My 2012 down under trip was like hitting three birds with one stone — the two week travel was meant to see the south of New Zealand, Melbourne & revisiting Sydney to watch my fave band, Coldplay play live!

How to find the cheapest flights:

SG – Sydney: I discovered Scoot, SQ’s budget airline. Back then, it has been recently launched so with the promo that they had, I was able to purchase the ticket which appears to be almost half the price of my Singapore Air ticket during my SG-Sydney trip on 2011.

Sydney to Christchurch: I flew via Jetstar, Qantas’ budget air. Watch out for their Friday Frenzy promo 😉

Getting to Queenstown:

Ideally, I could have flown directly to Queenstown from Sydney, but because it is the Adventure Capital of the World, the air fares are skyrocketing. So, my friends and I decided to go to Christchurch first, and why not — it was actually a blessing in disguise for two reasons: 1) I discovered how Christchurch, also known as the Garden City, is such a lovely laidback city albeit the 2011 earthquake; 2) the Christchurch – Queenstown road trip is not to miss — yes the journey from two regions, Canterbury – Otago is the best. You’ll see surreal picture postcard sceneries from the bluest lakes to the majestic snow capped mountains.

At the Christchurch Airport, you’d see agents that could assist you on your NZ tour. Unlike the common airport agents though, I chanced upon one which could give the same rate online less the booking fee. Apart from that, they can assist you with the travel plans that would suit your needs. For us, we wanted a bus ride where we could have some stopovers to fully enjoy the views.  I highly recommend Intercity bus line. While you’re aboard, the friendly bus driver would tell the passengers of all the significant information the we are passing through.  Aside from having a lunch stopover near Mt. Cook, the highest mountain in NZ, we had fun stops at Lake Tekapo, Church of the Good Shepherd and Waitaki District, the border of Otago and Canterbury.

Going back to Christchurch:

Because we love Intercity, I booked on the same coachline from Queenstown to CC.  This time though, it was almost half the price (NZ$ 55 only) as I chose the ride without stopovers since we’ve seen the sceneries on the way to Q.  Though it was not a bus tour anymore, I was surprised that the bus driver still gave bits and pieces of the places that we’ve passed and had a lunch stopover at a beautiful garden overlooking Mt Tekapo.

 

one of my fave photos bec of its uniqueness — most of the NZ travels are feasting in greens apart from this area in Waitaki district which borders Otaga & Canterbury

 

	Cost in SGD
scoot: SG to Au	485.86
jetstar: Au to NZ	354.05
pocket money	470.00
hotel	208.00
tours/transpo	580.00
gondola	26.00
paraglide	209.00
	2,332.91