New Zealand is absolutely a wonderful travel destination. However, a New Zealand travel might turn out to be slightly problematic for an international traveller. In fact, during my previous trip, I observed a set of problems in New Zealand. This post is aimed at pointing out certain known issues and precautions for the fellow travellers.
This article is the first part, and I will be writing the second part as well. These two posts are collectively intended to put the problems in New Zealand travel together. I will also upload quite a few screenshots to let you feel the situation better.
These two upcoming posts are in no way intended to criticise the paradise nation. In fact, the highlighted issues are more of suggestions to the New Zealand’s authorities to carefully inspect the situation, and improve wherever possible. As such, I indeed had a great time there, and I have already written a series of articles about New Zealand. If you read those posts, you’d also observe that I have occasionally been pointing out problems in New Zealand travel.
Here are some of the issues you’d better be careful!
Difficult to find AT HOP card top-up retailer
Auckland’s AT HOP cards are nothing less than a lifeline for the locals who heavily rely on the public mode of transportations in New Zealand’s largest city. However, it’s not easy to locate an AT HOP card top-up retailer in Auckland. Sure, there is an option to recharge online. HOWEVER…
Online Top-up balance went negative
I topped up my AT HOP card in Auckland online, and the balance went to NEGATIVE. My card balance was positive before topping it up.
Can someone explain why a card balance could be less than zero after a successful top-up? Moreover, the top-up balance won’t appear immediately on your card’s balance. It may take up to 72 hours before you may actually use the topped-up value.
So imagine a scenario- you are not able to find the offline card top-up retailers (may be in the late night), and your online top-up balance has not yet been fully updated. What will you do? Sure, you can pay by cash. But it’s quite expensive (may be more expensive than in the USA and Australia). That’s not we’d expect in a developed country.
Visa Problems in New Zealand travel
Obtaining a New Zealand visa can be quite troublesome. In case your NZ visa application is rejected, you’d be required to apply again, and paying the fee again. This is not a hypothetical situation. In fact, this is what happened to me – my first NZ tourist visa application was rejected, and I applied again and basically paid the visa fee twice. I have written three detailed posts about my own NZ visa adventures-
- My first New Zealand visa application, and rejection
- Why my New Zealand Visa was rejected? A critical analysis
- My second New Zealand visa application, and visa approval
Reminder about leaving the country
When I was in New Zealand, I received multiple email reminders about my NZ visa expiry (basically to leave the country). I mean, why New Zealand immigration has to email me again and again? Isn’t it a bit impolite? As such, this was the first time in all my travel experience that I was practically getting reminders to leave the host country. Here is the text of the email that I received in the email-
“Our records show that your visa is due to expire, as follows:
Client number xxxxxxxxx,
Visitor visa expiring on xx/xx/2017
If you are planning to stay longer in NZ then you should lodge a new application for a temporary visa without delay.”
Dual Price of a prepaid mobile SIM card
The Vodafone SIM card in Auckland has two types of pricing, one (cheaper) is before you clear the immigration at Auckland Airport, and another after one clears the NZ immigration. Why cheap only before the immigration clearance? Can’t we have a uniform pricing mechanism?
Overcharging by Indian restaurant
I went for a dinner in Wellington, and ordered a Chicken Biryani meal. The advertised price for the meal was $15. However, after I finished dinner, I was asked to pay $25. Can you guess why? I was told that $15 is the lunch time price. The night and day’s pricing are different and they substantially vary. I paid $25 for a meal that was virtually advertised to be $15. Is it logical to keep a price difference of $10 for a same meal in a roadside restaurant? Even so, can we advertise the pricing very clearly?
Bus windows wouldn’t open
I had a day-long Queenstown-Arrowtown trip. The roads along the way were absolutely scenic. Obviously, I wanted to take photos from a moving bus. However, the bus windows were locked. There were buttons and switches to open the windows (unlike in Singapore buses where windows can’t be opened). So I expected the windows would open. I even asked the driver about it, and he was surprised why the windows couldn’t open.
I even changed my seats several times to try opening different windows. But each of them was locked. Why the bus windows can’t open? Thankfully, I was carrying the mega zoom Canon lenses (e.g. 55-250 mm), and still managed to capture beautiful photos. But it’s weird that in a scenic journey, you can’t open the windows to look at the scenery (and click pics). Here is one such photo – taken from a moving bus!
That’s all for this post! Hope you won’t face much of the aforementioned problems in New Zealand.
Got queries? Cool. Feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook!
If you find the write-ups useful, buy me a beer! 🙂
Let me know if you have face issues with New Zealand travel.
Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Happy wandering!
Last updated: Wednesday, September 27, 2017