I will be leaving for OZ/NZ in a week and I am going through some last minute should I take this or not musing. Was hoping some of who who either live in this part of the world or have traveled there might give some guidance. I want to travel as light as possible and will be doing a bit of backpacking. Might rent a bike for a bit down that way but not sure yet. I was considering not bring my tent. Its heavy and bulky and if its not needed in either place I just soon leave it behind. Would like to do some camping but mostly plan on hosteling. The question is will I regret not having it. Secondly is it worth the trouble of packing around my lap top down that way. Main reason I owuld take it is so that I could download pics from the camera and manage them. Also for uploading them to smugmug. Is the extra bulk of the lp worth it or can one easily achieve these goals with out it? Any help is much appreciated Thanks
Don't know about OZ, but most of NZ is well wired. I'd just make sure to have a 512 or 1 Gig memory chip and download to disks as you go. Upload at will and have a good trip. You'll spend a little more money, but not enough to make the hassle of the computor worth it. As for the tent, Backpackers in NZ are everywhere (tho you might want to call ahead in some cases (queenstown)). So in 7 weeks I never needed a tent, of course it also costs more... in my opinion worth it. mountain eagle
Hey North, Well I guess to really answer your question on camping gear it would be good to have an idea of where your planning on going. But there are lots of backpacker style places & some really good B & B's too so that really shouldnt be a big problem. As for your lap top, I can see 2 problems. Firstly keeping it secure in the shared room's where you may be staying & Secondly we probably have different main's voltage here if you need to charge the battery's. Probably easier to get a couple of big storage card's for the camera & use them. hope that may be of some assistance to you. Cheer's Andrew
As far as the lap top goes...forget it. I bought one of these for about equiv $250 USD & it holds something like 20 000-30 000 photos & is a bit bigger than a packet of smokes. Takes 9 different memory cards & also backs up as a MP3 player. Never failed me yet & i use it a lot...maybe up to 8000 photos in the 4 months i have had it. One charge lasted me 5000 photos on my round world trip ! Now the tent biz. Depends where you are...in Southern Victoria or Tasmania it can rain with 2 mins notice...here in Southern QLD we get 300 sunny days/year & you can set your watch with each tropical storm that comes through in summer afternoons. Either way i have a beaut locally bought dome tent that is waterproof & cost me equiv of $30 USD.
I've been going to NZ for 7 years now. Took my tent for years and used it 2 times. There are campgrounds all over the place. Most have cabins, flats [motel like rooms hooked together. I call them wooden tents. Quite often a room with a bed or more than one bed. Sometimes with a small kitchen and sink, not a toilet. Use the campground shower and toilet. Cost is between $20 &$30 per night in NZ dollars. When you get there get the Holiday Parks free book, or Top Ten Holiday parks book. The top 10 are not any better than the holiday parks, it just a adv. gimmick. These places fill up really fast and stay filled during Xmas hollidays from 25 Dec for the next 3 weeks due to school holliday time. I mean full. Quite often you won't have very many people talking to you in holiday parks. If you want to meet travelers from all over the world go to the backpackers. Get the free backpackers book. All of them are rated by the people who have used them!! Pretty good system. Also get the "Great Escapes" motorcycle oriented book on most of the best road on the N and S islands. I hope this helps guide you. Wonderful people, great scenery, magnificent M/C roads.
I woulnd't take a computer just to do pics. Take you camera into the many, many photo or computer shops to download onto a disc. Really cheap way to do it. I go back down on the 28 Nov until 1 May. If you are up in Northland, look me up at cabin 5 Tauranga Bay Holiday Park out of Kaeo. Right on the Pacific. Better line up a bike before you go. This is the busy season. Try NZ motorcycle rentals. Good guys in Auck and ChCh.
Yeh down under this time of year dont bring a tent - buy one at kmart cheap as and throw away at the end of the trip - alternate is a swag but u may be paying a bit in fact a lot more and have to lug it. - instead of back packers try th epubs - good meals and great beer in most - just about every town has at least one, and most if not all have acc - expect to pay around 20 - 30 $aus for bed and light breakfast - do a search on aussie pub guide, there will be lots of links.
Or try caravan parks. You can get an overnight van for about $25 0z ($20 USD) If you get to Brisbane & can get to a puter drop me a PM & i will be happy to show you around for a day..in the car cause i ride like an old woman. You are welcome to use my broadband to d/load to Smugmug. PS..if you get to North Queensland..make sure you ask locals before you get in the water. Theres jellyfish in there that can kill you in 2 minuites if the crocs/sharks are asleep.
Thanks for all the great information. A couple more questions. We are flying in to Aus late on a 26th on Nov. We have seen the the tourism desk mentioned in several travel books where discounted rooms might be available. Or would it be best to have a room reserved in advance. On the topic of NZ and camping. Is there any free camping there. Being from Alaska and the Western US you can often find a place to pull over and crash for the night. Is this available in NZ? We are looking at renting a micro camper van from Hokianga Campervans? Anyone heard or had any dealings with these folks? They are quoting us $45 a day NZ for a station wagon with camping supplies. I am going to look more into renting a bike here and there but what I can see its a bit on the cost prohibitve side to rent one for the entire trip. Planning on flying out to Perth for a couple of weeks the back to explore the east coast. Then we have 5 weeks in NZ. Still struggling with transport issues in both places. The rental car or campervan would seem to make teh most since in NZ. In Oz we are considering just utilizing public transport and renting a car as needed for side excursions. this might be where I get to get some riding in. Do rental companies provide riding gear? Again thanks for the help
North, i have used this site a few times to book hotels across 0z. The hotels can see a quiet period coming up & they try for bums on seats. http://www.needitnow.com.au/needitnow/needitnow.asp As for the car i would suggest you ask at any of the larger rental Co's when you arrive if they have any interstate cars that need returning..you can get some cheap fees that way for a decent car. The few bike hire Co's that i have seen on the net here all seem to be very expensive for anything above a moped. I would use rail if i was on holiday myself & looking for transport. http://www.railaustralia.com.au/index.htm
Humungus, Thanks for the info on Oz. Been pouring over travel books but they are only some much help. Funny you mention traveling by rail. We had looked at getting a great southern railway pass at one point in time. But could fly to Perth for less $$. We really aren't interested on going to Alice Spirngs or Darwin so we weren't sure if it eould be worth it. But it does allow us to travel to Perth and also see Melborne and Adeliade for the same price. the only this missing is getting up to Brisbane. A lot of country to cover in 5 weeks. Thanks again
There's some free camping in NZ, especially in the more remote areas. You can obviously camp in any of the national & other parks unless stated otherwise, this means most wilderness areas. Higher traffic places will have a dept of conservation (DOC) campground, which is often just a mown paddock with a water supply & toilets, a whole $4 per night usually so as good as free. Cheers Clint
As far as renting a bike in OZ, i'm sure it will prove to be an expensive option especially for the entirety of the trip, so much so infact that you could probably buy a cheap hack to put some K's on??? I'm in Brisbane, so if you need any help or what not then just pm...
Thanks everyone for the replys. It has helped a lot in our planning. We have been able to reduce the amount we are taking and make some much more informed decisions in our planning. I told my gf that this was the place to get info. If any of you end up making you way to Alaska drop me a line I will do what I can to help. Thanks again Paul
