Trip to New Zealand (a lil' bit North & a lil' bit South) - 20 Days Trip

Oh my, I have been procrastinating to jot down my travel notes for many many months! 3 trips to update for 2017;

Taiwan, New Zealand, & Jakarta (and other mini trips around Malaysia hurmm.. #siscuba la habiskan tahun ni eh)

Why New Zealand? Since... this year is my final year berumur 20-an, I think it's about time to go a bit further & stretch a bit my travel allocation (I have rules in doing my travel budget; RM2000 for outside South East Asia, & within RM500-RM1000 if around South East Asia & yes these all including flight ticket).

Oh well, I'm too lazy to jot down my actual amount how much I spend for this trip, but approximately for 3 weeks trip I did around RM4500 & yep that is including the flight cost & family's souvenirs shopping, hehe.

Travel dates 4th August 2017 - 23rd August 2017

*as usual, I purposely pick day 4 for flying since it's my lucky number, hiks

Oh yea I quit my job again after working with previous agency for about 2 years++, to find better opportunity & a break for myself too, so I take this advantage to make a loOong trip. Wish I can do longer, but only that date have a good return flight price, in the same time I'm quite worried in term of financial, orang kata NZ ni semua mahal, walaupun aku dah penah pi Ausie for few times, hahaha tapi memang betul, NZ ni semuanya mahal T_T & all this while I have been dreaming to go NZ tempted looking at the 2.8 currency, time aku nak pegi ni lah currency jadi 3.25 hahaha terima kasih lah nasibbb~

*interesting story, during that period I was busy going for a job interview (the interview was 4 stages iv, phew~) & the 4th interview was a voice call with the country manager & I had it when I was on my way to the airport, haha (& yes I finally get the good news few days before I end my NZ trip, Alhamdulillah~)

Ohh & again, the workload was craaazy before my last day working, I only prepare my travel research & booking within 2 weeks time before flying & setelah berpening kepala, I've finally decided the route & I divided this trip into 2 phase:
(Flight took +- 13 hours included 1 hour transit in Gold Coast, so touch down Auckland on the 5th Aug)

(5 - 14th Aug 2017)

NORTH New Zealand :  Auckland > Rotorua > Taupo > Palmerston North > Wellington

Transportation: Trip me & Aina, we rented a car for a 1 week roadtrip

Wellington > Christchurch => Took domestic Flight (Jetstar 29$)

(15 - 23th Aug 2017): Solo Trip :

SOUTH New Zealand :  Christchurch > Akaroa > Lake Tekapo > Mt. Cook Village > Christchurch > Auckland

Transportation: My solo trip, I bought a 10-hours-Intercity Bus pass (85$) to travel around South

Christchurch > Auckland => Took domestic Flight (Jetstar 35$)

*btw on my 2nd last day I took the earliest flight 6.30 am from Christchurch to Auckland, stay 1 more night in Auckland before fly to KL. Haha I know pelik why waste money stay 1 more night dekat city kan? Because I want to catch Jetstar's good price domestic flight, if the next day the price was double!

Accomodation

I try my best to stretch my budget as cheap as possible, I got a headache figuring out how to spend as less as I can for 18 nights. So I manage to do, 11 nights at hostels, 5 nights Couchsurfing & 2 nights at the airport, hehe. 

Kenapa tak buat semua hari Couchsurfing? boleh save budget kan? Ok 1 thing to consider, if you plan to do CS in NZ, you have to type many many many request mail & the chance is pretty low, sebab apa? Sebab kat NZ ni banyak sangat traveler, I met few other CS while traveling & they say these thing are common. I was lucky when I was in Wellington actually, it was a very intersting incident, I am rarely lucky, but I was just trying my luck 1 night before I reach Wellington I got a host! She just re-activated her CS after so long & just so happen I text her! Her house is on the hill & it so beautiful 😍 Second reason why more stay in hostel is because CS is fun way to learn more bout local culture, but since it's quite a short trip & can be very tiring, so sometimes I just need my own space to rest & sleep & not talk to anyone once I reach my bed 😉

Summarised to my accomodation:

• Auckland (1 night) 

- CS Caroline (I sleep at a student apartment 😄)

• Rotorua (1 night) 

- Crash Palace Hostel [18.50nzd/nite]

• Toupo (2 nights) 

- Tiki Lodge [18.50nzd/nite] (I looove this lodge, a comfy bungalow & the kitchen is hugee. The owner even give us a ride to take our car  during day we were looking for place to stay)

• Palmerston North (2 nights) 

- CS Emma (Asian student house, so cool I met student from China, Vietnam, Japan & Korea!)

• Wellington (4 nights) 

*I purposely park myself a bit longer in Welly to rest & plan for my 2nd half trip

- Night 1 - Lodge in the City [15nzd/nite] - it's cheap but DO NOT STAY at this dodgy hostel!

- Night 2 - CS Ceedee (Thank you Ceedee for saving my lifeee, even though I have to do your house chores 😂)

- Night 3 - sleep at airport, hehe. Suprisingly it's ok to sleep. I slept infront of BMW display car & it was really comfy 😂

• Christchurch (2 nights)

- Night 2 - Kiwi House Hostel [20nzd/nite] (funny this hostel full with Japanese student, lol. It's bloody 2km away from the city because it was 8$ cheaper from the rest of hostel 😂 *yes I walked back & forth to the city with my 10kg backpack haha)

• Lake Tekapo (1 night)

- Lakefront Lodge [35nzd/nite] (not many options here, so slightly expensive, but oh my 1 of my fav backpackers place, it is right infront of the lake!)

• Mount Cook Village (3 nights) 

- Mt. Cook Lodge & Hostel [35nzd/nite] (I purpose splurge by staying longer here, since it's my final stops, I looove this lodge kitchen too 😍)

• Christchurch (1 night) 

- sleep at airport again, hehe, this time many people sleep at airport, I reward myself a cuppa chai latte before sleep 😴

• Auckland (1 night)

- Nomad Backpackers [18nzd/nite] (It's clean, due to miss communication during booking, they gave me free laundry, yay!)

As you can see, everything in South are slightly (or double) expensive, right? But it was worth the trip because the view was amazing, I think South is such a magical moment & sceneries to me :)

Oh my panjangnya ini entry, I need to make part 2 for the itinerary where did I go 🙊 Till then!