Leaving oz for new zealand to travel

Trapattoni

Hi all,

Im leaving Melbourne to go travel around new zealand first - can i just ask if anyone can give me advice on the points below (sorry if its long winded)

Is 1,500 euro enough to travel for 4 weeks?

Can i get to the cook islands from newzealand easily/cheaply?

I am not pushed on seeing eeeevrything so wondering would i be stupid for example to skip the south islands and stay in the north?

I will be travelling in south america after nz so cannot go over my budget of 1,500 (id actually like to spend less if possible

Can anyone recommend any sort of itinery?

Really appreciate any help you can give me

thanks

trap

Crumble Froo

really depends on what you want to see/do in nz.

and given ive yet to be in the north island (unless you count the stopover at the airport on the way to the south island), i can't comment on what to see/do, except that most backpackers ive tlaked to have done the north island first and come down here second, and most have preferred here.

jank

NZ is cheaper than Ireland but not that cheap. Things quickly add up especially if you are doing things like sky dives, whale watching, zorbing etc.

It really depends on what you are doing but it would seem a bit tight.

Crumble Froo

my family were here end of last year, start f this year, expecting everything to be basically 'half price' based on euro conversion...

were quite sadly shocked to find that everything worked out more expensive than they'd anticipated.

gotta remember we're pretty geographically isolated here.

jank

I would agree with that. Actually I think New Zealand is quite expensive for travelling and the like. You can easily burn a good few grand in a few weeks then wonder where did all my money go? If you have a budget you really really need to stick to it.

ChewChew

Trapattoni wrote: »

Hi all,

Im leaving Melbourne to go travel around new zealand first - can i just ask if anyone can give me advice on the points below (sorry if its long winded)

Is 1,500 euro enough to travel for 4 weeks?

Can i get to the cook islands from newzealand easily/cheaply?

I am not pushed on seeing eeeevrything so wondering would i be stupid for example to skip the south islands and stay in the north?

I will be travelling in south america after nz so cannot go over my budget of 1,500 (id actually like to spend less if possible

Can anyone recommend any sort of itinery?

Really appreciate any help you can give me

thanks

trap

I did just under 5 weeks in NZ in April/May this year and I had about 3 weeks accom to pay for while I was there, my food, drinks, all my shopping, activites (incl bunjy jump + skydive), I got 2 pairs of new glasses, I stayed in a very nice hotel for 2 nights in Auck, I did the kiwi experience bus tour and paid for that and in total I spent €2,500(which was about $5,500!!! not bloody bad I say! So yeah, if you want to you really can do it for €1,500 or less. stay in cheap hostels and do lots of cooking! Keep your money for the good stuff!

terencemc

Couchsurfing for the cities.
Rent a station wagon between a few people instead of getting those expensive tour buses.
Kip one night of 3 in the car.
I've been looking in to going to one of the pacific islands aswell...virgin blue will let you fly from sydney to tonga and tonga onto Auckland...but it still works out expensive.
Have you booked your flights to south america as apparently, it doesn't cost too much extra to get a stop off in Easter Island which for me would be CLASS

Trapattoni

I havent actually booked my flights - you knopw what the gas thing is? I just looked at boards this evening after deiciding for definite i want to do easter island .... cheers for the info i actually asked in the travel agent about round the world tickets and yeah you can include this as a stop over - deadly!!

terencemc

Hey Trapp,
Could you find out who flys to Easter Island as I went into the travel shop in Adelaide yesterday and they told me that Tahiti airlines used to do a stopover there there from nz to south america but have now stopped and they quoted me a ridiculous price to get there....

esharknz

Re the cook islands, Air NZ and Pacific Blue (from memory) fly there, so it's fairly easy to get to. It's a 4 hour flight. Prices you can find out from www.airnewzealand.co.nz or www.flypacificblue.com

I've been there and loved it. Some places are pricey if you are using NZ dollars you've earned in NZ (they use the kiwi dollar there too, so handy), but there are plenty of other options around.

Blurg

I agree with the other posters
South Island beats the North Island especially in winter
I would go Christchurch - Akoroa - Mount Cook - Queenstown (stay for a week get pissed and go ski etc) Milford Sound - Queenstown/Wanaka - West Coast (Franz Josef) and either back to Christchurch through Arthurs Pass.
Or continue up west coast and come back to chch via Lewis Pass - Hamner Springs and Kaikoura
The north of the south island is great but more of a summer destination and probably similar to oz (vineyards and beaches)
You can keep it cheap by buying a banger of a car to drive around, insurance is not compulsory.
Sell the car in Christchurch for the same price when you get back (there is a risk here I know).
Put up for sale posters in the hostels when you start your trip.
Or use buses like the naked bus, avoid "kiwi experience"
Stay in hostels (BBH) for less than €10 per night.
Cook noodles or go to the chipper or bakeries,
Cafes/resteraunts outside of chch are expensive.
Dont get pissed every night, do a trek for 3-4 days like the milford trek, there are no shops out there so you cannot spend...

Soul Cake Duck

Sorry to butt in on your thread but....

Would you think you could do the Christchurch - Akoroa - Mount Cook - Queenstown in a week/8 days? Also how much do you think you could budget for that week including bus journeys? Can anyone name/suggest so very cheap hostel along that path either?

Thinking of flying into Christchurch (Cheaper) and out of Queenstown back to Sydney. So far total of those flights is 317.00...is this good/best you think?

Thanks for any info..