10 Days in New Zealand : Itinerary Part 1

Jump: Itinerary Part 2, Accommodation, Motorhome.

I really don't know how a blogger does it, but I can't seem to find the time to blog while travelling. Either I'll be too exhausted to write, or I'll be hanging out at the hostel lounge. I salute you, superbloggers!

So yeah, I'm back now after a two-week holiday in New Zealand and Australia. Touched down Malaysia on Saturday, back to work on Monday. No rest on Sunday though but surprisingly I was not as exhausted as on my previous trips. Boleh masuk Amazing Race nih.

New Zealand, where to start? No words can describe how beautiful New Zealand is. Even my photos don't do much justice. I'm just going to skip the babbles and go straight to the itinerary (Isn't that what you guys are here for anyway?). I've broken it down to two parts just so to make it a less lengthy post. I might also post another entry or two for those must go/do activities.

Before I start, a little bit of an intro about our trip. It was a 10-day trip in early April 2016 -- 1 1/2 days in North Island, the remaining in South Island. 2,184 km traveled. Two hot chicks. Overnight (overnighted? Overnaught?) in three backpackers hostels, and the rest in a 2-berth campervan. Our trip was mostly nature sightseeing. On our last day, I took a flight to Melbourne where else Wahi, my travel partner, went back to Kuala Lumpur.

Day 1: Arrive in Auckland
We arrived from Kuala Lumpur at 4:25 pm. Flight was smooth and the immigration went extremely well. Bought a Spark simcard at the Auckland airport for $25. Took a Skybus to Auckland City for $16 each (expensive! but that was the cheapest option). Checked in Nomads Fat Camel Backpackers. By night, we went out to the pier for some sight seeing.

Day 2: Auckland & Christchurch
Checked out at 9.30 am. Flight was at 5 pm so to kill time, we joined the Auckland Free Walking Tour.

Source: Auckland Free Walking Tours Facebook page

After the tour, we went back to our hostel to collect our bags and took a Skybus to the airport. Checking in was a breeze.

Arrived Christchurch Airport just after dark. Took bus no. 29 from Sudima Hotel to the bus interchange station. From the bus interchange, we then hopped on a bus along the Orange line to our hostel. Checked in Jailhouse Accommodation. Yup, a real (former) jail!

Money Saving Tips: Save more than half the bus fare by hopping on from Sudima Hotel instead of the airport -- $3.50 plus free 1 bus transfer within 2 hours vs $8 from the airport, no free transfer. It is only a 5 minute walk from the arrival terminal to the hotel. (Thanks to Poh-Guan for the awesome tips!)

Day 3: Pick up campervan - Lake Tekapo - Omarama
Checked out Jailhouse Accommodation at 9 am. Duncan, from Affordable Motorhome Rentals (AMR), picked us up to the depot. Signed all documents and off to do some groceries. We chose Countdown Supermarket because we received a discount card from AMR (score!).

By noon, we went off to Lake Tekapo.

The Church of the Good Shepherd

We didn't stay long before proceeded our way to Omarama. In between, we came across a really nice view of Mt Cook over Lake Pukaki. Had to stop for photos!

Lovely, isn't it?

Sunset

Ok, now we're really on our way to Omarama. First chosen accommodation: Omarama Top 10 Holiday Park.

It was our first time on a campervan and also on a powered site so we didn't quite know how powered sites work. So instead of plugging our van to the main switch (pictured above with cables jutting out from the power box), I accidentally switched off the one on the right that was powering a tent just next to us. Not sure what the occasion was but the music and chattering just went silent in a flash. Whoops, sorry guys! *lariiiikkkkk*

Day 4: Omarama - Lake Pukaki - Fox Glacier
The next day we decided to drive back to Lake Pukaki and have breakfast there while enjoying the view. Sadly it was gloomy that day and Mt Cook was hiding behind the clouds. It was still beautiful nevertheless.

Next, we stopped at a Salmon Farm for some fresh salmon. Bought myself a salmon bagel with cream cheese. Decided to save that for lunch, which we had at Lake Hawea.

Lake Hawea

We arrived Fox Glacier at night and checked in at Fox Glacier Holiday Park.

Day 5: SKYDIVE!!!
Ahh.. The highlight of our trip. Praise to God, after the heavy downpour the night before, that morning the sun was out and dancing! Perfect weather to skydive! Our pick: Fox Glacier Skydive. There is a more popular one in Franz Josef just 30 minutes away but we went for this because it's closer and cheaper ($299 for 13,000 ft).

Super(wo)man!!!!

Next we drove to Lake Matherson for a quick walk. Then we headed back to Wanaka and to Cardrona, where the bra fence is. After that, we went to Glenorchy but got off tracked for four hours searching for the willow trees. Because of the time, we had no time for pictures and headed straight to Queenstown.

Fantail Waterfall

I'm going to stop here for now. Look out for Part 2 soon....