There was a discussion a while ago about us 'older' but not so wealthy travellers using hostels - us in NZ this (northern) winter. I think Fuzzy and Neil may have been going to give it a try - wonder if you have any feedback? We are considering a few hostel nights in NZ during our stay.

We were able to extend our NZ trip by staying in hostels. www.backpack.co.nz is a great site with links to hundreds of independently owned hostels all over the country. BBH hostels are usually smaller than the YHA hostels, and it was easy to meet people. We stayed at Lloyd's Lodge in Whakatane and The Missing Leg in Egmont Village.

Pam and Hare of Lloyd's Lodge were very welcoming and helpful. Hare is Maori, and gave us a traditional Maori welcoming ceremony, sang songs, and helped us learn to pronounce Maori words the night we were there.

The Missing Leg is a little funkier in atmosphere, but Brian and Jo, the owners, are great people. You can pick herbs from their garden to use in your meal prep, and the honey from their bees is delicious.

We also stayed at the YHA in Waitomo, which was new and very comfortable. As a large facility, though, it wasn't as easy to meet other travelers. We stayed in one of their chalets, which was quite nice.

Lee Ann

Our hostel experience was in Portland, Oregon, so not directly relevant, but it turned out to be a great idea. For the price of a budget motel (which would have been miles out of town) we stayed in a trendy inner-city area a 5-10 minute walk from a light rail stop (free in the downtown area), with free parkin and a few blocks from the lively Nob Hill pub/restaurant area. The hostel was a big old timber Victorian, and our upstairs room was nicely furnished and capacious, with 2-1/2 shared bathrooms for 7 rooms - never a problem. The guests were a mix of older (mainly American) and younger (mainly foreign) travellers.

I should have added that the staff were cheerful and efficient too, and we had the use of a common kitchen and dining area. The only (minor) problems were competition for the sole internet PC and fridge space.

As we had wheels, and few of the places we visited were large, motels mostly suited us well. In big cities, though, a central location is important. At under US$70 a night our hostel was excellent value, with the added bonus of more interaction with other guests than a typical hotel or motel permits.

Travellin

I'm also looking for good hostel recommendations for the South Island, preferably ones with twin rooms with a private bathroom. I found this website on LP's thorntree. www.hostelz.com. Good luck, let us know if you find something!

I'm going to NZ for 2 1/2 months, December through mid-February, and I'm hoping to do the entire trip by staying in hostels. In Auckland, I have a reservation at a hostel/B&B called Verandahs, which seems very nice and has had good reviews. It's part of the BBH network. I'm paying NZ$45 a night for a single room with a bathroom down the hall.

In Wellington, I've got a reservation at the Wellington City YHA which allegedly is very good. The rest I'll just make up as I go along.

As a 41-year-old, I was a bit hesitant, too; I mean, I don't want to be with a bunch of drunk 20-year-olds. But if you read descriptions carefully, you can make good decisions.

I'm using my Lonely Planet, the BBH Web site, and the Thorn Tree as guides.

Hope this is helpful.

--merry

Merry, the Wellington YHA is in a great downtown location, a couple of blocks from Te Papa and Courtenay Place. There's a New World supermarket right across the street.

Lee Ann

Thanks for the input.

Neil - I remember now you were going to try staying in hostels on your trip to the Pacific NW. Glad it worked out well. Hope you enjoyed BC - DH's sis lives on Vancouver Island and we love it out there.

We are going to try the YHA hostel in Wellington, probably one in Paihia and have booked into the 'y' in Christchurch. The 'y' in Hong Kong is great so thought we'd check out the one in CCH to see how it compares.

One of the problems with city hostels seems to be the lack of parking - which makes sense as I guess a lot of the backpacker crowd are using transit.