New Zealand: Part One (!!11~)
March 2, 2008 | Filed under Travel
And thus, the first installment of “My Trip To New Zealand, Exclamation Mark, Exclamation Mark, One, One, Tilde”. This series of blog entries will be truly epic – I currently imagine covering an average of two days per entry, for a grand total of five entries. Feel blessed, for you shall have bountiful supplies of Kiwi-flavoured goodness!
An Overview
The basics: Four 21-year-old Asians travelling together in New Zealand for ten days, covering selected parts of both islands. Members would include myself, my male cousin, and two of his friends.
The Lead-Up
The dramas started the night of the 17th. My cousin emailed the plane ticket confirmations over to me so that I could print it off to present upon check-in at the airport. Then, hysterical IM conversations along the lines of “Ummm…you do realise this booking is for the 18th of January, not the 18th of February don’t you?”. Yeah, he’d booked tickets for the 18th of the wrong month, and they’d been paid for. Whoops. Hence, the frantic shelling out of an extra $200AUD at 11pm on the 17th for a new ticket for a seat on the correct flight on the 18th.
The panic only continued the next day, when we spent the morning trying to find a bank branch that had $3500AUD in NZD for us to exchange. Travellers should note that this is impossible without prior notice. Always give your local bank branch a call three days beforehand to arrange for your preferred currency to be transferred for your use. Save yourself three hours of driving around suburban Melbourne in a blind panic the way we did.
Upon safe arrival at the airport, and an uneventful checking-in, I thought our luck was turning. Perhaps we had nothing but fun and excitement to look forward to? No. That would be too simple. We thought we had plenty of time before boarding, and took about an hour lolling about airport stores, checking out the duty-free and leisurely eating a Subway sub. Then, the message over the loudspeaker.
This is the final boarding call for flight JQ171, from Melbourne to Christchurch. Can passengers “INSERT NAMES HERE” please report to Gate 13.
Single word: FUCK. Long story short, we got on the plane, though not without some glares from the flight attendants, and fellow passengers on board. These glares didn’t cease when we spent the majority of the two-hour flight playing cards and laughing raucously. And then…
Touchdown in Christchurch
We arrived. Cue lots of high-fives and shouting of “Yeah baby, we’re in New Zealand!”. This euphoria lasted until we stepped out of customs at 11.30pm, checked the car rentals, and realised that the company we were renting with, hadn’t left the car at the airport for us as we’d requested. Phoning them directed us to an answering service, stating that they would be open at 8am the following morning. Hence, drama number four, and we’d only been on New Zealand soil for less than an hour. We are talented people.
As there was really no other option open to us, we ended up bunking down in Christchurch Airport overnight. Setting up camp in the arcade section of the International Arrivals terminal, we settled down for a night of broken sleep.
..that is, we tried to settle down for a night of sleep. Instead, I met some Swedish guys who were also stuck in the airport, and thus wandered over to play air hockey. I spent a few hours talking to one of them – a super-hot male specimen by the name of Ollie. While no numbers/emails were exchanged, this entry here is an open invitation for him to contact me at any time, should he randomly stumble across this blog.
With some added indulging in the world’s slowest wheelchair race (I won!) captured on video, and barely two hours sleep, we managed to pass the first hurdle of all poor student backpackers – the “sleeping in an airport because you’re too poor to afford an actual hotel” rite of passage.
With that said however, the showers in the public bathrooms of the Christchurch Airport (I did my best to freshen myself up before the upcoming seven-hour-long drive) were probably the best showers that we experienced over the next ten days. The water pressure far exceeded any at the three backpackers hostels we were at, and the cleanliness was also very impressive. I highly suggest to anyone who might visit Christchurch – go take a shower at the airport. You won’t regret it.
The Drive From Christchurch to Queenstown
By the time we managed to get our rental car early in the morning on the 19th, we were all suffering from lack of sleep. Hardly the ideal situation for seven hours worth of driving from Christchurch to Queenstown, even if it is done in shifts. However, with a quick pitstop at The Warehouse (oh how I love that place…) to pick up several cheap four-packs of V and Red Bull, we were chemically-caffeinated enough to last a few hours each. Oh, the life of a struggling backpacker.
I must say, if there’s one thing I’m amazed by in New Zealand, it’s how excellent their road signs are. Nellie had told me beforehand that it was near-impossible to get lost in New Zealand as there’s road signs everywhere. I thought she’d been exaggerating, and had printed off about a million Google Maps in preparation for every eventuality. What a waste of paper – it was literally a case of following road signs for seven hours without a single wrong turn.
However long, it was a spectacular drive. The grass was actually green and lush – something I haven’t seen for a very very long time considering the drought that Melbourne has been facing these past couple of years. The mountains were craggy and dotted with huge trees that have been there for centuries. The fields were covered with sheep – indeed, Christchurch is such a small city that ten minutes drive out of the city centre, we were already in the countryside with both sides of the road lined by sheep-filled fields.
Stopping for half an hour at Lake Tekapo for lunch was the best decision we could have made. The views are startling, and in every which way, the complete antithesis to Melbourne. The sky is blue, without a cloud in sight. The water is blue and clear, and you can actually see under the surface – no such thing as the toxic yellow-brown tinge of Melbourne’s Yarra River in sight.
It is, quite simply, paradise on Earth.
Base Discovery Lodge, Queenstown
After another couple of hours worth of driving, we ended up in the heart of Queenstown: Shotover Street where our hostel, Base Discovery Lodge is located. I highly recommend this hostel for all those planning to travel to Queenstown. Though prices for a bed may be slightly higher than other hostels, the setup and amenities are well worth the extra dollars. As there were four of us, we ended up taking a Quad Room with Ensuite, which again, is pricier again, but the security of only having those you trust with your belongings in the same room as you is priceless.
The kitchen is well-stocked with cooking utensils, crockery, cutlery and the like. There’s ample cooking ranges, toasters, microwaves, and the like – all the comforts of a home kitchen in a hostel. It’s clean as well, as the hostel gives backpackers free nights in exchange for a few hours cleaning the hostel. Bathrooms are along the same lines – clean, non-stinky, and well-supplied with the necessities.
The hostel has ample Internet resources, payphones, travel agents, recreation and entertainment rooms, laundromats, etc. All for a small fee of course, but well worth the price. There’s also a small pub-style bar on the ground level, called the Altitude Bar. At night, this bar really becomes the centre of all backpacker activity in Queenstown – there’s bound to be upwards of two hundred travellers in the bar at any one time, and it’s very easy to network in there.
The excellent thing about Base Discovery Lodge is that it offers what they term “Steal Deals”. There are different packages available with different combinations of activities, but the one we purchased entitled each of us to:
- Three nights accomodation in a Quad Share ($120NZD value)
- Two free meals and one free drink at Altitude Bar ($20NZD value)
- Nevis Bungee Jump with AJ Hackett Bungy ($220NZD value)
- Shotover Jet ride with free photo ($109NZD value)
- Gondola ride, 2x Luge rides, plus a Kiwi Haka with Skyline ($65NZD value)
And all for the price of approximately $470NZD. Essentially, it gives you a taste of the best attractions in Queenstown at a slightly discounted (10%) price. It’s ideal for travellers like myself, who had only about three days to spend in the adventure capital of New Zealand and needed a quick taste of the attractions.
More To Come
I’ll leave it here for now as essentially, the 19th wraps up with us arriving in Queenstown, eating a free dinner, and going straight to bed. Hardly something to jump with excitement about.
The next NZ-centric entry will cover the first two days spent in Queenstown, including bungee jumping, jet boat ride, gondola ride, luge rides, and the Kiwi Haka…and playing bingo at the casino! How excitement.
19 Responses to New Zealand: Part One (!!11~)
Leave a Reply
I reserve the right to edit or delete your comment as I see fit, though I only delete comments from anonymous commenters, or people with multiple aliases. Using a genuine name/email combination will ensure that your comment is approved.
Man, the backpackers looks much nicer than the crap accommodation I provided. I am also ashamed that the showers at the airport were better than mine. :P
Reply: Ahaha, trust me, the showers there were better than mine here at home, so it’s hard to beat!
Nellie on March 2, 2008 #
Wait. Just… wait. Showers? In the airport? Airports have showers? O_O
Reply: Yeah! Well, some do anyway…I know selected bathrooms at Melbourne Airport have showers.
Amber on March 2, 2008 #
“open at 8pm the following morning.” Wow you guys sure are more backwards than I thought. ;)
Sounds like an awesome start. It’s always more fun when things go wrong because then you can pretend you are working with Jack Bauer to fix it. :p
Can’t wait to see part two, sounds epic.
Reply: *cough* *fixes*
Maren on March 2, 2008 #
I loved reading this, it was very entertaining :D And sounds like you had a good time, even with some *minor* problems!
Anna-Erica on March 2, 2008 #
I never knew airports had showers! Now I know what i’ve been missing out on :P
Lake Tekapo looks great, and the hostel looks quite homely :)
Good luck back back at uni too ^_^
Alexandra on March 2, 2008 #
I can’t believe you had to stay at the airport overnight because the car wasn’t there. I’d be so pissed, but it is all an experience. Can’t wait to read more
Bobbi-lee on March 2, 2008 #
Hey at least your start of the trip wasn’t boring, although it really strikes me as odd that you booked the wrong dates, seriously that’s something you check, check and check again before you book ;) but I guess that’s what you’ll be doing from now on :P
Chans on March 3, 2008 #
Your airport actually announces names over the loudspeaker? To my knowledge, at all the airports I’ve been to, if you’re late for a flight, the flight just leaves without you… that almost happened to me once. And the Christchurch airport actually has showers? Man, the airports over there must be better than over here…
Anyway, can’t wait for the next installment of your epic New Zealand tale!
Meg on March 3, 2008 #
^ EVERYTHING is better in New Zealand.
Except we have a serious lack of pretty boys.
Nellie on March 3, 2008 #
Reading this makes me wonder what I’m still doing sitting on my butt at home. Travelling is SO exciting! I actually love the little glitches that happen along the way because they make the storytelling a lot more interesting. Can’t wait for part deux!
Crystal on March 3, 2008 #
Took me a while to read this whole thing but LAWL again at the airport camp. You should’ve set up tents!
Rilla on March 3, 2008 #
Why the arcade? Don’t the machines tend to talk to try and entice you into playing? What an experience all the same, look forward to the next instalment.
Now I’ve got to suppress an overpowering urge to travel…
Lil on March 3, 2008 #
Man, I want to move to New Zealand now. Or at least move their airports over here. :D
I don’t think I’ve ever gone through any dramas while traveling. It’s probably because my mom plans it all meticulously, which is efficient but can suck the fun out of everything.
Kycoo on March 3, 2008 #
I miss airport chaos, as masochistic as it sounds =( It’s been around five years since the last time I traveled…
Sleeping @ the Arcade? Sounds very broke-college-student experience, heh. But I always thought you could get kicked out for loitering or something. On second thought, it *is* an airport, so………. yeah. Anyway! Can’t wait for the second installment =D
Robmarie on March 3, 2008 #
You’re just not doing it right if your holiday goes smoothly and according to plan! But Christchurch airport is definitely a great place to crash (not literally, of course). And you saved a bit of money too! :P
P.S. I tried adding you on Facebook, but your link is not working for me. :(
Emily on March 4, 2008 #
Pingback: Jingwen » Blog Archive » Jingwen’s Best Of 2008
Pingback: Jingwen » Blog Archive » New Zealand: Part Three (!!11~)
Pingback: Jingwen » Blog Archive » New Zealand: Part Four (!!11~)
Pingback: Jingwen » Blog Archive » New Zealand: Part Five (!!11~)