New Zealand

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Cheap travel options

Hitchhiking

Hitchhiking is fairly common and quite doable. It is more common in the South Island. Be aware of the distances involved and how infrequently you come across settlements in some areas.

Rental relocations

TransferCar offers free one-way rentals for short-term relocations, e.g. Christchurch to Auckland in 4 days, including ferry pass and a full tank of fuel.

If you are hiring any kind of car you will need to know the road rules (the "Road Code") as police have been cracking down on tourist drivers recently. You can learn the necessary rules for free at this site. You must carry your licence with you at all times. It must be in English or you will need to have an approved translation or international driving permit.

Budget bus travel

Bus travel tickets between cities in the same island can be as cheap as $1, but usually range between $10-50 with companies such as Naked Bus and InterCity.

Carpooling

If you have regular travel requirements for a short period you can try carpooling. The NZ Government carpool initiative is here and Jayride is here.

Travel passes

Cities have local travel passes, e.g. Hop Card in Auckland. These give you access to multiple types of transport (bus, train, ferry) on one card for a lower fee.

Companies

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Accommodation

bbh.co.nz is a listing of cheap backpacker accommodation in New Zealand, as well as a noticeboard advertising jobs, used cars for sale, people looking for travel buddies and a discussion forum. Invaluable resource while backpacking in NZ.

Backpackerboard also has information on accommodation, events and generally travelling around and staying in New Zealand.

There are many rooms available in New Zealand on AirBnB and Couchsurfing.

Note that freedom camping/wild camping is not permitted in many areas and you can get a fine for doing so.

There are many WWOOF opportunities in New Zealand.

Food

In terms of supermarkets, Pak 'n Save tends to be the cheapest of the big brands, but you will often get a better deal on fruit and vegetables at an Asian marketplace. If you can organise yourself to be at one of the larger regional marketplaces, e.g. Avondale Market in Auckland, you will find wholesale prices.

Connectivity

If you get a Spark SIM card there are free wifi hotspots in some cities with up to 1Gb per day allowed.

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Cities

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