in New Zealand and felt we got a good taste of what the country is all about. It really is a beautiful place with much to offer, particularly for nature and sports lovers. Despite the amount of rain we experienced and the temperature of the ocean waters (brrr!), we loved this far off land immensely. New Zealand Family travel Tips Food and accommodation Eating out is expensive in New Zealand. We regularly bought food at the supermarket and cooked ourselves. Hotels were rather pricey, so we opted for hostels that provided good value for money. http://www.bbh.co.nz/ and www.yha.co.nz were good resources. Try to book ahead of time whenever possible. Getting around Cars are least expensive during the low season but don't trust the promotional brochures. The car rental will cost you around $70 NZD per day during high season if you are lucky. Buses, especially http://nakedbus.com/ , are popular with backpackers as they can cost as little as $9pp to as much as $500pp for 30 trips. Budget extra for activities Many activities will cost $100-500 NZD. For the adventurer family bring an extra money bag. If you're an outdoorsy lover, camping maybe a good option and NZ isn't short of amazing and affordable sites. Bring good outdoors clothing The weather can be fickle, especially in mountainous regions. We had days when the temperature dropped from 21 degrees Celsius to under 10 in just a few hours. Bring good and durable hiking boots too. Expensive and choppy Internet Most hostels