Best way to bring money to N.Zealand and other practicalities

Rudolph Claus

Ok, Im off to New Zealand in 2weeks for the month of August as a holiday. Im trying to sort out some stuff this week, like money. I reckon E1500-2000 should cover me for the month, Ill be staying in hostels/lodges with 2 of my friends who are already over there so we`ll be sharing alot of expenses i`d imagine relating to accommadation.

Ive an Aib student account and believe my atm card will work over there. Will this mean I can just go to any Atm in NZ and withdraw NZ dollars?
Also, what are travellers cheques and do i need to bother with these? How much cash in NZ dollars should i bring over on me?

What are the other essentials I need to bring with me, ive never been abroad before so am no way familar with the neccessities and practical things to bring/do, etc...

Any advice/recommendations appreciated.

Rabies

Your bank card will work fine.
Hostels range in price from $18-$26 a night for a shared dorm.
Alcohol is on average $8 for a beer, $7 for a bottle and $7 for house spirits.

It is easy enough to spread you money while living and traveling aorund NZ, but if you like to do a lot of activitie, then expect it to be gone very fast.

I have seen parachuting prices range from $160-$250 in different parts of the north island. Some caving adventures start from as little as $100 and go up to $400 for an all day trip.

I haven't been to the south island yet, but from what I have heard it is more expensive than the north.

The weather here is pretty **** right now. Rains a few days a week, some times very heavy. When the sun is out, temp is about 12-15c. Night time is about 5c. This is the north island, the south island is in skiing season. much colder down there.
Also, many hostels/apartments in the north island don't have central heating. They can get a bit chilly at night. Even though bed lien is supplied, bring a sleeping bag with you to keep warm at night.

Dublin14

I was there for a month earlier this year and had a ball..... Just take maybe NZ$200 with you in cash and use your bank card for the rest of the trip - there are cash machines everywhere oh and take a visa card too... It's handy for booking accommodation/trips over the phone.

There were 4 of us travelling together so we always got a 4 bed dorm which was handy but I'd suggest booking a few days ahead to make sure you get a room together. We travelled around on the Magic Bus (north and south island pass) cost approx - 350 euro. We rarely ate out - we just bought food together and cooked in the hostel.

2,000 euro is roughly 3,400 NZ$.... You'll need to work out how much you are going to spend on accommodation (average cost 25 in a hostel per night) and then it really depends on what activities you plan on doing... I did a heli-hike in Franz Josef and it cost NZ$300 (amazing by the way). If you plan on doing bunging jumping and skydiving that would cost approx NZ$500 for the two. So as you can see it quickly adds up..... One piece of advice - don't not do something while there because of the cost - use your visa and pay it off when you come home.. You may never get the chance to go back again... So just do everything you want to........

You'll have a great time......... Enjoy...

Ps. Best and cheapest place to skydive is Lake Taupo - North Island - the scenery is amazing ......!!

spurious

With Bank of Ireland, there is a cross currency fee on every withdrawal from an ATM, so check with AIB if they do the same. Don't bother with traveller's cheques.

For travelling around, a flexi-pass is a good investment.
http://www.flexipass.co.nz/

In general the South Island is just as cheap as the North, but when you get near Queenstown the prices all rise. If you're going to Kaikoura, The Lazy Shag is a good hostel and well-positioned for the whales.

**edit**
In terms of travelling in general:
Take a photocopy of your passport and any other important documents and keep them seperately from the originals. In the event of you being robbed or losing the originals, these will save hassle.

Maccattack

Isnt it better to buy currency in its own country? Not sure about that but it might be a good dea to bring Euro with you and change it down there. You might get better value...

Rudolph Claus

Thanks for the advice, its all new to me.
Im landing in Christchurch and will probably check out Wellington on the North island maybe. The main big activity we`ll be doing is probably going to be skiing and snowboarding and maybe a boat trip or rafting depeding on the weather i suppose.

I think ill do as suggested above:
Bring 2/300NZ dollars with me and use the atm then.
Ill check with Aib today what the cross currency charges are.
Ill bring my student Mastercard too, they`d only up the limit to E1000 for me but it`ll be enough i think.
Ill photocopy my passport and tickets too.

A few months ago the currency conversion was 1E = to 1.98NZ dollars,,,,, and 2000E would have been 4000Nz. dollars, typical that it goes down when im due to head out.

cold_filter

Nuttzy wrote:

A few months ago the currency conversion was 1E = to 1.98NZ dollars,,,,, and 2000E would have been 4000Nz. dollars, typical that it goes down when im due to head out.

I went last year and and brought 2K Euro and it was worth 4k NZ $ even came back with money!

Rudolph Claus

I went into Aib earlier, i ordered E300 worth of NZ dollars, they`ll have it for me on Tuesday.
They also told me to just use my student credit card as an Atm card, apparently I can just put money onto my credit card and use my credit card as a Atm card with the difference of not being charged crossover fee`s. The crossover fees on the normal Atm card is 1% of whatever amount I take out or a minimum charge of E1.27cent according to the woman in the bank.

Im stopping in Hongkong for 3dats on the way home, should i just get money when im in hongkong or should i bring some hongkong currency with me from the start?

spurious

There are ATMs in the airport - you can get some there.

Watch out for taxi-men who bring you to Aberdeen harbour and arrange a tour on a sampan for you. The tour is good and exactly what you get if you go there on the tour buses but you'll be charged about 3 times what you'd be charged if you arrive with a group. It's not a fortune in the difference, but it's the principle of the thing.

A rough rule of thumb I used was ten to one for the Hong Kong Dollar (so 100 HK$ is 10 euro) and two to one for the kiwi dollar (NZ$2 is one euro).

Rudolph Claus

Ive got my money sorted out, cheers.
Im just wondering what way my luggage will be dealt with, im flying the route of: Dublin > Heathrow > Toyko > Sydney > Christchurch
Will my luggage be transferred to eash of my planes, or will I have to go looking for it when i get off each plane? Ive never being on a plane or barely in an airport before and havent a clue to all this. Ill probably end up in China with my luggage in outer mongolia

Rabies

Ask at the desk in Dublin, but there shouldn't be a problem. Pick your bags up in Christchurch.
I think you need to pick up your bags again if you're doing a domestic trasfer.