Click Day 0 for Singapore Changi Airport. (Highly recommended to start here due to the chronological order of life.) Alternatively, you may wish to visit my YouTube playlist of the entire trip here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUP43prMcQR9i_1fqiuhR0X5INP5yYIca
If you like to break rules and live off the edge, you may start to:
Click Day 1 for Melbourne City Layover
Click Day 2 for Queenstown City Arrival
Click Day 3 for Ben Lomond Mountain (Queenstown)
Click Day 4 for Dunedin City Arrival
Click Day 5 for Nicols Falls Exploration (Dunedin)
Click Day 6 for Larnarch Castle & Tunnel Beach (Dunedin)
Click Day 7 for Oamaru Town Arrival
Click Day 8 for Bushy Beach (Oamaru)
Click Day 9 for Steampunk HQ Museum (Oamaru)
Click Day 10 for Timaru Town Arrival
Click Day 11 for Dashing Rocks (Timaru)
Click Day 12 for Caroline Bay (Timaru)
Click Day 13 for Kaikoura Town Arrival
Click Day 14 for South Bay (Kaikoura)
Click Day 15 for Blenheim City Arrival
Click Day 16 for Taylor River (Blenheim)
Click Day 17 for Christchurch City Arrival
Click Day 18 for Riverside Market (Christchurch)
Click Day 19 for Addington (Christchurch)
Click Day 20 for Ferrymead (Christchurch)
Click Day 21 for Cashmere Hills (Christchurch)
Click Day 22 for East Coast (To Invercargill)
Click Day 23 for Invercargill Town Arrival
Click Day 24 for Seaward Bush (Invercargill)
Click Day 25 for Intercity Bus Ride (To Queenstown)
Click Day 26 for Sunshine Bay (Queenstown)
Click Day 27 for Queenstown Hill Exploration
Click Day 28 for Katoomba Town Arrival
Click Day 29 for Blue Mountains (Katoomba)
Click Day 30 for Glebe Arrival (Sydney)
Click Day 31 for Sydney Exploration
Click Day 32 for New South Wales (Sydney)
Click Day 33 for Singapore (Home Sweet Home)
Because of Covid, I was unable to continue exploring New Zealand back in 2020. So I called off my plans and never went back to it, until 5 months ago. I guess it started when I realised I was given the rare opportunity to travel because I'm once again a student! Previously, I was a broke student/broke SAF regular, but now, I actually have enough money to properly enjoy life!
So on impulse, I planned a grand 34-day adventure to the South Island of New Zealand, the other island that I didn't explore back in 2019. This very post will highlight the main parts of the trip, and further down will be the rough cost breakdown and future planning for similar trips! Let's get into it!
Originally, I only wanted to do 2 or 3 weeks, but the flight tickets were so expensive. When I extended the trip to almost 5 weeks, the flight tickets became way cheaper. I didn't let the system put me on connecting flights from Singapore to New Zealand. Instead, I booked 4 separate flights for my entire trip, spending my own time in Australia for each layover.
On 4th of December 2023, I set off and landed in Melbourne on the 5th. Walked around Melbourne for a whole day with my backpack and returned to the airport at night for the connecting flight to Queenstown, New Zealand. I loved the day trip in Melbourne because honestly, there's not a lot in Melbourne to do compared to something like Sydney.
Truly landed in New Zealand on the 6th of January. The default plan was to stay 3 nights in each city/town because 2 nights felt really rushed back in 2019. But mid-way through this trip, I adopted a hybrid approach and stayed 2 nights in smaller towns while maintaining 3 or 4 nights in larger cities. This was to counter the holiday season and prevent soft-locking myself into towns that have nothing to eat during the holiday season.
I probably won't ever return to Blenheim, Invercargill and Kaikoura. The other few cities or towns are worth it to return again, either for their food or their activities. I definitely locked Queenstown as my most favourite in the entire New Zealand, with Taupo of North Island coming in second.
On the 1st of January, I flew to Sydney for a 5-day layover and actually enjoyed my time in Australia a lot more than I expected. Australia is now a possible contender for my future trips. I only returned home back to Singapore on the 6th because school starts on 8th. If not for school, I probably would have explored more of Australia. :)
Throughout my trip this time, I didn't hold back in the food I chose to eat. In 2019, I was rather budget so I kept eating pizza and bread. This trip, I ate as many big breakfast sets I could, I ate as many ribeye steaks I could. It was truly a luxury trip this time! Just look at the different foods I've eaten throughout my trip!
Below are all of the insta-worthy pictures I took of myself with the selfie stick as a phone stand and the iPhone timer for the camera. Really went all out this time to make this trip the most memorable in my life.
This is also the very first time I purchased gifts and souvenirs back home for my loved ones. Like I have never been a fan of carrying luggages for my holiday trips because of how inconvenient it is. Checking in luggage for flights always have a lot of things to worry and think about. But this time, I made an exception because it's a trip of the lifetime.
Overall, it has been a great trip. I'll now list down what went well and what could be improved for future trips.
This screenshot came from 2019's trip and I actually took that into account while planning for my 2023 trip! It went so much better cause of it!
What went well:
1. This time I booked all my Intercity buses as early as I can on travel day, and it really freed up half a day for me on most of the travel days. I got to do so much more, like in Kaikoura. My 2 nights in Kaikoura felt way longer than each 2 nights in North Island back in 2019.
2. Getting a sports watch and tracking my walks really brings solo backpacking to a whole new level. Garmin and Strava both have apps that I can upload my thoughts and pictures to. It's like a social media, but better because there are health stats available!
3. Being adaptable, accepting that places sometimes do cancel on me and I cannot get my refund. It's better to move on fast and move to plan B instead of crying over spilt milk.
4. Recording videos first and only bother about typing stuff after the trip. Videos always speak a thousand pictures and a million words. Even if I don't let other people see my videos, at least I can view it for myself in the future.
5. The luggage situation went well, but I doubt I'll do it again. The sleepless nights are not worth it at all.
What could be improved:
1. Gotta really get this off my chest: Bring clothes hangers and shower baskets. Like really no joke. Thought army taught me well, but I still didn't bring them. End up have to hang my clothes in the bunk awkwardly and leave my things everywhere on the floor.
2. Buy power strip in whatever country I go to. Seriously, no amount of plug converters can help me if the hostel only supply one outlet per bed, or even worse like in Kaikoura, one outlet per room. Then how? So power strip is the way to go. Buy in the country if afraid of overloading the initial carry-on weight.
3. Hostel booking. Ahh this one really need to take note. Cheaper does not mean better. Too cheap and I risk bunking with homeless unhygienic people. Sometimes, it's better to pay a little more for a huge upgrade in quality of life. Always check reviews not just on booking.com, but on Google maps as well. Never ever pay on 3rd party websites.
4. Bring your own bag to supermarkets. Everywhere else in the world is adopting the no-plastic mindset. So gotta keep that in mind wherever I go. Supermarkets don't provide bags already, restaurants also. Everything is carry by hand unless I bring my own bag.
5. No use packing soap and washing powder. Airports will throw anything above 100ml and anything that is not labelled.
Here's to hoping for greater and better trips in the future!
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