Seriously, is there a Landscape Photographer or Milky Way Photographer in the world who doesn't have New Zealand on their bucket list? Imagine yourself with a group of intrepid friends trekking through the Southern Isle of New Zealand having flown in to Christchurch and we are just starting a 2000KM journey to places you have only heard about? 

Classics like the Wanaka Tree and the Church of the Good Shephard will DEFINITELY be visited. We will be venturing along the Mountains in the first half of the week on our way to Invercargill and then we will travel back to Christchurch along the coast capturing sunsets and Milky Way over the coast line! It is going to be stinking amazing!  

I will be renting a MERCEDES BENZ V-CLASS 8-Passenger Van for all of us to drive in. With SIX of us total we have the space of two missing people plus cargo to hold all of our gear. With the fact that we just came off the plane, we all shouldn't have too much. BRING LUGGAGE THAT CAN FIT UNDER SEATS keep it simple for all of us to be comfortable and have easy access to our gear. The fuel costs will be covered by the tuition as well.

Then I will use several hundred of it to cover a COOLER for the road, Travel Cutlery, Paper Towels, First Aid Supplies, snacks and TRAVEL NECK PILLOWS for anyone who doesn't bring one on the flight. (Snacks will be stuff like Beef Jerky, Veggies, Fruit, Gatorades, Waters, Clif Bars etc. We can buy together anything else you may want after you land!)

AIRBNB will be our plan for the entire workshop where possible. Sharing a home between all six of us will typically come to somewhere around $300 a night like this example at Lake Tekapo! http://bit.ly/2kiXv02 

With space for us to all sleep and split $300 between SIX of us that means we can have nights as cheap as $50 per person per night. And that was just my first find. There are likely even cheaper options if we want them!

Buying from Grocery Stores, eating cheap sandwiches or having sushi every night is up to you! The most LIKELY scenario will be that every night we are near civilization we will pick a restaurant to eat at. Anyone wanting to save money can eat our grocery store snacks, sandwiches, jerky etc and just join the group for a drink at the restaurant. 

I love SkyScanner.com. It has found me great one-way hops that save me lots of money. I haven't gotten my flight yet for next August so I will keep you guys posted when I find deals that you can take advantage of as well! But I am done paying for my trips with comfort, so I am not going to be getting any $200 78-hour flight deals! haha I am done with those. I end up losing money anyway because usually those are overnight stays in places like Copenhagen that charge decently for a hotel. 

Shrug. A hat? You make the call! Spend as much as you can carry back home! :D 

So really once you have your seat reserved in the workshop, you only need to factor in FLIGHT, SHARED COSTS OF AIRBNB lodgings with the group, FOOD and anything you want to buy!

If you have any questions, please get in touch with me by email at aaron@PhotogAdventures.com.