New Zealand is never a budget destination, so the best way to travel is to set a deal alert. Flights around summer, Christmas and the New Year are typically most expensive. There are many ways to buy plane tickets. Once you have set your route, you can buy it directly at the airlines website or many trusted travel search sites such as Skyscanner, Kayak, or CheapFlights, however, we tried a lil' bit different this time. We bought our return tickets: Jakarta →Sydney (transit)→Auckland and Christchurch → Sydney (transit) → Jakarta with Qantas Airlines via @promotrip on Instagram. They provide us with some great options of economical ticket prices. It will be a very useful service if you don't have time looking for tickets, because they always post very interesting ticket promos. You just need to choose, chat them, provide the data, transfer the ticket fees, and voila-the ticket will be directly sent to your email.

We had a cute little moment on our way to Sydney: meeting a super generous flight attendant in the world :)). He's an Indonesian man and we (me and Tirza) chatted with him for a moment. And every time he passed with the food tray, he LITERALLY gave us these snacks and wines :)). Dear sir, I am sorry I forget your name, but please know that u're loved and blessed :")

An Indonesian who wishes to visit New Zealand requires a Visitor’s Visa. Application forms for a Visitors Visa can be downloaded from the Immigration New Zealand website or collected from the New Zealand Visa Application Centre, Jakarta or Bali. You can choose either you want to apply online or apply by papers at the immigration office. We chose to apply directly at the office so we can know if there's something missing or required from our documents. 

The following documents are required for the visa application*:

1. One current passport size colour photograph (4 x 6 cm) 
2. Current passport(s)
3. The current processing fee for a Visitor’s Visa is IDR 2.150.000 (this fee is NON-REFUNDABLE)
4. Either a completed sponsorship form (completed by your family member in New Zealand and a copy of the New Zealand citizen or New Zealand resident’s passport), or
5. Evidence that you have a sufficient funds to support yourself during your stay in New Zealand (a minimum of $1,000 NZ per month, per adult)
6. Evidence of employment in Indonesia and leave of absence from your company/employer
7. Photocopy of your Family Registration Card (Kartu Keluarga)/KITAS /KIMS
8. Your itinerary
9. Your marriage certificate or evidence of relationship (when the applicant is the spouse/partner of a New Zealand citizen)

Special Note: Processing time for a Visitor’s Visa is a minimum of seven (7) working days. The visa, if approved, will be directly sent to your email.

*courtesy of New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade and VFS Global. Please open these links for complete information about visa application and downloading the visa form.


Australia Transit Visa

In some cases, when you fly to NZ from Australia, you will need to wait in the airport for more than 8 hours. Therefore, you will need a transit visa. This visa lets people be in Australia for up to 72 hours. The cost is free but you have to wait around 8-15 days until it's granted, so make sure to consider it much earlier. Our transit visa (me and Tirza's) was approved on the morning when we're going to Jakarta, before leaving to Sydney the next day, so.. you can imagine how stressed (and relieved) we were back then. :)) You can make it by following the steps here.

We came on November, so it means spring time; when the beautiful blooms takes the sights, but you still can see the magnificent snow-coated mountains. Lupin flowers near the lakes is very famous and worth to visit for an Instagram-quality feed in the spring time. In NZ, you’ll get cooler temperatures the more south you go. But the weather can become very unpredictable, especially on the boundaries of the seasons. I found the weather in NZ was quite confusing. So make sure you bring rainproof jackets, shawl, sunglasses, sunscreen,  but also some tees for warmer days.

Winter can be one of the best times to visit New Zealand if you're a fan of snow. Images of snow-capped and snow-covered mountains in New Zealand have become all too familiar and the hallmark of especially the South Island of New Zealand. Most tourists visit New Zealand in winter for skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and tubing. But also remember: Driving in New Zealand during winter can be quite hazardous. 

Just like other ordinary trip, finding hotel/hostels in NZ is not a big problem. You can always find it in well-known websites like Agoda, Traveloka, Booking.com, Hostel world, or Hostels.com. Consider AirBnB if you prefer a more private place. Hostels in New Zealand tend to have friendly staff with many having excellent local knowledge and many New Zealand hostels have travel agents that can book your tours for you. One thing you have to remember, in holiday season like Summer it's quite hard to find hotel / hostels with reasonable prices if you don't book it earlier. Choose the ones with the best rating because the ratings won't lie. We chose to have as many options as possible,  as we're always moving. For an example, when we wanted to have affordable options, we had a night at a hostel in Queenstown named Nomads Queenstown Hostel and another hostel, Jucy Snooze, in Christchurch. It was very comfy, spacy even for 6 persons in a room, and very clean toilets. And when we feel like splurging, in other towns like Auckland, Rotorua and Queenstown, we chose Prince's Gate Boutique Hotel and St.Moritz Hotel. Each of them is luxurious and very unique. Highly recommended!

Driving in New Zealand

New Zealand is definitely a country made for road trips. It’s small enough that you could drive across the entire nation in 24 hours, and you can see variety of landscapes and cultures on the way. After all, road trips aren’t really about the destination - the beauty of having your own wheels is the fact that you can choose to detour as much as you like and discover amazing places that most others would simply pass by.

Driving License

First things first, for Indonesians, you need to make an International Driving Permit (IDP) or SIM Internasional in order to drive legally in NZ. You can make it at any police station in Jakarta and the fee is IDR 250.000. You only need to bring:

Choose Your Ride

You MUST rent a car – driving is pretty much a requirement in order to see the most of NZ. When renting a regular car or a campervan you need to compare the rental companies out there and see which one suits your needs the most. Think about the time you're gonna spend on the road and the route you'll take. Think about the flexibility and your itinerary. We always know that we want to go by campervan because it's the most popular and iconic choice for road trippin' in NZ, but 10 days in campervan will be too expensive for us. So we stick for regular car a.k.a minivan for our first 5 days in North Island. 

our minivan for North Island trip

our campervan for South Island trip

Dropping Car at A Different Location

Don't worry about it. Companies in NZ are really well accustomed to it and it won't cost a lot more. It will give you drop off option at a different airport/different city than your pick up place. Like us, we took our car in Auckland and we dropped it off in Wellington Airport. It was fast and doesn't take much time.

Other New Zealand Travel Tips