Travel and Transportation in New Zealand

You'll be traveling by foot a lot in New Zealand! I've done the most walking ever in my life during my 3 months in New Zealand.. haha

Bus - Intercity - NakedBus

However, there's plenty of options! Public transport such as buses are very good and punctual. For those who wants to travel far, i suggest booking with Intercity NZ. They offers one of the most cheapest bus fare ever! Just book a day or two before and you'll get some amazing deals. Besides Intercity, you'll find NakedBus, Atomic Shuttles (south island) and few more companies i cant recall right now..

Oh ya, i travel by bus the most also in my life during the 3 months holiday.. 4 hours ride, 6 hours ride, 8 hours ride, 11 hours ride, u name it! This is what i do to save money.. bus is cheap! If you want cheaper, you can always try hitch hiking.. i heard it's quite easy to get (my sis does.. so do most girls.. just becareful and watch out for wary drivers.. ). Guys will be harder to hitch any rides, so... good luck!

Bicycle


This is a great mode of transportation.. although you must be fit seriously.. there's so many hilly roads at some places (almost died of exhaustion cycling up Queens Street in Auckland! hahaa.. sorry ler, my stamina is not that good... )

You can get a cheap one, probably under NZD100 or so..

Environmentally friendly, free, exercise and be fit.. highly recommended! It's safe to ride bicycle in NZ, drivers there are very wary and watch out for pedestrians and cyclist, and there's dedicated bicycle lanes in most places. It's not like in Malaysia where... drivers are crazy!

Motorbike

Some of us might think of getting motorcycles there.. i still dont have much information except that i heard there's some license to take.. i will update this part when im there.

Car


Car is dirt cheap in New Zealand! You can get car as cheap as NZD1000! The only thing is fuel, but it is good if you have few friends to share with.. car pooling.. if you have cars, you can travel far by yourself, dont need to worry about the weather (it can be 4 seasons in a day..) and it's heated so it'll be comfortable as well. The only thing is fuel... for those who are budget conscious!

Driving in New Zealand is pretty safe too, everyone follow law. Speed limit and speed traps are everywhere, so dont break the law. There's no bribery there..no duit kopi anymore..

You can use our Malaysian driving license there, as long as you get it translated to English by JPJ. It only cost RM10. Cheap. Just get it done, whether you going to drive there or not. You'll never know..

Wellinton, part 2

I think i've spent 2 days doing nothing in New Zealand... just plain walking around the shoreline looking at people's antic and common culture of westerners.. It was pretty fascinating sometimes, but sitting there doing nothing is kinda boring isnt it... Been to most of the places already, and was supposingly going to visit Zealandia. However, the weather is pretty unpredictable with heavy clouds and high wind :(

Never really see anyone washing windows and wall this way, but it's interesting job

This was taken on Hokitia, an old crane on a ship. Almost 90% of the workers here are old people. I wonder why? Is it because they are very skillful and experienced? Im sure they are.. but i also think, it's because the younger generations wouldnt want to work in this field anymore..

They are a numbers of poetry along the walkway.. meaningful stuff!

I think i saw this Red Bull car before in Auckland.. so here it is, in Wellington as well

In conjunction with the Rugby World Cup 2011, there's some good photos and information about the history in NZ rugby

and there's pretty much old rusty chains still hanging on the jetty

i think this type of bicycle is pretty fun for family outing, with dog as well.. good way to exercise them! Haha

and i saw this sculpture somewhere around Lambton Quay.. dont know what it means but, well.. good display

and the finale, something wrong with this boy here...

So there goes day doing nothing in Wellington city apart of shooting with my favourite lens, the Nikkor 50mm F/1.8D :)

Rotorua

Finally im back into travelling, and this time, i've decided to head to Rotorua to see some volcanic and thermal activities. Took the Intercity again, which only cost me NZD35 from Manukau City to Rotorua. This is the non-refundable tickets, hence, the price. It tooks about 4 hours to get here, and man, it does smells bad here. Rotten eggs smells of sulphur fills the air of Rotorua. It was kinda spectacular to see steams coming out from the ground and water surface as the water/mud is practically boiling!

Managed to get my accomodation in Cactus Jack Backpackers @ 20NZD per night.. Not a very good backpackers place, with things pretty old and i dont feel secure here with my stuffs. Although Dan, the owner's son was pretty helpful with stuff and getting good deals. Anyway, this was one of the cheapest one, so, you decide! :P

Here's the Rotorua Museum @ Government Garden.

Didnt do much on the first few days.. hanging around the lake and some short trails in the city.. it was not a beautiful sights along the trails i can say :( Decided to visit Wai-O-Tapu and Waimangu Thermal Valley as planned, but the transport there is pretty expensive!! Got a deal of 110NZD for the shutter bus and entry tickets to both places. Not cheap but, i'm here already.. and not coming to Rotorua AGAIN!

First of all, the 'largest' mud pool in NZ is pretty disappointing.. small, and lack to bubbling actions.

And then we went to watch the Lady Knox Geyser, which is another sad case where it's not a natural erupting geyser i should say.. at the beginning, everyone was wondering, how can it erupt at precisely 10.15am each day? Well.. soon after we find our place to sit, one old man came, talk about some history of the geyser and then,... he added something to trigger the Geyser eruption! DUHHH!!

and we move on to the main entrance of Wai-O-Tapu where we have quite a limited time to visit the whole area, which makes it pretty tiring and unpleasant..

This is the famous Champagne Pool of Wai-O-Tapu

same goes to Waimangu Volcanic Valley, and the rain just makes it worst! It's been raining almost everyday in Rotorua for the whole week im there.. it's just sad sad thing..

The room i've stayed in was also pretty boring, as there is nobody in it except for a french guy. However, on the third day, it was a good day.. the room is filled with new friends from all over the world. I met a French girl, Caroline and we explore Rotorua for the next few days, mainly walking and hiking along the beautiful Red Wood forest and Mount Ngongataha. It was free, so, it's good.. both of us are pretty much on a tight budget and all these places makes it possible for us to explore and spend the days. It was a nice walks through all the trails with her.. she's active in sports and pretty much travel all across the world.. I think im the oldest guy during this backpacking trip to NZ who travels the LEAST! Sobzz... Everyone i met and talk to have a great experiences backpacking trip while me, i'm just started :P

Anyway, here's some photos from the walks along the Red Wood Forest