Backpacking New Zealand (part 6) - Queenstown & Christchurch

The New Zealand posts wound up taking over a month to blog after all... I blame it on my really busy schedule. It's been internship on weekdays and lunch/dinner/late night dates catching up with pals.

So for the remaining of my trip, I spent my time in the most populated areas in NZ's South Island - Queenstown and Christchurch. So that means less of the nature walks and trekking to mountains summits. While I was at Queenstown, I spent most of my time just wondering around town, trying new food and visiting some cafes with my dorm mates and visiting the Loco Bar just right beside the hostel (Base Backpackers) that I was staying at.










The highly raved FergBurger!! The burger was about the size of my face? I got it ala carte and the portion was more than enough to fill me for a day. But I really enjoyed it!!

Undoubtedly, my spendings while at Queenstown was much higher than anywhere else. But I really had a lot of fun, especially with the nightlife that Queenstown is so popular for. I got to meet some different groups of people to hang out with every day, and one of which I went club crawling with! They were a really nice group of Germans/Italians who have been in NZ with their working holiday VISA for a while now, and they basically introduced me to the nightlife there.

Everyday's really refreshing, and I never know what to expect. Meeting people from all walks of life and hearing their life stories is something I don't think I'd ever get enough of. Like in the pictures below, I met this piano busker who was so talented in his trade I had to buy a disk.
Talking about all of this makes me so excited for grad trip!! Just another five more months of internship to go...





Halfway through my stay in NZ though, I lost my debit card. I'm not sure if it's stolen or if I dropped it somewhere but I highly doubt it's the latter because how could I have?? Just the night before, I spent all the cash I had on hand (which was about $60NZ for the day) thinking that I could just withdraw more the next morning. Little did I expect my debit card to disappear so I was basically cashless... Wtf.

I was worried nuts thinking about what the hell am I supposed to do because I still had four more days in NZ and I couldn't possibly starve for three days? I contemplated begging LOL but okay lucky me had better ideas to get myself out of my sorry state.

I managed to find a Singaporean family while I walked around town (I found them based on their accent actually LOL) and I explained my plight to them. Thankfully, though skeptical at first (who wouldn't be), they were really kind souls who in the end loaned me some cash while a friend of mine back in sg transferred the balance that I borrowed.
The problem with borrowing from dorm mates/friends I just met was that they all use different banks, which was kind of hard to get around. Lady luck was really on my side, since they were the first Singaporean family I chanced upon and I honestly can't be more grateful for their help!!






With the Queenstown drama is settled, I spent my last night before departing for Christchurch at 7AM the next morning. How I actually managed to drag myself out of bed then (it would have been 3AM sg time) when no I can't even wake up at 9AM is a miracle I cannot comprehend.

They're actually an eight hours drive apart so though so I spent one of the days just on traveling. My last two days were at Christchurch, which is basically one of the cities in South Island. However, it's mostly renovations all over after the major earthquakes four and five years ago.

Similarly with Queesntown, it's a lot of wandering around town, visiting cafes and some random malls adorned with painted murals and street graffiti. I wanted to take a day trip to Akaroa, but due to money limitations, I didn't):

There goes my farm experience sigh I thought I would get to sheer sheeps or play with llamas this trip... But that's fine I'll do it on my next one!!









And that's the end of my NZ trip! I will be coming up with the last post, summarising my expenditures and information on food, accommodation, transport etc that would probably be more helpful/essential to trip planning. I apologise for my draggy six-part-long rant hahah.

I've been receiving some emails/messages from friends and strangers alike, and I'm really glad to be of help!! Having been in the situation where I was pretty clueless about my budget and what it's like to backpack solo especially as a female, it's heartwarming to know that I'm able to help others with the trip planning, even if just a little.

Anyways, I'll be happy to answer any questions if you've them! Just drop me an email (mirabelle.koh@gmail.com) or message on fb and I'll get back to you soonest. Just like how some other travel bloggers have offered their tips and advice to me, it feels like I'm giving back to the community as well :)

Goodluck to those planning on their solo trips or New Zealand itinerary!!

Check out my other posts on New Zealand:

▶ Backpacking New Zealand (Part 1) - Why I backpacked solo
▶ Backpacking New Zealand (Part 2) - Tekapo
▶ Backpacking New Zealand (Part 3) - Mountain Cook
▶ Backpacking New Zealand (Part 4) - Cromwell & Makaroa
▶ Backpacking New Zealand (Part 5) - Wanaka
▶ Backpacking New Zealand (part 6) - Queenstown & Christchurch