The Kiwi Experience - REVIEW

[@SafeSweetIdeal]

This video has fully calmed my nerves! I booked the kiwi experience (zephyr route) & am off next week, just youtube'd as I didn't know what to expect and this has completely clarified it for me. Thank you!

[@BackpackingBananas]

Cameron Hunter My pleasure :) I'm so jealous, you'll have the best time!!

[@DrWhoLovesPinkLilly]

It's funny, because I'm a kiwi and am currently working 2 jobs saving as hard as possible just to get out of here and over seas! Love your videos, glad you enjoyed NZ!

[@iamthetinkerman]

I could hardly focus on this video, I was getting mesmerized by your eyes!

[@tobycarstensen7473]

the kiwi experience was bloody amazing, I made a film of my trip, but it doesn't even do the trip the slightest justice

[@PinkeZebra]

I'm going to do the Kiwi Experience starting tomorrow and I'm so exited but also a little Bit nervous.. Hope that it will be great!:) I really like your videos! Greetings from a German Girl! :)

[@missyogakris]

I'm traveling to New Zealand with a client so most of our plans are already pre-booked but even so I found your video extremely helpful. You answered some great questions, thanks so much!

[@LawerBarbie]

I got so excited when I saw you uploaded a video!:)I would love to go to New Zealand!It is in my top 10 world destinations.Great video,very informative as always!Btw,I would love to see a video about how did you start travelling,where have you been,how do you manage to make the money etc.Greetings from Greece

[@BackpackingBananas]

Thank you Barbie! Note taken for the video idea :) Ahh I'd love to go to Greece x

[@LawerBarbie]

You should come!It is a very nice country especially because it offers many choices.We are a small country but there is such a variety of scenes.Mountains,lakes,rivers but also sea,islands etc.Also very different architecture between cities of the north and the south,the islands of the Aegean and the islands of the Ionian..Waiting for your next video!BB:)

[@kkamiyasatorukamiya8154]

Kiwi Experience which I joined in March/1992 (about 25 years ago) created wonderful scenes I've ever experienced. Not only did it give me unforgettable memories of New Zealand but I had good chances to meet people from all over the world.Standing in front of all passengers in the bus on the first day, I introduced myself (everyone did this actually) and mentioned that I had just started out my one-and-a-half-year globe trottimg, then some of the nice travellers invited me to their homes afterwards. After Kiwi Experience, I visited them during my round-the-world trip including Canada, UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Australia.They kindly showed me around their town and even provided me with a bed at night.キウイエクスぺリエンスに参加したのは１９９２年３月、もう２５年前になります。本当に素晴らしいバス旅行でした。忘れられないニュージーランドの思い出と共に世界中からやって来た人たちと知り合う良い機会になりました。初日にバスの中、皆の前で自己紹介することになり（全員がします）、これから１年半の世界旅行になることを話すと、旅の途中でうちに来いとよく誘われました。結局その後、世界一周旅行の途中、カナダ、英国、アイルランド、スウェーデン、デンマーク、ドイツ、オーストラリアに行った時に彼らを訪ね、現地の観光に連れて行ってもらったり泊まらせていただいたりしました。Anyway, the good thing of Kiwi Experience is that the bus takes us to a lot of sightseeing spots and activity sites, some of which are located where it is hard for you to have access to unless you have a car and drive freely.The bus also took us to budget hostels at which we all stayed, including the bus driver himself. Since many people sticked to the same bus for finishing the whole trip at that time, many of us were able to get to know well each other, therefore well enjoyed night drinks and talks almost every nights as well as the comfortable bus travel (Note: the bus pass did not include the accommodation costs).Many thanks. This reminded me of the good New Zealand.キウイエクスペイリエンスの良いところは、たくさんの観光地やアクティビティーに連れて行ってもらえるのですが、車でも持ってない限り立ち寄ることが難しい場所にも連れて行ってもらえることです。バスはドライバーも含めて皆が泊まる安宿にも連れて行ってくれます。その当時は全行程をずっと同じバスで旅する人がなぜか多かったため、その多くがお互いにとても仲良くなれましたし、快適なバス旅行のみならずほぼ毎晩のお酒や談笑をとても楽しむこともできました（なお、宿代はバスパスに含まれず別途支払いです）。本当に良いニュージーランドの思い出でした。Message from SANDY, Japan. 03rd/Nov/2016

[@MrLewieF]

Thanks for the review just booked my bus tour.... Can't wait!

[@大東佑輔]

Lewbert it was really nice bro. you can enjoy it. Rotorua Wellington Kaiteri Teri WAnaka and Queenstown is good place to have extra night bro!!

[@acaciamarie1482]

Hi! Did you book all of your buses before you started your tour or did you book your next bus as you went?

[@Torome86]

Went on the Kiwi back in Feb/March and it was the best time of my life(the profile pic is me skydiving at Fox Glacier)! Planning an Australia trip this coming Feb/March and I'm trying to see if there is anything along the lines of the Kiwi Experience there.

[@mariecyrus5321]

Did you plan almost your whole trip from home? Like did you book all your accomendations and all your kiwi bus trips before you started your kiwi experince? Im just confused because kiwi recommends me and my friend to plan as much as possible from home, but it would suck to want to stay somewhere for more than planned when you already started your kiwi experience and that will affect the rest of the planned trip if you have to pay a depositum for the acommendations...

[@yaromir211]

Very helpful video with valuable insights. Thanks so much!

[@BackpackingBananas]

Pleasure :)

[@cosmpirg]

Hey, cool to hear other people's opinion on the kiwi experience. Mine is totally different though. I started my working holiday in new Zealand in November 2013 and bought a ticket with kiwi experience. In the beginning we thought it was great but then we noticed things... The accommodation are always on the pricier side, never under $27 up to $35 even though there are nicer, cleaner hostels with smaller rooms for a cheaper price (bbh)(we got a bed in a dorm room for $19 in central auckland!) So me and a friend booked ahead in that sort of hostels and when we asked the drivers where that hostel is or if he could drop us anywhere near our hostel of choice all of them got rude, where saying things like "if you book your hostel on your own, find it on your own". The discounts you get with kiwi experience is less discount then what your can get with coupons or on the Internet. When we wanted to catch a bus to get down the west coast (we were living in nelson at that point) we called them 2 weeks ahead and we were told that the busses are fully booked for 3 weeks. If an organization can't transport all the people with a valid ticket in at least 10 days that's unprofessional. On their website they also say "you don't have to travel in a bus with the locals, we only transport backpackers" but what is traveling for but meeting locals? And we did experience the "green fuck-bus" once we even had a driver who hooked up with the girls on the bus (!!!)! And most of the time we noticed that the other passengers on the bus where large group of friends on a party vacation... After that we used it as rarely as possible just to get from one point to another or used the buses like intercity or nakedbus. They were a lot cheaper and had nicer drivers and we got to know a few other backpackers and locals X cat

[@lilromance95]

Like i said before, you are very informative and make a very good presenter for new Zealand and Australian tourism and for any other country.Best of luck with your travels ,because you deserve it.regards Louisa Klimentos

[@BackpackingBananas]

Steve Klimentos Thank you so much Louisa :) Being a travel presenter would be the dream!

[@AbigailV]

I'm so tempted to do this! I just don't quite full understand everything. *So separately you'll have to buy your flights? & Choose your own dates? * Is it cheaper to pay for the accommodation and activities on the bus or pre-buy them on the website? And are the Unique stays worth doing? * I assume everyone on the bus will have different passes and want to do different things, will this result into being left alone? Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you :D

[@BackpackingBananas]

Yep you buy flights and choose dates separately - they are in no way linked. I think the organisation may have changed since I was on it as previously there has never been an option to pre-pay. I can't imagine it's cheaper or particularly worth while though.. Again sounds like the unique stays are a new thing as I've never heard of them before. Generally the passes all have the same route, each individual pass will have it's own minor changes but it's very likely you'd be left with no one that you know! :) May be worth giving Kiwi Ex a call about your other questions!

[@AbigailV]

+Backpacking Bananas oh wow thank you so much for replying, I love your videos, always so informative in the right ways! but thankyou that was very helpful! I want to book it but I don't know when I want to go 🙈 it would be my first time travelling so I feel this is the best bet and my parents would be OK with me doing this... I'd personally love to start off in thailand! but they don't see Thailand in a very good light 😔 I think the hardest part is picking a date, (and leaving my doggies 🙈) scared I'm not going to save as much as I want too xx

[@CraigPitts]

Sweet, best mate showed me this, we're thinking of doing it in Jan, glad you enjoyed it!

[@freyamallard7365]

I love your videos so much! You've genuinely inspired me to go travelling :)) Im in year 11 so I'm going to start saving this summer

[@BackpackingBananas]

Aww thank you Freya, that makes me so happy! :) x

[@carlarudgyard8733]

I did the kiwi experience, except they skipped Kiakoura because there was earthquakes there. Ive got vids on my channel if you want to see the stops, but this is definitely a good review, I did the 'funky chicken' route. The activities I will say are expensive, so its not a trip for those who dont like spending money.

[@bradananian920]

Hi! Can you purchase activities individually along the way, or do you have to get them in a bundle deal? And would you recommend ending where you start? I was thinking of starting in Auckland and ending in Christchurch. There's so many options. It's a little overwhelming :/

[@BackpackingBananas]

You can buy the activities along the way and I recommend doing it that way. And your stop and finish points depend on where you're flying in and out of really! But the flight from Christchurch back to Auckland are cheap.

[@bradananian920]

Awesome thanks! Already bought my ticket for March : ) And thanks for the review as well. It's because of your video I became interested in going : )

[@linsdays8026]

Hey! I love your videos! I have a important question that iv been worrying about majorly. did you find a majority of people took suitcases or backpacks? I'm moving to melbourne after and then wanting to go to fiji etc, so what did you take with you? :)

[@BackpackingBananas]

Lynsey Scott Hey! The majority of people had backpacks mostly because of travelling to other countries too, I had a backpack with me! A few people did have suitcases and it worked well but I think if you're only in New Zealand/Australia you could do that :) :)

[@tibeech8145]

im from New Zealand (north island) I've never heard of thus but it sounds preety cool

[@holly-ameliamarshall5752]

Hi, I'm planning to go on the Kiwi experience for 17 days. Sorry, I have a few questions. How much did you spend on food and accommodation roughly? Also, how much did you save for the activities and which bus did you go on? And how much did your entire trip cost inc, flights, accomedation, food and activities? :)

[@taramc9213]

Hi thank you so much this and all your backpacking videos are great! I'm from london and planning to go backpacking in the summer, I was just wondering how you found the long journey on your own? (im a bit scared haha I know it will be worth it though!)

[@BackpackingBananas]

+Tara McElduff It's totally worth it. I actually love flying by myself, I get really excited!

[@NBHfilm]

+Backpacking Bananas just want to ask a question. Did you do this by yourself? *Edit* Sorry I guess you did.

[@outsetpictures527]

When are you coming to Zambia?

[@phoebesmart6337]

I'm currently organising my backpacking trip and have heard so much about this. How much roughly did you end up spending on accomodation and food and activities on top of the bus ticket?

[@bethsumecki2517]

Your videos are so so helpful, and my travel buddy and I are very grateful! Pricing was confusing in this video however... $13 NewZ dollars for accommodation was equivalent to £15, so the UK number was higher. But the bus tour was $1,000 NewZ dollars which you said was about £5/700? so the UK price was lower? How does that work haha. X

[@BackpackingBananas]

£15 is equivalent to about $30 not $13, sorry need to speak clearer next time haha! x

[@bethsumecki2517]

oh haha! thanks again, routing through your videos has eased my stress for now! x

[@kyleparkes6177]

hey so im going to new zealand on the 20th of this month! im also doing the Kiwi experience, and im staying for 26 days. How big of a pack did you bring? Also im flying into Aukland, and im wondering where the pick up for the bus is?

[@BackpackingBananas]

kyle parkes My backpack was 55litres and I got picked up on Queen Street on the corner close to Nomads Backpackers... but it may have changed, you just need to email them where you are staying and they will tell you where the bus will pick up! :)

[@kyleparkes6177]

thanks so much!

[@martingardiner2640]

Your videos are really helpful! Do you have one on fiji?

[@BackpackingBananas]

Coming soon!! :)

[@martingardiner2640]

Wicked 👍

[@adrianoramos4346]

I've read some very bad reviews on TripAdvisor. I'm from Brazil but I live in Australia. I definitely intend to go to NZ but now I don't know if I'd try Kiwi Experience. By the way... your eyes are mesmerizing!!! What about the hair in my face?!

[@BackpackingBananas]

It's not for everyone.. definitely aimed at younger travellers who like to party. I guess it depends on the person and how you like to travel

[@moreseriani3591]

Did you work in NZ? If so how did you fit in travelling? ❤️

[@Clareyquitecontrary]

Hi thanks for this video it's been so helpful :) just wondered if you can help me with a couple of questions. ~ do most of the hostels have lockers? ~ I want to spend a few nights in each place. Does this mean I will have to get on the next bus? And do I have to tell the driver I'm not getting back on? Will he book me on the next bus? Hope that makes sense! Thanks again for your help :) xxx

[@BackpackingBananas]

Clareyquitecontrary Hellooo, most of the hostels do have lockers, and yes you fill out a form as to how many nights you want to spend in each place so they can book you on the correct bus (this can be changed as you go along though!) x

[@emmab8709]

Did a lot of people in the kiwi experience travel by their one like you?

[@middlemaniac]

thank you!

[@MCSBENZ]

what about any experience in Yozgat Türkiye, where the history starts ;)

[@azaz...]

how much money did you spend EXcluding the bus ticket? hostels food extras etc?

[@michaelwinter8923]

I can't wait for this!

[@BackpackingBananas]

+Michael Winter You''ll have the best time ever!

[@jemmas2010]

How much money did you take to New Zealand with you?

[@cherieadam1844]

lol i live in NZ and I didn't even know about this! I just know about Naked bus, i fyou are lucky you can get $1 fares... but i've never been that lucky.

[@stephenprice3357]

I thought this was about flights?

[@kiwikitten4090]

I'm a New Zealander and had no idea this existed

[@BackpackingBananas]

XxflamekittenxX That's crazy! The buses are everywhere!

[@kiwikitten4090]

By everywhere you mean.....? I'm from Christchurch and definitely have not heard of this

[@BackpackingBananas]

Ahh I seee! We did stop by in Christchurch briefly but sadly not for long! (by everywhere I just mean the majority of towns with significant amount of activity to be done :)

[@kiwikitten4090]

Haha :) all of the stuff we had was knocked down by our earthquake :)

[@nuggnuggz7423]

I’m from Auckland, sadly no where more exciting Never heard of the Kiwi experience

[@ladycake1515]

The links dont work. Maybe deleted vids ?

[@isabellamarzolini226]

how old was you when you went?

[@ozlevi4]

The price doesn't include accomidation and food right ?

[@BackpackingBananas]

+oz levi Correct!

[@Respectedprofesiona1]

How do you fund all these trips do you work or is it mum and dad??

[@BackpackingBananas]

I wish it were Mum and Dad! Luckily they did let me stay at home without paying rent but I worked solidly for 6 months saving up, just temp office jobs and bar work etc...

[@dannybazen8523]

i hope these videos are accurate as im pretty much planning my round the world trip by them lol

[@BackpackingBananas]

hahaha oh gosh feeling the pressure!

[@dannybazen8523]

Which part of the trip? Nz? If so I havent been there yet I did 3 months in SE Asia and have been living in melbourne since xmas. Gunna do east coast in sept/oct and nz in oct/nov but have decided against kiwi experience and to get campervan instead as its only slightly more expensive and it gives so much more freedom!

[@LMAO-ef3ip]

if anyone's planning to go in the end of 2018, hit me up!

[@AwesomeAlex24]

I'm planning on going then

[@boston961]

Alex Cunningham same here , from the UK

[@thelotrstuff]

Booked my flight yesterday for november 27th yeeeeeooo

[@LMAO-ef3ip]

was everyone on the kiwi experience white?

[@chrissymiller9683]

the amount it can hold is 55 do you remember me bruce

[@levifox123]

With the kiwi experience, can you just hop on and off the bus for the full 12 months?

[@BackpackingBananas]

+Levi Fox Yes :)

[@levifox123]

+Backpacking Bananas Thank you! :)

[@emilypirie7680]

how much would you say you spent in new Zealand all in all

[@sweetkellymay]

You have the most beautiful eyes...Christianne...Great videos..

[@BackpackingBananas]

+Dave Quick Thanks Dave! :)

[@xXpicaldi]

agreed! AND THE BEST DRIVER IS COWBOY made the trip

[@NBHfilm]

This seems like it would take me out of my comfort zone.

[@moctezumaaleg2008]

Que es Kiwi experience 😂

[@UshaKumari-gs7cn]

kiwi .com don't book they still owe me 650 ponds I cancelled flight they said 30 days I still have not received the money back and they lie when they said your covered under guarantee

[@a.j.a9581]

Kiwi scammer company 😡😡😡