New Zealand Road Trip 2018 ✈ Wellington

Our 5th anniversary adventure brought us through 4 seasons and 2 new countries within 2 weeks. Started our trip hanging out with friends in San Francisco, followed by a relaxing getaway in Fiji, and ended the trip with a 10-day road trip across New Zealand. I'll share more about our adventures in the next few posts. Follow along!

New Zealand 10D9N Road Trip:

Day 1: Hokitika

Day 2: West Coast & Lake Wanaka 

Day 3: Milford Sound

Day 4: Glenorchy

Day 5: Queenstown

Day 6: Mt Cook & Lake Tekapo 

Day 7: Christchurch

Day 8: Wellington

Day 9: Lake Taupo/Hobbiton

Day 10: Auckland

Dec 3 (Mon): Christchurch - Wellington

After spending a night in Christchurch and dropping off our rental car at the airport, it's time to bid goodbye to the South island and continue our journey to the North. While we could have possibly gotten a relocation deal to drive from Christchurch to Wellington, we decided to fly to avoid 'wasting' another day of driving. Besides, a lot of relocation deals don't include ferry cost between Picton and Wellington, which costs approximately NZD273 ($186) for 2 person and a car. Flying turned out to be the most cost and time-efficient option as it costs a total of NZD71 ($48) for the both of us, including 20kg checked baggage, and the flight was only an hour.

Landed at Wellington airport at 5.30pm. We originally planned to pick up the rental car upon arriving at the airport but after considering the time and additional cost (NZD 40) to park at the hotel, we decided to pick it up the next morning instead.

Instead of taking the Airport Flyer (bus 91) directly from the airport to the city for NZD12, we chose to be 'local' and walked 900m to another nearby bus station to catch the normal bus (bus 2) from Hobart Street to Lambton Quay at Cable Car Lane. The bus ride took about half an hour and cost NZD5/pax ($3.50), we paid cash.

Our hotel for the night - Intercontinental Wellington for 35,000 IHG points. Thanks for the anniversary welcome gift! =)

Walked 15 min to Little Penang on the Terrace for a taste of home. =) I ordered Koay Teow Th'ng while hubby ordered claypot chicken rice. The food was decent and reasonable. Total cost for the both of us was NZD32 ($22).

Dec 4 (Tues): Wellington - Lake Taupo

Took the bus (NZD5) from the hotel to the bus stop closest to Jucy's office near the airport. The bus driver was super nice and helped us figure out which bus stop to get off. 

Picked up our rental car (Hyundai i30) for 3 days at Jucy's office.

This was another relocation deal I found on Jucy's website, to drive from Wellington to Auckland for NZD1/day with one free tank of fuel included. Our total rental cost for 3 days was NZD3 ($2)...what a steal! =D

Our one and only sightseeing stop in Wellington was Weta Cave. Hubby is a huge Lord of the Rings fan and Weta workshop was the creator of majority of the movie props. Who would've known that this unassuming workshop located in the middle of a small neighborhood had all these creative talents to create such a great movie! 

We took the 45 min guided tour for NZD28/pax ($20). Unfortunately, no photos allowed during the tour. 

Exhibits and merchandise for sale at the workshop.

That's all for our short time in Wellington. Stay tuned for the next post! As a token of appreciation for scrolling through this long post, here's our map and itinerary to help you plan for your New Zealand adventure! Click on the top right 'square' to open in Google Maps.

New Zealand Road Trip 2018 ✈ Christchurch

Our 5th anniversary adventure brought us through 4 seasons and 2 new countries within 2 weeks. Started our trip hanging out with friends in San Francisco, followed by a relaxing getaway in Fiji, and ended the trip with a 10-day road trip across New Zealand. I'll share more about our adventures in the next few posts. Follow along!

New Zealand 10D9N Road Trip:

Day 1: Hokitika

Day 2: West Coast & Lake Wanaka 

Day 3: Milford Sound

Day 4: Glenorchy

Day 5: Queenstown

Day 6: Mt Cook & Lake Tekapo 

Day 7: Christchurch

Day 8: Wellington

Day 9: Lake Taupo/Hobbiton

Day 10: Auckland

Dec 2 (Sun): Chateau on the Park DoubleTree Christchurch

After a long day of driving and sightseeing, we made it to Christchurch and checked into our hotel for the night - Chateau on the Park DoubleTree Christchurch. It was good that they had complimentary parking on-site.

Used 27,000 Hilton points for a free night.

The design of the hotel is pretty nice, definitely 'Chateau-ly'.

There's also a beautiful rose garden in the hotel. 

Thanks DoubleTree Christchurch for the anniversary surprise welcoming us in the room! =D

Thumbs up for the hospitality! 

Dec 3 (Mon): Christchurch - Wellington

Started our day with a yummy complimentary breakfast, one of the Diamond benefits. =P

After breakfast, we walked across the street to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.

Not really a fan of flowers but these beautiful roses caught my attention. 

Dropped off our free Korando at the rental car office before getting dropped off at Christchurch airport. We picked this car up at Queenstown, drove a total of 728kms, and spent NZD141 ($98) on gas.

Booked a one-way flight from Christchurch to Wellington on Jetstar for total of NZD71 ($48) for the both of us, including 20kg checked baggage. Time to bid goodbye to the South Island and continue our journey in the North Island! 

That's all for day 7 of our road trip in New Zealand. Stay tuned for the next post! As a token of appreciation for scrolling through this long post, here's our map and itinerary to help you plan for your New Zealand adventure! Click on the top right 'square' to open in Google Maps.

New Zealand Road Trip 2018 ✈ Mt. Cook & Lake Tekapo

Our 5th anniversary adventure brought us through 4 seasons and 2 new countries within 2 weeks. Started our trip hanging out with friends in San Francisco, followed by a relaxing getaway in Fiji, and ended the trip with a 10-day road trip across New Zealand. I'll share more about our adventures in the next few posts. Follow along!

New Zealand 10D9N Road Trip:

Day 1: Hokitika

Day 2: West Coast & Lake Wanaka 

Day 3: Milford Sound

Day 4: Glenorchy

Day 5: Queenstown

Day 6: Mt Cook & Lake Tekapo 

Day 7: Christchurch

Day 8: Wellington

Day 9: Lake Taupo/Hobbiton

Day 10: Auckland

Dec 2 (Sun): Queenstown - Hooker Valley Track - Lake Pukaki - Lake Tekapo - Church of the Good Sheppard - Christchurch (600kms)

After 4 nights in Queenstown, it was finally time to bid goodbye to this scenic city and continue our journey back to Christchurch and complete our anti-clockwise drive around the South Island, before flying to the North Island. This was one of the longest driving days during our trip with lots of grounds to cover. Fortunately, we were both well rested and ready to rock and roll after two relaxing days.

Knowing that we had a long day ahead, we checked out of the hotel and left Queenstown at 5.40am and was greeted by this magnificent sunrise.

Quick photo stop at Kawarau Gorge. I mentioned in my previous post that New Zealand road signs are very clear and helpful, including the signs for scenic spots, which explains a lot of the random unplanned photo stops we had during the road trip.

Vineyards at the town of Cromwell.

Rolling hills (and loud sheep) along the Lindis Pass-Tarras Road.

Lindis Pass in Waitaki district is one of the most scenic roads in New Zealand.

Scenic drives like this make the long drive much more pleasant and enjoyable.

Colorful Lupin near Omarama town. Our trip was at the end of Nov - early Dec, which was the peak lupin blooming season. The purples and pinks flowers make the already-stunning views even more incredible. Here's a helpful post if you're interested in Lupin-spotting.

Lake Pukaki with perfection reflection of the clouds.

The famous Mount Cook road with Aoraki / Mt Cook peeking through the clouds.

Made it to Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park at 9.15am. We're both not big hikers so this was the only hike we planned for this trip. The Hooker Valley Track is 10km round-trip and takes approximately 3 hours (took us 2.5 hours). It's a fairly easy and flat hike/walk. 

Excited to begin our hike...or maybe not? 

Glad that the clouds cleared a lil' during our hike, giving us a better view of Mt. Sefton.

View of the Mueller glacier lake from the Mueller Lookout.

There are a total of 3 swingbridges along the hike which makes for good photo stops. 

If you don't want other people in your pictures (like us), go to the 2nd or 3rd bridge. =P


Another viewpoint of Mueller glacier lake.

Gorgeous scenery the entire way...snow-capped mountains, flowing rivers, lush valley meadows, and glacial lakes. Too bad Mt. Cook was hiding behind the clouds.

Finally...made it to the Hooker Glacier Lake lookout point after one hour! Took a break to enjoy the view and had some drinks and snacks before making our way back.

Some 'action' shots on our way back.

Goodbye Mt. Cook!

Drove by the beautiful turquoise Lake Pukaki, with colorful lupins on both sides of the roads. Stopped by NZ Alpine Lavender farm but it's not lavender season yet.

One of the most photographed lake in New Zealand....turquoise Lake Tekapo.

More lupin flowers!!

Church of the Good Sheppard with impressive backdrop of Lake Tekapo.

Last few photos before we big goodbye to this beautiful region and continue our 3-hour drive towards Christchurch.

Made it to Christchurch at 5.30pm and stopped by Pakn'Save to grab some food for dinner before checking into our hotel - Chateau on the Park DoubleTree Christchurch. More photos of the hotel in the next post.

That's all for day 6 of our road trip in New Zealand. Stay tuned for the next post! As a token of appreciation for scrolling through this long post, here's our map and itinerary to help you plan for your New Zealand adventure! Click on the top right 'square' to open in Google Maps.