I will be starting a travel series documenting our 1-month road trip in New Zealand traveling from the North to South Island.
Exploring New Zealand by car has always been in our bucket list.
Taking the family along on a road trip makes it even more interesting, fun and sometimes challenging. There were 5 of us. Yohann, my husband (@iamyohann), my 3 years old daughter, my mother-in-law, father-in law and yours truly.
We decided to spend our Christmas and New Year together in Kiwi land for a change. My in-laws flew to Cebu, Philippines from France and we traveled to New Zealand together a week later.
Why New Zealand? I fell in love with this country a long time ago when Yohann and I backpacked our way from South to North via Kiwi Experience Bus in 2007. Since then, it has always been our dream to return and bring our family to experience it for themselves.
Planning the Logistics
December marks the beginning of summer vacation. Hence, December to February are considered the high season, so it is wise to book well in advance.
We booked our return plane tickets sometime in July. The cheapest ones we found were through China Airlines. (Manila - Taipei - Brisbane - Auckland).
Additionally, we booked a Cebu Pacific flight from Cebu to Manila (Terminal 3) and had to switch terminals.
One important thing to consider with connecting flights from different terminals in Manila is to have no less than 5 hours in between flights in case there are delays and in order not to miss that connection. Oh, not to mention the traffic getting to and fro different terminals via the free airport shuttle.
Visas
The entire family had French Passports so they didn't need to apply.
I, on the other hand, applied for a Visitor Visa and submitted all of my scanned documents based on the New Zealand immigration requirements which can easily be found online.
It was free! Once I received my appointment in Cebu City, I submitted my Philippine Passport and I got my Visa after a few days. It was such a breeze!
Itinerary
You see, when Yohann plans the itinerary, be sure it'll be a super-charged one. The kind where you need another vacation to rest after a trip.
While revisiting and editing our travel itinerary to make it a less stressful one around early September (which was a tad late if I'm honest), we started booking hotel rooms, car rental and ferry tickets. By then, most of the inexpensive yet comfortable accommodations were filled.
Luckily, we managed to snatch a few good ones.
Transportation
The most practical and cost effective route for us was starting our journey in Auckland (North Island) before heading south and ending our trip in Christchurch.
We arranged a rental car online in advance via Easy Rent Cars (Qeeq.com) with a pickup around Auckland Airport and a drop off in Christchurch the day before our plane departure. Yohann and I were the designated drivers in this trip.
They accepted our Philippine Non-Professional Driver's License by the way. Since, mine was still on paper (The 5-year DL cards were still unavailable in Cebu at the time), I sent them a copy of my valid United Arab Emirates Driver's License instead.
Keep left. A quick self-study on the traffic rules in NZ and we were all set.
To be continued..