After so much success with the Fiverr Blog, the team at Lucky Rentals decided to try a new spin in their blogging world.

With our customers in mind, Jenna, Brendan and the rest of the Lucky staff will be traveling New Zealand, looking for the top 50 things to do in New Zealand for under $50. Along the way we will be finding the cheapest, most interesting, and best of all free things to do around the country.

For us it’s all about backpacking, saving money and helping our customers find the most cost effective way to see New Zealand. That is the brainchild behind the idea for this blog. 

All of our Lucky staff have spent a great amount of time traveling around in our campervans, and with our combined knowledge and some extra research, we will hunt out the top 50 activities for under $50. Our goal while finding the top 50 is to deliver a travel guide written by travelers, for travelers. We want to pack in as many free activities as we can, and share local knowledge and fun facts along with our top 50. We love to share experiences, and want to ensure that visitors to our great country are equipped with relevant information written by someone who has had the first hand experience.

During our adventures we will be uploading pictures and videos and using our Facebook page to share our experiences, give away passes to only the best activities, and ask our readers for any hot tips on where we should go next! We are looking to do heaps of different, adventurous, relaxing, outdoor and indoor activities. We want to have something for everyone and most of all want to have a good time doing it!

It’s simply about finding and enjoying the Top 50 under $50 in New Zealand.

Stay tuned…

We couldn’t help but notice how focused Queenstown is on making food and drink an experience, not just a meal. From decadent locally grown and worldwide cuisine, to quirky themed restaurants and cafe’s, Queenstown is one if the best places to eat (or drink) out.

The Queenstown lakes distric borders Central Otago, the district which the Wine Trail winds through. Visiting wineries for tastings is a great time, but can be expensive. Many tourists come to this area and only try one or two of the local wines. We found a way to try many more than that, in one location in downtown Queenstown. Wine Tastes has a selection of over 80 wines and spirits of varied ages, types and prices. The location is beautiful, with tasting stations all around the perimeter, and cozy places to sit and enjoy. They offer cheese platters as well to compliment your tasting. When we arrived we were given our preloaded tasting card and shown how to use the machines. You can load any amount on the card, so we chose $50, and were happy we did. We took a quick tour around before we started our tasting. The atmosphere of the tasting room is great, music playing at just the right volume, intimate size without feeling crowded, friendly faces to answer any of your questions, and so many wines to taste. We tried as many different types of wine that we could, challenging ourselves to find our favourite type, country, year. We tried a Scotch that is older than we are, more expensive than we could imagine, and no longer in production. We tried wines that we would never dream of buying due to the price (although they are worth the money, wow). We expected to be in the tasting room for about 20 minutes, and an hour and a half later, we were sitting with a fellow taster, sipping dessert wine and telling travel stories. Our $50 gave us almost two hours of tasting enjoyment. Although we didnt get to try all 80, we tried as many as we could, and found out our favourite types; Cabernet Merlot for me, and for Brendan; Dreadnought (and not just for the name).

When looking for our next indulgent treat in Queenstown, we found that we were faced with too many options for a nice dinner out on the town. Craving something sweet, we decided to skip dinner and move right on to dessert. We passed by the Cookie Time shop, wondering if it was time to finally indulge in this Kiwi-loved treat, and noticed the sign out front, “come in for your free sample”. We walked in and were given a generous slice of their famous hot cookie. Try to resist buying one after trying a taste, it was the greatest cookie I have had in New Zealand! As we walked along discussing our new found favourite cookie, we came across the Remarkable Sweet Shop, whose sign out front read “free fudge tasting”. We went inside, were greeted with a smiling face, and we tried three different flavours of their homemade, decadent fudge. As we were about to leave, the lady behind the counter told us, we needed to try her favourite, and gave us each a small slice of Dark Chocolate Mint. I knew instantly why that was her favourite! The great thing about their fudge, it is so rich, you almost don’t need more than a taste… almost.

Along our way, excited about so many free samples, Licks dessert bar caught our eye right away. We walked in and asked to taste their gelato and sorbet, since it looked so incredible. We noticed the prices for one, two and three scoops, and we couldn’t resist. One scoop is $5.00, which may seem a little bit steep, but two scoops was $6.50, and three scoops was only $7.50. Needless to say, we enjoyed three scoops each of the best gelato and sorbet we have ever tried. If you don’t want our choice of dinner from Licks, they also bake their own bread and make their own amazing soups.

Our sweet tooth definitely ruled our choices throughout our time in Queenstown, but indulging is all about listening to cravings, and we are glad we listened!

In a Nutshell:

Destination: Queenstown

Under $50 Activity: Wine Tasting

Cheap Deal: Licks Dessert Bar

Bonus Activity: Decadent Sampling

Queeenstown is famous for two things, adrenaline based activities and big nights on the town. As much as we wanted to do an adrenaline based activity, we just couldn’t figure out how to get on the Nevis Bungee or the Shotover Jet for under $50, so we decided to go out on the town for some good old pub crawling instead.

The Big Night Out pub crawl started in Auckland, but has become so great, it has spread to Dunedin and Queenstown as well. For $35 they offer entry into 6 pubs, free food, free drinks, discounts and prizes! We signed up for the Wednesday night pub crawl, mainly for the free entry into the Below Zero Ice Bar, which is usually $35 on it’s own. We met Benny and his crew at the first bar, and immediately the fun began. We had a free shot and hit the dance floor with our fellow crawlers. Benny and his crew gave us the five minute warning, and we were off to the Below Zero Ice Bar, definitely the highlight of the night. Everything in the bar was made of ice; the walls, the tables and chairs, the gondola, the photo booth, the penguin, the fireplace, even the cocktail glasses! Outfitted in our Antarctic-warm jackets and gloves, we had a great time sitting by the fireplace, riding the polar bear, and sipping ice cold cocktails. As we were leaving the Ice Bar, we were given warm Fat Badgers pizza, quite a welcome surprise at that time of night! We enjoyed 4 other bars, all different atmospheres and different music, and different free shots. For a couple that aren’t usually the bar type, the atmosphere was perfect. In every bar we were free to either hit the dance floor or grab a seat to sit and talk. It was so nice to know that our campervan and a hot shower was waiting for us at Qbox Ltd. campervan park, and the best part was the price. Our night at QBox and our Big Night Out together was, you guessed it, $50.00.

Needless to say, the next day we weren’t on the top of our game, so checking out the frisbee golf course in Queenstown Gardens seemed like the perfect way to spend a lazy day. If you don’t have a frisbee there are countless places in Queenstown to rent one for next to nothing, and it’s free to play. The Queenstown Gardens are also great just for a walk around, great views of the lake and mountains, but playing 18 holes of frisbee golf was much more entertaining!

After our epic day in the gardens we were craving something greasy to get rid of the lingering not-so-great stomach feelings left over from our Big Night Out, so we headed to Fat Badgers Pizza for a massive meal. Their large pizza isn’t the dinky 12” like most pizza joints in New Zealand, theirs are a massive 20” of pure cheesy goodness, with a huge range of toppings. The price for the 20” is comparable to most 12” pizzas, starting at $28. Fat Badgers is attached to the World Bar, and they are happy to serve you while enjoying a drink. This Pizza is so big, you will have left overs for after your World Bar drinks, or for breakfast in the morning, depending on how many drinks you have!

Our Big Night out may have turned into our big weekend out, but hey, what happens in Queenstown stays in Queenstown

Destination: Queenstown

Under $50 Activity: Big Night Out Pub Crawl/QBox Camping ground

Cheap Deal: Fat Badgers Pizza

Bonus Activity: Frisbee Golf 

Milford Sound welcomes countless tourists every year, and we understand why. There are breathtaking views around every corner, many walks to incredible sights, and countless places to stay the night along the way. A cruise on the sound may seem like it is reserved for the more elite, non-backpacker types, but we had a little trick up our sleeves to ensure we were able to sneak in an Under-$50 at this breathtaking location.

The Jucy Milford Sound Boat  Cruise is over $50 per person. Not by much, but still over. However renting with Lucky Rentals certainly has it’s advantages. Jucy offers a two-for-one voucher for all Lucky renters. And you thought you were getting a good deal just because of Lucky’s rates! We booked ahead, and hoped that the weather would hold out. We were not disappointed! We had an amazing day, the odd cloud hung low across the mountains, but the sky was clear, and the sun was hot! We boarded the boat and shot straight for the bow, and got the perfect bench seat right at the front. The crew was super friendly, chatting and laughing with everyone around. The captain gave us a running commentary about how the fiord was created and discovered. Just as the front of the boat was becoming crowded with passengers, we had about two minutes of rain, just enough to clear the deck of anyone that neglected to bring their rain jacket, leaving us, a canadian couple and a kiwi couple up front to enjoy the best view in the house! With our complimentary tea and coffee in hand, we enjoyed our front row seats all the way to where the fiord meets the ocean, and there, sitting on the rocks like they were employed to entertain, was three fur seals basking in the sun.

Because the Jucy boat is smaller than other Milford Cruises, we were able to get an up close and personal look, much closer than expected, and the fur seals seemed to enjoy the extra attention, like they were smiling for the cameras. On the way back the captain steered the boat toward Stirling Falls, and with fair warning, dipped the bow of the boat right under the falls! We were so happy we brought our rain jackets, what an exhilarating experience! It really proved to us the sheer size of the fiordland, and how small we are in comparison. Amazing.

Since we did the afternoon cruise, our thought directly after was “where will we camp?” In a campervan, this thought is all too familiar and sometimes can be a burden, but along the Milford Road there are so many campgrounds to choose from, the options seem endless. The best part about the endless possibilities, is that they are all $5.00 per person, per night. We have not found a campground in such an immaculate location that can beat that!

Along with the countless campgrounds are the many short walks. From a short walk to Mirror Lakes, to a 3 hour return up to Key Summit, to a self guided walk with an info sheet at the Homer Tunnel, the options of a beautiful alpine walk are endless!

Our Milford Cruise may have only been 90 minutes, but the breathtaking drive, the many spectacular walks and the super-cheap campgrounds made this a full two-day activity for well under $50. Fiordland, especially Milford Sound is one of the most famous destinations in the world, and we were able to do it all for under $50.

In a Nutshell

Destination: Milford Sound

Under $50 Activity: Jucy Milford Cruise

Cheap Deal: Milford Road Campgrounds

Bonus Activity: Self Guided Walks

A visit to Te Anau reveals how close to nature this town really is, not just in proximity, but in its mindset as well. Located right on the border of the majestic fiordland, Te Anau seems to pride itself in everything natural, and bases it’s tourism market around this incredible resource.

Astronomy Fiordland is a small company with a big heart. They seem to pride themselves not only on being knowledgeable, bit being personable and entertaining. We booked our tour with them for the night before the full moon, being assured that the bright moon wouldn’t interfere with stargazing, as we thought it might. Our Guide, Chris, came to pick us up, and the group was instantly talking and laughing as everyone got into the van. We were taken to a field, and as Chris set up the telescope, we looked to the south and saw the Aurora Australis (the Southern Lights)! It was the perfect way to start off an amazing night. Through the telescope we saw a nebula, a young galaxy, a two-million-star cluster, Mars, Saturn’s rings, a red giant, a binary star, and got an excellent view of the moon. Throughout all of it we heard folklore, facts, jokes and information about what we were looking at from Chris, as we followed his 3km lazer beam to where he was talking about. He served tea, coffee and hot chocolate at the end of the tour, and the group stood around talking about how fascinating it all was.

Feeling inspired about seeing more of the wonderful nature of Fiordland, we headed to the Fiordland Cinema. Fiordland on Film plays every hour throughout the day, and is only $10 to see it. The film is incredible, shot mostly from planes and helicopters, and set to a nice soundtrack. The atmosphere is what got us. When we arrived the foyer was empty other than ourselves, so thinking we were late we rushed to get our tickets. The lady behind the counter asked if we would like to take a drink in, and when we looked behind her, we saw an array of different beer and wine. How could we resist? She poured our drinks into nice glasses and showed us to the door of the theatre, saying “you have the showing to yourself.” We entered the empty theatre and chose the very middle seats as the lights began to dim. The seats in the theatre are massive, I could almost stretch out in mine! This theatre was built originally to play Fiordland on Film, and in our opinion, they did an immaculate job on both!

 One thing was missing from our time with nature, so we headed down to the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary to see some not-so-wild wildlife. The self guided walk was very informative, and very well kept. The signs on the outside of the mini-habitats talked about the bird’s natural habitat and migratory patterns. We watched as a young family fed a duck, and I had a conversation with a Canadian Goose as he ate his lunch.

Te Anau takes pride in its nature, and now we know why. We saw some of the most beautiful scenery of New Zealand, and didn’t have to work hard for it! 

In a Nutshell

Destination: Te Anau

Under $50 Activity: Astronomy Fiordland

Cheap Deal: Fiordland on Film

Bonus Activity: Bird Sanctuary

One of the main motivations for most travelers to come to New Zealand is to experience the great walks. With the most popular choices within the Te Anau area, we thought this would be the perfect place to learn more about New Zealand’s Great Walks.

The Great Walks information and booking office is on the lakefront of Te Anau, so we thought we would go in to learn about the great walks, just out of curiosity. We found out that while staying at the huts along any of the tracks would be $51 each per night, if we only camped along the Kepler Track loop, the total cost would be $62 for both of us. That’s two nights at the on-track campgrounds, and one night of free camping at the Shallow Bay hut, a 20 minute walk off of the track. Sound too good to be true? If you aren’t in perfect tramping shape, it is. Signing up for Kepler Track camping style meant signing up for super-long days, including an 11 hour day all the way up and back down the mountain range, with all of your stuff. I’m going to be brutally honest, we didn’t make it around the whole track. What we did though was so enjoyable we decided it was worth mentioning. A last minute talk with Marion, the hut warden, helped us decide to just take day packs up top to explore, then come back down to the same camp. Everyone we met along the track was absolutely slugging along, tired and sore from their heavy packs, and as we happily bounced by they expressed a kind jealousy. We got to see the majority of the best views while staying comfortable with day packs. We do recommend trying to do the entire track, as I’m sure we missed so much, but there are options if you are not in top tramping shape to enjoy one of the great walks on a budget.

Even though we didn’t make it around, we were still out on the track for four full days. That’s four days of sweat, bug spray and sun screen. Needless to say, we needed a shower. To avoid the high cost of the holiday parks, which in most towns is the only option for a hot shower, we went to the SuperLoo. $5.00 gets you 8 minutes in a hot, high pressure and very clean shower, and if you really like your travel partner, they don’t mind you showering together. In fact, they seem to encourage it!

After four full days of hiking and a nice hot shower, all we wanted
to do was relax at a campground with a nice cold beer. Queens Reach, just outside of town is the only place around that offers a free campground. There are no facilities, but there are many spots to park, and enough toilets to go around. A cold beer, a great view of the stars, and a good nights sleep in our beloved campervan was the perfect way to relax after the Kepler Track.

Destination:Te Anau
Under $50 Activity: Kepler Track
Cheap Deal: SuperLoo Shower
Bonus Activity: Queens Reach Free Campground

Invercargill is both the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand. It is situated 18km north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in New Zealand. Invercargill has everything you would expect from a southern New Zealand city; great shopping, great beer and a laid back attitude. While driving around the city, we stumbled upon Xtreme Karts, a drift carting wonderland. The longer you decide to drive, the better the deal. Their new pricelist is wonderful; $10 = 8 minutes, $15 = 12 minutes, $20 = 16 minutes, $25 = 20 minutes, $30 = 30 minutes of uninterrupted track time, complete with slick wooden floors and bald tyres. It was a really neat way to learn how to drift in a controlled environment. We were in control of being ‘out of control’, and gained more confidence with every turn. The atmosphere around the track was as interesting and addictive as the driving, it felt completely retro, old banners, a pool table, a juke box, old signs and old gas pump. It had a total “man cave” feel to the place. We felt like a kids again, driving around the track as fast as we could, passing each other and spinning out of control, laughing harder every time.

Since we had already felt like kids again, a visit to Splash Palace just seemed to fit. We paid only $5.20 each and $0.60 for a locker. The pool area is set up for all types of activities; lane swimming, aqua jogging, a fun pool with waves in the deep end, diving boards with jets at the diving spot to to break the surface and push you up, and an awesome water slide worth doing many times no matter your age. Great for a cold / rainy / shower day activity, you can spend all day there or just an hour. We watched locals do flips off of the diving board, one 9 year old blew us away, he was so talented, and did flip after flip! If you don’t feel like embracing the child inside, there is an adult only hot tub and steam room, which were very relaxing. Bring in your shampoo and have a nice high pressure shower after a great swim.

Queens Park is one of Invercargill’s greatest gardens, and they have so many to choose from! It is free to roam around, and another place that can take an entire day. This park has the best rose garden we have seen in New Zealand. The bird sanctuary was incredible, so many native and non-native birds, with a great interactive walk through atrium. We had such a great time there, and completely lost track of time.

Our entire time in Invercargill didn’t revolve around feeling like a kid, we also found something reserved only for the adult in all of us. The Invercargill Brewery, the southernmost microbrewery in New Zealand does free tastings in their cozy bottle store inside the brewery. We couldn’t resist trying each one. They were all amazing, and although we weren’t obligated to buy anything, we just could not leave empty handed!

Invercargill is a great laid back southern city, which helped us embrace our inner child, and our inner beer lover.

In a Nutshell:

Destination: Invercargill

Under $50 Activity: Xtreme Karts

Cheap Deal: Splash Palace

Bonus Activity: Queens Park and Invercargill Brewery

Our time in the Catlins was quite different from the activities we have been doing lately. It is such a laid back quiet area, which bases it’s tourism on the natural surroundings, and for good reason. The many waterfalls, bushwalks, beaches and caves make the Catlins a great place to relax and be in touch with the softness of nature. The wildlife in the Catlins is by far the most abundant and wild as we have seen. We were up close and personal with New Zealands finest, and all without the ridiculous cost of a mass tourism outfit.

Near the “majestic” Niagara Falls in Waikawa, is the incredibly inexpensive and extremely private Curio Bay Holiday Park, situated on the point overlooking both Porpoise Bay and Curio Bay. The private sites are lined with 2 metre high flax plants, which protects you from both the wind and your noisy neighbour, and the crashing of the waves are so soothing you are guaranteed an excellent nights sleep. The Holiday Park also offers Surf lessons, since the Porpoise Bay waves are perfect beginner waves. Instead of doing a one hour boat cruise or horse ride for around $50 each, we decided to spend only $8 each per night and make this our base camp for a few nights to explore the many waterfalls, caves and bushwalks in the area.

We made sure to spend at least one full day just enjoying the surroundings of the Holiday Park, and true to it’s reputation, the Porpoise Bay Hector’s Dolphins came into the bay to rest and play. We couldn’t resist, we changed quickly into our swimsuits and ran onto the beach. The sandy beach made getting into the water a breeze, and the curious Hectors Dolphins, though cautious at first, slowly made their way closer to us. We watched them circling us, and when we dove underwater we could hear their eco-location, soft clicks and squeeks coming toward us. How amazing to be in the right place at the right time to swim with wild Dolphins for free! We asked the owner of the Holiday Park how often the dolphins come into the bay. Everyday was her answer. Incredible! If the swimming with Dolphins at a sandy beach wasn’t perfect enough, for only two dollars we warmed up with a nice hot shower right by the beach. Believe it or not, it get’s better.

After a warm shower and a nice campervan cooked dinner, we walked for five minutes down the road to a viewpoint at the fossilized forest, to watch the yellow eyed penguins come into their nests after a long day of hunting. We walked past the crowd of people and perched ourselves on a comfortable rock, vowing to stay still and quiet, only moving to sip our wine. Our patience paid off, just before dark two Yellow-eyed penguins made their way slowly past us. They stopped within 5 metres to dry themselves and look around, looking toward the crowd of people then making their way even closer to us, perfect for a picture. We made no sound and they seemed to appreciate it, they did not rush by us, seeming to actually pose for the camera.

The Catlins is such a large area it is hard to sum up everything that we saw, but some highlights for us were; Nugget Point, Cannibal Bay Fur Seals, Purakanui, Matai and McLean Falls, the fossil forest, and Slope Point, which is the southernmost point in New Zealand. We found it tough to find internet in the area, but Niagara Falls Cafe, on top of their great food and award winning coffee, also offers wifi or use of their computer. The volunteer run i-site in Waikawa, or the Catlins i-site in Owaka were more than happy to help us find great things to do and see.

We were so relaxed and refreshed when we left the Catlins. Our memories and camera were filled with pictures that we will look back on for years to come. What a magical experience to relax there for a few days and take it all in. 

In a Nutshell:

Destination: The Catlins

Under $50 activity: Base Camp at Curio Bay Holiday Park

Bonus Activity: Swimming with Dolphins for FREE

Cheap Deal: Wifi and Coffee at Niagara Falls Cafe 

Dunedin is such a lively city. Maybe it’s because the city is full of university students, or it could be all of the unique and wonderful things to do there, maybe it’s the rich history, or possibly it’s just because they love where they live. Either way, everyone we met in Dunedin had a smile on their face and a bounce in their step, and shortly after arriving, so did we.

When asking about what the best activities are in Dunedin, everyone told us to “do the Speights Tour” with great enthusiasm. When we found out that you can go on both the Speights Brewery Tour and the Cadbury World Tour together for $39 each, we couldn’t resist. Dreams of beer samples and chocolate treats danced in our heads as we booked our tours, Speights in the evening, and Cadbury the next morning.

The Speights Brewery Tour is very informative, taking the small group through the history of the brewery, and the gravity fed brewing process. Our guide was very enthusiastic and patient with the groups many questions. The end of the tour was our favourite, as with most people. After an hour or so of touring and learning about the brewery, a full half hour is spent in the Brewery Pub, sampling, and resampling, generous glasses of all the different Speights brews. As the time passes, the laughter and chatter gets louder and louder, until time is up, and you are sent merrily on your way. Since the tour ends so late in the evening, the only thing to do after all of that sampling is tuck into a ball and roll down the hill to the Speights Ale House to continue the “sampling”.

The Cadbury World Tour was the perfect way to start the day after a night of ‘sampling’. After a short intro and a free chocolate ‘Fish’ in a baggy, we were on our way through the factory smelling, viewing and tasting chocolate. The tour itself is what you would expect, walking through a factory learning about chocolate, but the guide was so passionate, funny and alive! She made all of us truly believe that Cadbury World is the most magical place on earth, way more more than Willy Wonka’s movie’s. As we went through the factory, we found our little bags getting more and more full. The more questions we answered, the more chocolate we received!

After or chocolate breakfast, all we could say was I “wannaburger”. We walked to the Octagon to find the famous Velvet Burger. On Tuesdays they have a two-for-one deal, but only if you know the password, which I can’t say flat out, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out. If you want the best burger in the world, try any one on the menu, they are all incredible! Don’t be greedy like we were, share your free burger, because there is no way anyone can eat two of these monsters in one sitting.

Before we left Dunedin, there was one more thing we had to do. Baldwin Street has a reputation as the “Steepest Street in the World”, so we had to walk it, and drive it, and admire it. The sidewalk is nicely laid out with stairs, and rightfully so, it is so steep! We watched a biker and a jogger go up and down multiple times, and when the street was clear, we hopped in the van and made it up the steepest street in the world! In our mind, and in our van, it was quite the accomplishment! If you’re in town at the right time, you may just see the Jaffa Race, when Cadbury World sends huge Jaffa’s down Baldwin Street!

There is so many more activities in Dunedin to mention, like the wildlife at Shag Point, watching the surfers at St Clair Beach, enjoying a rainy day at the museum in town, and so much more. We had such a great time in Dunedin, mainly because of the incredible people that live there.

In a Nutshell:

Destination: Dunedin

Under $50 Activity: Speights Brewery / Cadbury Factory Tours

Cheap Deal: Velvet Burger 2-for-1

Bonus Activity: Steepest street in the world.   

We spent a lot of time in the Canterbury area, and found that most of that time was spent exploring rocks, whether hiking around them, learning about them, and climbing them. Ok, mostly climbing them. Canterbury is a world class rock climbing destination, so who were we to turn down the opportunity!

Canterbury Rock may be world renowned, but it is also a pretty rainy area. Luckily climbing at an indoor gym means learning in a controlled (and dry) environment, surrounded by other climbers that love to give pointers. The Roxx in Christchurch is such an awesome gym, we found ourselves going back every rainy day we could. It is really well priced for a full day activity, for a beginner lesson and a full day pass they charge only $28. That gives you and your partner more than enough safety information and practice to spend the day climbing as much as your

hands and forearms can handle. Don’t spend all day on the ropes though, because the bouldering cave (short climbs, no rope, padded falls) is equally as awesome, and will get you prepared for Castle Hill, a world famous New Zealand bouldering destination.

Once we visited the Roxx a few times, and the weather cleared up, we were ready to experience the wonder of Castle Hill. The easy walks, countless boulders and pillars, and flat grassy fall zones make it perfect for climbers of all levels. BaseAlpine is happy to give travelers a good idea of where the best climbs are, how to use the boulder pad safely, and have a chat about climbing. They rent boulder pads for $18 for the first day and $10 for every consecutive day after, so it’s definitely worth going to Castle Hill for two or more days. We fell in love with Castle Hill immediately. Even from the parking lot it looks incredible. Right away we met other boulderers and formed a small group, feeding off of each-others energy, and helping each-other through the climbs. One thing about climbers, there is no competition, just helping everyone get up the climb. The climbing community all over this country is full of super-friendly, helpful, fun-loving people, and Castle Hill was no exception, all of the climbers were so social, and the people sight-seeing were eager to know what the huge pads on our backs were for. We had no problems finding both easy and challenging routes to climb, and our crash pad definitely came in handy!

One thing about doing so much climbing, a good long rest and rejuvination is in order, so after buying a bunch of good food and cooking fuel, we headed to Ellesmere Lake free campground, on the west side of the lake, for a couple days of rest. Sometimes while traveling around, stopping to do nothing for a couple days is wonderful, and a free campground to do it at is even better. With great views and decent bathrooms, this free campground is the perfect rest place after a good climb or the busy city.

Christchurch is an amazing city, the strength of the people is incredible. We felt so much faith ad love from the residents for their city, wearing t-shirts that say “My heart is here”, posting signs that say “We can rebuild” and decorating the city with feel good things, like a refrigerator full of books, and a grand piano on an empty lot with a “Play Me” sign. Even the graffiti is positive, one dwelling we saw has “We will save this house” spray painted on it. 

The strength of the city astounded us, as did the strength necessary to complete all 120 challenges at Adrenalin Forest, an intense and super-fun high ropes course. It has 6 pathways rated from easy to “physically and emotionally demanding”, and countless flying foxes, the most intense one being 20 metres high and 90 metres long.The instruction was short and sweet, telling us everything we needed to know, without having to wait too long to jump on. The first two pathways are confidence builders, we cruised through them, thinking “oh ya, this is too easy” the third and fourth pathways are more intense, but still do-able. The fifth and sixth pathways however, are where the party’s at. Definitely challenging, with the steep Nepalese Bridge, the Monkey Bridge and most importantly, the Adrenalin Max Jump. Talk about extreme! This long rope swing is definitely an adrenalin pumping, fear inducing challenge. Swinging from that high rope into a spiderweb will make the most fearless person shudder. If necessary, there is a Nepalese Bridge around it, but let’s be honest, when was the last time you swung like Tarzan into a web? Exactly.

While exploring Christchurch city centre, we came across a great little find right near the new Re:START Container City, across from Ballentynes on Lichfield Street. The city offers two hours free parking, where all other parking lots charge you right away, and in that location it’s not cheap. This lot is so close to Container City, you can spend the full two free hours exploring this incredible display of ingenuity. To see this small part of the devastated city rebuilt with such brightly coloured shipping containers and smiling people all around, we were filled with happiness and joy. We enjoyed the two storey container Cafe, watched the street performers, and sauntered through all of the shops. What a great way to spend the morning.

One must see while in Christchurch, known as the garden city, is the botanical gardens. We spent all afternoon enjoying all of the native and imported plants, hiking around the smaller trails and viewing the huge trees from all over the world, a few of which were planted by British royalty! The Botanical Gardens is also home to the International Peace Bell, which made from coins donated from 103 countries. The aim is to install peace bells all over the world and ring them together, as a sign of peace and unity. The museum is also located right in Hagley Park, right by the Botanical Gardens.

Christchurch is an incredible city, filled with far more strength than we would have ever imagined. We felt so lucky to be in the city and to see the strength in the people. 

In a Nutshell

Destination; Christchurch

Under $50 Activity; Adrenalin Forest

Bonus Activity; Botanical Gardens

Cheap Deal; Parking at Container City