3 Month working holiday,travel and other advise please.

[sb-1]

hi guys,

My son is planning a 3 month gap year working holiday to North and south Island.

He has found out that the best way to travel is by bus,but is unsure of which company is best for this or should he just book it himself independently via internet?

Any other advise would be welcome as well please.

Thanks

Steve

[Fraster]

not much to go on here... where will he be based?...where does he want to go?

[sb-1]

Hey there,

Just heard from him he's flying in/out of Auckland, heading up to the bay of islands, down to Waitomo, Roturoa, Lake Taupo, Wellington...crossing the cook straight to Picton, down to Kaikoura to see the whales, Christchurch, Queenstown, Milford Sound and the Franz-Josef glacier before getting a domestic flight from Christchurch to Auckland to make his way home.

Basically he doesn't know whether to go with Kiwi Experience, Magic Bus or the standard Inter-City bus service (with a flexi-pass)...as he has heard the Kiwi Experience is a bit of a party bus with not much emphasis on seeing the natural beauty of NZ, whereas the Intercity won't have the social aspect others would.

Please advise.

Steve

[Omerta]

Hi Steve, Sounds like a decent itinerary, I'm sure he'll have a lot of fun. The lack of response here probably reflects the fact that none of us are users of these bus services ourselves as they're used pretty much exclusively by backpacker visitors to NZ. I'd suggest you or your lad trawl some backpacker forums where recent travelers rate their experiences with these companies.

Cheers

[RobDickinson]

Never used any of them, havnt realy heard good or bad about any of them either.

Why doesnt he buy a cheap banger and drive himself around?

[iain a]

Hi

A friends 18 year old daughter did the Kiwi Experience bus thing at the beginning of the year and really enjoyed it. She made a lot of new friends that she is still in touch with. It is a party bus, with lots of intros into adventure activites, popular backpackers etc. Sounds dreadful to me, so I guess it depends on the age and outlook of your son.
Other bus tour companies are less or more social and juvanile - so it depends on what you are after.
To a lot of people, kiwi experience etc is the genuine NZ experience. There is a lot more stuff out here, but you have to work harder to find it on your own. So probably a good first intro to the country.
BTW happy to act as a mail drop etc in Wellington if needed

Iain

[CRM]

Both Magic and Kiwi known as the F*ck Tr*uck. Apparently good times. May want to dress appropriatley though.

Intercity would not be the way to go as this service is not used by young travellers but by those without cars. Yuck.

Edited by CRM on Tuesday 16th December 15:08

[Fraster]

I would add a train trip from Chch to Moana (lake Brunner)or the other way-or both! Much prettier than Greymouth-gives you a glimpse of the Moody west Coast- and then maybe bus from there down to FJ glacier and on to Q town/ Aoraki Mt Cook/ Wanaka....? You can sample Trans alpine on you-tube!

Edited by Fraster on Wednesday 17th December 04:07

[Fraster]

http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=trans+a...

[Fraster]

OH GOD!!!! WARNING!!!! Turn off sound while watching first Trans-alp vid or you will hear possibly the worst folk-song ever penned! This would make even a Vogon keel over and die!!!!

[sb-1]

iain a said:

Hi

A friends 18 year old daughter did the Kiwi Experience bus thing at the beginning of the year and really enjoyed it. She made a lot of new friends that she is still in touch with. It is a party bus, with lots of intros into adventure activites, popular backpackers etc. Sounds dreadful to me, so I guess it depends on the age and outlook of your son.
Other bus tour companies are less or more social and juvanile - so it depends on what you are after.
To a lot of people, kiwi experience etc is the genuine NZ experience. There is a lot more stuff out here, but you have to work harder to find it on your own. So probably a good first intro to the country.
BTW happy to act as a mail drop etc in Wellington if needed

Iain

Iain,

Thanks for info.He is 19 so I hope he will know what he is doing!?your offer of mail drop etc. is very kind,I will tell him thanks.

Also thanks to others for your info & help.

Cheers

Steve

Edited by sb-1 on Friday 19th December 12:39

[GravelBen]

Fraster said:

OH GOD!!!! WARNING!!!! Turn off sound while watching first Trans-alp vid or you will hear possibly the worst folk-song ever penned! This would make even a Vogon keel over and die!!!!

I'm a sick sick man, I watched the video with the sound on just so I could laugh at it. Made it nearly halfway through and couldn't take any more

[sb-1]

Hi Guys,

Just an update.My son (Tom) is arriving in Auckland tomorrow at about 1200 (noon) Having flown via Singapore.

Steve

Edited by sb-1 on Sunday 22 March 14:56

[Fraster]

tell him to AVOID Queen St backpackers. Some scottish girls, who are daughter + friend of my wife's friend, booked in there and found knives, syringes and used condoms in their room-reported this to staff, who did nothing (yuk)

[sb-1]

He is staying in another hostel in Auckland,I am glad to say!

Is going on the Kiwi Experience bus on Monday to start his tour of the Islands.

Steve

Edited by sb-1 on Wednesday 25th March 06:35

[iain a]

Hope he has a good trip... The summer is receding down at the S end of the island, so do the Northern stuff first.
Offer of mail drop etc in Welly still stands if needed.

[sb-1]

Thanks Iain,you're a gent!

Cheers

Steve