New Zealand on the cheap...

robc184

Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions or tips for travelling across New Zealand on the cheap?

I'm out there for 3 weeks travelling from North to South and any budget/money saving ideas would be much appreciated!

I've been investigating various bus travel inc. Magic Bus etc. but if anyone knew of any cheap days out etc I would like to know about them.

Many Thanks.

knightstyle

Everyone goes from North to South so there are deals to be had returning Campers from South to North. We did this 3 years ago, have a look at Wicked Campers and others. Or why not buy a car or camper? There are lots available at campsites and you use it and sell it when you go. As the cost is usually 1000NZ$ so you are only investing what you would have spent on travel, accommodation etc.

cmw1212

Don;t know if you'll consider hostels
I used this card when I was there accommodation is usually pretty basic but I had no problems also a lot of the places (esp out of the cities) are more like private homes than sterile hostels.

Wildsurf

I went with my ex a few years ago and it worked out a lot cheaper for the 2 of us to hire a car than get 2 tickets on Magic Bus/Kiwi Experience. We also bought a cheap tent and sleeping bags. A lot of hostels allow you to camp in their grounds very cheaply with access to all the facilities.

As for cheap things to do, do some tramping. There are some great walks you can do. You can't go to New Zealand without doing one of the great walks.

The real cost of any New Zealand holiday is all the activities. Rafting, jet-boating, whale-watching, fjord tours, they are all expensive. I can recommend going to a Maori Hangi (sp?) which is a traditinal feast followed by lessons in Mari dancing, think of the Haka the All Blacks do!

ljbnotts

When we were in New Zealand we used the stray bus. They were really good:

http://www.straytravel.com/

Hippychick

We're going to NZ at the end of the year

We've found it is pretty cheap to fly with Jetstar between north/south island, in fact much cheaper than if we drove and took the ferry.

Apex car rentals are fairly cheap and can also include a half price ferry ticket. http://www.apexrentals.co.nz/

It is the activities which are mega bucks, we decided to drive to Milford sound and stay at the lodge rather than pay £500 for the 2 of us to do a tour from Queenstown. :eek:

I've heard dodgy things about wicked campers apparantly the australian fleet was pulled because of safety issues... http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/wicked-campers-fail-roadworthy-tests/story-e6freoof-1225817662630

noname123_2

If you want to travel by bus it is way cheaper to travel by naked bus, atomic shuttle or intercity and just book each sector rather than buy a magic, stray or kiwi experience pass. There are less hungover 19 year old gap year students as well which may or may not be a good thing depending on what you are looking for. If you fly into Christchurch (even if only from Auckland) and hire a car there it is possible to get a good deal on returning a car to Auckland. New Zealand is probably the only country left in the world where it is reasonably safe to hitch hike.

I'd second the bbh recommendation as well. There are some really nice hostels but pay attention to the % rating! Some of the top rated ones are hotel standard and there are some in amazing locations. Some of the others are absolute dives (i.e most of the hostels in Wellington!). If you don't want to be in a dorm room they usually have single, double or twin rooms at reasonable prices. If you decide to rent a car, people have recommended the top 10 holiday parks.

If you are self-catering, I would keep an eye out for pak'n'save supermarkets as they are usually the cheapest.

If you decide to do a cruise at Milford Sound (I would recommend kayaking more though) you can get some really good deals for early morning or later afternoon cruises (free of tour bus groups!) if you stay at the Milford sound lodge and book at reception.

If you want to do sky-diving/white water rafting/bungee jumping etc it is generally more expensive to do them in Queenstown than elsewhere or else there is less included. Sky diving in Taupo is more expensive because it seems to be the place everyone does it. Kaikoura is another place where things are more expensive.

I'd also agree with the recommendation that you do some tramping- the Tongairiro (sp?) crossing is supposed to be one of the best one day walks in the world- it is certainly spectacular! If you are fit and interested in Lord of the rings you can apparently walk up Mount Doom. If you want to do the Milford track you need to book the hut tickets pretty far in advance. I'd recommend doing part of the Abel Tasman track (which is also a good place to do some kayaking as there is plenty of competition so it is relatively cheap) or maybe the Queen Charlotte track as you might not want to spend 3 or 4 days of your 3 weeks doing one thing.

If you want to go swimming with dolphins it's $165 at Kaikoura, $130 at Akaroa and from $89 at Paihia so it does pay to investigate the cheapest location to do the activities you want to do before you go. On the other hand, you probably spend less time at sailing at Kaikoura cos they are closer to the shore & at Akaroa you are more likely to see Hectors dolphins which are more unusual.

I'd recommend doing a wine tour in the Marlborough region- I used these guys as they were the cheapest: http://www.marlboroughwinetours.co.nz/pgs/tours.php and there was no extra costs (except lunch and any wine you bought)

I wouldn't plan to spend a lot of time in Auckland if I were you- I was in New Zealand for 6 months and I don't think I met a single tourist who liked it! I thought the nicest locations were often slightly off the beaten track- Golden bay, Stewart island, banks peninsula etc