We had heard the same thing over and over again; we wouldn’t be able to get our bank accounts set up quickly, these things take time, be prepared for how expensive New Zealand is. We kind of listened. We had applied for a bank online and had an appointment booked in a different city in a couple of days, but that didn’t stop us from trying our luck in Auckland anyway. Of course, it didn’t work and we spent our jet-lagged first days in NZ trudging around Auckland CBD, being turned down by banks left right and centre, not really achieving much at all. So much fun.
To take a small detour from the story, here is my advice for anyone coming into NZ on a working holiday visa -
Apply for a bank account well before you arrive, ANZ lets you use your address from your home country which is handy.
If you have to go to Hamilton, get the train, so much cheaper than the bus.
Everything will seem ridiculously expensive, it kind of is and its not going to change so accept it.
Finally Dominos pizza is a let down in Auckland but go get some dumplings, they’re pretty good.
lIt wasn’t just admin that filled our time in Auckland, we also got the ferry out to the suburbs in search for a van. The van was lovely but sadly we weren’t the only ones there to see it, another Brit pipped us to the post and managed to snag it whilst out on the test drive. I suppose we could have started an impromptu bidding war but it was near the top of our budget and we didn’t want to come across as rude. Although we didn’t get the van we did manage to meet some lovely people plus the ferry ride was pretty fun and surprisingly cheap too.
Having realised that the buses and trains from Auckland to Hamilton don’t run in the mornings - at least not early enough to arrive to our 9.30 bank appointment in time - we had to forfeit a night in our hostel (goodbye wasted £80) and grab a train in the afternoon instead. Before we caught the train we quickly booked ourselves a Airbnb room for the night, it was all a bit last minute and stressful but at least it was done. It was thirty minutes before we arrived in Hamilton (at 8.00pm) that it turned out that our host would not be hosting us after all, a brief message informed us that she was out of the country but she'd be happy to have us in a couple of days...you know, when we no longer needed to be there. Luckily we found another homestay type situation on booking that didn’t break the bank and it that would accommodate us last minute. It ended up being a bit weird and we didn't feel overly welcome but all the hotels in the area were over £150 a night… bit too fancy for these backpackers, so it would have to do.
Our bank appointment went smoothly, and we left the proud owners of one NZ joint bank account, one debit card and one EFTPOS card... I'm sure not entirely sure what its used for. Banking checklist complete we didn’t have much on till going to see another van later on that evening, so we went for a wander. This wandering continued for most of the day until we dragged our weary feet to Hamilton Gardens where we stopped in the cafe for a drink before checking out the plots. I can’t really say that I’m that into plants but the gardens at Hamilton are well worth popping into see if you’re in the area. All the gardens are themed around a culture or civilisation and we genuinely had fun exploring them all - check out the cool video Ben made for instagram that shows some of them, they were so beautiful!
What wasn’t beautiful was the camper we went to see that evening, overpriced and slightly shoddy we soon realised that it wasn’t the van for us. To add insult to injury the owner had driven it to Auckland the night before for a viewing, I mean we were heading over to Hamilton anyway but still, why didn't we think of thatl! Feeling a bit dejected about another failed van viewing we headed back to our accommodation for the night, needing to work out what we were doing next.
The very first van we got excited about online was in the coastal city of Tauranga, luckily the van was still available and even better it was only a 2 hour bus ride away. Unluckily all the accomodation we could find in central Tauranga was ridiculously expensive so we ended up in a far away suburb, in a small room in a house which never got locked - add this to the bitcoin mining setup they had in the basement it felt a bit sketch.
We perhaps didn’t go into the viewing with the same critical hat on that we’d worn before. We were ready to buy a van, we were fed up on wasting our money on shitty rooms in undesirable areas, we wanted the adventure to begin. We saw the van, we coveted the van, we put an offer down on the van. There was still some niggles but that didn’t put us off, it needed some work for it to pass its WOF (Warrant of fitness, New Zealands version of the MOT) but that was all happening the next morning and we would have the van by the evening….
We didn’t have the van by that evening, it didn’t pass and needed more work - it would be another three or four days until the part came in. That still didn’t make us reconsider, we wanted this van, providing it got the work done and passed its WOF first. Instead of waiting around in the house with no locks we decided instead to head over to the other side of the city to Mount Maunganui, where we rented a cute little studio opposite a beautiful beach with the added benefit of being able to lock our stuff inside of it.
For the first time since we arrived in NZ it felt like we could relax, we still had some boring bits to do like sort out our IRD numbers for working and to get a phone contract but the end of expensive accommodation was in sight. So apart from getting those boring bits done we had a great time in Mount Maunganui. We climbed to the top of the dormant volcano that gives the area it’s name, there was several paths leading up so it’s not quite as impressive as it sounds. We ate nice food and watched the clouds swallow the sun at the sunset point at Pilot bay. We searched for a bat and ball set, only managing to find one that was $44 (roughly £22) and worked out that if we played with it at least 20 times over the next year we’d consider it money well spent... with this in mind we also played a lot of bat on ball on the nearly deserted beach.
In the end the van was ready a day earlier than we expected and we of course wanted to get it as soon as possible, but first more boring legal things. As I’m not a resident of NZ it meant I had to register the van in my name in person rather than online, this was slightly annoying as the office was due to close in an hour and traffic was bad. We managed to get there just in the nick of time but unfortunately it was too late to organise the insurance. After doing some shopping at opp shops (charity shops) to kit out the van the next morning we headed back to the AA centre to sort out the insurance. All in All the insurance cost us a pretty penny ($780) but it worth knowing that it was insured for both the van itself and for it’s camper capabilities… especially as insurance isn’t compulsory in NZ, better to err on the side of caution. So that's done, what next?
Van ready? Check.
Insurance? Check.
Diesel filled up? Check. Food and drinks all brought? Check. Banging playlist? You bet. All cosy and warm? Might still need some work! Seems like the start of an adventure to me.
Trip date: Nov 2022 Previous blog: Gili Air and Ubud Next blog: Meet the Explore van!
Onwards and upwards from here on. Good luck to you both.