By Land, Air, and Sea

Throughout my travels of the Australia and Oceania region I was presented with extensive choices for transportation. In particular, New Zealand presented numerous transportation choices that allowed me to choose my method of travel specific to my time requirements and budget. For the most part I tried to fully utilize the extensive suburban bus network when travelling in New Zealand. This is the most economical way to get around New Zealand, with bus fares usually NZ $2.00 and a free bus service in the larger cities such as Auckland and Christchurch. Throughout the day this service was extremely beneficial to my travels around Auckland. However, one drawback of this service is that they do not run 24 hours a day to all places. Therefore, after a fun night of experiencing the Auckland nightlife I had to call a taxi which is a more expensive transportation option.

Sky City Metro, Queen Street, Auckland

The image above is a picture I took of a city street in Auckland, New Zealand. In the city, I noticed that a large portion of the cars dotting the city streets are quite compact. These cars appear much more economical than the larger taxi cabs that are generally found in places like New York City. Also, many New Zealanders are both efficient and economical by cycling around the city streets. The streets of New Zealand are very cycle friendly. In fact, in nearly all the larger cities I visited such as Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington, there were special bicycle lanes around the city streets. Unfortunately, this was not an option for my travels, because I never found a bicycle rental shop.
Other options I found for travelling throughout New Zealand were ferries for travelling across the Cook Strait, domestic air travel, and rental of motor vehicles. Despite these affordable options, I decided to mostly utilize New Zealand’s Trans Scenic Railroad network. The railroad provided a more scenic travel and proved to be more economical than other forms of transportation. Also, New Zealand has a basic TravelPass option for travelling on the Trans Scenic Railroad which allowed me to save nearly 40% on the usual fare of the railroad. The following is a short video I took while on the Trans Scenic or Trans Alpine Railway in New Zealand.

Between New Zealand and Australia I travelled via Qantas airport which brings about three million passengers per year to and from Australia. From this point I travelled to Sydney one on the numerous government-owned railways. Despite the government owning most of these railways, the system of railroads in Australia seemed poorly organized compared to New Zealand’s system. Furthermore, I many of the principal cities in Australia do not connect and switching trains is necessary, such as when I travelled from Melbourne to Sydney. In Sydney, I was amazed at number of ships I saw in this natural harbor; however, most of these vessels are used for shipping rather than the transportation of people. The following is an image portraying Sydney’s harbor.



Also in Australia, I noticed that personal automobiles are a very popular method of transportation in this region. Australia has the second highest level of car ownership in the world and three to four times more road per capita than Europe. Furthermore, I noticed that the road system is somewhat complex in that Australia has federal highways, state highways, and local roads.
Although personal automobiles are very popular in Australia, I also saw that most places like Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Darwin have buses and taxicabs for transportation. Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney were the most advanced cities I visited in terms of transportation, exhibiting methods of travel ranging from urban rail to watercraft.

The Indian Pacific railway in Perth

As I travelled to Fiji and other small islands in the Oceania region, my eyes were opened to some of the difficulties in transportation in the region. In general, these areas were much less advanced, compared to New Zealand and Australia. In these smaller islands air travel is extremely important. For example, when I visited Papua New Guinea I became aware of the multitude of airports. Also in New Guinea, the dependence on air and sea travel is an issue, because these forms of transport are usually expensive. Although some road construction has begun more recently, the difficult terrain of this area presents problems. In Papua New Guinea I did not see any railroads. The difficult terrain of this area makes construction of railways very difficult. Overall, Papua New Guinea presented a somewhat accurate view of the remaining areas of Oceania. I did see railroads, public transportation like buses, some car and bike rentals, and ferry services, but overall, the islands of Oceania had much less developed forms of transportation than New Zealand and Australia, and largely relied on air and sea transport.

Fiji, a popular destination for honeymooners and vacationers

Vacationers in Papua New Guinea

Works Cited:
New Zealand Transportation. New Zealand's Information Network, 10 May 2009. Web. 11 Apr. 2010 .
Papua New Guinea - Transportation. Encyclopedia of Nations, 3 Nov. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2010 .
Transportation - Australia. Encyclopedia of Nations, 2 Oct. 2007. Web. 11 Apr. 2010 .
Transportation in Fiji - Jason's Fiji. Jasons Travel Media, 2 Mar. 2010. Web. 10 Apr. 2010 .

Media:
http://www.totaltravel.co.nz/guide/photos/auckland/aucklandcity-1.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkfkZeCSJc8&feature=related
http://en.structurae.de/photos/index.cfm?JS=113959
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_Pacific_Perth,_Western_Australia.jpg
http://www.caradonna.com/Assets/Shared/Photos/Destinations/PapuaNewGuinea/LiveAboards/Febrina/1.jpg
http://www.cashandtravelclub.com/wp-content/uploads/image/Club%20Freedom/Fiji_TN.jpg