The Kiwi Experience

The first major decision I faced in New Zealand was what to have for my first meal in Auckland. The second was how best to transport myself around the country over the next six weeks. After about an hour wandering around Parnell, I finally decided to go with a full-day breakfast, since any egg, bacon and toast fixes were sorely lacking in South America. It took me considerable longer to make that second decision.

For the budget-conscious traveller, there are lots of ways to travel the North and South Islands. One can rent a vehicle. Or purchase a travel pass from one of the Kiwi Experience, Stray Travel or Magic Bus backpacker bus companies. Or ride on the regular inter-city buses. Or hitchhike. Or walk.

For a guy without a plan, it was a plethora of transportation options.

"A Plethora is a choice between a surfeit of transportation options, each with its own pros and cons. In Campervan with Five Strangers..."

(Okay, I'm just going to stop right there. Since I was writing about travelling in New Zealand, I thought it would be a masterstroke to channel Phil Keoghan, but I ended up sounding like a complete dork instead. That I chose to combine it with a ¡Three Amigos! reference makes it even worse.)

Um... what I meant to say was that there are good and bad aspects to each of those choices.

Hiring a car or camper van easily affords the most flexibility in terms of travel route and schedule, without exactly being affordable unless sharing the costs with (multiple) other backpackers. Even then, the best rates on rentals come with longer rental commitments -- the longer the rental period, the cheaper the cost. It was easy enough to find travelling companions at the hostels, but I ran the risk of being stuck with the same bunch of total weirdos for weeks at a time.

A full-on pass from any of the backpacker bus companies hits all of the major (and some of the minor) travel spots in New Zealand. These companies cater towards the budget traveller, offering numerous discounts on activities and hostels. The passes are valid for twelve months from initial use and allow travellers to hop on and hop off along the routes. But one is stuck with their predetermined stops and departure schedules. Some of the bus companies (in particular, the Kiwi Experience) have a reputation for running party buses -- full of people looking to go crazy and get drunk every night -- which could be a good or bad thing depending on what ones preferences for travelling companions.

The inter-city and point-to-point buses are cheaper than the backpacker buses on per-distance cost and do a pretty good job of ferrying people between the major cities and towns. However, since they only stop at the major cities and towns, getting out to any of the little in-between areas, for which New Zealand is famous, requires supplementation with other transportation choices. This can quickly add to the budget. And you miss out on all those discounts for when you want to, you know, do stuff.

Hitchhiking is apparently easy to do in New Zealand, but was never a serious consideration for me.

And, in case it wasn't obvious, I was joking about the whole walking thing.

In the end, I went with the Kiwi Experience.

The Kiwi Experience -- Now With More Ducks!

The choice came down entirely to money. I discovered a Kiwi Ex pre-Christmas sale that had a North and South Island pass going for less than forty percent of the usual price, covering just about the entire country for NZ$600 (or less than $500 Canadian). Given my allotted time in New Zealand, that came down to less than NZ$15 per day for transport.

I met and travelled with some great people. The buses didn't turn out to be full of constantly drunk gap-year students and (surprisingly) I wasn't the oldest geezer on board any of the trips (though it was a close call in some cases). Meeting people was incredibly easy. Since travel in New Zealand involves so many, "Holy crap, did I just do that?" moments, it was nice not to have to search for people who also wanted to hike the Tongariro Crossing, bungy jump or throw themselves out of a plane.

Up at 5:00am to try to catch an East Cape sunrise on a totally overcast morning. At least stupidity had company.

While there were times I missed the complete freedom to go my own way, there was a certain appeal to being able to shut off part of the brain -- my travel schedule was handled, I just had to know when the bus was departing.

Just about the only thing to do at Lake Mahinapua.
(We had to dress up as things starting with the letter, 'P'. Those two old folks to the left were on the bus and didn't dress up. But then, I didn't suppose they needed to put in a lot of work to come dressed as pensioners.)

I already know that my next time in New Zealand will be different. I foresee myself with more means, in a campervan surrounded by photographic and tramping gear, and the freedom to explore exactly where and when I want. That next time I will have the ability to really focus in -- there will be no staring confusedly at maps or time wasted contemplating next destinations. And that's because the Kiwi Experience did such a good job of giving me a thorough idea of what the entire country has to offer.

Regarding my transportation for my first time in New Zealand: no regrets.

(Disclaimer: No ducks were harmed during the creation of this blog entry, while taking any photographs, nor -- that I know of -- by any of the Kiwi Experience buses on which I travelled.)