Travelling in New Zealand 101

When we first mentioned to our friends and family that we were moving to New Zealand, many of the first reactions we got were "Cool!  I'll come visit you!"  While we have received some visitors, it is no where near the number of people who are interested in coming.

If you wish to visit us, our door is open to you my friends.  BUT please do not come just to visit us, for we live in Hamilton, New Zealand.  When people travel to New Zealand, they do not come solely to Hamilton.  New Zealand is a far, and expensive flight for most North Americans, so plan wisely!

Here are some things I tell people to consider:

WHERE AND HOW LONG?

Where do you want to visit and how long are you vacationing for?  I can't tell you how many people start off saying "I'm going on vacation to ______, maybe I can drop by New Zealand."  For ______, insert Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, etc...somewhere we normally consider far.  You may think that New Zealand is just a hop, skip, and jump away from these places - but it is not.  Hong Kong  and Malaysia are still 11hrs away.  Australia is anywhere from 3 - 6 hours away by plane.

So while you are closer in theory (compared to the 20+hours it takes from Toronto, for example), you are still not THAT close.  You also have to consider how much vacation time you have, not to mention the cost of a flight!  Flights aren't cheap!  Either is travelling to/in New Zealand.

Recommendation:

• Have at least two weeks to travel in New Zealand.  You could probably do it in less if you plan to just hit a couple of big cities like Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown, Christchurch - but most people do not come to New Zealand to check out the cities
• If you want to do a road trip through both the North and South Islands, you would probably need  closer to one to two months.  
• Hikes, scenery, and adventure / extreme activities - New Zealand has lots of these.  Hope you like these things!
• You are likely to fly into Auckland, so plan your travels from there.  Some transportation ideas to follow below...
• New Zealand summer is Canada's winter.  Maybe it was just last summer, but it did not get that hot here.  Maybe mid-twenties.  Comfortable temperatures compared to the high humidity experienced in Toronto this past summer
• Bring layers!  It rains often.  Be prepared to pile on layers and a waterproof layer, but also to take these off.

TRANSPORTATION

There are several ways to get around

• Rent a car
• Rent a camper
• Take cheap intercity buses
• Take the ferry across to the other island - expensive!
• Buy a car and sell it at the end of your trip
• Tours that incorporate transportation
• Flights - Grabaseat

HOW TO DO IT CHEAPLY

• Grab One - Group deals site where you can find restaurant deals, hotel discounts, discounts for activities such as surfing, zorbing, or black water rafting
• Naked Bus - you can find some really really cheap bus rides from city to city ($30 to go from Hamilton to Wellington?  That's cheaper than the fuel cost if you drove there.)
• Grabaseat flights - you can also find some cheap flights, some as cheap as the bus rides but faster!

HIGHLIGHT REEL

It's so hard to say what you should go see.  It depends on how much time you have and what you really really want to do.  It makes no sense to try and scramble across the island by bus when you only have a week...unless you want to spend most of your time on the bus.  When we planned our South Island roadtrip, we almost made the mistake of not properly factoring in travel time.  You have to be realistic about how many things you want to see and do, given the amount of time you have.

Here is a(n) (incomplete) list of places we have been to, or passed through - if you're interested in more thoughts and opinions on any individual spots ask away!

North Island:

Cape Reinga

Pahia

Kerikeri - visited a yummy chocolate store - Makana

Whangerei

Auckland

Kauri Museum

tallest and oldest kauri trees

Bay of Islands

Tauranga

Tongariro Crossing

Taupo

Te Aroha

Paeora

Wellington

Palmerston North

Raglan

Waitomo

Coromandel

Hot Water Beach

Whangamata

Rotorua

Otorahonga

Ohakune

Hamilton

Cambridge

Interislander Ferry

South Island:
Blenheim

Abel Tasman

Fox Glacier

Franz Glacier

Omaru

Punakaki

Wanaka

Queenstown

Milford Sound

Mount Cook

Kaikoura

Elephant rocks

Now, this is a really rough look at travelling to New Zealand.  I've had this conversation several times with friends, so it's worth writing down.  I'll add more as more conversations materialize, or as a I remember to write things down!

Hope to see you soon!