When COVID-19 restrictions started to relax in 2022, the family decided to go on a long-haul holiday trip!

Because I did all the research and planning beforehand. Obviously.

So here I am, writing down my planning process and tips that I hope would be useful to you, and for myself too for when I plan my next trip to the land of the Kiwis (Yes, once is not enough!)

Planning Phase

Deciding on which country to visit had to be the most difficult decision for this trip. New Zealand wasn’t the place we initially wanted to go, but after hearing about it from friends and doing some research, it was most suitable based on our dates and objectives:

• SNOW
• Easy to get around with a wheelchair
• SNOW
• Reliable COVID-19 measures and restrictions
• SNOW
• Natural scenery

(YES, these pictures were taken by me! It is real.)

And boy, did we really get snow. The period we visited had one of the heaviest snowfall in a few years, and people kept telling us we were very lucky to see that much snow. Snowball fights were plenty.

Why New Zealand?

New Zealand announced that they would start welcoming tourists in May 2022. It was timely because we knew NZ had strict protocols for COVID-19, so we would be pretty safe there. Since our trip was in June, it also allowed some time for them to get their processes ready to open up to tourists.

Which Part of New Zealand?

From what I’ve heard, North Island has more urban landmarks, is more focused on the indigenous culture and has more street markets, while South Island has more scenic, natural views and activities. Of course, I’m sure both islands are equally stunning, but given the limited time we had, we focused on snow and scenic areas that are easy to get by without hiking (since we had a wheelchair with us).

The bungee and other adrenaline-inducing activities are also more commonly found in Queenstown, which is located on South Island. Interestingly, I didn’t see any amusement parks in NZ (guess they don’t need it since they already have amazing views and the wide range of gravity-defying activities).

I also searched for upcoming concerts and festivals in NZ. But there weren’t many mainstream ones. So you really visit NZ for the views, not party vibes.

Which Route?

We had to decide the route before buying the plane tickets. It took me a whole week of research and planning to eventually decide on Christchurch > Lake Tekapo > Wanaka > Queenstown.

It really depends on what you want to see on your trip. I wanted to fulfil my bucket list, and I pretty much completed them there. We decided to forego seeing animals (at Kaikoura) or hot springs (at Hanmer Springs and Golden Bay area), and national parks. But we were pretty lucky, cause we managed to see teenage seals and bottlenose dolphins at Milford Sound!

Did You Use Any Maps?

Use Google Map to spot your landmarks. Apple map is still inadequate in NZ, although I do prefer the driving instructions Apple gives you. I didn’t refer to any physical maps for this trip, since it was more driving than walking in a town. Most attractions in each town were also in close proximity to one another.

Any Halal Food?

Halal food is mostly found in big cities, like Christchurch and Queenstown, but there are also a few in smaller towns like in Wanaka. We mostly ate kebabs, Indian food, and fish & chips. Cooking might be the most cost-effective if you live in an accomodation with a kitchen. We brought meal packs called Kembara with us, which only needed hot water to heat up, and it can also be microwaved. This was pretty useful in small towns like Lake Tekapo (which only had one supermarket). To me, it felt like Japan has more muslim-friendly eateries.

We also brought our own chilli packets and sambal, which is highly encouraged (because their main sauce is ketchup, and their chilli sauce really no kick).

What is interesting is that Kiwis do not sell combo/set meals like what you see in SG. As an example, for fish & chips, the restaurants that I went to sell the fried fish ala carte, and then you need to add on the chips and the drink.

In general, there is a good amount of western and Asian restaurants, bars and pubs, and fast food. The range of food selection is similar to what you see in SG – except hawker centres!

To Drive or to Take Public Transport?

This took another whole week of research. Basically, it is possible to take public transport to travel from town to town. This includes services like Intercity and Naked Bus, and fares start from around NZ$10. The bus would take you through multiple town stops, but may not drop directly at the town you want to visit.The Intercity Bus Route fits all our stops, but the there is only one bus timing daily in the early morning (eg from Christchurch to Tekapo – bus departs at 8.30am, and will reach 12.35pm at a cost of NZ$41/person). If the distance is longer, it means you spend the day travelling.

Note: Shops close really early there, usually around 5pm, and it gets really dark after sunset.

We also considered if we could rent a car with a driver, given that we only had 1 driver in the group. However, this will cost us NZ$1000 per day (yes, I emailed to ask) to account for the driver, vehicle, fuel, insurance, permits, overnight costs and meals.

Camper vans are much harder to drive, and with only 1 driver, it will be difficult for us. Besides, we already live in such a small house, do we really want to stay in an even smaller area on our holiday?

Which Car Rental then?

Based on our friends’ trips and online recommendations, we shortlisted Ace Rentals, Go Rentals and Omega Rentals. Winter is considered a non-peak period for rentals, and at that point of time, NZ had cheaper rentals than in Aussie. For driving license, what I read online was that as long as your license is in English, and is a legal document, it is accepted.

I am not a car enthusiast, so here were my considerations (included both research and actual trip experience):

• 1500cc car was sufficient for us, as the roads were all straight roads, with not much uphill or downhill
• Choose a more recent model. There are areas with no signal or coverage, so even the radio doesn’t work. So, a bluetooth connection is essential so play songs offline. (I had to let go of the CD player option unfortunately)
• I chose a 5 pax / 2 luggage option – the car was a bit tight for 1 large, 1 medium luggage and a wheelchair, but it was only possible because we had 3 pax. Must get a bigger car for 4 pax or more.
• I didn’t miss out on much when renting a car without the GPS navigation feature. We used our phones for that.
• I was worried about the fuel tank given we would travel for hours at a time, but driving 6 hours straight only used up about 1/2 tank or so? Some towns also had petrol kiosks so it was quite safe.

Ok, so Which Airline?

It was either SQ or Air NZ. The good thing is that both are under Star Alliance, so you can get the miles, and be able to take an SQ flight under Air NZ. SQ at that point of time only had flights to Christchurch and Auckland, but they didn’t fly on our planned return date. We wanted to maximise the number of days we had, so we decided on Air NZ, which included an SQ international flight followed transfer via a domestic flight.

Note: We were unable to do online check-in for Air NZ, and had to go down to the counters to check in before the flight.

The international flight was a long-haul flight, so we were given a pillow and blanket. The domestic flight snack was pretty cute – NZ-branded popcorn, cookie or chips!

Story Time: On our return domestic flight from Queenstown to Auckland, we took super long just to check-in because the self check-in machines do not recognise international passports, and the staff at the counter took super long to check-in for us. The immigration/security check area was also super crowded, and it took a while to get through. I saw MANY people miss their domestic flight because of it. So always cater extra time at the airport everyone!

Extra Note: I brought a huge, heavy 30,000mAh powerbank. It is safe to be carried on flights in your hand-carry, but it did get stopped by Queenstown airport security. The security officer brought it over to the Air NZ staff to check if it is ok, and they said it’s fine. Phew.

How were the COVID-19 Restrictions & Visa?

New Zealand follows a traffic light system. You can refer to Youtrip who summarised the SOPs really well.

For Singaporeans, you do not need to apply for a visa because our passport is visa-waiver, but you still have to apply for NZeta. Requesting an NZeTA costs NZ$9 via the app or NZ$12 via the website. But do not be alarmed that you have to pay more than that, because they also auto-include payment for International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL). Overall, pretty fast process.

We also had to take a pre-departure ART (in NZ, they refer it to as RAT) test, which needs to be supervised. It must be taken no more than 24 hours prior to departure. They accept tele-art as well, as long as it is supervised. I booked mine through Kingston Medical. It was affordable, and cheaper than Klook. Once the ART test result was out, fill up the NZ traveler form, and you’re good to go! The form can be pre-filled before your trip, and then you can just submit once you have the ART test results.

It was all pretty easy and smooth. At immigration, each visitor will be given a box of ART/RAT test kits (the brand was also available in SG). At the counters, they only checked the QR code that was generated from the NZ traveler form, so they didn’t ask for our vaccination certs. But do print them out if you are travelling a domestic flight cause they checked the certs for our flight from Queenstown to Christchurch.

For the return trip to SG, we only needed to fill the SG arrival card online.

Do check again on the latest travel requirements as this might be dated.

What Insurance Did We Buy?

I bought the AXA Wanderlust Travel Insurance.

Just make sure that COVID-19 coverage is included in your travel insurance. It is encouraged to buy early, so in the case that the trip is cancelled due to COVID-19, it can be covered under the insurance.

Note: Not all insurance plans are inclusive of full COVID-19 coverage. Some companies just provide coverage if you catch the virus when travelling, but not if you cancel or postpone the trip. Changes to restrictions from the destination country is also not accounted for in the insurance.

You should also decide if you need to add vehicle excess to cover for your car rental, or you can purchase from the car rental company. In my case, I was kiasu and bought both (as the car rental still had excess payment if anything, and thought the other insurance will help me cover the cost of that excess). No idea if that is logical though!

Do We Need a Wifi Egg?

We did some research and found that getting data roaming was much more cost-effective as compared to wifi eggs. Changi Reccomends wifi egg was one of the most expensive options for NZ. For reference, we compared it to the sim-data only plans like Gomo, Circles vs Yogifi, Changi Reccomends.

Anyway, the reception is great overall, except when you are on the road in rural areas where it is purely agricultural lands/farms/deserted. Even the radio wasn’t working in those areas.

What Clothes and Accessories Should I Wear?

The temperature got lower as we travelled down South. It was still too cold wearing all these if you are out at night, but we survived!

We spent a day shopping for winter clothes and accessories before the trip, at IMM. All the travel and winter shops are near one another on the same level, so it was easy to tick off the to buy list.

I also bought waterproof shoe spray from JD Sports, and applied it on our shoes a few days before our trip. The coat will last for about two to three weeks if you use the shoe regularly. It is suitable for all-types (including leather and suede). Was super glad we applied it on our shoes because we sometimes stepped on thick snow, and our feet were still nice and snuggly afterwards.

For those wearing specs, I highly reccomend buying anti-fog spray from any optic shop. Do bring it along, super useful!

Where Should I Stay?

I spent a lot of time searching for accomodation.

There was this one place that looked AMAZING, but the price was also amazing. Will save it for next time :’)

(For future reference: https://www.purepods.com/, SGD$557/night.)

There were also pretty Airbnbs, but most of it were located a driving distance from where the action happens. There were also many that weren’t available during our dates. Suitable farmstays were also limited during my search.

Hence, we booked accoms that were right smack in the centre of town, and it was the best decision ever. Easily accessible to the main attractions, beautiful views, supermarkets, and other amenities.

We eventually decided on:

Accomodation	Booked Via	Room	Service & Facilities
Ibis Christchurch (Christchurch)	Agoda	The room was cosy and comfortable. It had the basic amentities, but that was ok because we were there to sleep. Comfortable space for three adults.	The staff were friendly and tried their best to answer our questions. There was a convinience store about 150m away, and our favourite halal burger joint right opposite! Their carpark was full, but luckily there was a public carpark right across the road. The location was walking distance to most of the places we wanted to visit.
Lake Tekapo Village Motel (Lake Tekapo)	Klook	The room came with a veranda and a sliding glass door. The room was filled with old-school furnishing, and the bed came with a heater. What was good about the room is that there was a microwave! No kitchen though. There was also a big sofa and table for you to have your dinner etc. The toilet is huge. It had the basic amenities, with ample space to lie down if you ever wanted to. I was a little worried because the window in the toilet was slighly ajar and we were on the first level. However, if we closed it, there would be no ventilation. The floor was also very cold. We had to turn on the heater to make the room warmer, but it also scared me a little because I didn’t know if it will get too hot and create an accident. But nothing happened thankfully. Power outlets for this room were at odd places, and our travel adaptors were of opposing shapes (ie circular electrical outlets vs a rectangle adaptor), so it was loose and we needed to prop it with other things to make it stay in place.	The one staff was so upbeat and friendly. She gave us whatever info we needed, and patiently answered all our questions (we kept going back to her cause we kept asking). You can park your car right outside your room for free! From the room, we could walk to the meeting areas, the supermarket, the playground, the bridge to the other attractions, and the conservatory. Amazingly, it was still quiet at night even though it is located in a “busy” area.
Edgewater Hotel (Wanaka)	Agoda	The hotel is on the older side, but it was generally well-maintained and had a pretty view, especially during dusk (the shade of the sky was purplish-grey-pink?!). There was a balcony, and we could see the lake and mountains. The room is not soundproof, so we could hear people watching tv when we were walking along the walkway, and we could hear people walking past the door in the room too. The bed was comfy though, and came with a heater function.	The staff at the reception were still upbeat even when we checked in late, and they assisted us with our request to book activities in Wanaka last minute. There were no lifts, so you have to climb up the stairs. There were many two-storey blocks. There were tennis courts, sauna and gym located in the middle of the area. The restaurant is located at the lobby, which you can also walk through to access a walking path to other parts of Wanaka. There are greenery and benches for the hotel guests in front of the walking path. There was free parking with shared lots located in the vicinity of a group of blocks. The main reason I picked this hotel was because it was walking distance from the Wanaka Tree. We enjoyed the walk as we could see the mountain view in the background, and the beautiful, beautiful lake along the paths. You could also take a 15-minute walk to the city centre. They will provide you with a map on the various walking paths. Quite a lot of joggers with their dogs (usually not leashed so be careful if you are afraid of dogs because they may approach you if the owner is careless/far behind the dog while it is roaming freely ahead).
Crowne Plaza Queenstown (Queenstown)	Agoda	Was super satisfied to have splurged a bit more for a lake view room, cause the view was absolutely stunning! We had a balcony with two chairs and a table to chill (but weather was literally chill). In the day, you could enjoy the view of the lake and the water activities, including the shark ride, jet skis, boats and some thrilling boat ride (you could hear the screams of the people on that ride from the room) and the paragliding people! At night, you would go starry-eyed with all the stars in the sky. It was bright and beautiful. The room felt luxurious with all the basic amenities, and the room size was pretty big.	The staff at the lobby counter were super nice and friendly. We were initially allocated the highest floor, which was only accessible via a flight of stairs at the top. However, they managed to find another room one level below with lift access since we had a wheelchair, and they were very nice and assuring about it. While they were checking for the available rooms, they kept checking in with us, and updating us what they were trying to do to help us. Breakfast spread was quite good. What I liked were the tea pots which you can bring to your table so you don’t have to get up to keep refilling. We ate the usual fruits, yoghurt, cornflakes, eggs and croissants. (Why are all their pastry so tasty urgh.) They also had bacon and pancakes. Valet parking only, if you have a car @ NZ$23/night. Suprisingly, their laundry room had the cheapest rate from this list. It was also on the same level as our room.

Christchurch:

Lake Tekapo:

Wanaka:

Queenstown:

What type of plugs do Kiwis use?

It is different from the Singapore three-pin plugs. We bought a travel adapter because NZ uses the flat plugs, which was incompatible. We saw a mix of three-pin or two-pin flat electrical sockets in NZ, but it is mostly three-pin ones which can also be used as two-pin.

So, these were some of the things to do for the trip to New Zealand. Look forward to Part 2 for the actual trip itnerary! 😉