Tuesday 25 March 2014

Grad trip plans :)

Edit: All posts and itineraries have been shifted to http://totravelanywhere.com :)

Read about my North Island NZ trip here: North Island
Read about my South Island NZ trip here: South Island
Read about the Thrift Stores / Op Shops (Opportunity Shops) / Second hand stores I visited in NZ: Op shops

 How to plan a 6 Week Graduation Trip in New Zealand

The thought of uncertainty gives me an unexplainable sense of euphoria. Travelling alone is going to be daunting but at the same time, fulfilling, empowering and therapeutic for my weary soul.

I think the hardest part about planning a 6 week long trip is having to come up with everything on my own because I'm traveling alone. Yet strangely, that is also the easiest part because I don't need second opinions or approval from anyone else. The idea of absolute freedom in choosing the things that I want to see, do, or just spend a day or two at a cafe chilling is actually really liberating on its own. 

So, after having planned my grad trip and while waiting to execute it in 1.5 months' time.. I'm gonna share my knowledge of how I came about planning for this 6 week long solo trip to New Zealand and my full itinerary is gonna be up at the end as well just in case anyone decides to travel to NZ too. :)

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1) Figuring out when, where and how long you want to travel for. I decided on the duration and date of my trip in January, which is about 4-5 months before. Was initially caught between doing a 4 week teaching internship (via an international organisation that charged exorbitant prices for the programme ) over there or just thoroughly enjoying my grad trip. 

2) Book air tickets early to get the best deals - look out for sale periods and snag the tickets the moment you see a slight price drop, or if you see something that looks suspiciously good. Compare prices by searching for various budget flights (Jetstar, Flyscoot, Tiger airways... I was monitoring Emirates and Qantas too because they occasionally have really good sale prices). Do not wait further if you see a good price that you're willing to pay because chances are, the air tickets prices are just gonna keep climbing higher each day. I saw somewhere on an online article before that the optimal time to buy air tickets is ~90 days in advance if you're intending to travel during the peak season. I bought 2 one way tickets because I didn't want to travel one loop across New Zealand, I wanted to start and end at two different places even though the cost of tickets was higher, I still felt that it would make more sense doing this. I bought my air tickets from Jetstar (the best budget flights ever) - a one way ticket to Auckland and I'll be coming back from Christchurch. Initially, I was really apprehensive when I did that because I clearly have not researched on anything yet and was afraid I wouldn't know how to get from North Island to South Island without flying or driving. 

3) Start googling about places you want to visit in the country you're visiting. I knew for sure that I wanted to do sky diving and bungee jumping in New Zealand, so I googled for the best cities to do both the activities. My next interests were visiting farms, lakes and basically nature stuff. So I found really awesome places like Lake Taupo, Lake Tekapo, Tongariro National Park, etc... Then I went to search for those hashtags on Instagram to see how it really looks like and decide if they're worth going. The hashtags I searched were mainly #nztravel #newzealand and stuff like that, you get the gist. This was just the initial stage of coming up with a rough sketch of my grad trip. I needed to shortlist the cities that I wanted to visit first.

4) Find transportation around. I tried comparing the prices of renting a car (even though my license is still uncertain for now because my driving test is only 2 days before I fly off haha) and coach prices. Very evidently, coach prices were a lot cheaper for me because renting a car is not exactly feasible if I'm not sharing the cost with anyone else. I found two major coach companies in New Zealand, Intercity Coach lines and Naked bus. I read reviews for both of them and decided on Intercity Coach lines because they had this flexitrip pass where I could just purchase a set of 15 trips and plan my route later on (they come in 10/15/20/25/30 trips) btw. 15 trips cost NZD$383 and it came with a free interislander ferry trip from North to South Island, it was more hassle free because all the bookings could be done online and I could cancel it anytime as long as it's 24h prior to the trip I booked. Also, I could use 3 trips in exchange to get to Paihia (Bay of Islands) from Auckland to do a Dolphin cruise which I thought was pretty worth it because it costs NZD$233 on its own if I were to book from another private company just for the day trip. So this flexitrip pass was really so worth it in my opinion. To add on, I read some reviews that Nakedbus actually left a few customers stranded and that was the last thing I would ever want to happen to me, especially when I'm travelling alone so I chose Intercity in the end. Lastly, Intercity coach lines provided a route map online of all the services they have from city to city. That made my planning of my trip so much easier because I could decide my whole route from Auckland down to South island.

5) Shortlist the cities and plan the activities you want to do so you have a gauge of how many days you want to spend there in each city. Because of the intercity coach map provided, it was really so easy for me to choose where I want to go.

This was the map provided from their site. 

I decided on Auckland - Paihia - Auckland - Rotorua - Taupo - Wellington - Picton - Nelson - Franz Josef - Queenstown - Te Anau - Milford Sound - Te Anau - Dunedin - Christchurch - Tekapo - Christchurch. 

After deciding on these cities, I went to google more intensely on what I can do at each city. Trip advisor, lonelyplanet were my best friends. Read the reviews and make comparisons on where you should do what at. For example, there were 2 places where I can head to Glowworm caves (Waitomo in North Island or Te Anau in South Island), so I had to google and read lots of reviews to decide where I should do this activity at... But of course I decided to do both because it looks too awesome to be missed. But there are certain things that you should only do once on your trip, like Sky Diving which I've chosen to do at Lake Taupo instead of Queenstown where I'll be doing bungee jumping and canyon swing. :)

6) Book hostels. Again, do this early so you can make sure you have nice accommodations especially if you're travelling during the peak season. I sourced for hostel accommodations via hostelworld, okay quite obvious right. For every city, I looked at the cheapest hostels available. To decide on which hostel to book, I looked at mainly the price and the location, then the reviews. Because I was travelling alone, I needed to make sure the accommodations I booked are within walking distance from where the coach will pick up / drop me off at. Because most of the times the coach arrives in the wee hours like 7-8am, I don't want to be walking alone for long distances in the dark alone for fear of safety issues haha. I used google maps to gauge the distance and also, using the drop pin, I'll see how the roads look like over there. Then, here comes the most important part... Screenshot how the places look like and also the roads that you will need to walk from the coach to the hostel. I'll print all of it out after I'm done with all the screenshots, this is to make sure I know exactly how to walk from place to place without getting lost or if there isn't wifi available. Also, I can look at these maps on the coach and memorise it before I actually drop off so I don't look like a dumb vulnerable tourist trying to find her way around. 

7) Finalize the activities that you want to do over there and start making bookings for these activities. Like for me, I need to book for Sky Diving, Bungee, Cruise to Milford Sound, Maori culture trip to Te Puia etc... Remember to plan some days just for absolute chilling which also serves as a buffer if plans do not work out for some reason. Like for wet weather emergencies, you might not be able to do something on that particular day and you can reschedule it on the following day. I decided to skip all the museums this time round because I realised I'm not exactly a museum person unless I'm in the mood for it, so I scheduled better stuff like hiking, taking long walks at some lakes, cafe hopping, farmer's market (omg I am crazy but I would love to visit farmer's markets overseas), thrift store shopping and stuff like that. I did not follow most of the touristy activities recommended unless it's free then I may have considered them. I'm pretty sure it's legit to close one eye and skip those views from the top of some observatory since I'm a student traveller right? Hahaha.

8) Take a leap of Faith and stop worrying. :)

Other miscellaneous things that one should do as a lone traveller are:
  • Update MFA about your travel trips so if anything (like natural disaster) happens, they know who to search for.
  • Find the address and contact number of Singapore's embassy at wherever you are.
  • Photocopy your I/C, passport and credit cards (keep at least 2 copies of these documents at different places of your luggage / bag just in case and... leave a set back at home as well)
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So here goes my itinerary for the 6-week trip for both North and South Islands of New Zealand (not exactly finalised yet though):

North Island
7th May: Depart Singapore

8-9th May (2 days): Auckland (Accommodation: Newton Lodge ~NZ$24/night) - Visit Mount Eden, Holy Trinity Cathedral (it's a must for me to visit churches overseas), Little Bird Unbakery, Recycled Botique Thrift Store, Kokako Cafe, Auckland Harbour Bridge, Save mart.

10th May (1 day): Paihia Bay of Islands (Accommodation - Peppertree Lodge ~NZ$18/night) - Hole in the Rock & Dolphin Cruise.
11th May (1 day): Back in Auckland, the reason being because there is no coach to bring me back to Auckland from Paihia the night before. Just chilling for the day.

12-14th May (3 days): Rotorua (Accommodation: RockSolid Backpackers ~NZ$19/night) - Redwoods Whakarewarewa Forest, Waitomo Glowworm + Ruakuri Cave + Aranui Cave (3-in-1 deal), Te Puia.

15-18th May (4 days): Taupo (Accommodation: Blackcurrant Backpackers ~NZ$27/night) - Sky Diving, Huka Falls Jet, Hiking (googled top 5 nature walks at Taupo), Tongariro National Park.

19-21st May (3 days): Wellington (Accommodation: The Dwellington ~NZ$25/night). No itinerary yet because I may be meeting my friend who's on exchange over there.

South Island
22nd May (1 day): Picton (Accommodation: Fat Cod Backpackers ~NZ$26/night). Nothing on over at Picton because I can't bear to spend ~$1k for a lone traveller on the 4D3N Queen Charlotte Track... I will be back someday to camp over there I promise T.T)

23-24th May (2 days): Nelson (Accommodation: YHA Nelson Central ~NZ$26/night) - Still empty for now, will probably update this soon. Thinking of visiting Mount Richmond Forest Park if I manage to hitch a ride over.

25-26th May (2 days): Franz Josef (Accommodation: YHA Franz Josef ~NZ$26/night) - Franz Josef Glacier Hike. (Wished I could do the Heli Tour, but again I'm on a tight budget) Also, if anyone has the extra cash, you could probably try Across Country Quad Bikes, I really want to try it after seeing reviews that it is surprisingly fun. Oh and try the Fox Glacier hike too, if you've the money and time, why not? Being a poor-just-graduated-student, I'm only doing the Franz Josef Glacier and I had a really hard time choosing between the two different glacier hikes. I decided on Franz Josef instead of Fox Glacier because I saw somewhere that FJ has blueish ice while FG was mainly white, which is not ideal for photography purposes. Haha and FJ has a longer hike so I guess it's more worth it? I might head down to Fox Glacier if I managed to hitch a ride from somebody though, since it's only 30 minutes away.

27-28th May (2 days): Wanaka (Accommodation: YHA Wanaka Purple Cow ~NZ$26/night) - Mount Iron, Outlet Track.

29th May - 2nd June (5 days): Queenstown (Accommodation: Adventure Queenstown Hostel ~NZ$27/night) - Don't ask me why I chose to stay so long here. But I'm doing Bungee and the Canyon Swing here, hike Queenstown hill, visit Lake Wakatipu. And... If I still have the money, I might do the Darkride NZ Simulator and Fear Factory Haunted house.

3-5th June (3 days): Te Anau (Accommodation: Te Anau YHA Hostel ~NZ$25/night) - Milford Sound Cruise, Lake Te Anau, Kepler Track(?).

6-8th June (3 days): Dunedin (Accommodation: On Top Backpackers ~NZ$27/night) - Otago Peninsula wildlife tour. 

9th June (1 day): Christchurch (Accommodation: Across the world backpackers ~NZ$30/night) - I'm just stopping over because I want to head to Lake Tekapo from Dunedin but there isn't a direct coach service so I have to head to CC first or alternatively detour to Queenstown.

10-11th June (2 days): Tekapo (Accommodation: YHA Lake Tekapo ~NZ$33/night) - Lake Tekapo was one of the first few reasons why I decided that I HAVE TO visit New Zealand. There're many mirror lakes around in NZ but I saw a shot at Lake Tekapo and it was so amazing, I knew I had to visit and see it for myself. Glad my dream is materializing really soon :)

12-16th June (5 days): Christchurch (Accommodation: Around the world Backpackers) - Hagley Park, Brighton Beach, Summer Promenade, Farmer's Market, Sunday Artisan Market, FARM STAY. I might also couch surf at this point in time when I should be absolutely broke so I'm not to sure yet. Sadly, most couch surfers who loan out their couches are usually males which I'm quite apprehensive about. Afterall it's my first experience couch surfing so I just need to be more cautious.

17th June: Home sweet home.

Tentative cost of this 6 week trip to travel (almost) the whole of New Zealand:

  1. Air tickets (via Jetstar): $373 (SG-Auckland) + $495.97 (Christchuch-SG) = $868.97
  2. Travel Insurance from NUTC Income: $118.64
  3. Intercity Coachlines Flexitrip pass: NZD $383 which is about ~SGD$440
  4. Accommodations: NZD $1043 which is about ~SGD$1200
  5. Activities:
Total Cost (excluding food and other daily expenditures): approx SGD $4984

The budget that I've set for myself is actually ~SGD$6000. To be honest, I know the amount is pretty extravagant but this is my only chance that I can travel for 6 weeks straight, so why not just take this opportunity to fully enjoy myself before I start a new phase of life? :) Money can always be earned back but youth cannot be returned - my very warped philosophy. Very thankful that giving tuition is something I like doing, but at the same time it helps to finance my travelling desires.

But that aside, I'm gonna have to live on bread for the full 6 weeks (and some occasional treats of fish and chips over there that I heard is pretty good and... I'm gonna drown myself in kiwi fruits). This is definitely NOT the most budget one can get on a travelling trip, because I did not pick the cheapest hostels, like I said - I needed one with a good location because I don't have a personal vehicle to get me around. I chose reasonably priced hostels that looked decent, comes with free wifi and have pretty alright reviews, even though I chose the cheapest dorms (usually 8 bed mixed dorms). Also, I could forego my skydiving trip which is ridiculously priced... BUT nope, it's on my bucket list, so I'm definitely gonna have to do it now - or never.

I'm gonna update this entry again soon when I come up with a list of cafes and food that I need to try in NZ. :)

Waitomo Glowworm Caves
Source: x

Lake Tekapo
Source: x

Crater Lake, Tongariro National Park
Source: x

Milford Sound
Source: x

Lake Te Anau
Source: x

If anyone has travelled to NZ before and feel that I've left something out, please do let me know. ^^ I'm still trying to finalize my plans, though I know I'll probably end up being spontaneous when I get over there.. But a backup plan is always better than none. :p

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(edited)

Read about my North Island NZ trip here: North Island
Read about my South Island NZ trip here: South Island
Read about the Thrift Stores / Op Shops (Opportunity Shops) / Second hand stores I visited in NZ: Op shops
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