Additional Friendly Hostel Reviews (South Island)

MARLBOROUGH, NELSON

Bayview Backpackers, Picton

Set in Waikawa, just up the road from Picton, Bayview is a reasonable backpackers, but not as nice as their rating had led us to believe. Our double room was pretty good, I had no complaints there. But there should probably be a better bathroom set-up; in the high season I imagine it seems quite full with only two toilet/shower combination bathrooms to go around. It isn’t a huge place, but there’s probably not enough facilities. Also, Becky thought it was a bit of a mess when we got there, though who doesn’t like homemade bread everyday? Thus, 6.5.

Leeways Backpackers, Blenheim

We’ve got mixed thoughts on Leeways. One on hand, our double room was ridiculously well-appointed for $40 total, with a mini fridge, TV, and DVD player, and was quite nice in general. One the other, the hostel is located on a somewhat industrial, busy road, and the set-up is a bit odd as you have to walk through the shower room to the backyard. Parts were nice but other parts not so much. They did have a ping-pong table, which is a definite plus. Update: we find ourselves here in the winter to do some pruning work, this is definitely a long-termers place, with plenty of people here to prune over the winter, almost all Germans. Bumping up the grade from 5.5 to 6.5ish, but beware it will likely be packed!

Watson’s Way, Renwick

A really nice purpose-built backpackers in Renwick, it was nearly empty when we were there in winter, but could see that it would be really nice in summer as well. Kitchen was spacious, clean, and well-appointed, a large lounge with many chairs and TV, and the grounds were well-kept, looked like there would lots of good places to chill outside in warm weather. They choose not to allow long-termers, which almost certainly keeps their rating up, but their volumes low. Guess they would rather not have that sort of crowd and vibe. Room was a little small for having 6 beds, if there were other people I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much, so consequently it’s a 7.5.

The Bug, Nelson

A warm and inviting hostel located in a house on the outskirts of Nelson city, there’s a lot to like about the Bug. Clean, well-maintained, and attractive in the house, a nice outside BBQ/picnic area, free (if glacial) internet, nice kitchen, and good rooms, from what we experienced. Downsides are the lack of much dining space and a really bad layout for parking. Very nice, but we rate it a little lower than most other backpackers seem to: 8

GOLDEN BAY

The Barn, Maharau

Backpackers/campsite located just a few hundred meters from the entrance of Abel Tasman National Park, which is quite nice. Double rooms were really quite nice, dorms didn’t look as fun since they were right next to kitchen and people were walking through there. Kitchen was fairly nice, nothing spectacular, but location at the park is main draw here, and is good for that. 7.5

The Nook, Pahora

Situated on the road from Takaka to the northern end of the Abel Tasman, The Nook features a hodge-podge of accommodations ranging from a bach-type backpackers to a strawbale cottage to a actual housetruck that sleeps 4. We stayed in the backpackers and had the place to ourselves. Kitchen was good, though the sink is small and tough to clean things in, the dining area was pretty good, living room was cozy (especially with the fire, which got nice and toasty), though it might be a little small with a full house. Bathrooms were also nice and clean, and rooms were good with only doubles and twins in the main house – no cramped dorms here. The real prize here is the setting out in the middle of Golden Bay paddocks, with a property that oozes charm and cozyness. 8

Shambhala, Takaka/Collingwood

A remote Golden Bay backpackers with a bit of a Buddhist twist. Nice place with cool vibe, uses solar power and rainwater for power and water, so that presents its usual challenges. Nice and clean, with great location set off the road several Ks, meters from a rocky beach and its entrance is almost directly across from the famous Mussel Inn. Enjoyed Shambhala a lot. 9.5

The Innlet, Collingwood

As you’d expect in Golden Bay, Innlet’s a wee bit rustic, though charming and cruisey. Set on the road just a bit north of Collingwood at the edge of Kahurangi NP and very close to the beach, it’s got a great location and features a substantial bushwalk in the back of the property. Nice big kitchen, clean and attractive rooms, cozy fireplace in the generous living room, and attractive grounds, complete with streamside hot tubs fashioned from bathtubs. John, the host, is also happy to chat and recommend things in the area, which we liked. 8

KAIKOURA

Adelphi Lodge, Kaikoura

On the whole it was an uninspiring stay at Adelphi Lodge for us. It’s a pretty large hostel, with a bit of a rooming house/Barton Fink in the South Pacific kind of feel. Large kitchen, and really big lounge/TV room, which I thought was pretty good. Also enjoyed the hot tub. Location is good, in the middle of Kaikoura’s downtown, with off-street parking, but the train rolls by several times, very loudly during the night, which is not great. Overall, eh. 6.5

Dusky Lodge, Kaikoura

Located on the highway coming into Kaikoura from the north, it shares a building with a Thai restaurant, which is a bit unusual. Our dorm was nice and clean enough, if a bit spare, though not overcrowded. Kitchen really wasn’t that nice, which was a bit of a surprise since the rest of the common areas looks pretty attractive. Nice wood fires throughout the building kept it warm and cozy in winter, and we took advantage of the hot tub and free breakfast (during winter only). Probably is a 7, but could see giving it an 8 possibly.

Sunrise Lodge, Kaikoura

This is definitely the best place we’ve stayed in in Kaikoura, which isn’t saying heaps as we weren’t impressed by the other places, but it’s still pretty nice. The sleeping quarters are set in a purpose-built building behind the office, which lies on the main road through town, and like every other hostel, seems to be located just yards from the train tracks. Still, not ridiculously loud, so that was alright. Kitchen and bathrooms were good and well-maintained, and the beds and linens were more than satisfactory. The hosts are a hands-on German or Dutch couple, and they help to make the place even more cozy. 8

CANTERBURY

Hanmer Backpackers, Hanmer Springs

A nice, cozy backpackers in scenic, if sleepy, Hanmer Springs. Run by a friendly newcomer to the backpackers business, it’s a solid, if unspectacular hostel. Nothing really exceptional, but good vibe that we enjoyed. 8

Le Gite, Hanmer Springs

A small, cruisey, well-kept backpackers a few minutes of Hanmer Springs proper, it’s a small collection of buildings in a residential neighborhood. Really pretty small and homey with a nice kitchen and cozy common area, the wood fire was quite good on a cold night in Hanmer. Would definitely stay there again, our share room had good beds and it was only a 5-10 minute walk downtown and to the hot pools. 8.5

Marine Backpackers, Sumner

A pretty sizable hostel located a block from the beach in the Christchurch suburb of Sumner. It’s also a bottle store and bar and can get rather loud and busy, especially on weekend nights. During the day and evening we really enjoyed this hostel, as there are two kitchens and a nice lounge area on the first floor, along with a sizable patio/beer garden for BBQing. However, this is not a great place to get a good night’s rest, as the bedding is pretty low-grade (flat pillows, thin mattresses, squeaky beds), noise from the bar is highly audible throughout the second floor, and some of the rooms face the bar’s bright sign, making for tough sleeping. As a result, it’s only a 6.5, and I probably wouldn’t stay here again but for the sweet location.

Canterbury House, Christchurch

A sprawling, medium-sized backpackers on Bealey Ave just north of the city center, downtown is only a 15-minute walk away, which is nice. The atmosphere in the hostel was rather odd, like being at a retirement home or your grandfolks’ house, probably as a result from being owned by an older gentleman, had to be in his 60s. Two Asian women, one who seemed to be his wife, run the place during the day, and it’s a pretty sedate place, except for the Muzak and Christian music that was on most of the time. Beds were nice and everything was clean and well-kept, which was a plus. We were the only ones staying there at the time (early winter) but almost definitely wouldn’t stay there again, weird feel. 6.5

Dorset House, Christchurch

Dorset’s a bright, modern, and spacious hostel located in the northwest area of the city centre, directly across from the park, so it really has a winner of a location. Kitchen was clean and well-sized, bathrooms were good and numerous, lounge was large, with TV and videos, internet, pool table, and plenty of couches, and bedrooms were also just fine. Probably the best hostel we’ve stayed at in Chch so far, which is good, but they don’t put the heat on, which is not great. 7

The Old Countryhouse, Christchurch

The OC’s (don’t call it that) a cute little multi-building hostel located east of the city in Chch, probably Richmond or Shirley somewhere. It’s got a set of attractive buildings with a well-manicured lawn set behind an unprepossessing set of gates in a working class neighborhood. The buildings are nice, kitchen and bathroom facilities definitely adequate, but the beds in the bedrooms are substandard: the mattresses in our dorm were hard as rock and the “linens” consisted of a thin blanket, which was quite lame. The bedding was so lame it makes this place a 7.

Bon Accord Backpackers, Akaroa

Bon Accord is one of Akaroa’s set of downtown hostels, and is composed of several small one-floor buildings in an attractive property next to the stream running through town. In our building the kitchen and bathroom were quite small, which wasn’t a problem in the off-season when we visited, but would be an issue if it were full. Nice little lounge area and the slippers on the bed were an unusual, nice touch, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and guess that they’re clean. 7.5

Chez La Mer Backpackers, Akaroa

Located in downtown Akaroa, Chez La Mer gets a high rating in the 80s from BBH, but not sure exactly why. It does have a great location and is a cute house, but way too small for the volume of travelers. Even in the off-season we found the living room packed, which needs only 5-6 people to do so, and there was nowhere to store food in the house. Bathrooms and bedrooms were fine, nothing special but good. They mean well, but just too small to rate higher than a 6.5

Onuku Farm Hostel, Akaroa

Onuku is located about halfway up a mountainside 6km south of Akaroa, so it’s pretty much in the sticks. Great location when the weather is good, you can get awesome views of the waterway. Offers dolphin swims and kayaks for reasonable prices, other backpackers say they’re great trips. Pretty cruisey vibe at Onuku, somewhat hippie, but the lodge isn’t set up great for lots of people to hang out at the same time. Dorms were OK, cleanliness was good overall, showers all seem to be outside, so if it’s really cold they might not be much fun. Good spot overall, weather wasn’t great during our visit, which was a bummer, but in great weather this place would rock. 8.5

Mountain House, Arthur’s Pass

The tiny town of Arthur’s Pass, really a glorified refueling place between Chch and Greymouth, supports just two backpackers, and of the two Mountain House had the higher ranking, and so we stopped there. Not a bad little modern purpose-built joint, with a number of dorms and other rooms, slightly impersonal but BIG kitchen and dining area, what looked to be heaps of toilets/showers, and a cozy lounge on set above it all on a second floor. Probably your best bet if you need to stay in the Pass, the Mountain House is more than competent and efficient, if a little sterile. Sterile beats the funk in a place with 20+ beds, though. 8

Buscot Station, Omarama

A hostel located in a house on a farm out in the sticks of Omarama, got a very high BBH rating, 93%. It’s pretty nice, but given the number of people staying here, there just aren’t enough in the way of facilities to accommodate people well. With an average-sized kitchen, dining room, and living room, having 20 people stay here at the same time seems a bit excessive. Still, it’s in a nice location with pretty scenery, but it needs bigger and better facilities to handle this much traffic. More like a 7.5, I think.

Tailor-Made Tekapo, Lake Tekapo

Tailor-Made is a bit of a sprawling place, taking up three houses and an another guest lodge in a residential neighborhood above Lake Tekapo. Fairly ordinary accommodations, clean and bright lounge and dining areas, if a bit utilitarian. Nicely maintained yards with hammocks and such. Becky really enjoyed the reading lights, a nice thoughtful little touch which is worth so much. 7

Empire Hotel Backpackers, Oamaru

This is really an underrated place, we thought, especially given the size of the joint. Located in what looks to be an old boarding house (or something similar) in downtown Oamaru, the rooms were nice, warm, and clean, bathrooms were numerous and clean, the kitchens large, and the internet free. It also had a TV room, what more can you ask of a big hostel? We liked it so much we stopped there twice. On our first visit we saw (or rather, heard) blue penguins in a nearby garage, sadly by our second visit they were gone, as one had been runover, bummer. 8.5

SOUTHLAND

Happy Inn Backpackers, Milton

Perhaps the only reason to stay in Milton is the Happy Inn, run by an eccentric, gregarious, juggle-happy, bike-crazy, bread-baking, Buddhist Swiss, Tony, who will not allow his guests to wash their dishes nor seemingly go without a moment of conversation. A very friendly and outgoing chap, Tony regaled us with heaps of stories of biking across Asia, setting up circus tents in Australia, his Buddhist beliefs, and tales of backpackers gone before. He also taught juggling and washed our dishes after we had cooked dinner, a backpacking first for us! It can get a bit much what with him talking so much, but it’s generally fun and entertaining, and overshadows anything else at the hostel, which he converted from an old gym years ago. The lounge is warm and cozy with heaps of books and music, bathrooms are OK, bedrooms were clean and suitable, but your opinion of Happy Inn will largely rest on how much you enjoyed Tony. Might be best when there’s a few other people to distract his attraction, wish we could’ve gotten him to fire up the sauna… Still - 8

Falls Backpackers, Purakaunui

Situated way out in the middle of nowhere in the Catlins, this is a homey hostel located in a separate house on a farm. Actually it’s down the road from the Purakaunui Falls, so not hard to get to, though that doesn’t mean it’s near anything else. The bedrooms were really nice, and the doubles were huge, the size of master bedrooms, and the place could easily be a B&B. The bathrooms are also really quite nice and well-apportioned. Unfortunately the kitchen fails the place, as it’s really too small to accommodate more than a few people at a time, and the lounge falls prey to this as well. Luckily we had the place to ourselves when we were there in the off-season, and so really enjoyed our stay and the ability to stretch out fully there. Free eggs! 8

Waikawa Holiday Lodge, Waikawa

Waikawa is basically sticks-ville, Catlins, so if you’re looking for small-town isolation, this is a good place to do it. The Holiday Lodge is located right across the street from the notable Anglican church, and it’s really best if you think of it as a rustic bach, rather than a hostel, as it’s just a small house with 3 bedrooms and another double in a small adjoining building. Everything in the house is in good enough condition, though it is quite small and in need of an update. On cold nights the fire is quite cozy though, and it can be a good base to explore the Catlins area for a day or two. 6.5

Dolphin Lodge Backpackers, Curio Bay

Curio Bay is an isolated beach in the Catlins, and there’s definitely some amazing natural beauty there, with Hector’s Dolphins, yellow-eyed penguins, and the petrified forest on the ocean. Be sure to buy food in Invercargill, Dunedin, or your starting point before going there, as there’s about one camp store, a takeaways, and a restaurant in the general area. The backpackers is a nice, cozy beach affair, with good views of Porpoise Bay, a spacious kitchen and lounge area, and a number of dorm rooms. Because of the surf and the lessons offered by the hostel manager, it’s popular with both experienced surfers and wanna-bes. Cool, cruisey atmosphere and it’s a good place to chill for a few days away from the hustle and bustle of Invercargill or the like… 7

Southern Comfort Backpackers, Invercargill

A hostel consisting of two houses across the street from each other in a nice residential neighborhood near Queen’s Park in Invercargill. Nice location and the exterior/gardens of the houses were very attractive, in particular. Interiors were also in good condition and facilities appeared to be well-cared for, nice hostel to stay at, with fireplaces in lounges as well. 8

Kackling Kea Lodge, Invercargill

A pretty nice little backpackers on the outskirts of Invercargill, Kackling Kea is literally the larger part of its owner’s home. Good bathrooms from what I could see, and for its size it looked to have a large enough dining/lounge-type area. Free bread in the morning was nice, though not particularly flavorful. Dorms were nice, clean, and the heater generated enough heat in the night. Probably would choose Southern Comfort again if we had to spend another night in Invercargill, but still give Kea an 8.

Stewart Island Backpackers (non-BBH), Stewart Island

Not sure what’s going on with this place, but we certainly didn’t love it. Double was only a couple bucks more than dorms, which probably means dorms are overpriced. We got the double, not a brilliant room or building by any means though. The facility seems purpose-built to reverberate and carry sound, we heard every cough, yell, and especially slammed door in the building. Kitchen is OK but a little ghetto, lounge is spacious but depressing. Bathrooms are outside, a bit below average especially in winter. A high school group was loudly banging around when we visited, which depresses our rating, so it’s not recommended. 4

Barnyard Backpackers, Te Anau

Almost feel bad giving this a pretty mediocre rating, but staying there in winter is not really a treat. Beautiful scenery at its location on a deer farm outside of Te Anau, and the main office/kitchen/dining area/owner’s living quarters is really a great building with character. However kitchen is industrial and charmless, it’s a good hike to your room from the main room, and heating is insufficient in the rooms in the winter. Just enough negatives to make us not choose Barnyard again in the future, could be nice in summer though. 7

Milford Lodge, Milford Sound

The only budget accommodations in Milford, the Lodge is a large utilitarian hostel, with outdoor access to the facilities and rooms. Kitchen is large and useful, and bathrooms are pretty good with great hot water for the showers. The lounge is also good and spacious, plenty of room to spare there. However the power goes off at 11 or so, which includes the heaters in the rooms. In the middle of winter this is really unfortunate, as it can get below freezing quite easily in the Fiordland, making for a miserable night trying to sleep. Thus the Lodge only gets a 6.5.

QUEENSTOWN, WANAKA

Holly’s Backpackers, Wanaka

A small-medium-sized backpackers located in a large house in a quiet, older residential neighborhood in Wanaka, a few blocks away from the lake and the main shops. Good location and it’s a nice, bright, well-kept hostel with very friendly management, who we got to know well since we stayed for a long time, over a week. We stayed in an 8-bed dorm in the basement, which was not bad despite the number of people in it. Everything seemed to be clean, nicely maintained, and cheery, vibe was good when we were there. Apparently they get large numbers of Japanese skiers in the winter, so keep that in mind for booking then, if you can get a bed. 8

Matterhorn (non-BBH), Wanaka

A medium-sized hostel right off the heart of town in Wanaka, Matterhorn is OK but certainly not great. Our dorm room was adequate, but sleep was ruined by snoring Aussies and sounds reverberated throughout the building. Kitchen was OK, but there wasn’t much room for eating and lounging for the amount of people in a building of its size. Bathrooms were OK, our bad sleep helps to give this place a 5.

Poplar Lodge, Arrowtown

A small, homey little backpackers situated about a block from ‘downtown’ Arrowtown, Poplar is a nice, relatively quiet hostel spread out over two buildings on a sleepy residential street. Bathrooms were nice, kitchen well-appointed, and rooms seemed clean, not too cramped, and well-kept. Recommended for getting away from the Q-Town hustle-bustle. 8

Deco Backpackers, Queenstown

A sprawling, warren-like hostel located in the hills above Queenstown, near the Gondola, Deco Backpackers was a pretty good value in Queenstown. Though it calls itself ‘Deco’ they are but few Art Deco flourishes on any of the buildings, with utilitarian backpacker facilities more the standard. Facilities are good, with decent bathrooms, sizable kitchen with lots of heating elements, heaps of refrigerators, and a pretty nice lounge/dining area. Given the number of guests, dining area could be a bit bigger, but seems to be no room for that. Our room was a twin, which was nice enough for the money. Would stay again, especially because of the free wifi, which is quite a good feature. 7/8

WEST COAST (aka the Promised Land of hostels)

Beaconstone, Charleston

We really enjoyed Beaconstone, located in Charleston just a bit south of Westport and set in the bush about 5 minutes off the highway. The hosts, Grae and Nancy were really gracious and conversational, the place was immaculate and quite small, and they obviously put a lot of care into building and maintaining it. Also, Beaconstone was eco-friendly as it was off the grid, had composting toilets, and used solar power. A really relaxing and cool place to stay. 10

The Old Slaughterhouse, Hector

Billed as “the best hostel in the world” from a hostel survey, I don’t know if was the best hostel ever, but it was really quite nice. It’s got a tremendous view of the Tasman Sea owing to its location halfway up a mountain from the highway along the ocean. The Slaughterhouse requires a 10-minute hoof pretty much uphill, so you need to scrutinize what you take up with you, but the views and hospitality are well worth, we thought. David and Ina, the couple that own and live in the hostel, were really friendly and fun to talk to, the building is inviting and beautiful, and as I already mentioned the views are million-dollar. Becky really enjoyed the dogs as well. Huge recommendation. 9.5. A second visit six months later only confirmed our earlier opinion. Perhaps some people won’t appreciate the unheated rooms or the walk to the bathroom, but we don’t mind. Has to be a 10.

Rongo Lodge, Karamea

Another really good west coast backpackers. Rongo is a bit different from the first two as it’s set in Karamea so it doesn’t boast great views or a gorgeous building like the previous two, but the atmosphere is really what makes Rongo special. Described by Beaconstone’s owner, Grae (who no one would confuse with a square) as really hippy, we figured Rongo would be eccentric and fun, and it really was. The owners are quite chill, and have built Rongo to have a really friendly, peaceful vibe, and it comes across well when you stay there. Half the people we met there said they “planned to spend one night, and ended up spending four” as they enjoyed the atmosphere so much, not to mention the 4^th night was free. Rongo has its own little radio station, always broadcasting, driftwood fires in the parking lot every night, parties most nights, and its not uncommon for travelers to do dinners together and with the staff. Not the greatest facilities ever, but free (with donation) wifi was great, the atmosphere is terrific, and you’ll feel at home pretty quickly at Rongo. 8.5

Te Nikau, Punakaiki

Yet another nice backpackers, Te Nikau is a bit bigger than the others we’ve stayed at, but still nice in its own way. Located right off the highway in Punakaiki, its set in the bush, and consists of a main lodge and smaller lodges. We stayed at one of the smaller lodges, which was a self-contained sleeping quarters, kitchen, and bathroom. The kitchen was basically a greenhouse, which was different, but nice, as it was sunny but kept warmth in, which was good since it got so chilly and damp in the bush at night. Surprisingly good night’s sleep in the dorm, given how many people were in our room, but it was all good. Te Nikau appeared to have a small army of woofers, which was probably necessary given how big their area of land was and the multiple buildings to clean. Really pretty nice place overall. 8.5. Updated: stayed in another of the buildings with Marie and Alex, a bit different, not in the forest but the kitchen was bigger and better, reiterate our previous ranking.

The Old Church, Ross

I guess this place is an old church, but it doesn’t really appear to be so, especially from the inside. From the outside, it looks like an old house, but that doesn’t really matter. Located right off the highway next to a river in Ross, which is really not close to anything of big interest, which probably hurts it a bit. It does have a nice outdoor area, free laundry, nice-sized kitchen, good lounge, and huge collection of albums to play, which is a nice feature. Overall a good place, it seems to fit an 80% place just right. 8

Glow Worm Cottages, Franz Josef

A larger hostel, probably with 50-60 beds, owned by the same group that owns Adelphi Lodge in Kaikoura, along with some other hostels. Like Adelphi, The Far Side is prevalent, and there again is free soup and a hot tub. Seems to be arranged like a normal motel with rooms circling a motor courtyard. Pretty cheap at $19 with BBH card for a dorm bed, it’s really a bit big for what we like, but it’s what’s available around here. A bit better than Adelphi, but just OK. 5.5

Ivory Tower Backpackers, Fox Glacier

A large hostel in Fox Glacier, the only one in town so it’s not like there’s a lot of choice. When we were there in winter, we found it pretty cramped in the kitchen and dining area, which were full of lots of other stuck travelers. The lounge had a bad odor, the heaters in the room were really bright but didn’t stay on for very long, and the bathrooms weren’t kept up very well. Showers were also iffy at best. Barely average backpackers. 6

Some Friendly Hostel Reviews (North Island)

As we traveled through NZ this year, we wrote down some thoughts on each backpackers we stayed at so that we could rate them later as part of the BBH (Better Budget Hostels) rating system, partly because we are such civically-minded travelers but mostly because we had copious free time. With our SiteMeter hit counter, we’ve seen that the majority of visitors to our site are searching for specific hostels, particularly Shambhala in Golden Bay and Waikawa Holiday Lodge in the Catlins. Hopefully they’ve found our blog illuminating. Thus, in the spirit of driving more traffic to our site (since we had so few comments, the ever-rising hit counter has served as an affirmation of our hilarious reportage) and to help fellow travelers, we present our thoughts on many a budget NZ accommodation. Bear in mind that these are just the thoughts of one incredibly insightful person, so your mileage may vary. On the bright side these reviews are fully refundable. If you happen to own or love a hostel we didn’t like, apologies, but since our blog is dedicated to the Truth, what can we do?

It’s pretty impressive to look back at all the many backpackers we have stayed at in New Zealand. We’ve been really grateful for the BBH guide, which has been a pretty accurate measure for the different accommodations throughout the country. For anyone spending more than a few weeks in New Zealand, it is certainly worth the $40NZ fee to become a member (plus, you get a great phone card, too). The rating system seems to pretty right on, although we have stayed some places that seemed overrated and a few that seem underrated. But, by and large, they get it right.

Although we’ve visited most of the hostels on the West Coast, Golden Bay, and Banks Peninsula, we typically don’t have much experience with the backpackers in the big cities, as these are the places we were most likely to find Couch Surfing hosts. General tips would be to avoid the backpackers that cater to the large tour groups (Kiwi Experience! We’re looking at you…). Also, if you have your own transportation, the backpackers that are out of the city centers (or indeed far from everything) tend to be the nicest with the most charm and character.

The following reviews are grouped in geographic order, sort of, and are ranked on a scale of 1 (awful!) to 10 (amazing!). These were our general impressions:

NORTHLAND, AUCKLAND, & COROMANDEL

Endless Summer Lodge, Ahipara, Northland

Endless Summer Lodge is in a great location right on the beach. The hostel was spotless and even had a dishwasher (certainly a luxury for many a backpacker)! The building was beautiful with great views from the porch and also a really nice outside dining/deck area with an herb garden. High recommendation. 9.5

Mousetrap Backpackers, Paihia

Moderately sized backpackers, lives up to its name with its winding halls and tucked-away dorms. Clean and not for partiers, but is directly across the street from bars that are quite popular with backpackers, so you may hear (loud) music from there at night. If you don’t want to hear the music, try Captain Bob’s probably. Good recommendation. 7

Verandahs Backpackers Lodge, Auckland

Overall, we really liked this place. Campbell, the host, is a gregarious and friendly guy, with good recommendations and generally helpful suggestions. He put us in contact with Ken, an auto inspections guy who sold us our car, which got us safely around the country for the last 11 months. The backpackers is a 15-minute walk to downtown sights, clean and relatively small so that it’s pretty quiet at night, good for avoiding the party scene. High recommendation for an in-city Auckland hostel, especially if you’re on the look-out for a car. 9

Lantana Lodge, Auckland

Lantana is tucked away off the main thoroughfare in the Parnell neighborhood. Clean and orderly, run by an Indian fellow, Raj, who runs a tight ship there. Free internet, with wireless, which is fantastic and quite unusual at an NZ hostel! Not much happening in Parnell, and the vibe is a bit library-like here, but good for a quiet stay and if you want to make copious use of the free internet. Good recommendation. 7

Gateway Backpackers, Thames, Coromandel

A really nice two-house backpackers on the outskirts of the town of Thames. Run by a relatively young couple, very clean and bright, free laundry (!), didn’t have internet when we visited, but right through the backyard was an internet café. Very nice stay, high recommendation if you happen to be in Thames. 8

EAST CAPE

Maraehako Bay Retreat, Whangarua Bay

We were led to believe this would be a great place to stay by a friend, and by a BBH rating. Sorry, but our experience wasn’t of an 87% place. Location is absolutely great on an isolated bay on the eastern Bay of Plenty, and the building is a great rustic treehouse-looking structure. On the parts alone it would be about a 9. Unfortunately we picked a bad room, a double on the ground floor with a deck above it. Peaceful it was not, with people running back and forth, lots of people coming and going, and just not what we were hoping for from a backpackers for $60/night. Facilities were average, not impressive by any means, location great, but our experience wasn’t the best. Definitely get the top room by the kitchen. 6

TAURANGA, ROTORUA, & TAUPO

Just the Ducks Nuts, Tauranga

Located just across the bridge from Tauranga and Mt. Maunganui, good location for trips to either, but outside the cities. Best for people wanting to be outside ‘the scene’, seemed to be filled largely with long-term stayers working in the area, so has a vibe from that. Generally pretty nice, the upstairs was nicer than the basement lower level, which is more like a cave. 7

Funky Green Voyager, Rotorua

Located just south of the main shopping district in Rotorua, FGV is a nice, well-kept property with a huge kitchen, clean rooms, plenty of room to read, eat, and hang out. The owners and staff are really friendly, eager to recommend things to do or to just say hi. This contributes to a good, chill vibe in FGV. Apparently Rotorua has some crime issues but nothing was apparent while we visited. 8.5

Extreme Backpackers, Turangi

In the Turangi town center, which makes up nearly all of Turangi as far as we can tell, Extreme also has a climbing wall as part of the operation. Friendly and helpful staff, especially for doing the Tongariro Crossing. Rooms were clean and well-appointed, nice large kitchen, TV room, dining room, and courtyard. 8.5

TARANAKI

Seaspray House, New Plymouth

Owing to the energy industry NP seems to be doing alright for itself as the only town worth seeing in Taranaki. Seaspray’s located a few blocks from the city centre and its free museums and galleries, just a couple blocks from the beach. Nice, character house on a quiet street, the parking lot leaves something to be desired in the back but is better than nothing. House is a bit of a warren with various halls and closed doors, but is spacious enough, especially in the living room/dining room area. Kitchen is pretty good, big enough and has what you need. Bathrooms were new and modern, and our room was nice, only three beds in an oddly shaped room, not a bunch just jammed in. Comfortable for a night or two in sleepy NP. 8

Tamara Backpackers, Wanganui

Located in a charming older two-story building just a bit out of the city centre on the muddy Wanganui river, Tamara’s certainly an adequate hostel. Very quiet when we visited in the off-season, doesn’t seem like Wanganui probably ever gets too busy, though. Our double was a really pretty nice little room, clean, decent bed, quiet as we were the only ones on the second floor. Kitchen was also adequate and well-apportioned for a hostel its size, there was a TV room, and a nice lounge/dining room area. Not brilliant but worked, and a decent price. 7

HAWKE’S BAY, WAIRARAPA

Aqua Lodge, Napier

Located in a working-class (read, somewhat gritty) neighborhood about 10 minutes from downtown Napier, Aqua Lodge is possibly named for the swimming pool in its backyard? Sprawling across 3 buildings, Aqua Lodge has a bit of old-person feel combined with being a bit run-down. As it’s in Napier, it’s favored by fruit-picking backpackers in summer, with its 3 houses largely full and its backyard full of campers. Beds were fine, but much of the place showed signs of wear and tear, with infrequent maintenance. Other lodgings in Napier looked similarly worn, so that might just be the case everywhere, but Aqua certainly isn’t a great hostel. 5

Lochlea Lodge, Waipukurau

Terrific backpackers accommodation on a farm near Waipukurau, which is a bit off the beaten track in the Wairarapa region, but if you’re near there, it’s well-worth staying. The Lee family is warm and accommodating, the rooms were spotless, and there was a large kitchen/eating/TV area, especially for the size of the backpackers, which was pretty small and cozy. Great location on their farm, with plenty of area to roam and tramp around. Also has swimming pool, nice place to stay. 9.5

Leeway Motel, Featherston (Non-BBH)

Pretty standard budget motel on the main drag in Featherston with separate backpackers building. No real atmosphere to speak of, a few twin rooms, TV room, kitchen, and bathroom in a trailer-type building. Relatively cheap and clean accommodations, nothing special, but really nothing similar in Featherston. 4.5

You Stay Classy as, Ron Burgundy! (Nov. 25 – Dec. 1)

We spent our last week in New Zealand wrapping up all our bits and pieces before having to leave for Tahiti on 2 December. These “bits and pieces” largely consisted of throwing away heaps of clothing that was no longer fit to travel half-way around the world (again), picking up the Newmans from the airport after their South African holiday, and selling Ron Burgundy. Ron has seen us through almost 30,000 trouble-free kms around the North and South Islands (if you excuse him for the flat tires and dead battery, and we do), so we’re certainly sad to be parting ways with our trusty steed.

To sell Ron, we used our normal tactic of posting ads on all the free classified websites. This technique had served us well when we were selling our cars back home, but New Zealand proved to be a bit different. We got some initial interest, particularly from a finicky South African, but nothing concrete came of it. We did get one really creative would-be buyer who offered us a patio heater in exchange for the car. Hmm….yeah, no thanks.

Eventually, we decided to suck it up and take the typical backpacker advertising route – posting “for sale” signs in the hostels downtown. It proved to be an extremely disheartening afternoon, walking up and down Queen Street posting ads for Ron on bulletin boards already overflowing with other car ads. It did make us appreciate the nicer hostels we had stayed at in Auckland (Verandahs, Lantana Lodge) that were not nearly as depressing as those located downtown. We got a few bites this way as well, but even as we were posting the ads we realized that it would in no way be worth the effort. Moral: stay somewhere away from the city centre and try not to have to sell your car through fliers.

Us, the Newmans, and Auckland in the background

We eventually did manage to find a buyer from an online bulletin board. Our buyer, Bev, got in touch with us and we arranged to meet at her office on the North Shore (anything to save us a drive into Auckland at rush hour!). Not used to driving an automatic, she took us for an unexpectedly amusing test drive around Takapuna. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who was so flummoxed by an automatic transmission, and definitely hadn’t met someone who applied the hand brake every time they approached a stop sign. Anyway, Bev got back to us the next day to let us know she would like to buy Ron. With our departure just about imminent, we took about half of what we paid for the car, $950, which was an OK offer, but I guess understandable given that our WOF was up in a couple months.

"Mushrooms" on top of Mt. Victoria in Devenport

As is always the case, as soon as we agreed to sell the car, we received much more interest than we had the previous days. You have to wonder if we could have gotten a better price (as Ron is certainly a bargain at less than a grand) but with the New Zealand dollar currently so strong against the American dollar, we’re making out okay in the end. As long as the funds get us through Tahiti…

Anyway, this marks our final day in New Zealand. I’m not sure it’s really set in yet. We enjoyed a great barbecue last night with the Newmans, and they’ve been nice enough to offer to drive us to the airport as well. We’ve been really lucky to be able to spend this time here on the North Shore, getting ourselves sorted before we leave the country. It was also great to get to know Rachel and Shanon better, as we had only spent two nights with them on our first visit. At this point, we almost feel like flatmates. We really do appreciate another couple of terrific people that CouchSurfing has brought into our lives.

One last shot of Ron Burgundy...

This might be the last you hear from us until we’re back stateside in San Francisco. Our plans for Tahiti are a little uncertain, although we have managed to line up several CouchSurfing hosts for our stay, so all we can say for sure is that it should be interesting. Beyond that, we’re planning to soak up the sun and go for some hikes. We’re not sure of how much internet will be available, so there probably won’t be any new posts until we’re in San Francisco. And by that time, we’ll practically be home.

We’ll have lots more to say about New Zealand in future posts, so stay tuned!

Hoppy Birthday and Up To Whangarei (Nov. 17 – 24)

My birthday arrived amidst a stretch of nice weather last week, here on the North Shore, where we’ve been housesitting over the past few weeks. In NZ one hears a lot of gripes about the weather in Auckland, but it would be hard for anyone to find fault with the streak of warm, sunny days we’ve had here. Warm enough to hit the beach in late November works for me.

Red sunset in the North Shore means more beautiful weather tomorrow

My birthday, much like Becky’s, was a low-key affair for us, though it was without a signature moment (for example, on Becky's birthday we enjoyed a great bottle of Belinda’s wine while eating a bad steak accidentally seasoned with Christmas-cookie spices, because I don’t know how to cook, all the while it was raining like crazy outside the little hostel/shack that we were wwoofing at in the Catlins).

According to an anonymous brown-haired twenty-seven year old American woman currently in New Zealand: “The past few birthdays for Andrew have invariably revolved around beer somehow, and surprise!, this one was no exception.” We did indeed head out to the Hallertau Brewbar way out in the sticks in Riverhead (perhaps Auckland’s best beer place, certainly in the top 3), and tried their products. On the bad side, it was so full it took over 20 minutes to get our beer sampler. On the good side, they eventually made it free, but not before they accidentally added four extra things to our bill, oops. They did make some pretty good beers, but I won’t forget their imperial IPA, a ridiculously hoppy beer that was huge at 10% alcohol. They call it the Stuntman, but even though it is tasty, Masochist might be more accurate. In any event, best to have just one.

Andrew mans the barbecue on his birthday

It’s strange to celebrate my normally late-fall birthday here in the Southern Hemisphere, as Auckland’s unusually warm late-spring has been akin to mid-summer weather in the last place we lived, Vermont. For my whole life my birthday has occurred somewhere at least pretty cold, so it feels odd to be walking around in shorts around on my birthday, but I’ll certainly take it.

Later in the week, we took in a cricket game at Eden Park in Auckland, played between what I think were at least semi-professional sides. Cricket, of course, is the British Commonwealth’s answer to baseball, where it reigns as a hugely popular sport in countries India, Pakistan, and Australia. It’s somewhat like baseball in that a bowler is trying to get a batter out by throwing it past him or making him make an out some other way (e.g. a caught pop-up), but otherwise is way dissimilar. We thought we might as well check a game of cricket out, since it’s probably NZ’s 2^nd favorite sport, though by a such big margin behind rugby that it’s not even funny.

Andrew enjoying the cricket on a sunny afternoon

So we spent most of a sunny afternoon in the company of a few dozen cricket-mad students, pensioners, and people enjoying some time on the dole. It was the third day of a four-day test in which Auckland was destroying Central Districts, taking wickets at what apparently is a tremendous pace. We’d be lying if we said we understood everything going on out there, but it was pretty enjoyable, though it moved slower than even a really slow baseball game. If you don’t have the patience for baseball, you won’t make it through even an abbreviated cricket game. Pitchers take even longer between pitches, they have to run like 50 yards before each pitch, and individual batters can stay at-bat for hours at a time, scoring hundreds of runs. There are often substantial breaks for things like tea. And that’s before you consider that some games are of the 5-day variety, and that many of them end in a tie! That’s right, after 5 days of scintillating cricket action, they can’t even bother to have a winner! Instead, the rules of cricket allow one team to go in a giant stall, for the game to end without a decision, good god. In the end we enjoyed finally getting to see two teams of sweater vest-wearing gladiators go at it on the pitch, battling the proverbial ‘sticky wickets.’

Cricket fever... catch it!

Since we were in Auckland we thought we should go the Museum at some point, so we went one cloudy afternoon. Most of it was just OK, standard museum-type exhibits, but it really shined in its Volcanoes exhibit. Since Auckland is built on heaps of dormant and extinct volcanoes, there is special interest in it here. The museum’s best feature placed you in the scenario of being in an Auckland home as a new volcano explosively formed out your window in the harbor. The show had a convincing TV news program and disturbingly life-like blackout and shaking effects of the volcanic destruction of New Zealand’s major city. All in all, totally worthwhile going there.

Later in the week, we drove up to visit our CSing buddies Matt and Stu in Whangarei. We first Couchsurfed with Matt in January, as we toured the Northland in our first week in the country, and had a great time hanging out with him, his flatmate Stu, and their buddies Kel and John-Boy. Stu, who actually owns the house, has really gotten into CSing as well this year, hosting a bunch of CSers himself while Matt was out of the country. Matt has just recently returned from a six-month stint in Europe, working at a farm in the foothills of the Alps in Germany before CSing his way through northern and western Europe for a few months. We were glad to get to see these guys again after nearly a year, and we got to meet some other interesting travelers there, since their place is basically CSing headquarters.

Back to nature in the Northland

Seriously, these guys are CSing MVPs. On our first visit in January, we were just two of four CSers at their house at that time, and this time they were also hosting a girl from Hong Kong and a young couple from Sweden. The Swedes were very young and as a result were good for a lot of entertainment, though I don’t think they intended it. First, they were positively rapt about Canberra, Australia’s capital, which you don’t hear anything good about anywhere else. Seriously, we’ve met heaps of people who’ve traveled through Australia, and had never heard a good word about the place. We also learned from them that Danes are incorrigible drinkers and smokers, and that we should avoid Stockholm as it was quote unquote “gay.” “I’m from Stockholm and I think I’m so much better than everybody else”, they said in accents that we can only guess hilariously mimic those of the typical Stockholmian. But perhaps best of all, we really enjoyed that they actually pronounced the word jogging with the soft J, just like our car’s namesake, Ron Burgundy.

Amazingly, Matt and Stu had had 8 people staying at one time earlier this week. Most people would mind stepping over 8 people sleeping in all the available spaces in their house, but Matt and Stu can’t get enough, and are almost unable to turn anyone away. They also often go out of their way to show people a good time: Matt took us to his parents’ farm on our first visit, and Stu had just taken some CSers waterskiing earlier this week. On this trip, we caught up Matt, Stu, and Kel, and had a nice time hanging out in Whangarei for a few days. It really is a beautiful area, and after being in Auckland for awhile, it was nice to be in the more-rural NZ we’re used to. All in all, we just can’t say enough about their hospitality, friendliness, and generosity: cheers, guys!

Matt, Andrew, Becky, and Stu enjoying some quality "couch" time

Hello Auckland My Old Friend (Nov. 7 – 16)

So after ten months of traveling, exploring all of New Zealand’s nooks and crannies, we’ve finally made it back to Auckland, the Big Smoke, as it were. The first thing that hit us as we approached the sprawling metropolis from the south was that there was an actual highway. Miles and miles of 4-lane (and sometimes more!) motorway, divided by a median – okay, maybe I’ll skip my usual harangue. Not that the highway is all beer and skittles, as Auckland pretty much has the country’s only traffic, and how… As we slowly drifted into the city in mid-afternoon congestion on a typically cloudy Auckland day, we began to have some brief moments of sadness at leaving the bucolic and traffic-free hinterlands.

But we had important house-sitting duties to do, so slogged on we did. As we’ve mentioned previously, we’re house-and-cat-sitting for our CSing friends, the Newmans, in their new crib in Auckland’s North Shore for a few weeks in mid-November. Fortunately the North Shore isn’t like living in the city, and the city’s ghastly traffic can be largely avoided, unless we need to go south on the motorway for any reason. We try not to find reasons.

This is about as close to Auckland as we like to get! At the summit of Rangitoto...

With our first week here in the bag, I’d say it’s gone about as well as we’d have hoped, as we’ve gotten out a few times, but mostly we’ve done nothing but lounge around. The lounging and temporary lack of responsibility for trip planning has been quite good, but I think more than a few weeks not doing much would drive us nuts. To be honest, it’s been kind of great to have our own space for awhile while we’re here, and much like when we house-sat for Kieran and Belinda in Canterbury, we’ve found traveling to be great, but you can forget how nice having your own space and sleeping in the same place for a few weeks can be.

Another gorgeous day on the North Shore. Some might say, picture perfect...

Although maybe I’m short-selling us a little bit, because we did get out of the house a bunch. We went up to Shakespear Regional Park, which lies out on the very end of Whangaparaoa Peninsula on the North Shore. Somewhat oddly, it shares a border with a military facility which warned of firing range activity on the day we were there. It seemed like a good idea to give that part a wide berth. The park was nice, with heaps of just-flowering pohutakawa trees (often called NZ Christmas trees) but what really impressed us is that they had such a big park taking up some ridiculously valuable oceanfront real estate. Good on ya, North Shore.

A pohutakawa tree in bloom

We also took a ferry out to Rangitoto Island, a dormant volcano island that lays in Hauraki Gulf, not more than a few miles from Auckland’s waterfront. We nearly missed our ferry since we underestimated how much time it takes to get into town around 9 on a weekday morning, who knew there would be rush hour traffic. It was a pretty good hike to the top, though the crater was disappointingly covered by trees. Auckland is built on something like 6 or 7 old volcanoes, and we hear the museum has a pretty frightening multimedia display on what it will be like if there’s a geologic rupture leading to major volcanic activity in the area, which the city is apparently overdue for. Auckland will not be the place to be when that happens.

The outline of Rangitoto in the distance

Lastly, yesterday we got to Piha Beach, one of Auckland’s picturesque black-sand west coast beaches. It’s a haul out there, but it’s well worth it to see the site of one of our favorite NZ TV shows, Piha Rescue, which is like Baywatch, except that it’s real, and there’s no Pam Anderson, nor almost as sadly, The Hoff. West coast beaches, and Piha in particular, are notorious for their dangerous rips, which suck out heaps of tourists, who have to be rescued by the life saving club, thus providing the show with heaps of material. Based on our unscientific survey of Kiwis, most of them say they wouldn’t swim there since Piha is well known here. Most episodes of Rescue bear that out, with Aussies and surprised swimmers of various Asian nationalities having to be saved. We skipped the surf on our visit, as we’ve enjoyed the nice beaches on the east coast, but caught quite a show from the lifeguards in training.

The wild coastline at Piha

Well it’s been a tough week, and we’ve got a couple more to go here. We’re in the process of selling Ron Burgundy, maybe trying to sell some beer if we can gin up some motivation to go into the city, are working out our Tahiti and San Francisco plans, and want to go up to the Northland one last time. Add in my 28^th birthday tomorrow, and I know I know, it’s sounds like a ridiculously busy schedule for the next two weeks, but someone’s got to do it.