Melbourne to Rio and our stopover in Auckland

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Melbourne to Auckland - Flight 1 
We had a crazy few weeks leading up to packing up yet again for the year. I was exhausted by the time we left for the airport, still mentally noting all the things I hadn´t yet done. However, by the time we reached the beautifully lit tunnel before the "cheese and carrot sticks" on M1, reality sets in that we are indeed on our way.

Australia could not be further from South America. We looked up a few different flight routes and the cheapest (3 stopovers taking 2 days) we found at the time was to fly via Auckland with a stop over in Buenos Aires before arriving in Rio. I was of course secretly hoping this would be the case so I could be back in NZ, if only for a few hours!

Auckland Stopover
We hired a car for the day from Auckland Aiport. We drove into Grafton and caught up with old friends (met their new baby), had the most excellent coffee and brunch near One Tree Hill (Forest Eatery Cafe, YUM!) then drove out to Titirangi/Greenbay, finishing up at Villa Maria Estate before our flight out. 

It was so much fun to be back in NZ for the day!

Auckland to Buenos Aires - Flight 2
Hubby managed to get us a skybed for this leg (well done hubby!) so we were very very comfortable, watched heaps of movies and caught up on some sleep. It is a smooth flight into Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Overnight Stopover
Buenos Aires was amazing! I am looking forward to going back. We took a bus from the airport into the centre of town, checked into a lovely hotel near Plaza de Mayo. We spent the afternoon and evening walking along the water in the Puerto Madero area.

Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro - Flight 3
We had a very early departure the next morning to Rio. We took the local bus outside the airport all the way down to Ipanema which took about 2 hours. After 2 days, we were finally in Rio!

Travel tips: 
  • there are two relatively direct routes we found to get to South America. From Melbourne or Sydney you can fly via Dubai or Auckland to Santiago or Buenos Aires. There may be some reciprocity fees payable if you fly into Santiago so be sure to check up on that before booking your flight!
  • you need to be able to show that you have a return or onward flight/ticket for arrival into South America or the airlines can refuse to carry you! 
  • it is insanely expensive to withdraw cash in Buenos Aires and most places don´t accept credit cards. Luckily we were able to pay for our bus tickets with our card at the time. Make sure you take some USD with you to exchange into pesos. 

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