February 16th: A new (more somber) Journey
|
Journal Entry:
Our first day in New Zealand!
We arrived in Auckland the airport was a breeze but deciding on our form of transportation was difficult. There were two options we could take for the country. If you opt to go I recommend doing some research on scheduling but strongly consider the car!
We arrived in Auckland the airport was a breeze but deciding on our form of transportation was difficult. There were two options we could take for the country. If you opt to go I recommend doing some research on scheduling but strongly consider the car!
Price Sights Travel Convenience Overall |
Option 1: New Zealand's Scenic railways
One trip is about $1,000 and we'd have to do 2. Specifically see points of interest. Straight through the center of the country. No need to drive continually. Very tailored trip with few views of the coast. no stops on the way and its rather expensive. We'd only see auckland and wellington, and would hae to plan our entire trip in advance. Only get to see sites, don't experience much for culture. |
Option 2: Rent a car (not at the airport!)
About $11-1,600 for the course of the trip. (See JUCY) Get to see the country in general. Coasts and entire country becomes available. One or the other will be "missing out" and driving. Less expensive and provides freedom to stay in a town if we would like. provides options for the coast, would require one of us to drive at all times, but plenty of stops are available. More opportunity for cultural understanding through AirBnB, and will likely miss many things. |
Ultimately we decided that a car trip would be best for us but I highly recommend looking at the scenic train railway if you are not wanting to view the coastal cities such as New Plymouth, or Gisborne. If you opt to take the car however, we recommend a vehicle leasing office off of the airport as we got our car for $1,200, rather then the suggested $1,600 for 2 weeks that the people at the airport suggested.
JUCY - A Great Review
We might also recommend if you are planning your trip looking at the hotel, RV, and Car rental service, JUCY. our first night in Auckland was at a JUCY hotel room which was simple, cheap, and included the necessary amenities.
Our experience there was very good with the management, and staff ensuring our stay was commendable. We asked for just about anything and in all cases they served. While not a 4 star hotel this was definately one of the better hostel or backpacking places we had been and they were remarkably cheap. You could also RV through most of New Zealand using the same hotel.
JUCY - A Great Review
We might also recommend if you are planning your trip looking at the hotel, RV, and Car rental service, JUCY. our first night in Auckland was at a JUCY hotel room which was simple, cheap, and included the necessary amenities.
Our experience there was very good with the management, and staff ensuring our stay was commendable. We asked for just about anything and in all cases they served. While not a 4 star hotel this was definately one of the better hostel or backpacking places we had been and they were remarkably cheap. You could also RV through most of New Zealand using the same hotel.
The rest of the night - Mass Media in New Zealand.
After settling into our hotel rooms and getting our car situation we decided to spend the night watching the recently released Star Wars: The force awakens. while this isn't the best place to write a review however, the commercials before the movie are of note. There was a lot of tourism and activity videos that were put in the openings rather then clips for more movies. We watched 2 about the scenic railways as a manner of relaxation for residents rather than a tourist activity or destination. In addition to this a ramen commercial was published suggesting ways of eating the ramen noodles but the weird part was that the video didn't refer to it as "ramen" they referred to it as "noodles". Not any special kind of noodle, but just noodles. this struck me as a bit odd as my previous trip to Thailand didn't include noodles, in japan you have to call different noodles by their different names, and it is a staple food in most of china. According to New Zealand's Census report Pacific people represent 13.7% of the total Auckland regional population but the advertising suggested more western ways of eating them. An example of the campaign is posted here but I was unable to find the original commercial. |
New Zealand northern Explorer commercial
An example "noodles" commercial. (produced in the UK).
|