3 Weeks in NZ in Feb

In February, my girlfriend and I are going to spend three weeks travelling around New Zealand. We are currently staying in Melbourne and plan to head to Sydney after our time in NZ. I’m reaching out for some advice only the following topics:
- What is the cheapest way to get to NZ? I have checked Expedia and various airline websites, but I’m looking to find out if there are any ‘sneaky’ tips on getting to and from NZ.
- Is hitchhiking a safe and reliable way to get around the country? Does anyone have any experience of this?
- We are keen hikers (we have completed the Camino Frances in Spain) and we would like to walk a section of the Te Araroa. I understand that the whole route will be scenically beautiful, but is there any section that is notably more stunning than others? We would look to walk for three or four days in total.

As ever on Thorn Tree, all advice is welcome.

Many thanks.

no other way to get there other than on a plane, so keep searching.

walk information all on doc.govt.nz. You could spend days just reading the site!

no, hitching is neither safe nor reliable. Which doesn't mean you will get stuck somewhere for days or murdered of course. Look for rideshares at hostels, or take buses.

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Theres not a big choice in airlines flying between the 2 countries. Virgin code share with Air New Zealand and can sometimes have sales but I think for Feb you're too late as its still high season. Jetstar in all my trips between NZ and Oz has always been the cheapest.

Your choices are plane or boat. Tragically, people have had great difficulties when trying to kayak across. So your best bet would be a plane.

I'd suggest setting up alerts on skyscanner.com for cheap flights Syd to a few different places in NZ. Might be cheaper to fly into Christchurch than Auckland or Queenstown for example.

Definitely don't recommend hitchhiking...if you are keen adventurers you could consider cycling around parts of NZ which would be cheaper than hiring a car.

Don't discount the big airlines. We travelled there 2 years ago and for the four of us it was only $10 more expensive on emirates than the cheapest Jetstar fare available.