New Zealand

[emerson.]

Anyone backpacked or just general vacationed to new zealand?
I'll have alot of leave to use after a deployment early 2016, long ways away but I wanna start planning asap. Would be me and my girlfriend around January to February time frame for 2 to 3 weeks.
looking at cost it seems like airfare might be the most expensive part, especially if we stay in cheap hotels and hostels

Tell me your experience!

Pic to spark interest

[Farbin Kaiber]

In before the smoo comes and melts this thread.

Truly one of a handful of places I have to go before I go.

[mrsleeve]

In before the smoo comes and melts this thread.

Truly one of a handful of places I have to go before I go.

this mostly sums up my thoughts as well....


Edit: Just remembered Smoo told me he was going to buy the 1st beer when I do get a chance to go down there, and I am going to hold him too it ;) SOme day... Smoo you know that offer holds true on my end if you end up around here too....

[susej1981]

[Massimo]

Me and the missus want to go probably will in the next few years. I would highly recommend putting the penny's away for a nice higher car as new zeland has some amazing roads.

Check out the targe NZ for some inspiration. http://targa.co.nz/

Also amazing scenery.

[Smrtpunk]

I went about 4 years ago, amazing time.

I was traveling by myself for 5 weeks. I landed in Auckland and joined one of the tour bus companies where I got to meet a huge amount of awesome people. I spent about half the time in the north island and the other half in the south island.

My best memories come from the south island, especially Queenstown. Queenstown is an adrenaline junkie's paradise, they have a huge amount of outdoor activities and lots of bars and restaurants. There's this burger place on the main strip, (Jake's/Pete's or something like that) it was pretty awesome. Mountain Biking on Queenstown mountain was the coolest time ever

What made the trip the best was the people I got to meet an the experiences/memories I obtained along the way, It wasn't all high spots, like when my bag got stolen out of the belly of the bus, but all in all it was a life changing trip and it most certainly took me out of my comfort zone and built my character.

Sweet Ass man!

Ian

[emerson.]

Thanks for the info everyone. The south island is where we want to spend most our time. I'm looking into getting a rental in queenstown and driving it'll til we leave outta auckland. Rental is a bit expensive but worth it to have the freedom to go wherever without scheduling bus tours and stuff. Only having 2-3 weeks I don't really want to have too much idle time. I'm most excited bout the south island as it seems to be more scenic and geared toward hiking and such, as said above.
Girlfriend a huge lotr/hobbit fan so she wants to hit that up too. I want to get culture outta the trip more than anything, which is why I want to stay at hostels. Get more story's and meet interesting people than you would at some 5 star hotel

[SkiFree]

Screw visiting, I really would like to pack up the family and live there at some point.

[thatphysicsguy]

I spent about a week in Christchurch a couple years back, they were still doing a lot of earthquake repairs, but it was a nice town.

I then spent about a month and a half in Auckland. It was a really cool place. There is no shortage of amazing hiking, beaches, scenery, and general outdoor awesomeness in New Zealand. I definitely want to go back at some point with a car that I can drive around the country.

Also good call with the hostels, you meet a lot of really cool people!

[Rustyduktape]

"It's like the lord of the rings."

[Hooffenstein HD]

[HennaE30]

New Zealand

I love that poster in the background... Need to get me one of them