Weekend Travel While Abroad - Australia / NZ Field Study Program

Weekend Travel While Abroad: To the Land of Hobbits and Kangaroos 

  Ideal options for accommodation:

-- On the weekends we have one free day! The schedule says sometimes it will be Saturday and sometimes it is Saturday. But we have that time to stay in our rooms, relax in the rec rooms, or work on homework in the classrooms. Our location is a huge campsite in the rain forest. So whatever we end up doing, we are staying the night there. 

-Transportation (getting there and getting around):

-If we want to go out to the local town on our free day, we can take a cab. The price will not be too bad, unless we want to travel out of the little town. If we want to travel to the Barrier Reef it is an hour away, and another city is about forty five. So it will just depend on the location. If you do leave, you must be in a group. So there is a possibility we could even split the costs of the cab rides.
 Priorities (places to visit, activities to do):
-Shopping of course. I want to find a group of girls that can have a whole day dedicated to shopping either in the local town, or that want to go to another one. Shop, play with locals, and just find something fun to do while we are not studying. I want to sight see, hike some, and experience as much as I possibly can while I am there. When I get there they are planning to give us booklets of things we can do in the area and outside the area (which might cost a little more).
Food:
-This will be my favorite part about the weekend. Looking up different dishes online made me so excited to get to Australia and New Zealand. I want to try famous dishes the nation is known for, and local food that seems and sounds different. They are into fresh, dishes with a citrus tang (yum) so I will not be picky. I think food is one of the greatest ways of getting into a culture. 
Tentative itinerary:
-I have to be in Auckland, Australia June 2 at 2:40. That is where the group is meeting to take off to the first stop in Queensland. After completing half the program there, the group will travel to New Zealand. We are going to be in the Northern region. But we are going to be moving the whole time, and sleeping at different locations and traveling every other day. We will be backpacking and in the field. After the last day that is when the group will fly back together home. The program goes to June 2nd to July 2nd.

Since this program is only one month, I will be working in the field and with locals on research. So I do not have to plan too much with traveling around locally or find a place. My budget is $600 or both New Zealand and Australia for emergency money when I get there, and when I have to travel back. I need to make sure I always have money just in case I have to make a plan B. The second flight from Australia to New Zealand is already planned for the whole group, so there will be no confusion with traveling. There is only travel on foot or cab from the location of study to any local towns. 

I honestly cannot wait to get there. The excitement keeps building the closer summer gets!!