Hostel Open for New Zealand Budget Travelers

A plush new youth hostel, which recently opened in Wellington, New Zealand, the nation’s capital, charges about $9.75 per person, per night.

The new hostel is in a former hotel at the corner of Wakefield and Cambridge Tce, overlooking Port Nicholson harbor (telephone 04-801-7280).

There are four rooms with five beds, and 50 rooms with two beds. The hostel also has a TV room, laundry, lounge, modern kitchen facilities and a comprehensive travel room that contains information on Wellington and other cities and places in New Zealand.

Hostel staff members can answer travel questions, arrange bus and ferry tickets and make reservations for other YHA hostels throughout the country.

Travelers can get to the hostel from the airport by taking a bus, for about $2.25 per person, or the “supershuttle” for $3.50 per person. And from the ferry docks, travelers can reach the hostel by taking a ride for $1.70 on the supershuttle.

The Wellington Youth Hostel is linked to 50 other budget-accommodation facilities that are operated by the Youth Hostels Assn. of New Zealand (YHANZ).

A listing of these 50 hostels is in the “Good Bed Guide,” available free from the New Zealand Tourism Office, 501 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 300, Santa Monica 90401, (800) 388-5494 or (213) 395-7480.

There are also about 80 privately owned “backpacker” hostels that offer accommodations in small dormitory and twin rooms for $5.60 to $8.50 per person per night. No curfews and no memberships required.

A free leaflet listing the hostels is also available from the New Zealand Tourism Office, or by writing to Budget Backpackers Hostels NZ Ltd., Foley Towers, 208 Kilmore St., Christchurch, New Zealand.

New Zealand walks, more than 200 are scattered throughout the country, can be found marked by a W sign. There are also trails that can be walked with a guide (a fee is charged), or you can go free on your own (called freedom walking).

Freedom walkers can use a network of more than 800 back-country huts that offer simple shelters for hikers for $2.25 to $6.80 per night.

The most famous walk in the country, and the most expensive, is the four-day Milford Track, which requires reservations. It’s so popular that the number of people allowed to start each day is limited.

This year, the Department of Conservation has taken over management of independent walking on this trail. Trail fees, including transportation between Te Anau--starting point for all Milford Track walks--and the trail is between $90 and $114 per person.

For more information and reservation requests, contact the Department of Conservation, Te Anau Field Center, P.O. Box 9, Te Anau, New Zealand.

Other popular walks in New Zealand include a four-day guided hike in Abel Tasman National Park through a forest following the coastline, a Hollyford Valley Walk through Fiordland National Park, a three-day Greenstone Valley walk to Lake Wakatipu and a helicopter flight across the lake, and a three-day Routeburn Walk into Mt. Aspiring and Fiordland national parks.

More information on camping, hiking, cycling and other outdoor activities is available in a free 64-page publication, “New Zealand Outdoor Holidays Guide,” which is also available from the New Zealand Tourism Office.