Day 1: Lloret de Mar - Barcelona Airport - Flight to New Zealand
With a flight to New Zealand It starts today and how could it be otherwise, the nerves of a new trip also begin and more on this occasion, which is not any one. Today we begin the trip to New Zealand, which will take us to know one of the countries that we most wanted to step on and also a new continent, which until today, we had not had the luck to know.
On this occasion, the flight to New Zealand We do it again with Singapore Airlines, a recent acquaintance, since only a month ago we flew with them to start the trip to Singapore and the trip to Thailand and we can not be more confident, since after the experience, we can say that it is One of the best airlines in which we have flown.
The flight to Auckland It leaves at 11:55 in the morning and we will only have a stopover in Singapore of just over an hour, so we hope that the jetlag is not too exaggerated and allows us, within two days, to start with the New Zealand by motorhome , picking up our house on wheels and visiting the city of Auckland that will be our gateway to the country.
With this introduction already done, it is time to have breakfast in our usual cafeteria and head to Barcelona, where we leave the car in our usual Aena car park, to go through check-in and security controls and take advantage of the time we have until flight to New Zealand, to reread for the umpteenth time the route we have scheduled for this incredible trip that we will start in just a few hours.
Flight to New Zealand
The flight to New Zealand announces the boarding at 11 in the morning and it took us no more than 15 minutes to be seated in our seats, with everything ready to face in this first stage the flight Barcelona to Singapore, which lasts 12: 40h and will take us back to remember Singapore in 6 days that he gave us so much and that we remember so dearly.
Without going into many details, we can only say that the flight passes quite quickly within the almost 13 hours that lasts, that we take the opportunity to read, watch some movies and rest, at 7:30 in the morning, land in Singapore.
Flight to New Zealand
Transit in Singapore
One of the things that scared us most about this flight to New ZealandIn addition to the hours involved, it was the stopover in Singapore, of only 1: 10h.
When we traveled to Singapore a month ago, before leaving the airport, we looked a little above how the issue of transit in Singapore worked and we saw that the airport, considered one of the best in the world, was prepared to carry out this process in 15- 20 minutes.
They are not wrong. In this case we have landed in Terminal 3 and we have had to go to Terminal 2. Keep in mind that as difficult as this may seem, you just have to follow the signs to get to the new terminal and take the skytrain that will take you there .
Even on the screens of the first flight, about 30 minutes before landing, you will see the schedules of the next flights, the departure terminal and how to make the transit, so it will still be much easier.
Transit in Singapore
Internet at the Singapore airport
Another feature of the Singapore airport is that it has unlimited Wi-Fi that you can get at machines located in several areas of each of the terminals by scanning your passport or directly through a message to your mobile.
It is a very easy process and will help you spend the hours you are at the airport in case your stopover is longer than ours.
And so, after a transit of just over an hour, we embark again in the second flight to New Zealand, this time the flight Singapore to Auckland, which will take us in 10:50 hours to our destination and gateway to the White Cloud country.
We are not going to deny that this flight gets a little heavier and the jet lag seems to start to appear, but the illusion and tickle in the stomach are also the protagonists that are presented in a much more evident way when we land in Auckland to 12 o'clock at night and we are finally in New Zealand.
More practical information to prepare your trip to New Zealand
- 10 essential tips for traveling to New Zealand
- 10 essential places to see in New Zealand
- The best travel insurance for New Zealand
New Zealand entry
We are sure that like us, you will have read a lot of information about the process of entering New Zealand and on many occasions, after that, you will have the idea that this process is much more difficult than you imagined.
We do not know if it was to arrive at dawn or luckily, but our experience is quite the opposite. We process the entrance to New Zealand in less than 30 minutes and without any setback.
We leave you some tips and data that we believe, can help you in the process:
- The first thing to keep in mind is that if you have a Spanish passport, until October 1, 2019, you can spend a maximum of 90 days in New Zealand without a visa. Anyway, it is important that you consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Immigration New Zealand website that is responsible for these procedures to ensure that when you travel, this information is current.
- From October 1, 2019, visitors from countries with visa exemptions must request an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) before traveling to New Zealand. You may also have to pay a conservation and tourism tax for international visitors (IVL). For more information about ETA and IVL, be sure to visit the websites mentioned above.
VERY IMPORTANT: As with the ESTA in the US, since this process exists, companies have emerged very well positioned in Google that are not official and process this document charging much more for a procedure that can be done online and in a manner personal. Please, if you don't want to overpay, check always that you are in the official website And don't trust any recommendations online, even if they are from bloggers or web pages. - Normally in the last flight to New Zealand They will give you a form that you must fill out to deliver in the passport and luggage control. In case they don't give it to you or you're asleep when they deliver them, don't worry, before passport control, you'll find more printed.
- In this form, one of the questions is whether you wear trekking equipment. Normally it will be like that, even if they are just the boots, so do not forget to mark "yes" and so you will not have any problem in case your luggage is checked.
- The first thing will be to pass passport control. At most they will ask you if you have a departure ticket, what is the address in which you will be in New Zealand (if it is a motorhome trip it is what you should comment) and if you have money to support the days of the trip.
- Once you have your passport stamped, you must go to the room to pick up your luggage and then go through the control of it.
- They will ask you again for the form you filled out on the plane and they will ask you if you have food or trekking items. It is very important to tell the truth and above all, do not bring food that is prohibited such as fruits, meats ... etc. In case you carry some trekking, you may be asked to show it or not. In our case, when they arrived at night, they only told us if the boots were clean, we said yes and they did not show them to us.
- Once you have passed this last control, you can enjoy your trip to New Zealand.
Internet in New Zealand
This is another one of the things that you have asked us the most about. The first thing to keep in mind is that there are several companies with which you can hire Internet in New Zealand. We have opted for the Spark company, which has different packages for travelers, which fit very much to the needs we can all have when we travel.
Spark plans to have internet in New Zealand
Something that most plans also offer are 200 minutes of international calls, 200 free messages to all countries of the world, unlimited calls to New Zealand and 1GB in RRSS.
In addition to Spark you can connect to cabins that are in practically the whole country, there is an application where you can see all the locations and get 1GB of data for free.
Although the SIM card can be purchased at any Spark store in any city, it is advisable to purchase it at the airport, to have internet as soon as you enter New Zealand. Also, if you do it before collecting your luggage, in the store that there is Tax Free, you will save the fees, so it is worth taking into account and do it at this time and not when you are already in the Departures Terminal.
Buy Holafly prepaid SIM card
Another option is to choose to buy one Holafly SIM card being in Spain, with which you will have internet from the moment you land, saving you all the time of the negotiations and making the whole process to have internet much more comfortable, fast and easy.
In this case, with the Holafly SIM you will have several Gb to surf the Internet (depending on the option you choose), they will send it to you for free at home, you will keep your WhatsApp number and you will have assistance service in Spanish. You can buy your Holafly prepaid SIM card here with a 5% discount for being our reader
More information on the Holafly post, the best prepaid SIM card for travel
How to get money in New Zealand and not pay commissions?
This is another question you ask us, especially when we are traveling, it is how to get money abroad. To avoid paying commissions and always having the current change, we recommend using the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.
At the Auckland airport, we get money directly from one of the ATMs in the departures area, in which the commission is 4.55 euros, amount that BNEXT reimburses us at the moment, in addition to having the best change, which adjusts us The card itself.
Make money in New Zealand and pay no commissions
Once we have the paperwork done, our luggage, the SIM card and the money, we leave the airport and go to the meeting point that the Auckland Airport Lodge has given us, which will be our accommodation in Auckland tonight and with which we have transfer Free to / from the airport.
The reason for choosing to stay at a hotel tonight has been the arrival time of our flight to New Zealand. Thinking about how tired we would be and that the motorhome office in New Zealand would be closed, we preferred to spend this first night in a hotel, rest and tomorrow, start enjoying this amazing country.
And so, after 10 minutes of waiting and making the 5-kilometer journey that separates the airport from the hotel, we arrive at the Auckland Airport Lodge where we spend the night and start dreaming of the next days in the White Cloud Country.
* Keep in mind that this post should technically take two days, on March 1 and 2, which was when we landed in Auckland at night at 11:35 p.m. Not having too much content, we decided to write the part of the flight to New Zealand in a single post and the next one, which would belong to the second day of the flight, devote it entirely to the rental of the motorhome in New Zealand.
Day 2: Rent Jucy motorhome in New Zealand
