Cash maybe not but I am expecting to use that much for car rental, accomodation, entry passes etc.

Haha, my card limit ain't that much anyway .

Btw, any idea about claiming back the gst paid?

edit: oh nvm, just saw the clause saying that gst is not refundable

This post has been edited by Keng: Mar 6 2012, 11:38 PM

I learned a trick from my uncle, that is to bank in all your cash into your CC. All the car rental, accommodation, tickets, etc all those can be paid by cards at no cost to you except currency exchange.

No idea about gst claiming, I got mine after doing all the form filling and visiting IRD.

any backpackers tips on going to CHC? where to stay, what to do there for 8 days?

Yes coverage is pretty limited overall. I was on 2degrees and Telecom NZ, the latter is better but there are frequently places which simply have no voice or data coverage eg. Milford Sound, the glaciers on the west coast etc. I decided to enjoy the natural beauty instead

CHC? Any budget? What to do there? Basically, CHC is already a dead city for now as restorations and stuff are going on after the quakes.

yeah..heard that nothing in CHC,so we planned to travel and stay in queenstown.
activity:
bungy jumping
shotover
luge+gondola
milford sound tour

and alot more

Haha. after I've got through from the 1st page, I realized that I have to explore south or/and north island.

Given that my trip is only for 9 Days, I'll choose to explore on South Island. My trip will be in June whereby it will be the starts of the winter. Kindly need your professional advise whether I should drive on my own or take a bus to Queenstown?

If i choose to take my trip on bus, will the bus stop at those beautiful,amazing, precious area on the way such as Mt Cook?

Kindly refer a few pages back, there are a lot of discussion for winter.

I shall feed thee since I'm bored.

Take a bus if you don't have winter driving experience. How many people anyway? I don't even drive long journeys when it's winter back there. Me and my friends just catch a bus to Queenstown. Easier, economical, safe. Lol. (Basically it's down the the laziness as well. Sleeping in a warm bus is better than having to the need to change drivers now and then due to sleepiness.)

The whole place itself is amazing. You'll get to know what I mean when you use the bus.

This post has been edited by digitalz: Mar 7 2012, 12:09 PM

Yup, can suffer from scenery-overload too. In the bus try to get seat in the first row -- the huge windscreen (a clean one) is good for drive-by photography.

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Thank you for the replies guys!

Taking a bus does that mean using a services such as Stray, Kiwi Experience etc. ?

If i opted to take such the Stray Travel, is it worth the value I paid for the service? Can I stop along the way to Queenstown to experience the amazing place along the way or I just have to take the photo from the moving bus?

I guess it depends on the driver. I've been in buses in Aust/NZ and some drivers would oblige with stops at scenic places for photoshoots. Just ask the driver.

Taking pics from buses can be tricky. You need clean windows obviously, and use speed priority, at least 1/400sec, to capture sharp images.

Stray and Kiwi Experience are called hop-on-hop-off buses. Between Stray and Kiwi Experience, you'll better off with Stray as Kiwi Experience has reputation as a party bus. Stray attracts more travellers with focus on real sightseeing and fun times.

Depending on the location in between places, you can actually ask the driver to stop if it's along the way and time permits. Actually they do stop at most of the attractions that's are located in the middle of nowhere.. One very good thing about taking this kind of bus is you'll get to meet sooo many friends from around the world! That is the coolest part I think! And some drivers are pretty funny too, they'll give commentary of places you'll pass by along the way.

As for the price, I've seen that the price of Stray pass has dropped quite a lot since the last time I travel with them last year. Look out for their promotions, they do have that frequently. The question of whether it's worth or not to travel with the bus depends on how much you enjoy your trip If you want to buy Stray Bus pass, remember to use Stray Mate Code - KL3909 to get $25-50 off! Sweet as!

1 day - tekapo
1 day - mt cook np, u can do hooker valley track or kea point track. if u dun wanna do trekking, can just stop by, take photo of mt cook and go for next destination. if got $$, can fly to see snow capped mountain and glacier
1 or 2 days - wanaka (skydiving, puzzling world, learn to fly, hike at mt iron/mt roy/ rocky mountain or walk at lake front, skiing)
3 days - queenstown (bungy jump (u jump at night doing the ledge bungy, how cool), jetboating, gondola, arrowtown, skiing/snowboarding (early june, not sure whether ski field has open, depends on how early the snow arrive), 1 day milford sound. if u like sports, go for a ice hockey game. super exciting. there's winter festival in qtwn, not sure when this year)
1 day - back to chch

daylight timing during winter is very short. sky becomes dark at 5pm. it's super cold down south. plan ur trip well and enjoy.

Hopefully they will stop, or else I'll have to stay 1 night in one of those area. Any recommended place on where should I stay at least 1 night before continuing my journey to Queenstown?

By 1 day, u mean that I stay 1 night at those places suggested by you is it? so from those places that you mention, is there's a stop for Stray Travel so that I can hop on and continue my journey down south..

Consider the Youth Hostel at Twizel -- pics and brief description here: http://travel.nuraina.com/queenstown/

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Thanks guys for the info(s). btw, is chocolate price in NZ is cheaper compared to Langkawi or any other places? Anything else than chocolate that NZ is cheaper compared to other places?

Fuh, less than a day to go .

Hows your itinerary like?

Mine is christchurch-lake tekapo-queenstown (& milford sound) - wanaka - fox glacier - hokitika - greymouth - punakaiki - nelson - picton - wellington - taupo - rotorua - waitomo - wellington -(fly in) christchurch

Very packed for 2 weeks, but it's doable although I wouldn't do it again.
I personally prefer Franz Josef rather than Fox glacier. Also the night sky in Hokitika was amazing, even more so than any other place I stopped at. Turn off the lights and just gaze up.

Yeah, Franz Josef looks better, but you can get closer to Fox.

Franz Josef.

(SOURCE)

Fox.

(SOURCE)

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