Backpackers Ultimate Guide - View Single Post - Which is better Kiwi experience versus Magic?

purplehel · 04-24-2006, 05:45 PM

I went intercity in the end but decided when i got to NZ. I made this decision after seeing Magic and Kiwi Ex in north island and everyone seemed to be between the ages of 18-25 so great if you are that age group - go for it (although the lads seemed to like having their shirts off and the girls seemed to be in singlet tops!!).

I am a few years older (note only a few not a lot!!) so decided I would be an old granny if i had done either of those two so I bought an hours pass from Intercity. They were great they dropped me off at most hostels (which I booked at the i centres and were the smaller quieter hostels which was very very nice better standards) and i saw some of the same people on the buses whilst travelling around too so wasnt travelling "alone" as such. Intercity although take locals most travelling are tourists. The drivers do commentary which is great, but not OTT and do stop off at certain points (for example Pancake Rocks and other photo opportunity places). There are also cafe stop offs. Doing the west coast was great - we did it in a day where as Magic do it in 2 days (stop off at Greymouth I believe and there isnt much at Greymouth) there were times of course that i wish we could have stopped off but you cant win them all. Bus drivers were all very friendly and even when one coach broke down the day before they shipped another one in and were highly efficient in getting it all sorted. (Which was a Newmans bus - same thing really) So if you are slightly older and want less of a party type atmosphere then dont be afraid to go intercity. You can top up your hours as I did in order to take in Mount Cook (4 hours diversion but well worth it if you are going Queenstown > Christchurch) you get a good hour at mount cook to wander about. So easy to book either online or at any place where you see the intercity sign and there are loads of places to book it through. I didnt do the Newmans trip to Milford Sound i did another company but saw the Newmans bus and it did the same stop offs as the one I did. Note that you can use the pass for Newmans and for Abel Tasmen Coaches though i was told otherwise. Abel Tasmen coaches were fab as I got stranded via a local company (K Bus DONT go near them) and Abel Tasmen sorted me out and dropped me off at my hostel and were just brilliant. Hurrah to Intercity!!!

04-24-2006, 05:45 PM	#8 (permalink)
purplehel Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 1	Or Intercity I went intercity in the end but decided when i got to NZ. I made this decision after seeing Magic and Kiwi Ex in north island and everyone seemed to be between the ages of 18-25 so great if you are that age group - go for it (although the lads seemed to like having their shirts off and the girls seemed to be in singlet tops!!). I am a few years older (note only a few not a lot!!) so decided I would be an old granny if i had done either of those two so I bought an hours pass from Intercity. They were great they dropped me off at most hostels (which I booked at the i centres and were the smaller quieter hostels which was very very nice better standards) and i saw some of the same people on the buses whilst travelling around too so wasnt travelling "alone" as such. Intercity although take locals most travelling are tourists. The drivers do commentary which is great, but not OTT and do stop off at certain points (for example Pancake Rocks and other photo opportunity places). There are also cafe stop offs. Doing the west coast was great - we did it in a day where as Magic do it in 2 days (stop off at Greymouth I believe and there isnt much at Greymouth) there were times of course that i wish we could have stopped off but you cant win them all. Bus drivers were all very friendly and even when one coach broke down the day before they shipped another one in and were highly efficient in getting it all sorted. (Which was a Newmans bus - same thing really) So if you are slightly older and want less of a party type atmosphere then dont be afraid to go intercity. You can top up your hours as I did in order to take in Mount Cook (4 hours diversion but well worth it if you are going Queenstown > Christchurch) you get a good hour at mount cook to wander about. So easy to book either online or at any place where you see the intercity sign and there are loads of places to book it through. I didnt do the Newmans trip to Milford Sound i did another company but saw the Newmans bus and it did the same stop offs as the one I did. Note that you can use the pass for Newmans and for Abel Tasmen Coaches though i was told otherwise. Abel Tasmen coaches were fab as I got stranded via a local company (K Bus DONT go near them) and Abel Tasmen sorted me out and dropped me off at my hostel and were just brilliant. Hurrah to Intercity!!!