New Zealand is like no other. First of all, this is a country where kiwi can be a fruit, a flightless bird or how people name themselves. Second, it is located thousands of kilometers from others closest settlements. Then, the people are sparsely populated, but the infrastructure is reliable. In addition, it is modern but it has so many amazing natural environments. It is English speaking but also maintains the culture of the Maori, their indigenous people. Furthermore, the country is remote and everything expensive. However, once you visit, you want to come back soon.
Many people want to go to New Zealand because of Tolkien tourism phenomenon, where the country became very well known after being used for The Lord of The Ring shooting location. But that is not our main reason. We watched the movie but didn’t really follow the story very deep. We even owned one lego set of the franchise but again it is more because the fancy look of the lego set than the willing to collect the merchandise as a fan.
Some reasons we want to go there are because recent trend where people share their travel experience publication through blog and video. Many blogs and travel videos depict how beautiful and amazing the country is. We are enticed to see the amazing scenery while driving along the empty long road. We want to experience sleeping under the stars at night without artificial light. Both of us are dreaming to camp on a beach, at the side of a lake, at a valley and in a forest.
After dreaming for some time, we got a chance to make the dream come true. At the beginning of 2017, we flew to South Island and spent 12 days driving around it on a huge camper van and camping in some most beautiful places we have ever visited. We were traveling from 8 – 20 May 2017.
We will share experiences that we had on following posts. It will contain story about places we had gone, how long had we driven, things we like, what we dislike, what we missed from doing, what funny experienced we encountered, what food we ate, what tips we want to share and so on. At this moment, we are writing the experiences and will release the post once the article is ready. The post will also be linked in this page.
Tips Before You Go
- How to Get Cheap Ticket to New Zealand
- How to plan itinerary for New Zealand Road Trip
- Introduction to Campervanning
- Campervan Driving Tips for Beginner
- Apps That You Need for New Zealand Road Trip
- How to book a campervan
- Eating Halal Meal during New Zealand Road Trip
Day 1: Christchurch
- Landing at Christchurch
- Pickup Apollo Euro Deluxe
- Camping at Lakeside Domain
Day 2: Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki
- Heading to Lake Tekapo
- Eating Salmon at Lake Tekapo
- Spending the night among the start at Lake Pukaki
Day 3: Mount Cook
- Driving in the valley of Mount Cook
- Short hiking to Kea Point
- Stay at Twizel Holiday Park
Day 4: Oamaru
- Short stop at Wairepo Arm Pond
- Visiting Clay Cliffs
- Short stop at Takiroa Rock Art Site
- Going to Elephant Rocks
- Shopping at Oamaru Countdown
- Camping at All Day Bay Wainakarua Road
Day 5: Dunedin
- Visited Moeraki Boulder
- A nice Stop area called Waikoiuti Stop
- Dunedin
- Stay at Brighton Domain Camping Ground
Day 6: Drive to Milford Sound
- Driving to Milford Sound
- Fuel refill at Te Anau
- Mackay Creek
- Mirror Lakes
- Hommer Tunnel
- The Night at Milford Sound
- Stay at Milford Sound Holiday Park
Day 7: Milford Sound Cruise
- Milford Sound Cruise Experience with Jucy
- The Chasm Short Hiking
- Dinner Subway at Te Anau
- Camping at Lake Wakatipu
Day 8: Queenstown
- Walter Peak Farm Tour
- Strolling in Queenstown
- Spend the night at Lake Hayes
Day 9: Wanaka
- Go to Wanaka Dead Tree
- Kebab Lunch at Wanaka
- Sleep in the valley near Diamond Lake
Day 10: Back to Lake Tekapo
- Short Hiking to Diamond Lake
- Second stop at Lake Pukaki
- Camping at Lake Tekapo Holiday Park
Day 11: Return to Christchurch
- Returning The Campervan
- Final night at Jucy Hotel
Day 12: Singapore we home
- Fly Back Home