Frequently Asked Questions

In fact, the car prices for backpackers are subject to a year rhythm. In the months of September to February, prices are higher because of the summer. In the winter season from March to August the prices are lower. Christchurch prices are always slightly lower year-round than car and van prices in Auckland. Most travelers start in Auckland and finish their journey in Christchurch.

This question can not be answered flat rate, but since the topic frequently appears, we have written a blog post about the right backpack and the alternative of a suitcase. You can find the post here in the blog.

A German credit card is not compulsory except for the payment of the Work & Holiday visa. Nevertheless, a credit card with free money withdrawal as well as free pay worldwide facilitates the journey. Visa and Master cards are accepted almost everywhere. The American Express card is only accepted in some places. A contribution to the credit card and other ways to send your money to New Zealand, we have here in the blog.

The word Self Contained (SC) stands for Stand-Alone or Self-Employed. That means in connection with New Zealand that your vehicle has sanitary facilities such as toilet and fresh water on board. With these so-called SC vehicles you have a much larger selection of free campsites. Unfortunately, these vehicles are both in the purchase, as well as in the rent, a bit more expensive. More about the vehicles you can find here in the following post.

You can apply for the visa for New Zealand exclusively on the website of the New Zealand Immigration Department. The website is www.immigration.govt.nz all other websites on the Internet are not official immigration websites. But there are a lot of websites that offer you help with visa applications, but these are usually not necessary. As a tourist for less than 3 months you do not need to apply for a visa in advance, if you have a continuation flight within the 3 months, you will receive a visa on arrival.

There are several airlines and two main routes to New Zealand. Either in the east direction over the emirates or Asia, alternatively westwards over the USA. The more common flight path is the way east. Depending on the length of your stay, there are various ticket options, so we have written a more detailed article here in the blog. You can find the blog post about flying here.

Cheap car or campervan you can easily find the camperoase through our partner. What you have to do exactly, we have summarized in a short guide. You can easily find the instructions here in the blog.

There are several ways to get from Auckland Airport to the city center. The simplest option is to take a taxi. Cheaper and also comfortable is the so-called Skybus, which runs 24/7 and offers a comfortable ride into the city center. You can either pre-book the ticket on the internet, or buy it conveniently on-site. Alternatively, there is also a public transport, this is cheaper but more complicated because you have to change. From the airport take the bus 380 direction Manukau to the station Papatoetoe Station. From there by train to Britomart. Be sure to draw a valid ticket.

Uber is also available in New Zealand, where you can conveniently order your personal taxi via app.

There are two major and some smaller network providers in New Zealand. The best known are Spark and Vodafone New Zealand. The mesh coverage with these two is quite uniform in New Zealand. In more remote areas, there is simply no reception at all. More details you can find in our blog post below.

There are three banks in New Zealand that currently give out free accounts for backpackers. The three banks are in alphabetical order the ANZ, the Kiwibank and the Westpac. In Auckland’s downtown on Queenstreet, you usually have to wait several days for an appointment. But you can easily open an account in the suburbs with only 1-2 days waiting time. Which documents you need for this and all further details about the bank account can be found in the following blog post.

There are several ways to transfer your money to New Zealand without any major fees. We have considered the usual possibilities in the following blog post once.

There are several ways to transfer your money to Germany without major fees. We have considered the usual possibilities in the following blog post once.

You can easily find campsites in New Zealand with the following apps. The apps Campermate and Wikicamps NZ are the most popular apps, you can find more useful apps in the following post.

We wrote a post with the most useful app for New Zealand. All apps can be found quite comfortably in the following post.

All information on beautiful day and multi-day hikes can easily be found on the website of the New Zealand Nature Conservation Agency DOC. There are various categories and also options for online booking of bookable cabins. You can find the DOC website here.

Yes, there are discount sites, the most popular in our opinion is Bookme. On Bookme you can see offers by region and activity. You can find the bookme website here*.

There are two ferry companies that will transport you and if desired your means of transport over the Cook Strait. First, there is the provider Blue Bridge, on the other hand, the provider Inter Islander. Both providers are similar and there are only price differences on a daily basis. The sooner you book, the sooner you can make a bargain. In the respective newsletters, there are always discount codes for the booking, so it’s worth subscribing to them.

It goes along to the Inter Islander website here.

Go to the Bluebridge website here along.

If you have driven on a toll road, you have 5 days to pay the toll online. This can be done on the website of the New Zealand Transport Agency. The point is called “Pay a toll”, here it goes to the website of NZTA.

New Zealand offers the possibility of requesting tickets via the website of the judicial authority. The point is “Check if you have a fine” go to the website here.

Fuel prices in New Zealand vary greatly from region to region. Unfortunately, the fuel is generally similar in price and the gas stations do not change their prices as often as in Germany. There are two ways to refuel cheaper. First, use the app Gaspy (stands for Gas Spy), which is available in the App Stores.

In addition, there are some discount cards that you can use. We found the AA Smartfuel Card the best and wrote instructions here. The instructions can be found here in the blog.

New Zealand has a growing supply of German food and delicious German food. Dear Isabel has on her blog a great article with places where you can find German food. For her blog and the corresponding post, it goes along here.

Yes, we also visited a tattoo studio in New Zealand. After looking at some studios, we found what we wanted at Last Port Tattoo in Nelson. Kathi has gotten two great tattoos. There are a few differences in the preparation, the kiwis are only partially creative. With us it was so that we brought the complete idea and then built together with the tattoo artist only the final idea. So if you already have sample photos or motifs, bring them with you, that will speed things up a lot.

A working hostel is an accommodation like a normal hostel. The fine difference to the classic hostel is but a service that the hostel offers. And it gives you on request a job in the area. In other words, these so-called working hostels usually have lists and contacts with the employers in the area. They live on the fact that because of the work you stay longer with them in the hostel and pay for the accommodation. Mostly there are so-called weekly prices which are a bit cheaper than in a classic hostel, which is designed for short stays. Mediation to an employer should normally not cost you money, this money is earned by working hostels elsewhere or received directly from your employer as compensation.