Travel Blog

“Ki Ora! Welcome to New Zealand!” This is often the comment you will get when you step off the plane into one of our international airports at Christchurch, Hamilton or Auckland.

New Zealand is an amazing place to live and a fantastic place to visit. We have lush, green rolling hills surrounding us in many parts of the country but then we also have acres and acres of lush, green flats with flowing rivers all leading out to the Pacific Ocean.

There is so much to do here and no matter what your age, there is something for everyone. Having lived in New Zealand all my life and having traveled around most of the North and South Islands, I can tell you there is no other place in the world I would rather live.

So, what can you do in New Zealand? Well, if you are into hiking and camping, this is going to be like heaven for you. We have some fantastic mountain ranges. The best places to go for hiking and camping are Taupo, which is in the middle of the North Island, Wellington, Christchurch and the west coast of the South Island, where there are some amazing hiking tramps down there.

Not into hiking or camping? Prefer shopping? I have just the place for you! Auckland, our largest city, has got one of the best places for shopping ever! There are so many factory shops and bargains to be had, you will most certainly find something and being a bargain shopper myself, I would recommend checking out “Dressmart” at Onehunga, it is huge and has some of the best shopping to be had! Another fantastic place to shop is the main street of Wellington; catch a cable car to get around. Christchurch has some fantastic shopping malls also.

Ok, so you are over shopping? Want to see all the different attractions New Zealand has to offer? Well, where do I start?! Here is a list of my favourites spots throughout New Zealand, there are many more but these are the ones I love:

• Swimming at 90 mile beach at the top of the North Island. This is just past Kaitia which is about 6 hours drive from central Auckland.
• Fishing off Great Barrier Island. There are some great charters and this is some of the best deep sea fishing you can find.
• Enjoying a good coffee on the waterfront at Mission Bay in Auckland. This is a fantastic place to be during summer.
• Visiting the Auckland Museum for some history about our beautiful country. Learn about the Maori culture and how our country has evolved through the ages.
• Head on down to the Waitomo district and go to the Waitomo caves where you can go white and black water rafting and see the amazing glow worms in the caves. This is a truly surreal experience.
• Visit our national bird, the Kiwi at the Kiwi house in Otorohanga. Get up close and personal with this two legged flight less birds. They are gorgeous.
• Taupo - my favourite place to be during summer and winter. Taupo has one of the largest lakes in the world which is the crater left behind by one of the biggest volcanic explosions to rock this world. The lake is renound for its amazing trout fishing. Also one of my favourite things to do is para gliding behind a boat on the lake, you get some amazing views! Take it that step further and do a tandem sky dive over the Taupo district. My Dad did this for his 50th birthday last year; he was on a high for days after that!
• Drive an hour and half out of Taupo and you will come across some of the best skiing in the world. Mt Ruapehu (which is still an active volcano!) is one of the busiest mountains during winter; you can ski on either side of the mountain as there are two ski fields.
• Cape Kidnappers is another great historical place to visit and it is one of the warmest places in New Zealand. Take the tour up to the point at Cape Kidnappers and visit the colony of Gannets (birds) that gather there. Be warned about the smell though, it’s something you have to experience!
• Catch the ferry at Wellington across to Picton in the South Island and you will find a very different New Zealand. The South Island is not so much hustle and bustle, it is more a relaxed, take your time atmosphere, a great place to chill out.
• Nelson is one of the fastest growing cities in New Zealand and it is not hard to see why. This is a great beach side city and lots of people are retiring here or bringing their families to for the lifestyle.
• Head down the west coast of the South Island and you will come across a town called Kaikoura, where you can take a cruise on a boat to see some of the most amazing dolphins and whales, up close and personal.
• Queenstown is probably my favourite town in New Zealand, it has a great atmosphere all year round, is surrounded by a beautiful lake and one of the best ski fields in New Zealand. Whether visiting during summer or winter, you will love the locals and tourists a like, this is definitely a place to be.
• Invercargill, where one of my brothers lives, is a small town at the very bottom of the South Island. On a clear day, you can see Stewart Island in the distance. Drive half an hour out of Invercargill and you will come across Bluff famous for it’s Bluff Oysters, this sleepy little town has “lands end” marked by street signs pointing you in the direction you want to head. A great place to have your picture taken and of course if you like shell fish, you will want to taste their oysters.

There you have it, some of my favourite places throughout New Zealand, my home country and the place I will always come back to. Please come and visit us and come up with your own favourite places to visit!

Kat Beechum writes about things she is passionate about, which are many and varied. Kat lives in New Zealand with her man and two cats, Cooper and Phoenix, both male.

You can visit her website here http://www.money-or-excuses.blogspot.com

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There are two ways to save money traveling. The first way is to get the best deals on the specific things you want. There is a limitation to this type of approach though. If , for example, you find the lowest price on the best hotel in Honolulu at the height of the season, you will save money, but still have a very expensive vacation. Trying to get exactly what you want, or what you think you want, will generally be an expensive proposition, in travel and in life.

Be A Travel Opportunist

The other approach is to be a true opportunist. This will be difficult for some of you, and entirely unacceptable to others. Nonetheless, the travelers who get to travel the most, go to the widest variety of places, learn the most and do the most, are the opportunists. This will be true until you are so wealthy that you have no monetary limits.

The first time I went to Ecuador, I went there because it was cheap. If it wasn’t, I would have had a great time - somewhere else. The trip lasted a month, and cost $1045, which included airfare and even the $130 fee for a guide to take me to the top of glacier-covered Mount Chimborazo.

I cut the cost by taking a bus from my home in Michigan to Miami, and back again when I returned from Ecuador. The round-trip ticket cost $158. The round-trip flight to Quito from Miami was only $256, because it was a courier flight, which meant I signed for some luggage (car parts), and could only take carry-on luggage.

Never did I feel deprived, or bored. I had a great time, eating wherever it was cheap and clean, doing all sorts of inexpensive, but interesting things, and traveling across the country to climb Chimborazo. I also met and fell in love with my wife Ana.

How To Become An Opportunistic Traveler

Can you drink rum at a dollar per bottle, instead of your favorite beer? Can you eat chicken instead of steak? How about visiting the free sights first, and dancing in the street festival instead of the disco?

Being an opportunist means you’ll have just as much variety, and probably almost everything you want - eventually. You just have to stop trying to get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. If the guide that took me up Chimborazo hadn’t dropped his price from $200 to $130, I would have spent $2 for a bus and gone hiking on El Altar, another great Andean mountain. That would have left me with enough money for several other minor adventures.

More Secrets Of Cheap Travel

Plane Tickets: My wife and I were planning a trip to visit family in Ecuador. The cheapest airfare from Traverse City, Michigan to Quito, was $1720. Out of curiosity, I checked Miami to Quito, and it was only $404. Airfare from Traverse City to Miami was $300. Book two separate flights and save more than $2000! The discount sites aren’t set up to search in this way (yet), so you have to do this on your own. By the way, the whole six-week trip, which we took in 2004, cost $2400, including losing $100, and being robbed of $174.

Food: Whether traveling here or in other countries, it is usually cheaper to buy some healthy snacks in a grocery store, rather than eat every meal in a restaurant. When you do eat in restaurants, it can be cheaper to to order individual items on the menu from the list of appetizers or side dishes. You also may get more variety in that way.

Accomodations: For a long trip, you may want to rent an apartment in an interesting city. We did this for two months in Tucson, for about $600 less per month, compared to even the cheaper motels. Watch for hotel coupon-books in gas stations. The coupons will often save you $10 on a room you would have stayed in anyhow. If you have a conversion van or RV, you can camp a couple nights a week, like we do, to save on motels. We love the hotsprings we’ve stayed at, for a $3 fee to the BLM, instead of $40 for the cheapest motel in the area.

Travel Expenses: Do more and travel less. It is often the traveling part that costs the most, due to the cost of gas, convenient fast food, and expensive hotels you are forced to pay for when you just can’t drive any further. So if you find a place with a reasonable motel, and a lot to do in the area - stay for a while!

Steve Gillman first hit the road on his own when at sixteen, and traveled alone across the United States and Mexico at 17. Now 40, he continues to travel and backpack with his wife Ana, whom he met in Ecuador. Many of his stories, plus tips and information on travel and lightweight backpacking, can be found on his websites: http://www.EverythingAboutTravel.com, and http://www.TheUltralightBackpackingSite.com

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Travel doesn’t have to be expensive. Sure, it takes more effort to save money on the
road, but when you are a hard working gal with dreams of hoofing it across
continents, sometimes those pennies saved can mean the difference between out on
the road or broke at home. Here are a few tips to help you get the most for less
while your seeing the world.

Get that AAA membership. It may sound like something your mom would tell you to
do, but it’s worth every penny. For about $45 a year, you get free help if your car
breaks down and serious discounts on hotels, motels and museums. You even get a
discount on Amtrak. I recently took my mom to the beach, and the cash my AAA
card saved me on hotels for that one trip more than paid for the membership fee.

Bring a friend. Not only is it safer and more fun to travel with a friend, it’s cheaper.
You can split the cost of gas and hotels, making travel almost half the price of going
solo.

Food Smarts. Eating out costs a pretty penny. If you’re going to eat out, do lunch
then eat dinner in your hotel room. Lunch is always cheaper. When you go out, ask
around and find out where the locals eat, or look for mom and pop diners or ethnic
neighborhoods full of authentic and inexpensive cuisine.

Buy bottles of water and snacks at the local grocery store before heading out to
sightsee. The same stuff will cost you half as much as it will in tourist areas or
convenience stores. You may want to keep a handy dandy cooler packed with sodas,
water and fruits in your car. Fill it up with treats before you hit the road and just
refill the ice from the hotel ice machine.

The best food is often local food. Locate the farmer’s market and the local bakeries.
Stop at the bakery for some bread, then stop by the farmer’s market for fresh
veggies and cheese and soon you’ll have the fixins for a healthy, fresh lunch for
much less than the cost of eating in a restaurant.

Hotels/motels. If you can, stop by a truck stop or travel center on your way into
town. They always have racks of free coupon magazines that can save you a few on
accommodations. And they usually contain a map of the area too.

At Roomsavers.com, you can also download coupons for hotels. Of course, traveling
during the week instead of on weekends will save you on your hotel bill, too.

If you decide to stay in the locally owned, non-chain motel ( which will usually be a
better deal) ask to see the room before you pay for it. You don’t want to stay
somewhere too icky or unsafe just to save a few bucks. When you do find a place,
work that AAA discount.

Remember there’s always a hostel. Hostels are almost always the cheapest way to
go for single travelers. Sometimes it can be cheaper than a motel for two people.

Another new option is house swapping. If you live in a reasonably interesting place,
chances are pretty good you can trade apartments with someone in another city for
a week or two. Check Craigslist or one of the many house-swapping organizations
for more information and to see if it’s right for you.

And if you have tent, will travel. You can park your tent on a spot with water and
electricity for as little as $10 a night. Throw an air mattress in there and you can
camp like a queen!

There are usually state parks, private campgrounds and national parks with camp
sites near most major cities and along major highways, making them a convenient
lodging option. Many parks have cabins with kitchenettes, where you can sleep up
to eight people for as little as $20 a night.

Travel during the off times
The best way to stretch your travel dollar is to travel during off-peak times. That
means when schools are in session and not during three day holiday weekends,
when the legions of people tied to 9 to 5 jobs maximize vacation days.

You’ll always get a better deal if you travel during the week, not on weekends, or
during a city’s slow tourism season. For instance, the beach will be cheaper in May
and September than June through August. New Orleans and Las Vegas are cheaper
during the summer because their high season is winter.

Remember, hotels raise their rates on Friday and Saturday nights. Some rates nearly
double. Travel Sunday to Thursday if you can. You’ll save serious money on lodging.
You’ll also avoid long lines and crowds at local attractions, and maybe save a few
cents a gallon on gasoline.

Summer is universally the peak season, and prices for rooms, shows, gas, airfare
and just about everything else are higher from May through August. If you can travel
from September to April, you’ll save a lot more money. If you’re considering a
European trip, you’ll cut your airfare in half and will have your pick of inexpensive
lodging, entertainment and transportation.

Book early
In most cases, you can get primo rates and first pick when you book early and
you’re more likely to lock in the best airfare and hotel rates. You also may have the
option of putting down a deposit and paying your trip off in installments instead of
putting it on a credit card and paying interest.

Use the Web
Many times, booking rental cars, hotel rooms and airline flights on the Web, directly
through the hotels or airline’s Web sites will net you the best deal. Always try to
book directly first, rather than through a broker, then try Priceline , Travelocity or
Orbitz to see which has the best deal. You may also try your hand at
BiddingforTravel.com, a Priceline message board designed to help you get the best
possible deals for travel.

Denise Trowbridge is an award-winning journalist residing in Ohio. Her work has
appeared in newspapers and magazines across the United States, as well as on her
site http://www.DeniseTrowbridge.com
Denise is also the editor of the women’s Web magazine,
http://www.PussycatMagazine.com.

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