Category: Transport

The concept of getting from A to B

Getting from A to B can be a bit tricky if you don’t have your own means of transport. This goes for all travellers without weels, whether they’re locals, international or national visitors. After all, if you don’t own or have access to a car or bike, how are you going to get from let’s say Wellington to Auckland? Or even more challenging, Katikati to Lumsden, Great Barrier Island to Napier?

Just stay put where you are? Or go walking? Or put your thumb up and go hitch-hiking?

A website dedicated to hitch-hiking culture, digihitch.com, says the “simple, unplanned and spontaneous act of sharing transport” has been around as long as there has been transportation. But hitch-hiking in its purest sense – thumbing rides from passing motorists – followed the invention of the car in the late 19th century. It became common in the war years, when soldiers hitched rides, and entered the realms of popular culture with Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road in 1957.

Literature, films and music have often played on the fears surrounding hitch-hiking. Tales of lost hitch-hikers and hitch-hiker murders possess a power like no others.

New Zealand is still wondering what happened to Mona Blades, the 18-year-old who disappeared without a trace when hitching on the Napier-Taupo road in 1975.

And what about the unfortunate German backpacker Birgit Brauer? Her trip, and with that her dream, ended tragically in October 2005 when she was found under the towering redwoods in Lucy’s Gully, near New Plymouth. She loved New Zealanders’ down-to-earth attitude and believed she was safe hitch-hiking.

Times have sure changed and with this in the back of your mind, why take the risk of hitch-hiking? Surely a lack of transportation can be solved otherwise?Well, dear backpackers, students and all other travellers, there is an alternative to consider.Listen.

Lots of savvy backpackers have over the years already called or surfed the sites of rental car companies in pursuit of ‘one-way’ deals. But arranging this takes time, not to mention effort and can be very frustrating as you often miss the boat with rental company’s ‘one -way’ deals.

The idea of relocating cars is really quite simple and not new or innovative. There already exist websites in other countries (USA, Norway and Denmark) that specialise in relocating rental (or private) cars. However, up to recently such service didn’t exist in New Zealand.

Now, rentals, whether these are motor homes, bikes or cars, tend to accumulate there where a branch doesn’t need them to be. The car fleet moves in one direction according to the flow of tourist and companies spend a lot of money transporting unallocated cars between branches.

And this is where you as a traveller without wheels come in the picture. Why not pick up a car at point A, drive it to point B and voila: you are where you want or need to be, and the car is where the rental company needs it to be.

So, a simple concept with the added plus of a win-win situation for you and the rental companies.

New to New Zealand is http://www.transfercar.co.nz/; an online relocating service that offers free use of rental cars to travellers. And that’s you, right?

Check it out, organise a ride and have a safe journey from your A to B.

Move over backpacker; here comes the flashpacker!

The latest trend in travelling as recognized during the latest ITB Berlin is Eco and Economy Travel. Everybody who’s anybody in the world of the travel industry meets at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel show, which was held last March. The starring role in the rising Eco and Economy market is the flashpacker.

The what……??

Yes, you heard it right. The flashpacker. I give you a new breed of traveller; the flashpacker is fresh out of university, end twenties to mid/end thirties with an ambitious travel bug comparable with that of a backpacker. Treasured family times at the Holiday Inn are not yet cute for the flashpacker; he or she still desires a, dare I say, adventurous holiday where a lack of luxury and comfort are not an issue.

The flashpacker holds down a steady job and has got a bit of cash to throw around. What they don’t have on the other hand is time. Their careers are on the roll and need 60-hours-per-workweek-neutering and dedication, and they sure as hell can’t afford to take a sabbatical if they ever want to be somebody in their line of work. Well, not for the coming 10 years anyway.

Backpacker versus flashpacker

The difference between the two are quite obvious. The backpacker we’re all too familiar with is usually stretched for money, with lots of time on their hands and somewhat wet behind the ears when they set foot on foreign soil. They are fresh out of high school, 18 to 23 years old and quite successful at postponing the inevitable grown-up-life back at home for quite some time. That is to say, until the working holiday visa runs out, the overdraft has become painfully overdrawn and they are forced to make ‘THE CALL’ home for funds. The funds usually come in a supersaver-combo-deal: Money in exchange for a swift return to The Motherland. That usually snaps them out of the backpacker-mode and into moving-on-to-university-mode. Behold the natural cycle of the backpacker. Everybody wins.

Green and clean

Now, is backpacking mostly about partying, fruit picking, hitch-hiking or the Kiwi Experience Bus, sightseeing the NZ top 10 in a whirlwind fashion whilst surviving another day on $5, the grown up flashpacker has outgrown all this. Eco tourism and cultural refinement are key for the environment-minded flashpacker. The Kiwi Experience Bus is a no-no as goes for hitch-hiking. The flashpacker only does Eco, whether this is on a campground in the sticks of in a 5 star hotel downtown. They often rent a vehicle, preferably a small van or larger SUV, as long as it is capable of sleeping two adults.

As a result of this rapidly emerging trend, the ‘green and clean’ market in New Zealand alone is expected to grow with another 70% until 2020, with the biggest group of flashpackers for New Zealand and Australia expected to come from India and China.

Now, call me silly, but can anybody tell me how we are going to accommodate this immense tourism grow spurt whilst remaining truly ‘green and clean’?

Driving throughout the Land of the Long White Cloud

When you set foot on beautiful Aoteroa you probably have already made up your mind on how you are going to get you and your backpack around New Zealand. Some backpackers are very keen and pedal their way around the islands, other hitch-hike while some rent a car or motor home.

Another option worth considering is a backpacker bus. A sort of magical mystery tour, taking you from one hotspot to another and in between designated stops you can drink, sleep and do…..stuff. Please bear in mind that these busses are also know as ‘The Gonorrhea Experience’. So be smart boys and girls.   

Now, with these busses you’re guaranteed at the end of your journey to have ticked off most of popular New Zealand destinations on your list. Examples of backpacker busses are the Magic Travellers Network, The Kiwi Experience or Stray Adventure Busses. But in all honesty; I get a severe case of the flock-of-sheep-feeling when I see one of those busses.

So, for the adventurous and brave backpacker-boys-and-girls arriving in lovely New Zealand, there is another option: Buy your own car and go from A to B to C to D in your own good time.

You’ll need-depending on your nationality-an international drivers license to go with your countries divers license. So yes, you need to have a drivers license in your country of origin.

Please enquire about insurance prior to buying your car. BBH and the AA are both good options. Do not drive without insurance!!! You will not be the first traveller to get into trouble because you’re not covered by any insurance.

And, maybe most important:Drive on the LEFTSIDE! Put a sticker on your steering wheel: LEFT is GOOD, RIGHT is NOT CUTE.

All good, but where to find a car?

Depending on what time of year you arrive, you’ll have either an easy time or a potential headache finding a car. The tourist season kicks off around December and there will be lots of new arrivals looking for a limited number of good cars. Best bet is to look for a car as the tourist season comes to an end (around May) and people are desperately looking to unload their vehicles. But most people arrive in New Zealand in December with a good reason and it doesn’t make sense to plan your entire trip around when the best month to buy a car is. So even if you arrive as things are getting busy, there are still places to look for a bargain.

New Zealand’s anwser to eBay is called Trade Me, and this is a good place to look for a fine deal. Notice boards in backpacker’s hostels are another great place to look, especially in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as they have international airports and people tend to either start or end their trips in these cities. Most major cities will have a car fair or car auction, so ask around once you get to town. Checking the local papers for private sales or heading to car dealerships will also give you some more options. At the start of the tourist season the best cars will go fast, so make sure you get yourself a mobile phone (on pre-pay) and don’t count on emailing the seller back and forth.

I’ve heard that some people who are unable to sell their cars end up leaving them parked at the airport with the keys inside and a not staying ‘take it’, but this could be just another urban legend.

When you find the car of your dreams, arrange with the seller to take it in to a garage for a thorough vehicle check.

The AA can check for you (via a pre-purchase vehicle inspection) if there is for example money owing on the car or other interests pending. If all is good, including the asking price, you’ve got yourself a car!

The only disadvantage of buying your own car is that you, at the end of your trip, will need to sell it again. Depending on the season this could be easy-peasy, but if you’re off-season it can be very hard unloading it. Start a few weeks before you have to go and try Trade Me, notice boards in as many backpackers possible, supermarkets, car markets, newspapers and last but not least; a mega big sign behind the window of your car. Be realistic in price and throw in a few chattels like gas cookers, pots and pans and so on if you happen to have been camping. You can try selling your car to a car dealer, but most of them are not keen to purchase backpacker-cars and in the event they do, you’ll only get a coin.

So, worst case scenario: It’s time to go and your car is far from being sold.

Nothing left to do but to leave the car behind at the airport with the keys inside and a not saying ‘take it’ for the next backpacker to come around.