New Zealand Essentials

Hostels & Loyalty Cards

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Coachman Backpackers Photo - Christchurch, New Zealand

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New Zealand is very much a backpacker's country; this is obvious by the sheer number of hostels throughout the country. Even in some of the most remote areas, there are often one or two hostels catering to the travelers passing through. Because there are so many hostels--most of which have an average price range of $20-25 for a dorm bed--figuring out where to stay in NZ isn't nearly as easy as in other countries where you don't have much of a selection.There are three different hostel "loyalty programs" in New Zealand. The first, and most well-known outside the two islands, is YHA, or Youth Hostelling Association (and known as Hostelling International wor...Read More

New Zealand is very much a backpacker's country; this is obvious by the sheer number of hostels throughout the country. Even in some of the most remote areas, there are often one or two hostels catering to the travelers passing through. Because there are so many hostels--most of which have an average price range of $20-25 for a dorm bed--figuring out where to stay in NZ isn't nearly as easy as in other countries where you don't have much of a selection.

There are three different hostel "loyalty programs" in New Zealand. The first, and most well-known outside the two islands, is YHA, or Youth Hostelling Association (and known as Hostelling International worldwide). There are approximately 50 hostels in NZ that carry the YHA label. Many of these are owned by the YHA, but a few are associate members that incorporate the YHA discount system. All YHAs have a $3 surcharge for any bed if you are a non-member; so, if you plan to stay in a YHA for more than 9 nights, it's worth buying the $40 card, especially since it also comes with a phone card worth $10. Also, many restaurants and activities offer special discounts to YHA members.

However, you should do your research before you buy the card; I only ended up staying in one YHA for my entire trip because I'm not a huge fan. The hostels are always clean and pleasant places to stay, but I often find them too large and impersonal. Plus, they rarely provide non-pay phones, which is a regular occurrence at BBH hostels, so calling home/making phone reservations incurs a huge (~40c a minute) surcharge. One big upside to YHAs is that they nearly always have fantastic internet facilities that are reasonably priced and sometimes have USB connections/memory card readers. This is convenient if you want to use the internet in the evening, since you don't have to leave the hostel. Just be warned that the internet is all on a pre-paid system (you buy a code for a certain number of minutes from the front desk) and if you decide you want to use the internet after reception has closed, you're out of luck!

BBH (or Budget Backpacker Hostels) is the largest association of hostels in the country. Boasting nearly 370 hostels spanning from Kerikeri in the far north to Invercargill in the south, you are likely to find a BBH hostel in nearly every place you want to go (for instance, I stayed in a BBH hostel in Punakaiki on the South Island's West Coast…a town that is 50kms away from both petrol and groceries!). I bought a $45 BBH card on my first night in NZ, because it pays for itself after about eight nights. This is because the BBH card gives you a $2-3 discount per night (depending on the individual hostel's policy) and comes with a phone card initially loaded with $20. This phone card was definitely the best investment I made in New Zealand, since most BBH hostels will provide the local phone number for the phone card and either have a non-payphone or have an exception so the phone does not charge if you are dialing the BBH number. I have explained more about phone cards in another entry in this journal.

BBH hostels are only members of an association rather than hostels owned & operated by a specific group like the YHA. This means that the hostels vary widely in their upkeep and character. Most of the hostels are fantastic (although there are definitely dodgy ones as well), and they are often smaller and have a much friendlier atmosphere. The association publishes a guide to its hostels that it updates yearly; this guide is an absolute essential to any traveler in NZ. Everyone I met carried it in a convenient pocket, where it could easily be reached and pored over. This guide has all of the essentials for each hostel: its name, address, phone number, website/email, and a map, as well as more personalized content, including a short description and BBH rating. These ratings are mined from a survey filled out by everyone staying in BBH hostels on a certain night of the year (I gleefully filled mine in while staying at Wanaka Bakpaka in late February), so they aren't just an arbitrary score given by some reviewer. I found that the numbers were normally spot on, and I always knew that if I could get a booking at a hostel with a 90% or better rating that I would be in for a real treat. The BBH also provides its own website where BBH card holders can log in and contribute to "online ratings" without having to wait for the yearly survey. Often, most hostels only have 3-4 ratings online, but some of the comments can be helpful.

The last loyalty program found in New Zealand is VIP. They, at least to me, seemed much less visible than the other two associations in NZ, even though they claim to be the world's leading hostelling association. They apparently have 70 hostels in NZ, but if I stayed in a VIP-associated hostel in my ten weeks, I was not aware of it. The VIP website isn't too helpful, so I don't know how much the card costs, but it says that you can get at least $1 off at any member hostel in NZ, which is significantly less than the other two cards provide.

Overall, my recommendation for the most useful card in NZ is the BBH card, but you may have a different opinion. You don't have to stick to one card, either--buy them all if you want! Read Less

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Sun Protection

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Everyone has heard, since the advent of sunscreen, that you need to cover up from the sun or else you'll get skin cancer. Nowhere is this more true than New Zealand, which receives some of the most direct sunlight in the world due to the convenient hole in the ozone above the country.When arrived in Kaikoura (which will be reviewed in another journal), I decided to take a walk along the peninsula walkway, so I lathered on the sunscreen and wore a jacket and long pants. I figured I was good to go, so I took off on the four-hour walk. It was a brilliant day, meaning the sun was out in full force, and I quickly had to take off my jacket…but forgot to put on sunscreen on my now-exposed arms. Fou...Read More

Everyone has heard, since the advent of sunscreen, that you need to cover up from the sun or else you'll get skin cancer. Nowhere is this more true than New Zealand, which receives some of the most direct sunlight in the world due to the convenient hole in the ozone above the country.

When arrived in Kaikoura (which will be reviewed in another journal), I decided to take a walk along the peninsula walkway, so I lathered on the sunscreen and wore a jacket and long pants. I figured I was good to go, so I took off on the four-hour walk. It was a brilliant day, meaning the sun was out in full force, and I quickly had to take off my jacket…but forgot to put on sunscreen on my now-exposed arms. Four hours later, I found that I couldn't even touch my arms because they were so burned. Bending my elbow at all or slightly moving my shoulder caused me to scream in agony…so sleeping on my side that night was quite fun! Even worse, I found out all of the places that I missed because they had turned red as well. I had spots on my forehead and neck, and my ears were a shade of red normally seen in the capsicum (red pepper) section of the supermarket. I was quite a sight…and everyone in the hostel let me know that. Even worse, my skin started peeling just as I started the Queen Charlotte Track and was still peeling when I started the Abel Tasman Track a week and a half later!

So, let that be a cautionary tale. Even if you feel that you don't burn where you live, you will in NZ. The first thing people commented on when they saw me after my trip was how dark I'd gotten--and I wore sunscreen religiously after the incident in Kaikoura! I kept a tube of SPF30 with me at all times, and made sure I coated myself in it, even if it was a cloudy day.

Also, try to prepare yourself with clothes that will cover up more of your body. I made sure that my hiking clothes would cover up as much as possible without being excessive. I knew that only packing pants would be a bad idea, so I took some pants and some zip-off pants, which I could wear as pants until it got unbearably hot and then could convert to knee-length shorts. All of my shirts had sleeves (I couldn't deal with getting burned on my shoulders while carrying around my big backpack) and the majority of them had collars so I could keep the sun off my neck as much as possible. I always wore a hat to keep the sun out of my eyes and off of my face.

The main point of this entry is just to make you aware that the sun is a serious risk while you're out and about in NZ, and as long as you follow the Australian "slip, slop, slap" mantra (so you "slip" on a shirt, "slop" on some sunscreen, and "slap" on a hat), you'll keep yourself as safe as possible. Read Less

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Tramping & The DOC

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Kaikoura Walkway Vista Photo - Kaikoura, New Zealand

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I spent nearly three of my ten weeks in New Zealand tramping in the backcountry. To me, this felt like the best way to see the scenery that the country is renowned for; how could there be a better feeling than getting to the top of a long, grueling climb to find a superb vista at the top that only those who make the effort to walk there get to see? Sure, there's scenic views everywhere you look in NZ, but I felt like I would appreciate it so much more if I had put in a serious physical effort to see them.The NZ Department of Conservation owns and takes care of all of the trails that I tramped on. They have a network of hundreds of tracks that range from "Great Walks" status (the biggest an...Read More

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Weather

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Shiels Creek: Before Photo - West Coast, New Zealand

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It's hard to write an entry about weather across the entirety of New Zealand, so please don't expect this to be a detailed analysis of weather patterns for the whole country (that can probably be found here, along with day-to-day forecasts and any other weather information you may need). Instead, I will highlight a few regions that have weather patterns that will greatly impact your trip and also point out some of the extreme hazards that weather creates for travelers.Some areas of New Zealand seem to have fantastic weather year-round, like the Nelson and Marlborough regions. Others seem to be constantly under a pall of rain--espe...Read More

It's hard to write an entry about weather across the entirety of New Zealand, so please don't expect this to be a detailed analysis of weather patterns for the whole country (that can probably be found here, along with day-to-day forecasts and any other weather information you may need). Instead, I will highlight a few regions that have weather patterns that will greatly impact your trip and also point out some of the extreme hazards that weather creates for travelers.

Some areas of New Zealand seem to have fantastic weather year-round, like the Nelson and Marlborough regions. Others seem to be constantly under a pall of rain--especially the West Coast and Fiordland on the South Island. This weather is a blessing, though, because it has created the astounding landscapes there today; still, the Kiwis like to blame any rainy day on the Australians. This is because all of the hot air that flows off of the arid continent of Oz flows across the Tasman Sea, picking up water vapor as it goes. When it reaches New Zealand, it hits the wall of the Southern Alps and has to rise quickly, causing that vapor to turn into torrents of rain. Many areas of the West Coast and Fiordland receive over 5 meters(!!) of rain per year, which falls on 2 out of every 3 days.

As I've said, the rain has helped to shape these two regions. The West Coast is largely temperate rainforest, which makes the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers all the more amazing, since they are two of only three glaciers in the world that flow into rainforests. Milford Sound in Fiordland is supposedly even more beautiful in the pouring rain because its sheer walls turn into massive waterfalls. However, the rain can also spoil many well-laid plans. I have had two vastly different vacations in New Zealand in the past three years. The first seemed to be completely covered in fog (after all, New Zealand is the land of the long white cloud) and pouring rain. We planned too little time at Fox Glacier and ended up not getting to do a glacier walk at all because it was raining so hard that it was causing boulders to fall onto the glacier. On this recent trip, I managed to spend over three weeks in Fiordland with only two days of rain (although this summer was a very dry one). So, you never know what to expect in these areas, but I would definitely not be on a tight schedule while you travel through them; otherwise, you'll end up missing activities (or putting yourself in danger!) and going home disappointed.

This volatile weather--and the higher you are/further in the backcountry you are, the more volatile it becomes--can very easily kill if you put yourself in the wrong situation. Often, people set off on day walks thinking that it's sunny, so all they'll need is a shirt, shorts, and a water bottle. This is never a good idea. I saw people on the Tongariro Crossing (on the North Island in Tongariro National Park--another area that has very changeable weather) with this gear that were shivering with cold at the top of Red Crater, where a cloud had descended on us and dropped the temperature by what seemed to be nearly ten degrees. It is always advisable to take wet weather gear (raincoat, rain pants, pack cover and a watertight bag for inside your pack), warm clothing (Kiwis swear by their polypropylene thermals, which are light but very warm), extra water, and plenty of food. I also carried an emergency bivvy bag for wrapping up in if I got stranded/lost.

If the cold, wet, and wind don't get to you when you are unprepared, it is likely that the trail conditions will. Even the best-kept trails deteriorate quickly in adverse weather. Only weeks before I walked the Milford Track, people had to be airlifted over sections of the track that had been completely flooded; I also heard a story from another traveler who had all of his electronics (iPod, camera) ruined after he had to wade through shoulder-deep water on the Milford and didn't have a proper waterproof bag. I got stuck at Welcome Flat Hut on the Copland Track because Shiels Creek, the closest creek to the hut and the only major crossing with no swing bridge, rose to dangerous levels and could have swept me down a mountain face had I tried to cross it. If a river looks dangerous, don't cross it. Either take a flood crossing or wait it out!

Even if you aren't walking in the backcountry, the weather should always be a concern. Nowhere is this more the case than on the Milford Road in winter. The Milford Road, which covers the 120km between Te Anau and Milford Sound, is one of the most fantastic roads I've ever been on. Even though it's windy and I got a bit carsick, I loved it because there was new, glacier-carved scenery around every corner. The road is a tourist attraction in itself, but in winter, it is often closed because the sheer cliff faces that make for such delightful viewing are also a perfect breeding ground for avalanches. This road is carefully monitored and closed if the conditions get too treacherous, but other rural roads may not be so well-kept-up, so conditions should always be checked before travel. Read Less

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Bank Accounts

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One of the first orders of business for the working holiday maker is to open a local bank account. However, even for someone that is staying for a shorter period of time and not planning to work very often, a New Zealand bank account can be very handy…and, even though the banks claim you need a permanent address, they will often let you use the address of the hostel where you are currently staying, or even the address of the bank where you are applying. I spent about a month in New Zealand without a local bank account before I got sick of the fluctuating exchange rate (the US dollar had, at this point, lost 6c per NZ dollar since I'd arrived) and the excessive bank fees. Unfortunately, these days it i...Read More

One of the first orders of business for the working holiday maker is to open a local bank account. However, even for someone that is staying for a shorter period of time and not planning to work very often, a New Zealand bank account can be very handy…and, even though the banks claim you need a permanent address, they will often let you use the address of the hostel where you are currently staying, or even the address of the bank where you are applying. I spent about a month in New Zealand without a local bank account before I got sick of the fluctuating exchange rate (the US dollar had, at this point, lost 6c per NZ dollar since I'd arrived) and the excessive bank fees. Unfortunately, these days it is very difficult to find a bank or credit card provider that doesn't charge a foreign exchange fee; in my case, I was getting charged about 3% extra per transaction. These fees appeared separately from the original charge on my bank statement, so every time I checked my account, I could see all of the money that I was losing.

A local bank account has none of these drawbacks. Once you withdraw the money from your home account (which I did regularly, as the ATMs would only dispense $800/day) and deposit it into your local account, you know the exact amount of money that you have and don't have to worry about it slowly disappearing because the US dollar is worthless. Also, there are no fees for normal transactions in stores and no ATM fees provided you use your bank's ATM. I found that an added bonus of having a local account was that I could use the EFTPOS facilities in stores, meaning I could use my PIN number rather than having to press "credit" and then sign.

There are a number of banks to choose from. If you are a Bank of America customer, I recommend going with Westpac, who partner with Bank of America and do not charge BofA customers any fees for using their ATMs. Westpac accounts normally incur about a $3/month fee, but if you stop paper bank statements, the account is free. They are also one of the largest banks in the country, meaning that most towns have their ATMs. The only bank that I saw with more ATMs than Westpac was the Bank of New Zealand. A simple everyday checking account with BoNZ costs $5/month. ANZ also has quite a few branches throughout the country, as do ASB, KiwiBank and HSBC.

An important note for Australian travelers: Westpac and ANZ may have the same name as banks in Australia, but they do not operate under the same banking system, so even if you have a Westpac account in Australia, you cannot go into NZ Westpac branches and make deposits, etc. However, you can use a Westpac ATM without paying any extra fees. Read Less

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Internet Access

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Internet access in New Zealand is definitely not hard to come by. Even the smallest towns--those towns with hostels but no other amenities like food or petrol that I have mentioned in other reviews--will generally have at least one establishment that offers internet, whether it be a dedicated internet cafe, a restaurant, or your hostel itself.The quality of these computers & internet connections and the price you will pay for them varies greatly throughout the country. In the bigger cities, like Christchurch, Nelson, and Queenstown, you will easily find internet cafes that offer prices as low as $3/hour (either post-pay or by buying a pre-paid card for a set number of hours). These cafes are...Read More

Internet access in New Zealand is definitely not hard to come by. Even the smallest towns--those towns with hostels but no other amenities like food or petrol that I have mentioned in other reviews--will generally have at least one establishment that offers internet, whether it be a dedicated internet cafe, a restaurant, or your hostel itself.

The quality of these computers & internet connections and the price you will pay for them varies greatly throughout the country. In the bigger cities, like Christchurch, Nelson, and Queenstown, you will easily find internet cafes that offer prices as low as $3/hour (either post-pay or by buying a pre-paid card for a set number of hours). These cafes are generally pretty well-equipped; many will either offer USB access on all computers or have special computers set aside where users can connect to USB and burn CDs or DVDs. In Nelson, for instance, the internet cafe that I found had 6 computers with this special access, all of which were first-come, first-served. The connections here can sometimes be slow, depending on the load (many cafes have upwards of 30 computers), but they are the fastest you'll get in the country.

Outside the cities, internet and computer access are a whole different kettle of fish. You'll count yourself as lucky if you find anywhere that offers access for $4/hour; many places charge $1/10 minutes, or $6/hour. I even saw one place--the only lodge on the Abel Tasman Track--that offered access for a whopping $10/hour (although why you'd be on the internet when in Abel Tasman National Park is beyond me). Also, the facilities are always a lot smaller; many hostels will only offer one computer (although YHAs normally have a bank of around 4 computers, for which you buy blocks of time from the reception counter), so you often have to spend a bit of time waiting around while the person before you finishes their business.

Many public computers--especially those in hostels--have protections on them so they cannot be easily destroyed by malicious users. However, these protections come at a cost to the normal user. Often, USB ports are completely blocked, since owners make the CPU unit inaccessible and sometimes do not provide USB extension cords. This means that you can't upload your pictures at all, which is frustrating if that's what you've signed on to the computer to do! It's always best to ask if any computers have USB access or card readers before choosing one. Other protections put on computers include blocking the user from easily accessing Explorer (again, making it difficult to view your pictures) and only allowing users to have one IE window open at a time (making it difficult to multi-task and minimize dollars and time spent online). Even with these restrictions, though, I still managed to find enough computers that allowed me access to USB to back up my pictures onto my iPod relatively regularly, meaning I never worried about losing all of them. I also backed pictures up to DVDs (which I bought at OfficeMax at a price of $8/5 DVDs--much better than the $2/CD price offered at internet cafes) while in Nelson and Queenstown, since I knew this sort of access would be limited in other areas.

Overall, computer access throughout New Zealand is widespread; you won't have to worry about being out of contact for long periods of time unless you go out into the backcountry. This means that there is no need to take a laptop, especially if you're concerned about its security in hostels or space in/weight of your pack. Also, wireless often costs just as much as using the computers at the internet cafe, so you're still going to have to fork out for internet access. Read Less

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Sandflies

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The Giant Sandfly Photo - West Coast, New Zealand

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Even New Zealand isn't perfect. Sure, the landscape is stunning and the crazy Kiwis offer you pretty much every adventure sport you could ever want to do in the aforementioned remarkable scenery, but there is one large problem. This problem is the evil creature known as the sandfly. This little creature and his swarms of buddies will find you anywhere (especially on the West Coast and in Fiordland--they live anywhere where there is a decent source of water) and will leave you looking like a pincushion.Maori legend even explains the existence of the sandflies. It says that when the god Tu-te-raki-whanoa finished creating the landscape of Fiordland, it was absolutely stunning...so stunning tha...Read More

Even New Zealand isn't perfect. Sure, the landscape is stunning and the crazy Kiwis offer you pretty much every adventure sport you could ever want to do in the aforementioned remarkable scenery, but there is one large problem. This problem is the evil creature known as the sandfly. This little creature and his swarms of buddies will find you anywhere (especially on the West Coast and in Fiordland--they live anywhere where there is a decent source of water) and will leave you looking like a pincushion.

Maori legend even explains the existence of the sandflies. It says that when the god Tu-te-raki-whanoa finished creating the landscape of Fiordland, it was absolutely stunning...so stunning that it stopped people from working. They just stood around gazing at the beauty instead. The goddess Hinenuitepo became angry at these unproductive people, so she created the sandfly to bite them and get them moving.

Protection from sandflies is absolutely essential if you want to enjoy many parts of New Zealand…otherwise, you'll just have memories of jumping around, slapping yourself, and swearing about "the little sons of b****es." This is one of many names I heard (and I myself called) the annoying little creatures, even though this name isn't quite correct, since the only sandflies that bite are the females. The females do this because they need the blood to incubate the eggs they are about to lay; the men just lounge about all day getting drunk off of tree sap. So, this provides yet another reason to protect yourself from sandflies, because if you don't, you're essentially helping to create up to five more to drive future tourists up the wall!

All outdoor shops and supermarkets stock varying levels of bug repellant. Often, you'll have a choice between herbal bug sprays (with citronella so everyone in the region can smell you) or bug sprays with different amounts of DEET. DEET scares me a little, since it's so strong that it can actually eat away at fabrics, and I recall having a bad allergic reaction to some forest-strength DEET while at a powderpuff football practice in college. Therefore, if you are going to buy a strong DEET spray (they come in concentrations between 20% and 99%), it's best to try wearing it before you go out into the wilderness and have many less facilities to help if your body doesn't react well. I stuck with 40%, which didn't keep away all sandflies, but it didn't make me puff up and turn bright red either. The only person that I met that was using 99% was an Irish girl on the Abel Tasman Track who was allergic to sandflies!

Once you get bitten (and trust me, you will) there are plenty of remedies that people claim will stop you from itching. The first (and best) remedy is exposure to them. When I first arrived in NZ and got bitten, the bites itched for nearly a week. By the end of my trip, my body was used to the toxin that the little buggers inject and the bites would stop itching in an hour or so. However, there are much faster approaches to making that itch go away. One tour guide told me that if you dig a fingernail into the bite as soon as it happens, it stops itching. This worked to an extent. There are also lotions that you can make yourself, such as Dettol and baby oil mixed together. At one point in my trip, I got so desperate that I bought a "Click that Itch" from an outdoors store. This device costs $25 and, when clicked, gives a small electric shock to a bite. I clicked it about 4 or 5 times into each bite, and it actually had an effect. The bite still itched a little bit, but it no longer had that nagging, have-to-scratch-this-constantly itchy feeling. I don't know if this device works because it deadens the skin with the electricity, or the electricity stimulates more blood flow to the area, or what…but it helped me make it through Fiordland without going insane, and that's all that mattered! Read Less

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Transport, Part 1 (Air and Bus Travel)

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Inside an Intercity Bus Photo - Hokitika, New Zealand

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The plethora of transport options available in New Zealand is almost overwhelming to the person that has just begun researching a trip there. In fact, there are no less than eight categories that these options can fall under. These categories are listed and described below.Air TravelThis is by far the quickest way to get around New Zealand, but it is also one of the more expensive options. The worst part of air travel, in my opinion, is the fact that you completely miss large portions of the country that you would at least get to see fleetingly on other modes of transport. That said, air travel definitely has its benefits. My international flight (like most not originating in ...Read More

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Transport, Part 2 (More Buses, Ferries & Trains)

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Keep your eye on the horizon... Photo - Marlborough, New Zealand

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This entry is a continuation of my Transport, Part 1 entry, which described air and bus travel within New Zealand. There are quite a few more options for transport within New Zealand described below.Organized Bus TravelBy "organized bus travel," I mean buying tickets on a bus line that organizes all transport, accommodation, and activities for the duration of your stay in New Zealand. There are three major companies that do this in New Zealand: Kiwi Experience, Magic Bus, and Stray Bus. If you have limited time in the country or don't want to bother wi...Read More

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Transport, Part 3 (Renting/Buying Cars & Biking)

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The Ninja Turtles in Fox Glacier Photo - Fox Glacier, New Zealand

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This entry is a continuation of my Transport entries, which have described air, bus, ferry, and train travel within New Zealand. This last entry describes modes of transport which give you much more freedom, namely having your own car or bike.Car RentalRenting a car in New Zealand, just like in any other part of the world, is expensive. However, if you need the flexibility that only a car offers and you don't have enough time in the country to justify buying a car, this quickly becomes your only option. I found that while some companies do offer rates as low as $25/day, you often won't be eligible for these special deals, since they are for rentals on the second Sunday after t...Read More

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Phone Cards & Mobile Phones

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Phone calls in New Zealand are not cheap. Unlike in America, where cell phones with unlimited night minutes and free national calls are ubiquitous, you pay for every minute in NZ. This applies to both phone cards, which I used to call internationally, and mobile phones, which I used for domestic calls and the occasional international call when I could not find a landline.Phone CardsThere are a plethora of choices greeting the weary traveller in the international airport who just wants to call home and tell her family she arrived safely. Asking about phone cards and having a stack of pamphlets forced at you can be overwhelming; I just gave up thumbing through them and asked the...Read More

Phone calls in New Zealand are not cheap. Unlike in America, where cell phones with unlimited night minutes and free national calls are ubiquitous, you pay for every minute in NZ. This applies to both phone cards, which I used to call internationally, and mobile phones, which I used for domestic calls and the occasional international call when I could not find a landline.

Phone Cards
There are a plethora of choices greeting the weary traveller in the international airport who just wants to call home and tell her family she arrived safely. Asking about phone cards and having a stack of pamphlets forced at you can be overwhelming; I just gave up thumbing through them and asked the clerk which one had the best rates to the US. He recommended GoTalk, which offered 2.7cent/minute calls if calling from a landline to the local access number. This is where all phone cards in New Zealand get your money, because it is often not possible to use a landline or call a local number if you are not in one of the major metropolitan areas. I cannot find or remember the exact surcharges, but calling the nationally-available number (0800 or the like) from a payphone attracts a surcharge of 40-50c a minute (which adds up very quickly!). Surcharges of about 45c per minute also apply when calling from a mobile.

If you are planning on staying in many BBH hostels at all, the BBH phone card (offered by TelstraClear) will definitely be the most useful phone card of all. Besides the fact that your BBH membership comes with $20 of free phone calls, all of the member hostels make it very easy to access. Most phone cards only come with published local numbers for the major metro areas like Christchurch, Queenstown, Auckland, etc. The BBH card also comes with this same, generic list; however, even the most remote hostels (the Punakaiki Beach House, for one) post the local access number for the BBH card next to the phone so you won't attract the national-call surcharge. On top of this, many hostels offer free landlines, and those that do not often have a special button to press on the pay phone that bypasses the paying mechanism and therefore avoids the other surcharge. The only downside is that most hostels only have one of these phones, so you might have to wait a while/conduct your conversation in a public area, but at least it's cheap!

Mobile phones
There are two major mobile phone companies in New Zealand: Vodafone and Telecom. I bought a Vodafone prepaid SIM card for my unlocked quad-band phone in the Auckland airport for $30 (which was much more expensive than I expected, given that a prepaid SIM in Australia costs only $10). On top of that, I bought $20 of credit so I could actually use it once it was activated.

The main reason I bought this SIM card was as an emergency backup plan. If I got stuck somewhere and had to get in touch with the outside world, it was possible; this certainly put my parents' minds at ease for when I was in the more remote areas (although I didn't actually have mobile reception there anyway!). It certainly wasn't something to be used for calling people daily, since the rates are through the roof--I believe it was around 80c a minute just to call other Vodafone members! I did use it quite often to call free national numbers (the equivalent of 1800 in the US), but as I mentioned in the above section, if you are calling your phone card, this attracts a surcharge. I mainly used it to TXT message other travellers (which was much, much cheaper than calling) within NZ and call internationally when I didn't have access to any other phone. Still, I found myself topping up my credit quite often.

I was very lucky to run across the Super Buzz phonecard in an internet cafe in Nelson. Apparently, this is sold in over 7,500 retailers all over NZ--so essentially, every convenience store that sells phone cards. This phone card allows users to call from Vodafone mobiles with no charge to their mobile account. The rates aren't as low as some other cards, but the added convenience of being able to use your mobile more than makes up for this extra expense. You can call specific countries like Australia, the UK, and Korea for 7.5c with increasing rates to other countries (the US is 50c per minute, for example). This deal is ONLY available to Vodafone customers. Read Less

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Visas

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Unlike Australia, New Zealand does not make all travelers apply for a visa before arrival in the country. If you plan on staying for three months or less and will not be working (which includes WWOOFing or any other schemes where you receive something in exchange for work), and you are from one of the visa-free countries, you can simply arrive in the country and have your passport stamped with a three-month visa. If you intend on working or staying for an extended period of time, you must consider other options.I chose to apply under the United States ...Read More

Unlike Australia, New Zealand does not make all travelers apply for a visa before arrival in the country. If you plan on staying for three months or less and will not be working (which includes WWOOFing or any other schemes where you receive something in exchange for work), and you are from one of the visa-free countries, you can simply arrive in the country and have your passport stamped with a three-month visa. If you intend on working or staying for an extended period of time, you must consider other options.

I chose to apply under the United States working holiday scheme. New Zealand has a different scheme for all countries that are eligible for working holiday visas, which sets out the requirements for applicants as well as the term they are allowed to stay in the country. Most schemes allow travellers to stay in New Zealand for one year with the notable exception of the British working holiday scheme, which allows travellers to be in the country for up to 23 months. Applying for this visa was exceedingly easy--all I did was fill out an online form with my details and history (which was mainly health & criminal record questions) and within a day, it was granted. In addition, my visa fee (which I expected to be about $120NZ) was completely waived! The only downside to the visa is that once it is issued to you, you are never allowed to apply for another working holiday visa again. Therefore, I feel that I wasted mine as my plans changed after my visa application was made, and instead of working and traveling around the country for six months as I originally intended, I only traveled for 10 weeks. However, it gave me piece of mind that if I got in a bind and really needed the money, I could legally work, and if I ended up staying in New Zealand for a prolonged period of time because my Australian work visa took a while to be approved, I wouldn't have to worry about becoming an illegal immigrant.

The other main form of visa that travelers in New Zealand could be interested in are work visas. These visas allow you to work on a more permanent basis, rather than taking short-term work in agriculture/retail/etc. However, there are much more stringent requirements to be granted one of these visas; the most important of these is whether your chosen occupation is on the list of "occupations in demand" in New Zealand. The one that I find most interesting is the work-to-residence visa, which allows you to work temporarily in hopes of later becoming an NZ resident. I met at least two backpackers that plan on returning to the country and doing just that!

This was just a quick overview of the many visa opportunities that New Zealand has to offer; the main NZ immigration website has many more details than I could ever explain with my limited experience with the subject! Read Less

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