The Singapore, Australia & New Zealand Blog
Disclaimer: this is a mammoth blog post. For those of you who don't know (although not sure how you could have missed it tbh), in August we went on a three week trip covering Singapore, Australia and New Zealand and it was INCREDIBLE. Like, really really amazing, once in a lifetime, breathtakingly beautiful, why did I have to come home...
Let's get the travel stuff out the way first. After extensive research to find the best deal and timings (using Sky Scanner), we ended up booking directly with Singapore Airlines. I'm not going to lie, it was eye-wateringly expensive. But we managed to find the exact route we needed at pretty decent times (apart from the way back, which was a 27 hour journey from Auckland to Heathrow *shudders*). Here's how we structured the trip and how long we spent in each place:
Flight Details:
Heathrow > Singapore (approx. 12.5 hour flight): 2 nights, 2 days
Singapore > Sydney (approx. 8 hour flight): 6 nights, 6 days (Spent a couple of days in the Central Coast for a Wedding)
Sydney > Auckland (approx. 3 hour flight): 12 nights, 11 days (travelled to a new North Island destination every few days which I'll cover in more detail later in the post)
Auckland > Heathrow (approx. 10000000000 hour flight and we had a 4 hour stopover at Singapore)
Luggage:
We took ginormous backpacks with us which we absolutely filled to the brim. Mark had a 120L Rab bag and I had his 95L North Face bag. We also took pretty sizeable backpacks as hand luggage and wore our walking boots to travel (I took them off the second I got on the plane, don't worry). The biggest challenge was packing for what felt like every single season (hot in Singapore, English Summer in Australia and BLOODY FREEZING in New Zealand). I'm going to do a separate post on what and how I packed, but let's just say I'm not made to carry a heavy backpack for long periods of time. Yes, I moaned. Yes, Mark often ended up carrying both bags. What a hero.
Accommodation:
Below is a summary of where we stayed and whether I'd recommend. We had a real mix of hotels as we didn't want to spend a lot and we only allowed ourselves a couple of nights of real luxury in New Zealand, so 'comfortable budget' is the category we're mostly working with here:
Singapore -> Hotel G
Itinerary:
Ok, now let's get to the good bit: what we actually did with our time. Starting with Singapore...
In advance of the trip, we booked tickets for the hop-on/hop-off tour bus which included entry to two tourist spots and covered our travel for the two days. We booked these through Viator and they were £42.50 each. When we first arrived in Singapore, we spent some time exploring Clarke Quay before heading to the Tourist Information Office to pick up our tickets. We got on the bus and then proceeded to FALL ASLEEP (jet lag is real), so decided to go back to the hotel for a much needed nap.
In the evening, we went to the Newton Food Centre (the Hawker Market from the film Crazy Rich Asians!). There are varying food and drink stalls, each specialising in a different dish, surrounding rows of communal benches. You decide what you want to eat, order your food at the stall, point in the general direction of where you're sitting, pay for your dish and then hope that your food arrives with you at some point! It was an amazing experience; the dumplings were insane and I had the best noodles I've ever tasted:
The next day - after a 10 hour sleep - we were ready to be tourists. We started with Gardens by the Bay. The Supertrees and Flower Dome were spectacular and I loved wondering around and snapping (too many) photos. An absolute feast for the eyes. We then went to the Observation Desk of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. The views were good, but to be honest I wasn't blown away (it's actually better being on the ground and having a view of the MBS hotel, as it's pretty iconic and obviously you can't see it if you're on top of it).
After our two tourist spots, we went back to our hotel for a freshen up and walked to Raffles to have a Singapore Sling at The Long Bar. After a quick stop off at the gift shop to buy an (overpriced) poster, we queued for about half an hour for a table. But it was totally worth it. We ended up having two drinks in the end, with our 'we're on holiday/YOLO' attitude out in full force. We had dinner in China Town (some damn spicy kung pao chilli chicken), before heading back to the hotel to pack for an early flight. Public transport is amazing in Singapore, which meant that travelling to the Airport by train was cheap, regular, on time and clean!
We landed in Sydney on the Tuesday evening. After checking in, we walked down to Darling Harbour and had a stroll to admire the skyline before grabbing Oporto for dinner (to satisfy Mark's 4 year craving). The next day the weather looked promising, so after a coffee at Opera Bar we hopped on the Ferry across to Manly. I loved Manly; the beach was beautiful (and so quiet out of season) and we had lunch outside in the sunshine - dreamy! On the way back to our hotel we did a quick detour to Mecca where I literally wanted to buy everything, but in the end settled on some Go-To products (which are amazing btw - so annoying that they're not in the UK yet!). In the evening we met up with some of Mark's old pals from when he lived in Sydney which was really fun. We had dinner and drinks at a place called The Forresters which has a decent Happy Hour and daily food offers (great if you're on a budget as Sydney is darn expensive).
On Thursday, we got the bus to Coggee and set out on the Coggee > Bondi coastal walk. This is well worth doing if you're in Sydney - the coast is absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately for us, the weather took a bit of a turn as we walked around so by the time we reached Bondi we were solely focussing on not getting blown off the clifftop. We ran for shelter (and some brunch) at a place called Harrys Bondi - I'd recommend making a stop if you have time as the coffee and brunch were great and the decor was v.cool. As the weather showed no signs of getting better, we spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around the shops at the QVB before getting some fried chicken for dinner and heading back for an early night.
The rest of our time in Australia was spent in the Central Coast for our friends' wedding which was such a wonderful time - I bloody love a good wedding! Congratulations Ben & Isa!
In terms of day trips, we couldn't go to New Zealand and pass up on the opportunity to geek out at Hobbiton! Yes, it's cheesy. Yes, it's gimmicky. But it's also SO FLIPPIN' COOL and I loved every second of it.
Let's get the travel stuff out the way first. After extensive research to find the best deal and timings (using Sky Scanner), we ended up booking directly with Singapore Airlines. I'm not going to lie, it was eye-wateringly expensive. But we managed to find the exact route we needed at pretty decent times (apart from the way back, which was a 27 hour journey from Auckland to Heathrow *shudders*). Here's how we structured the trip and how long we spent in each place:
Flight Details:
Heathrow > Singapore (approx. 12.5 hour flight): 2 nights, 2 days
Singapore > Sydney (approx. 8 hour flight): 6 nights, 6 days (Spent a couple of days in the Central Coast for a Wedding)
Sydney > Auckland (approx. 3 hour flight): 12 nights, 11 days (travelled to a new North Island destination every few days which I'll cover in more detail later in the post)
Auckland > Heathrow (approx. 10000000000 hour flight and we had a 4 hour stopover at Singapore)
We took ginormous backpacks with us which we absolutely filled to the brim. Mark had a 120L Rab bag and I had his 95L North Face bag. We also took pretty sizeable backpacks as hand luggage and wore our walking boots to travel (I took them off the second I got on the plane, don't worry). The biggest challenge was packing for what felt like every single season (hot in Singapore, English Summer in Australia and BLOODY FREEZING in New Zealand). I'm going to do a separate post on what and how I packed, but let's just say I'm not made to carry a heavy backpack for long periods of time. Yes, I moaned. Yes, Mark often ended up carrying both bags. What a hero.
Accommodation:
Below is a summary of where we stayed and whether I'd recommend. We had a real mix of hotels as we didn't want to spend a lot and we only allowed ourselves a couple of nights of real luxury in New Zealand, so 'comfortable budget' is the category we're mostly working with here:
Singapore -> Hotel G
- Highly recommend.
- Great location.
- Reasonable if you go for the small double (aka the 'Good Room'). But when they say small, they mean small.
- The decor was bloody cool.
Sydney -> Sydney QVB (3 nights)
- I would recommend, but purely for the location.
- Pretty basic hotel, but we lucked out by getting one of the larger rooms.
- Very helpful staff.
- Room had no view so you felt pretty enclosed.
Sydney -> Hilton CBD (we stayed here for one night before we flew to Auckland)
- Highly recommend - it was lovely.
- Pricey. But the bed was the comfiest bed I think I've ever slept in.
- Good city views.
- Great tea choice!
New Zealand, Whitianga -> Oceanside Motel on Buffalo Beach
- It was very basic and in a sleepy town, which meant that we really struggled to find somewhere to eat...
- We only stayed here because it was close to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. We arrived late and set off early, so it was just a bed to sleep in. I wouldn't recommend for anything other than that.
- I had such a dream filled sleep and kept having intrusive thoughts about someone breaking in. It was rough.
New Zealand, Rotorua -> Millenium Hotel
- Quick caveat: we paid for the upgrade to lounge access which was totally worth it for the continental breakfast and free drinks & snacks between 5pm-7pm.
- I would absolutely recommend this hotel. The room was great, with amazing views over the lake.
- The spa was a bonus and we spent a couple of relaxing afternoons reading there. However, they had an event happening during our stay which meant the main lobby was very busy and the swimming pool wasn't accessible, which was a shame.
New Zealand, Taupo -> Quest
- We ordered Dominos and watched Pokemon Detective Pikachu in bed. That's pretty much all I have to say about this hotel and Taupo in general.
New Zealand, Whakapapa -> Chateau Tongariro Hotel
- This place was out of this world and a complete luxury. So therefore very pricey.
- I'd absolutely recommend (but book early as it's pretty much the only place to stay in the area).
- The decor was very Wes Anderson-esque (*swoons*).
New Zealand, Hamilton - Ibis Tainui
Just a stop over in Hamilton to break up the journey, absolutely nothing to shout about.
New Zealand, Auckland - Ibis Budget
- Would not recommend this place - too budget, even for us.
- The only positives were the location and that it made me very ready to come home to my own bed...
Ok, now let's get to the good bit: what we actually did with our time. Starting with Singapore...
Singapore
In advance of the trip, we booked tickets for the hop-on/hop-off tour bus which included entry to two tourist spots and covered our travel for the two days. We booked these through Viator and they were £42.50 each. When we first arrived in Singapore, we spent some time exploring Clarke Quay before heading to the Tourist Information Office to pick up our tickets. We got on the bus and then proceeded to FALL ASLEEP (jet lag is real), so decided to go back to the hotel for a much needed nap.
In the evening, we went to the Newton Food Centre (the Hawker Market from the film Crazy Rich Asians!). There are varying food and drink stalls, each specialising in a different dish, surrounding rows of communal benches. You decide what you want to eat, order your food at the stall, point in the general direction of where you're sitting, pay for your dish and then hope that your food arrives with you at some point! It was an amazing experience; the dumplings were insane and I had the best noodles I've ever tasted:
The next day - after a 10 hour sleep - we were ready to be tourists. We started with Gardens by the Bay. The Supertrees and Flower Dome were spectacular and I loved wondering around and snapping (too many) photos. An absolute feast for the eyes. We then went to the Observation Desk of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. The views were good, but to be honest I wasn't blown away (it's actually better being on the ground and having a view of the MBS hotel, as it's pretty iconic and obviously you can't see it if you're on top of it).
Australia
We landed in Sydney on the Tuesday evening. After checking in, we walked down to Darling Harbour and had a stroll to admire the skyline before grabbing Oporto for dinner (to satisfy Mark's 4 year craving). The next day the weather looked promising, so after a coffee at Opera Bar we hopped on the Ferry across to Manly. I loved Manly; the beach was beautiful (and so quiet out of season) and we had lunch outside in the sunshine - dreamy! On the way back to our hotel we did a quick detour to Mecca where I literally wanted to buy everything, but in the end settled on some Go-To products (which are amazing btw - so annoying that they're not in the UK yet!). In the evening we met up with some of Mark's old pals from when he lived in Sydney which was really fun. We had dinner and drinks at a place called The Forresters which has a decent Happy Hour and daily food offers (great if you're on a budget as Sydney is darn expensive).
On Thursday, we got the bus to Coggee and set out on the Coggee > Bondi coastal walk. This is well worth doing if you're in Sydney - the coast is absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately for us, the weather took a bit of a turn as we walked around so by the time we reached Bondi we were solely focussing on not getting blown off the clifftop. We ran for shelter (and some brunch) at a place called Harrys Bondi - I'd recommend making a stop if you have time as the coffee and brunch were great and the decor was v.cool. As the weather showed no signs of getting better, we spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around the shops at the QVB before getting some fried chicken for dinner and heading back for an early night.
The rest of our time in Australia was spent in the Central Coast for our friends' wedding which was such a wonderful time - I bloody love a good wedding! Congratulations Ben & Isa!
New Zealand
We spent 3 nights in total in Rotorua. It was a great base for a couple of day trips. In terms of Rotorua itself, there are a couple of eateries I'd recommend. We went for dinner at the Stratosfare Restaurant & Bar which boasts views across the Lake (make sure you get a window seat) and we went for lunch at a place called The Terrace Kitchen which offered the best (and most reasonable) sharing platter I've ever had! On one of our evenings in Rotorua, we did the Redwoods Nightlights Treewalk which was such an amazing experience - if you're in the area then it's absolutely worth doing!
So we've reached New Zealand, the most beautiful country I've ever visited. What a place.
When we arrived in Auckland, we collected the hire car which we'd booked through Jucy Rentals - I'd really recommend this company, they were great and so much cheaper than others we'd looked at. The Jucy Camper Vans are everywhere, but we actually opted for a Compact SUV. It was the first time I'd driven an automatic and I loved it! Once we'd collected the car we drove straight to the coast (approx. a 2.5 hour drive to Whitianga). We drove through Coromandel Forest Park which is absolutely spectacular and well worth making the detour for - the first of many detours we made to admire the beauty of this island.
When we reached our motel we managed (eventually) to find somewhere unremarkable for food (everywhere else was closed - it was such a sleepy little place) and crashed for the night. We woke up early the next morning and started our New Zealand adventure by watching the sun rise:
Our first day in New Zealand was a very busy one. We started at Hot Water Beach. This particular beach has thermal water beneath the sand, so if you dig in certain places at low tide it creates a pool of hot water! It was early when we arrived, but already there were a few steaming pools full of people having a bath on the beach. It was quite something. We then drove to a nearby car park as we wanted to visit Cathedral Cove. This is only accessible by foot (or boat/kayak) and it's a bit of a walk (about a 2 hour return trip), but SO worth it. Again, because we were there out of season the beach was pretty much deserted so we were lucky enough to enjoy spectacular views undisturbed. We then drove down the coast to Mount Maunganui and trekked to the top to take in the amazing views of the Bay of Plenty (approx. a 1.5 hour return walk depending on what route you take). By this point, we were absolutely exhausted but had another hour drive to Rotorua which would be our base for the next few days.
In terms of day trips, we couldn't go to New Zealand and pass up on the opportunity to geek out at Hobbiton! Yes, it's cheesy. Yes, it's gimmicky. But it's also SO FLIPPIN' COOL and I loved every second of it.
On our way to Taupo, we made a couple of stops:
Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (which includes the Geothermal Area and the Lady Knox Geyser)
This place was mind blowing, but prepare yourself for a bit of a smelly experience! It's worth catching the Lady Knox Geyser presentation in the amphitheatre if you can (daily at 10:15am) to guarantee experiencing the eruption. The Geothermal Area is incredible - like nothing I'd ever seen before. Well worth doing if you're in the area.
Huku Falls can be done quickly, but my goodness it's worth it even if it's just for a short stop off! The colour of the water was unbelievable - there's something really mesmerising about waterfalls. I could have stayed and watched it fall for hours.
We then made our way to the Mt Ruapehu! The drive to Whakapapa was epic - the scenery really blows your mind. We stopped a fair few times just to admire the views. What an amazing country!
It was a bit too early to check in when we arrived, so we put on our walking boots and set out on the Tama Lakes walk. It's about a 2 hour walk to get to the lower lake and we took a slight detour on the way back to see the Taranhiki Falls (in total we walked for about 4.5 hours). I was already in complete awe of New Zealand's landscape, but this was something else. I felt completely overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. It's an experience I will never forget and no words or photos will ever do it justice:
The next day, we went up in the ski lift to the top of the mountain and people watched for a couple of hours before having some chips and mayo and heading back down for a chilled afternoon of playing pool and drinking beer. It was very relaxing. I could have definitely stayed here for another couple of nights.
But alas, we had to move on. On our way to Hamilton we took a slight detour to see the Waitomo Glowworm Caves which was well worth the trip. We visited a couple of the caves and booked our tickets in advance (although it was so quiet we probably needn't have bothered). During the first tour, we took a boat trip through the caves and saw the glowworms light up above us, like stars in the night sky! It was spectacular. We then took a walking tour of some neighbouring caves which was really interesting - shout out to our two tour guides who were such a laugh and bloody well knew their stuff. You made caves cool!
Hamilton was nothing to shout about. All we did here was get a Nandos and watch Once Upon A Time In Hollywood at the cinema (SO GOOD).
Our last stop was Auckland! We dropped off the car when we arrived, checked into our (crap) hotel, put on our wet weather gear (as the weather was hideous) and went exploring. We didn't get very far as the weather was apocalyptic, so we took cover in an Irish pub and didn't move for many hours!
The day before we left, we took a ferry to Waiheke Island - my final New Zealand recommendation. Waiheke Island is an island of vineyards - an absolute dream! A lot of the vineyards were closed, but the two we did visit were extraordinary. I'd absolutely recommend getting off the hop on/hop off bus at Mudbrick Restaurant & Vineyard and Goldie Estate (the owners of which founded winegrowing on Waiheke Island). The wine was delicious and the people who work there were so friendly - it's worth a visit if you're in Auckland for a few days.
So that's it! The end of our 3 week adventure. I would love to go back to New Zealand one day to visit the South Island which remains untouched by us. I hear it's even more beautiful... how is that even possible?
We are now in strict money saving territory before the wedding, but we do have a few trips planned for next year, so you can all look forward to very delayed blog posts covering:
- Lisbon
- Belfast
- Paris
Love, Alice x
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