes every member of the tour feel everything is tailored to their comfort and interests.  I have raved so much about my wonderful trip that my "adopted" daughter is now an exchange student in Sydney and her mother and brother are taking their vacation in OZ, plus innumerable friends and neighbors.  Helen is the Best Tour Guide in the World!  

             Ginny Student,  Baltimore MD, USA

 

During the summer of 2002, our family embarked on an adventure from California to Australia and New Zealand.  Our group consisted of my wife and I, our two young teenage sons, and my parents.  We searched for a trip that was long enough, but not too long.  A trip that covered a lot of ground, but wasn’t exhausting.  A trip that could accommodate young and old travelers alike.  We decided on an escorted tour with Collette Vacations. No one in our group had previously traveled on an escorted tour for that length of time; nor had anyone in our group traveled with Collette Vacations.  Across the board, we were pleasantly surprised and extremely satisfied with our entire experience.  And the primary reason for this level of satisfaction and the success of our tour was our tour guide, Helen Van Den Berg.  Helen was very friendly; extremely knowledgeable about each of the areas we visited; organized; was able to react quickly to any situation that crossed our paths; handled the individual needs and requests for approximately 40 travelers on a daily basis; was very well organized; and allocated her time amongst each individual on the tour in order to make everyone feel that they were an integral part of our “traveling family.”   We have recommended Helen and Collette Vacations to many of our friends.  Given the opportunity to travel abroad again, we will definitely contact Helen and obtain her tour schedule.  Keep up the great work Helen and we hope to see you soon!                                                                      Jeff & Rita Janda, San Jose CA  USA  

I wholeheartedly & unreservedly most highly recommend Helen Van Den Berg, as tour guide extraordinaire. Helen led a group of ours in September 2005, for nearly two weeks, throughout Eastern Australia & New Zealand. Helen is a lovely person.  Her knowledge was thorough, her sense of humour delightful, but what sets Helen apart is her infectious enthusiasm. It was a joy having Helen as escort, and one gets the impression being with Helen that you are more than a client, but rather, a friend.  I know of  no higher compliment.   With utmost sincerity,           Jeremy Pick, Wilcox World Travel & tours, Asheville, NC  USA

Having travelled with Helen as our guide on a tour of Africa let me say it was a “trip of a lifetime. Helen’s attention to detail ensured that there was nothing left to chance.  She conducted herself in a very professional manner at all times and it was clearly evident from her actions that the safety, well being and comfort of those in the group was foremost in her mind.  Finding a guide that is sensitive to the

needs of each traveller and having them deal with the individuals needs is not an easy task.  Helen was just that person.   Should you ever consider travelling with Helen as your guide or leader, I am confident that your expectations will not only be met, but will in fact be exceeded.                                    Grant & Judith Hansen – Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Moai, Easter Island

I’ve recently been Nominated as 1 of the ”1000best tour

guides in the world”. Please check out my nomination

page by clicking the link to the side. If you would like to

help me to achieve the number 1 position, please

‘Boost Me” with your vote, every boost counts!.

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