South Island on a budget

[5150]

Hi All

So I was thinking of doing a 10-12 day tour of South Island on the bike over Xmas. My question is not where to go, as I have a fair idea of where I want to go, but more, can it be done on next to no budget? Ok, ferry crossing and petrol aside, I am thinking food and accomodation? I am happy to stay under the tent, and live on bare essentials, (no restaurants or expensive hotels) camping grounds or back packers only.

So my question is: Taking into account 10-12 days, and wanting to see as much of SI as possible, what would be a realistic budget? 4 years ago me and the wife did it on a $1500 riding 8 days. Staying mainly in back packers and going out for occasional meal at a restaurant etc. this time I am doing it solo and don't mind the bare essentials.

Any suggestions?

[jellywrestler]

Hi All

So I was thinking of doing a 10-12 day tour of South Island on the bike over Xmas. My question is not where to go, as I have a fair idea of where I want to go, but more, can it be done on next to no budget? Ok, ferry crossing and petrol aside, I am thinking food and accomodation? I am happy to stay under the tent, and live on bare essentials, (no restaurants or expensive hotels) camping grounds or back packers only.

So my question is: Taking into account 10-12 days, and wanting to see as much of SI as possible, what would be a realistic budget? 4 years ago me and the wife did it on a $1500 riding 8 days. Staying mainly in back packers and going out for occasional meal at a restaurant etc. this time I am doing it solo and don't mind the bare essentials.

Any suggestions?

leave the wife behind, that'll save a fortune

[5150]

leave the wife behind, that'll save a fortune

That has already been established

[PrincessBandit]

We're looking at doing the same bat-thing, same bat-time, same bat-channel although taking more like 2 -3 weeks.
Will watch this thread with interest as it may yield some further helpful info for us. cheers.

[unstuck]

My brother has some awesome camping spots on his land at franz josef if you are staying in that area at all. Heaps of places to camp around the south island, sometimes you may have to travel off the beaten track a little.

[Rosie]

If you really want to go basic - being self contained, staying in DoC (or similar) campsites and sorting all your own food will save a lot of money. It does mean carrying a bit more stuff, and being a little bit organised with your supermarket trips, but you end up staying in some really cool places. Some small towns will have a basic camping area attached to their rugby ground or community hall where you can camp for a very reasonable price too. The cost of Backpackers and Holiday Parks does add up - save them for when you need to do your washing.

When you do want to splash out - country pubs in out of the way places can sometimes be really good value; we stayed at the Clarke's Junction Hotel a couple of years ago for $20 each, including linen and towels.

Rosie. (The camping-and-cooking evangelist )

[unstuck]

If you go as far south as jacksons bay(cant go much further anyway) make sure you have your own food, otherwise you may have to sell your bike for a feed of fish and chips.

[skippa1]

Kiakoura, Nelson and Tasman all allow freedom camping. Stop and pitch your tent stuff. It doesnt get cheaper than that

[5150]

If you really want to go basic - being self contained, staying in DoC (or similar) campsites and sorting all your own food will save a lot of money. It does mean carrying a bit more stuff, and being a little bit organised with your supermarket trips, but you end up staying in some really cool places. Some small towns will have a basic camping area attached to their rugby ground or community hall where you can camp for a very reasonable price too. The cost of Backpackers and Holiday Parks does add up - save them for when you need to do your washing.

When you do want to splash out - country pubs in out of the way places can sometimes be really good value; we stayed at the Clarke's Junction Hotel a couple of years ago for $20 each, including linen and towels.

Rosie. (The camping-and-cooking evangelist )

Yes, DOC land is a good idea. Keep in mind I will not be riding ADV bike, Road bike, so am wee bit limited on some of the places, but don't mind gravel etc. I can pack light as far as clothes are concerned and only take what I need. This will leave more room for extra food supplies etc. Also going solo, means I can take on more luggage on the biike. My only requirement is that where ever i stay, I want it to be a safe place to park my bike over night. Hence would preffer camping ground as oppose to wild on side of the road, but hey, it can make for a cool adventure. hehe. As for food, yes, I agree every other day roll up to supermarket, and only buy things like milk or eggs etc when needed. Happy to survive on can and dry food too. Also don't mind to splash out once on a luxury meal (ie pub cooked meal) But my whole point is to do it on bare minimum budget so open to anything "safe" really

[Rosie]

Yes, DOC land is a good idea. Keep in mind I will not be riding ADV bike, Road bike, so am wee bit limited on some of the places, but don't mind gravel etc. I can pack light as far as clothes are concerned and only take what I need. This will leave more room for extra food supplies etc. Also going solo, means I can take on more luggage on the biike. My only requirement is that where ever i stay, I want it to be a safe place to park my bike over night. Hence would preffer camping ground as oppose to wild on side of the road, but hey, it can make for a cool adventure. hehe. As for food, yes, I agree every other day roll up to supermarket, and only buy things like milk or eggs etc when needed. Happy to survive on can and dry food too. Also don't mind to splash out once on a luxury meal (ie pub cooked meal) But my whole point is to do it on bare minimum budget so open to anything "safe" really

Quite a lot of DOC camps (even the free ones) are on (or not far from) sealed roads. We also do a lot of freedom camping, but that isn't so easy on a road bike.
We've got an alarmed cable lock for the bikes, which we can feed around one of the tent poles if we want to be really paranoid. Personally I'm more nervous about my bike being parked in a backpackers carpark in town, compared to a campsite in the middle of nowhere.
Carrying liquid milk (or anything that needs refrigeration) is a PITA, better to go with powdered (just make sure you get the proportions right). You can make some pretty good meals out of canned and dried things (well, I can... presumably you could too).

[neels]

There are plenty of cheap places to stay if you aim for the less expensive camping grounds in smaller places, or as previously posted if you know the route you're taking have a look at the DOC website to see what there is along the way.

For instance, places like this....http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...eburn-shelter/

[5150]

There are plenty of cheap places to stay if you aim for the less expensive camping grounds in smaller places, or as previously posted if you know the route you're taking have a look at the DOC website to see what there is along the way.

For instance, places like this....http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...eburn-shelter/

That is what I am talking about. In the next couple of days I will post my initial map of proposed route and see if anyone can recommend anything along the route. I can fine tune it as I get closer to the departure date

[Maha]

Kiakoura, Nelson and Tasman all allow freedom camping. Stop and pitch your tent stuff. It doesnt get cheaper than that

I understand that you need at least 15 bottles of insect repellant whilst freedom camping at the top of the SI?

[Rosie]

That is what I am talking about. In the next couple of days I will post my initial map of proposed route and see if anyone can recommend anything along the route. I can fine tune it as I get closer to the departure date

Ya got a GPS? I've got waypoints for all the DoC campsites in the country. Colour-coded by price

[skippa1]

I understand that you need at least 15 bottles of insect repellant whilst freedom camping at the top of the SI?

only if you camp next to the little piles of poo left by the freedom camping germans