Great post! I coincidentally was using the blog you based this off of as well. Love your photos and style! What program do you use to edit your photos?
Thank you Marilyn. I use Lightroom for all my photos. :)
Priyangi Mehta
Pete, I think this was absolutely wonderful. I hv ALWAYS ALWAYS wanted to go to NZ and was wondering how to go abt with being a budget traveller, the accommodation, travel, et al. This is really amazing. thanx a ton
Hi Pete! Thanks for the information above :) I am going to the south part of NZ only for 1 week. so which places would u recommend that I must go? There are a total of 7 ppl and we hv rented a car. We hv also booked for milford cruise and kawarau bridge bungy. Thanks in advanced!!
Definitely start from Queenstown. Go to the Milford Sound, do some great walks and then Mt Cook and do the Hooker Valley trail. That should be a good week of adventure for you :)
Pedro Esnal
Gd day Pete, Many thanks for sharing your experiences. I´m fm Spain and planning to travel to N.Z. in 2016 most probably October for at least 1 month up to three. My intention is to hira a campervan as I will travel alone. I read u did it by bus which is quite cheaper in compare, but as I´m a disater planning things, guess it will be the best solution.
Haha. It is definitely depend on your taste. Campervan allows you to go places that buses don't go but I find driving alone is a tad bit boring especially long distance so I went with the bus. You will enjoy it either way. NZ is freaking beautiful :)
Felia Sunarga
Having someone to travel with is definitely fun if you're hiring a car. Also, by having a car, I think you can also go to places that are a bit hard to reach on foot. :D
Jenn Muller
I literally just booked my whole trip off your itenary (except activities, a few accommodation places and I did the $1 naked bus tickets). I'm pretty excited. Thanks for putting this together, it was a huge help! :)
Glad you found the blog useful! NZ is definitely a country you need to see for yourself. No blog post can do it justice :)
Claire Dougherty
Hello! I am going to be traveling to NZ for about three months by myself. I am a photographer and loved your photos! I was wondering if you had any advice on the best way to travel with your camera, how to upload your photos without bringing a large laptop, what you did with you camera when it rained etc.?
Thanks!
Thank you for the comment Claire. I used Macbook Air (back then) so the size and durabiliy helps a lot with me carrying them around in my backpack.
For cameras, since I used a point and shoot camera (Sony RX100 M3), compact yet can shoot raw at amazing quality (20mp), I did not have much problems carrying them around so I always have my camera with me ready to shoot at anytime. Due to the size of my camera, the tripod was also light and small enough for me to carry them in my day pack.
This combination helps a lot because when you are in nature and you want to capture yourself interacting with the mountains, you can frame the photo easily with your tripod and shoot with a timer. All done without anyone's help. :)
Rx100 is pretty durable and sealed in pretty well so a little splash is perfectly fine for me but when it rains heavily, then that's a different story. I try not to shoot when it rains.
The key here is the gear. Big cameras are good for professional work but when it comes to traveling, especially traveling light, it can become a pain in the ass. There's no point in bringing a big camera with you if you never take it out and shoot with it.
Hello,
If you are new in New Zealand then Queenstown is the best place to live in. finding difficulty to search
hotel, you can prefer rental service. One of the reliable rental service providers that I know in
Queenstown is Room on Rent which provides rooms with affordable price for the people who want to
stay in Queenstown, Frankton or Wanaka for three months or more. Whether you want rent a room in
Queenstown, Wanaka or in Frankton; try rent a room where you can easily accomplish your
requirement. For detail info visit: http://www.rentaroom.org.nz/
Eint Chu Hlaing
Hi, thanks heaps for the post. Do you book all the accommodation in advance ? If so what if you have to extend bec of the weather as you mention.
You are going to love it there! It's one of the most beautiful place in the world!
Sandy C
Great post! Would it be possible do you think to do the trip driving alone? I recently quit my job and want to spent a month in new zealand before i move home to england. i really want to do this trip but noone else is around haha so wanted to drive- wise idea or stick to the busses?
Hey Sandy, Thank you! Of course you can do a road trip there alone but what I don't like about road trip alone is that it gets boring real fast without someone to talk to, especially when you are continuously driving around in remote areas. Bus a good way to meet people and it also take the responsibility of knowing where and how to go off your hands, not to mention cheaper but again, you have more freedom with a car and you can go to some really remote places. :)
In the end, it's your choice. :)
Sandy C
Pete Rojwongsuriya Thanks for getting back to me! I figured it was a long shot writing that message because this post was from so long ago! Yeah i saw that you took the busses. Which bus would be the best to take? I would want more independance whilst I'm in the south island more I feel theres more freedom to chose the activities to do. You don't fancy spending another month in New Zealand do you? :P :D
Sandy C NakedBus is cheap and reliable but it runs less on the west coast of the South Island so you can switch it up with the Intercity bus.
Haha. I'm always looking forward to go back there. There's plenty more to see for me. If i'm not occupied i'll definitely do another 2 months there just hiking etc.
Jack Braithwaite
Hi Pete, have you had any experiences with rental car relocations? I havent havent used one before but it sounds like a good way to cut back traveling and accomodation costs!? rentalcarrelocations.co.nz has a pretty decent list of companies doing it! Great read by the way, Jack
Thank you! Unfortunately, no experience there for me but I heard many do it in NZ so it shouldn't be too hard there.
Adriel Hsu
How did you take the skydiving pic in this post and the other new zealand post?!? They are amazing! Also do you shoot in RAW? I have a sony a5100 and am just gettingn started. Your pictures are inspiring!
Will also head to NZ for 2 weeks next year and this post has mademe excited!
Thank you! Paid the company to have another guy to take a photo and video of me. Very expensive but worth it. :) Yes, I shoot RAW and post processed with lightrooms.
Gireesh Gera
Hey Pete, just wanted to check with you which month did you travel.
I was planning to backpack there for 1 month this July, but I guess it will be very cold. Was wondering if I should wait for a better time - i.e. when it's summer there.
Shoulder season before the summer is great if you are willing to risk it. Trails and hostels aren't as packed. I was there from October to November, right before the summer and it was perfect!
Bailey Stewart
Do you recommend not pre booking hostel accommodation? If not can it be difficult to find vacant dorms? Cheers :)
It will depend on the season there. I was there during the shoulder season from low to high so most places I didnt have to book but at the end of the trip, everything was a little harder to come by without booking. If you are there during peak season, do book in advance!
Bailey Stewart
Ill be there from mid october to mid November. My first time backpacking so im pretty new to it all. Thank you man!
Hi Pete, liked your itinerary! So detailed. We are travelling to n.Z. in the end of Septmeber-end October. When was your trip? We also want to do the Tongariro crossing. :)) thanks mate
Around the same time! You will enjoy it! It's a shoulder season so not too crowded but you risk rain. Other than that, it's an amazing time to be in NZ :)
If it's not a must for us to see the glaciers and the rest of your itinerary is awesome, where would we continue from Abel Tasman? Of course everything is beautiful, but we only have 3 weeks in the South/Thanks:)
(:
So much information scattered out there. Great to have an itinerary of someone who went there to kind of get a grasp on some of the must sees without spending a fortune. NZ is fairly expensive for backpackers. I'm in the beginning stages of planning my rtw trip and this really helped me get a good starting off point as far as budget and timeframes. Thank you!
Your blog is great! thanks for sharing. I'm thinking about doing one month, and focusing on 4 longer treks (5 days each) with 1-2 days breaks in cities or more relaxed places in between. I'd also really like to loop in the sky diving. Any recommendations on which key areas I can target? Thanks!
Callum Callum
thanks so much info!!
random question , what camera are you using? amazing outcome!
YU Hang Jiang
Hi,Pete,what's the size of the backpack did you bring from Thailand,did you bear it for routerburn track?thanks for answering
65 lt, a normal backpack i used for every trip i've done so far. :) Although while on the Routeburn, i shipped most of the stuff from Te Anau to Queenstown and had only essential things in my big backpack while doing the trail. There's a service you can get in Te Anau and then you can get your stuff in Queenstown.
Hi Pete,
Thanks for all the information, very helpful to plan my trip. I'm going to NZ in Jan'18 for almost 4 weeks.
I want to check few things with you which i could't find online regarding local buses availability to transport specially early morning or late evening to return -
1. Rotorua local buses
2. Taupo ( early moring ard 5 am to meet at my tour point, taxi's are easy?)
3. Plymouth to Lake Mangamahoe transport?
4. Wanaka to Mt Iron and Mount Roy’s Peak any return transport?
5. Queenstown to Mt Ben Lomond
6. Tekapo to Lake Tekapo & Lake Pukaki transport? Astro Café any bus goes?
Also ingenral all local bus transport tickets can be puechase on the spot?
Hi, thanks for all the tips and itinerary! If I only have 2 weeks to spare (or slightly less), which are the places you would recommend as a must go?
awesome pictures thx pete
Cheers man!
Great post! I coincidentally was using the blog you based this off of as well. Love your photos and style! What program do you use to edit your photos?
Thank you Marilyn. I use Lightroom for all my photos. :)
Pete, I think this was absolutely wonderful. I hv ALWAYS ALWAYS wanted to go to NZ and was wondering how to go abt with being a budget traveller, the accommodation, travel, et al. This is really amazing. thanx a ton
This would be a great starting point for you I hope. :)
Awesome! I'm planning on making the same trip as you did! Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Thank you Jan! Glad you like the guide!
Hi Pete! Thanks for the information above :) I am going to the south part of NZ only for 1 week. so which places would u recommend that I must go? There are a total of 7 ppl and we hv rented a car. We hv also booked for milford cruise and kawarau bridge bungy. Thanks in advanced!!
Definitely start from Queenstown. Go to the Milford Sound, do some great walks and then Mt Cook and do the Hooker Valley trail. That should be a good week of adventure for you :)
Gd day Pete, Many thanks for sharing your experiences. I´m fm Spain and planning to travel to N.Z. in 2016 most probably October for at least 1 month up to three. My intention is to hira a campervan as I will travel alone. I read u did it by bus which is quite cheaper in compare, but as I´m a disater planning things, guess it will be the best solution.
Haha. It is definitely depend on your taste. Campervan allows you to go places that buses don't go but I find driving alone is a tad bit boring especially long distance so I went with the bus. You will enjoy it either way. NZ is freaking beautiful :)
Having someone to travel with is definitely fun if you're hiring a car. Also, by having a car, I think you can also go to places that are a bit hard to reach on foot. :D
I literally just booked my whole trip off your itenary (except activities, a few accommodation places and I did the $1 naked bus tickets). I'm pretty excited. Thanks for putting this together, it was a huge help! :)
Glad you found the blog useful! NZ is definitely a country you need to see for yourself. No blog post can do it justice :)
Hello! I am going to be traveling to NZ for about three months by myself. I am a photographer and loved your photos! I was wondering if you had any advice on the best way to travel with your camera, how to upload your photos without bringing a large laptop, what you did with you camera when it rained etc.?
Thanks!
Thank you for the comment Claire. I used Macbook Air (back then) so the size and durabiliy helps a lot with me carrying them around in my backpack.
For cameras, since I used a point and shoot camera (Sony RX100 M3), compact yet can shoot raw at amazing quality (20mp), I did not have much problems carrying them around so I always have my camera with me ready to shoot at anytime. Due to the size of my camera, the tripod was also light and small enough for me to carry them in my day pack.
This combination helps a lot because when you are in nature and you want to capture yourself interacting with the mountains, you can frame the photo easily with your tripod and shoot with a timer. All done without anyone's help. :)
Rx100 is pretty durable and sealed in pretty well so a little splash is perfectly fine for me but when it rains heavily, then that's a different story. I try not to shoot when it rains.
The key here is the gear. Big cameras are good for professional work but when it comes to traveling, especially traveling light, it can become a pain in the ass. There's no point in bringing a big camera with you if you never take it out and shoot with it.
I hope this helps!
Hello,
If you are new in New Zealand then Queenstown is the best place to live in. finding difficulty to search
hotel, you can prefer rental service. One of the reliable rental service providers that I know in
Queenstown is Room on Rent which provides rooms with affordable price for the people who want to
stay in Queenstown, Frankton or Wanaka for three months or more. Whether you want rent a room in
Queenstown, Wanaka or in Frankton; try rent a room where you can easily accomplish your
requirement. For detail info visit: http://www.rentaroom.org.nz/
Hi, thanks heaps for the post. Do you book all the accommodation in advance ? If so what if you have to extend bec of the weather as you mention.
I booked stuff day by day so extending my stay was not much of a problem. :)
Thank you so much, this is SO so helpful. I'm leaving for NZ in a couple days and it's great to know that you can do it without a car! Cheers!
You are going to love it there! It's one of the most beautiful place in the world!
Great post! Would it be possible do you think to do the trip driving alone? I recently quit my job and want to spent a month in new zealand before i move home to england. i really want to do this trip but noone else is around haha so wanted to drive- wise idea or stick to the busses?
Hey Sandy, Thank you! Of course you can do a road trip there alone but what I don't like about road trip alone is that it gets boring real fast without someone to talk to, especially when you are continuously driving around in remote areas. Bus a good way to meet people and it also take the responsibility of knowing where and how to go off your hands, not to mention cheaper but again, you have more freedom with a car and you can go to some really remote places. :)
In the end, it's your choice. :)
Pete Rojwongsuriya Thanks for getting back to me! I figured it was a long shot writing that message because this post was from so long ago! Yeah i saw that you took the busses. Which bus would be the best to take? I would want more independance whilst I'm in the south island more I feel theres more freedom to chose the activities to do. You don't fancy spending another month in New Zealand do you? :P :D
Sandy C NakedBus is cheap and reliable but it runs less on the west coast of the South Island so you can switch it up with the Intercity bus.
Haha. I'm always looking forward to go back there. There's plenty more to see for me. If i'm not occupied i'll definitely do another 2 months there just hiking etc.
Hi Pete, have you had any experiences with rental car relocations? I havent havent used one before but it sounds like a good way to cut back traveling and accomodation costs!? rentalcarrelocations.co.nz has a pretty decent list of companies doing it! Great read by the way, Jack
Thank you! Unfortunately, no experience there for me but I heard many do it in NZ so it shouldn't be too hard there.
How did you take the skydiving pic in this post and the other new zealand post?!? They are amazing! Also do you shoot in RAW? I have a sony a5100 and am just gettingn started. Your pictures are inspiring!
Will also head to NZ for 2 weeks next year and this post has mademe excited!
Thank you! Paid the company to have another guy to take a photo and video of me. Very expensive but worth it. :) Yes, I shoot RAW and post processed with lightrooms.
Hey Pete, just wanted to check with you which month did you travel.
I was planning to backpack there for 1 month this July, but I guess it will be very cold. Was wondering if I should wait for a better time - i.e. when it's summer there.
Shoulder season before the summer is great if you are willing to risk it. Trails and hostels aren't as packed. I was there from October to November, right before the summer and it was perfect!
Do you recommend not pre booking hostel accommodation? If not can it be difficult to find vacant dorms? Cheers :)
It will depend on the season there. I was there during the shoulder season from low to high so most places I didnt have to book but at the end of the trip, everything was a little harder to come by without booking. If you are there during peak season, do book in advance!
Ill be there from mid october to mid November. My first time backpacking so im pretty new to it all. Thank you man!
Just read ur adventure, really nice dude, hope i also can be in NZ, travelling solo like u
Definitely worth it! Do it! :)
Hey Pete ! Thank you so much for such a great article, which will be of a great help for preparing my 1 month trip in New Zealand:) Cheers from Poland
I'm glad you found the article useful! Enjoy!
Hi Pete, liked your itinerary! So detailed. We are travelling to n.Z. in the end of Septmeber-end October. When was your trip? We also want to do the Tongariro crossing. :)) thanks mate
Around the same time! You will enjoy it! It's a shoulder season so not too crowded but you risk rain. Other than that, it's an amazing time to be in NZ :)
Cool. Thanks a bunch! :)
(: Will keep reading.
If it's not a must for us to see the glaciers and the rest of your itinerary is awesome, where would we continue from Abel Tasman? Of course everything is beautiful, but we only have 3 weeks in the South/Thanks:)
(:
So much information scattered out there. Great to have an itinerary of someone who went there to kind of get a grasp on some of the must sees without spending a fortune. NZ is fairly expensive for backpackers. I'm in the beginning stages of planning my rtw trip and this really helped me get a good starting off point as far as budget and timeframes. Thank you!
Thank you! Glad you like the post!
Your blog is great! thanks for sharing. I'm thinking about doing one month, and focusing on 4 longer treks (5 days each) with 1-2 days breaks in cities or more relaxed places in between. I'd also really like to loop in the sky diving. Any recommendations on which key areas I can target? Thanks!
thanks so much info!!
random question , what camera are you using? amazing outcome!
Hi,Pete,what's the size of the backpack did you bring from Thailand,did you bear it for routerburn track?thanks for answering
65 lt, a normal backpack i used for every trip i've done so far. :) Although while on the Routeburn, i shipped most of the stuff from Te Anau to Queenstown and had only essential things in my big backpack while doing the trail. There's a service you can get in Te Anau and then you can get your stuff in Queenstown.
Hi Pete,
Thanks for all the information, very helpful to plan my trip. I'm going to NZ in Jan'18 for almost 4 weeks.
I want to check few things with you which i could't find online regarding local buses availability to transport specially early morning or late evening to return -
1. Rotorua local buses
2. Taupo ( early moring ard 5 am to meet at my tour point, taxi's are easy?)
3. Plymouth to Lake Mangamahoe transport?
4. Wanaka to Mt Iron and Mount Roy’s Peak any return transport?
5. Queenstown to Mt Ben Lomond
6. Tekapo to Lake Tekapo & Lake Pukaki transport? Astro Café any bus goes?
Also ingenral all local bus transport tickets can be puechase on the spot?