"You're mental", "Crazy couple" - that's what we've heard almost everyday when somebody asked us about our way of travelling across NZ. Why? In 19 days, we have managed to visit so many places and experience so many things, that most of the people do in 2-3 months. But let’s start from the beginning.
In 2013, while we were in Australia, we decided to catch a plane to New Zealand and go for a 3 days side trip.The moment we’ve seen the rolling green hills dotted with fluffy little sheeps, there was no way back. We’ve immediately fell in love with this country. We’ve promised ourselves that someday we will come back.
Two years later, we stumbled upon a promotional flights to New Zealand. Without thinking too long, we have booked two tickets for April 2016.
Our adventure was about to start. We have started with a long list of places to see and things to do. We had to take into account our budget and distances between those places and finally we managed to shorten the list, but it still resembled “mission impossible”. After analyzing the list one more time, we came to a conclusion that we are not able to discard even one of those points. We won’t be traveling to New Zealand every single year, very likely it will be our second and the last time there, so we have to do everything to make our dreams come true.
In order to achieve it we have undertaken the following simple steps:
- We have rented a car to be more independent and flexible and not to lose time waiting for the public transportation or buses riding along the country.
- We went shopping to buy things that will be essential for our trip on the first day and stored everything that we need in the car.
- We have decided to sleep in a tent to save money, which finally occurred not to be possible due to the low temperature (around 2 °C in the early morning). However, we still slept several times in a car if hostels were located too far from our “starting point” for the next morning.
- We have bought a New Zealand sim card with 2GB mobile data package to avoid searching for WiFi hotspots.
- While one of us was driving, the passenger was responsible for charging all of the electronic devices (USB car charger with multiple slots is a must!) and booking all of the required things for the next day. We were spending a lot of time in a car so we just couldn’t waste it.
- The most obvious but the most important and hardest thing - we decided to sleep less and get up earlier to gain 2 more hours each day.
- We have rented a car to be more independent and flexible and not to lose time waiting for the public transportation or buses riding along the country.
- We went shopping to buy things that will be essential for our trip on the first day and stored everything that we need in the car.
- We have decided to sleep in a tent to save money, which finally occurred not to be possible due to the low temperature (around 2 °C in the early morning). However, we still slept several times in a car if hostels were located too far from our “starting point” for the next morning.
- We have bought a New Zealand sim card with 2GB mobile data package to avoid searching for WiFi hotspots.
- While one of us was driving, the passenger was responsible for charging all of the electronic devices (USB car charger with multiple slots is a must!) and booking all of the required things for the next day. We were spending a lot of time in a car so we just couldn’t waste it.
- The most obvious but the most important and hardest thing - we decided to sleep less and get up earlier to gain 2 more hours each day.
As you can see, a good plan and logistics are the key to success.
Of course, you cannot control everything. There was one thing, we didn’t manage to do as our car broke down. Besides that, everything went just perfect! We drove over 4500 kilometers with our car, we have done so many amazing things and overcome our fears. At times we were exhausted but amazing views compensated tiredness.
More info: Instagram
Watch our movie:
The most famous hobbit hole in the entire Shire! Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata
We didn't have time to climb Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings!) so we have sent our drone there!
Emerald Lakes in Tongariro National Park are just magical
Staying at the edge of South Crater located in the most beautiful place in the world - Tongariro National Park
Amazing view from the Ketetahi hut at the end of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing
View over Wellington from the Mount Victoria
Kayaking in Abel Tasman is such a great fun!
Cooking at the seaside - Great Coast Road
Nothing better than being trapped in an ice cave - Fox Glacier
Just another ordinary view on our way to Isthmus Peak trail - Lake Hawea
Isthmus Peak track is a must do when you're around Wanaka!
Amazing views on the way up to the Isthmus Peak summit
Kayaking - best way to explore misty and mysterious Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park
Can you imagine better scenery for flyboard lessons than this one in Queenstown?
Azure streams of Routeburn Track
Landscape is changing constantly! On our way from Wanaka to Mount Cook Village
Mesmerizing views on the Hooker Valley Track in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park
Champagne Pool in Waiotapu geothermal area. Colourfulness of the pool is insane!
The heighest commercially rafted waterfall in the world - 7m Tutea Falls, Kaituna River
Our itinerary looked as follows (feel free to use it - it is really doable!):
1 - We have rented a car in Auckland and drove to Hobbiton. After that we went to car park near Tongariro, but the lock in our car broke so after spending the night in the car we had to go back to Taupo to fix it.
2 - Huka Falls in Taupo
3 - Tongariro Alpine Crossing
4 - Wellington (Mount Victoria) and ferry to Picton
5 - Kayaking in Abel Tasman
6 - Pancake Rocks
7 - Heli ice climbing on Fox Glacier
8 - Isthmus Peak
9 - Queenstown (AJ Hackett bungy and swing)
10 - Kayaking in Milford Sound
11 - Flyboard in Queenstown
12 - Part of Routeburn Track
13 - Skydive in Wanaka
14 - Hooker Valley Track in Mount Cook National Park
15 - Christchurch (flight to Auckland)
16 - Scuba diving in Poor Knights
17 - Rafting in Rotorua
18 - Marathon and half marathon in Rotorua
19 - Flight from Auckland
1 - We have rented a car in Auckland and drove to Hobbiton. After that we went to car park near Tongariro, but the lock in our car broke so after spending the night in the car we had to go back to Taupo to fix it.
2 - Huka Falls in Taupo
3 - Tongariro Alpine Crossing
4 - Wellington (Mount Victoria) and ferry to Picton
5 - Kayaking in Abel Tasman
6 - Pancake Rocks
7 - Heli ice climbing on Fox Glacier
8 - Isthmus Peak
9 - Queenstown (AJ Hackett bungy and swing)
10 - Kayaking in Milford Sound
11 - Flyboard in Queenstown
12 - Part of Routeburn Track
13 - Skydive in Wanaka
14 - Hooker Valley Track in Mount Cook National Park
15 - Christchurch (flight to Auckland)
16 - Scuba diving in Poor Knights
17 - Rafting in Rotorua
18 - Marathon and half marathon in Rotorua
19 - Flight from Auckland
On the 2nd day we were planning to do Tongariro Alpine Crossing but it wasn't possible due to the car issue. We had to go back to Taupo so we decided to see Huka Falls instead. As we "lost" one day, we had to give up on climbing Mount Taranaki.