Cheap travel in Australia and New Zealand?

by Elise
(Michigan, USA)

My best friend Carla and i are planning our 4 month trip to New Zealand and Australia! We will be couch surfing and taking advantage of the kindness of many friends we made while working at a summer camp for two years.

I have looked at your entire web site! and it is full of great information, such as visas, travel plans and packing lists!!!

I was wondering if A) you have ever been to NZ/AUS
and B) what any additional advice you would have for that specific location would be and also I need budget/money advice on cheap ways to travel (how much is realistic, we are poor college grads!)

And also any other information you can think of! thank you !

Answer: Four months in Australia and New Zealand sounds fabulous! Unfortunately I can only answer you in part - because, believe it or not, this is the only part of the world I've never been to (I know, I know...). The good news is that my good friend Birgit, known to most as 'B', runs a fabulous Australian website called Outback Travel Guide, which is crammed full of great information about travel around Australia, especially in the Outback.

When it comes to costs, Lonely Planet is usually up-to-date. I'd also post some questions or read some answers on the always helpful BootsnAll Forums.

This little Australia cost calculator might come in handy, as might this one for both countries.

And don't forget to look into airline passes if you're planning on traveling long distances. There's the Aussie AirPass with Qantas, the Walkabout Pass, OneWorld's Visit Australia and New Zealand pass, or try Air Timetable. There are also plenty of bus passes available.

As for New Zealand, I'd also aim for Lonely Planet and the BNA forums.

For travel info try Backpackerboard and for transport the Magic Bus gets raves. Gapyear also has great information for students traveling to Australia and New Zealand.

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Cheap travel in Australia and New Zealand?

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Wwoofing
by: Birgit

Elise, have you looked into wwoof - volunteering on an organic farm? Here are the Aussie and NZ sites.

Become a member and get a list with hundreds of organic farms, permaculture farms, hobby farms, sustainable little eco-tourism businesses etc. You work about half a day for bed and board (no pay), and often the people you work for will also show you around their area and give you heaps of local tips that normal tourists will never get. I did lots of it in my early years in Oz and LOVED it. It's a bit like couchsurfing, only that in addition the cultural exchange and to making friends, you can also make a bit of a difference, support organic farms, and you learn a lot at the same time.

Something different: despite all the nonsense that you hear about female hitchhikers, and although almost everybody on the usual travel forums will tell you "OMG far too dangerous don't do it," hitchhiking is a great way to get around, especially in remoter areas without public transport, and even more so in New Zealand than in Australia. (I wrote about my experiences in detail here.)
Women's travel resources in NZ
by: rosemary neave

Another great resource in NZ for women budget travellers is Women Travel NZ and the blog that goes with it.

I set up these sites for women travellers so that they can get the latest and best information to help them enjoy this magic country!
Budget Busters for New Zealand
by: Dianne Sharma Winter

There are lots of ways to see NZ on a budget, especially if you plan ahead!

For cheap air fares, check out Air NZ who run daily bargains on grabaseat.

For buses there is the Naked Bus service sometimes offering one dollar fares.

For tourist attractions and other bargains go to
http://www.sella.co.nz/ and
http://www.grabone.co.nz/rotorua-taupo.

To wwoof is also good. Often if you are traveling around and staying in backpackers you may be able to exchange work for accommodation (especially in the west coast of the south island, there is no harm in asking everywhere.

Good luck and haere mai to Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud!

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