12 replies to this topic

[DavidGraves]

Trying to update an inquiry here...anyone been to New Zeeland in the last few years ?

 

Trying to consider a WTW sort of trip .

 

Most of the Web info I can find is obvious advertising hyperbole,,,had to really learn anything.

 

All insights appreciated.

 

David Graves

 

PS N Z is west of here.

 

[Taku]

One fellow I work with goes fishing for a month in the winter there. He rents a camper van and I believe it costs about US $1200/month.

[Ronin]

I was there 2 years ago. Flew to Auckland and immediately on to Nelson ( South Island). I couldn't get a handle on how to rent/cost of a small camper so ended up renting a small all-wheel drive suv. The whole trip was devoted to the South Island. Highlights:  spent a few days hiking and kayaking Abel Tasman, then drove down the west coast tramping up to various glaciers. Did the 4 day tramp of the Kepler Track out of Te Anau- make reservations 6 months in advance. The more popular (and crowded)  Milford Track requires reservations a year in advance. We made our way south from Te Anau to Envercargill where we hopped on a puddle jumper to Stewart Island for the relaxing part of our trip. Spent 4 days there birding ,hiking, sightseeing and lots of good eating.There are several traditional backpacking trips that we decided not to do since we always pack everything we need in a 50L backpack. The main treks are hut to hut so you won't have to pack a tent, kitchen, sleeping pad, etc. There is so much to see and do on just the South Island so we decided to hit the North Island on another trip. One other thing, accommodations are very limited outside of the larger cities so it's essential to book your vrbo or hotel rooms well in advance unless you have a camper. If you'd like more details send me a PM.

 

My favorite place we stayed was on a private beach near Punakaiki: 

 

Edited by Ronin, 02 July 2019 - 04:10 PM.

[nevaska]

I was there for a month around December of last year, Ronin has good advice. We tried to stay off the Great Walks due to cost, availability, and crowds. Spent most of the time on the S. Island, could have spent a year exploring just that island. In light of that, I would highly advise not trying to see all the things, and go slow exploring areas at a time. It was really enjoyable to slow down and stay for a few days to a week in one area (Murchison, Hokitika). Had planned on renting a camper van (thats what most do) but decided on hiking and camping enough off the highway that we rented a AWD car (AWD not necessary) at around $50NZD / day. I enjoyed the country and its people so much I would move there permanently if that was option for an american, might have to go back to grad school just to get back there.

[Durango1]

Really great advice from everyone. Has anyone actually done the camper van rental and have any advice for New Zealand? It isn't that we can't afford to stay in hotels. We can. BUT we love that serendipity and being close to nature that the camper van route gives us.

[DavidGraves]

We are coming to the impression that travel is so very commercialized that there may be no where we want to visit.

 

OZ seems to have become one giant US National Park.

Edited by DavidGraves, 07 July 2019 - 05:58 PM.

[klahanie]

Hey David. You know, I had an Uncle who was a great traveller but when he got older used to say, he'd rather "watch it on the box". Made me laugh and wonder if and when I'd reach the same conclusion. Of course virtual reality has arrived for our mass entertainment before I got to that same point.

 

Anyhoo, DW is now looking at camper van rentals in NZ. Seem available, easy enough, place is gorgeous, etc. Likewise, I figure for OZ (drier but also on bucket list). So, would you expand on the turn off ? Is it the too many people thing - I hate that. Too structured ? Pay every turn ? Or... ?

[rando]

I just got back from NZ yesterday (unfortunately a work trip, not a pleasure trip), but have done the camper van thing there as well as hotels and backpackers many, many times.    Yes, NZ has become quite the tourist attraction in the past 10-15 years but it is still a great place to tour by camper van.   It is quite possibly the most beautiful country in the world, and Kiwis are incredibly friendly people.

 

Don't expect  as much dispersed camping such as on BLM lands out west in the US, but there are tones of great DOC campgrounds (equivalent to NPS or USFS campgrounds) and some dispersed options, as long as your camper is self contained.   The commercial campgrounds are also far more appealing than RV parks in the US, they tend to be full of van campers and tentists as opposed to giant RVs and 5th wheels and have nice communal cooking areas, laundries etc, and are a great place to meet fellow adventurous travelers.  Distances aren't so far, particularly if you stick to the south island, but the roads aren't all that fast and there is a lot to do, so plan on at least 2 weeks to get a taste and 6 weeks would be entirely reasonable. 

 

I have also circumnavigated Australia (6 months), and it too is a beautiful country. Unlike NZ the distances are vast and it is further between attractions so unless you have months to spend and would consider buying then selling a rugged camper, it may be better to see by plane, hire car and hotel. 

[Ronin]

I was wrong about being in NZ 2 years ago - it was March of 2018. Spent virtually everyday tramping around. Pics from the Kepler Track - one of NZ's great walks. I'm inclined to say the Kepler is equal to the JMT with nowhere near the crowds.

 

We used this guidebook for many of our hiking adventures:

 

https://www.amazon.c...P8TDTVFQYWTRJ4R

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Edited by Ronin, 09 July 2019 - 12:30 AM.

[Old Crow]

     We rented a camper van in New Zealand for 55 days in 2013.... one of the Toyota HiAce petrol vans from Cruzy Campers.  We flew in to Christchurch on the South Island to pick up the camper and dropped it off at the Auckland airport on the North Island.   Cruzy Campers has changed owners since we were there but we felt we were treated very fairly and the owner was very competent and ready to respond to any problem or issue we called about. I see they make this list of The Best Campervan Rental Companies in New Zealand (but it's a big list!)

 

     I remember seeing some criticism of Cruzy's campers as being older and having higher miles than vans from the large rental places.  I believe ours was a 2004 (this was in 2013) and had 300,000 kilometers on the odometer.  But it was very clean and well-cared-for. And I did prefer dealing with a family-owned business.  I see it's now run by "Mum, Dad, and four growing teenagers". 

 

Some things that come to mind about our trip...

 

- Look into diesel and gas prices.  I see gas is currently about $6 US a gallon and diesel is significantly cheaper at about $4 US per gallon. We went with the petrol-powered camper because we preferred its (living area) layout to the diesel one.  

 

- Camping in campgrounds seemed expensive and I had to be careful when reading anything showing rates.  A rate would look good but turn out to be a per-person rate... so it was double that for us.  But sometimes it's a per-site rate. 

 

- Read up on 'freedom camping'.   It's kind of like dispersed camping in that there are no or very limited facilities.  But freedom camping is regulated by local councils and the term can mean slightly different things in different places.  In some places, we had to buy a permit to freedom camp and that meant figuring out where to get it, being there at the right time, etc.  Still, we freedom-camped almost the whole time we were in NZ so even on the few occasions we had to take a relatively expensive commercial campground site, we knew our average was still very good.

 

- We used an app to find freedom-camping spots and it worked out well.  We used the Camping NZ one but this article also mentions others. Note that cell service can be spotty, particularly on the South Island.  We liked the fact that Camping NZ showed a GPS position of the site so we could use our GPS to get there without cell service.

 

- Not all camper vans are the same when it comes to freedom camping.  Generally, you must have a self-contained certification sticker which shows the van has been inspected for its suitability for freedom camping in order to camp in a freedom-camping area.  There's more info on the subject in this How to Get Your Campervan Certified Self-Contained article (for the info on what's required for the certification). 

 

- Think about what you're going to do for a phone (if anything).  A pre-paid burner-style phone was included in our rental but we also took along a simple GSM world phone and bought a SIM card at a Vodaphone store in the airport in Christchurch.  Note: my use was simply to be able to make a short call or text. Smartphone users may want to read up on international use in this recent article on tom's guide.

 

- Credit cards.  Thinking of the SIM card reminds me... my credit card was rejected when I tried to pay for that SIM card.  I had called the credit card provider multiple times about our upcoming trip but still was rejected.  But my ATM card did work and of course that provided cash in NZ dollars so I just paid cash for the SIM card.  When I checked the next day, the credit-card problem had cleared and I was able to use it from then on.

 

- GPS- I rented the optional GPS from Cruzy but didn't like it--mostly because it wasn't a Garmin so it operated differently than mine. I had also taken mine along but of course it didn't have NZ maps.  I ended up buying Garmin's micro-SD card for Australia/NZ maps in a map store in Christchurch.  Unfortunately, the price was much higher than I would have paid in the US. 

 

- Drunk driving is taken seriously.  While driving in Invercargill we made a turn that put us into a queue for a drunk-driving check station in a suburban neighborhood.  We saw two interesting things while waiting our turn.  First, somebody behind us made a U-turn to avoid the line. Police were watching and chased him/her down. Second, I saw police removing the license plate from the car of someone who flunked the mandatory test.  When I pulled up to the stop sign, officers approached both sides of the van and the one at my window briefly told me I'd be speaking into a cell-phone size tester (as he wiped it down with an alcohol swab).  He placed it in front of my mouth and had me start counting forcefully to ten.  At about six he pulled it and said I could go (and told me to enjoy my vacation!).  If I had failed that screening test, it would have been time to blow into a breathalyzer.  There's a fine and loss of driving privileges for as low as .05% breath-alcohol content. And hefty fines for refusing the test or to turn over keys to the officer when requested.  More explanation here.

 

- Tips. Tipping practices aren't the same in NZ.  This article explains.  Restaurant and cafe prices seemed awfully high to me until I realized I was used to looking at prices before tipping so ours appeared to be 15 to 20 per cent less.  Take that off the price you see and the price will still seem high but not so outrageous.

 

- Museums-   We went to many museums and particularly loved the national museum of New Zealand-- the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington.  And it's one of the nine places in New Zealand that make Lonely Planet's list of Top 500 Places on the Planet (and check out the other 8!)

 

- Driving (and walking).  One of my favorite new-to-us driving signs we encountered is the "MERGE LIKE A ZIP" sign we saw near Taupo.  Oh, yeah, these folks call a clothing zipper a 'zip'; we're supposed to merge like the teeth of a zipper as it closes, i.e., every other car.  And you go around traffic circles the 'wrong' way.  And the size and color of arrows indicate who has right of way at a one-way bridge.  In other words, lots to think about.  A place to start is this NZ Transport Driving in New Zealand pdf.  Also-- Like many, I wondered how I'd adapt to driving on the wrong side of the road and shifting the van's manual transmission left-handed.  It wasn't a problem, just a bit odd at first, then within weeks it seemed natural. (Thank god the clutch, brake and gas pedal are the same as here).  And by the way, to my mind the biggest danger one faces in a drive-on-the-left country happens while walking.  You look the wrong way as you're about to step off the curb into the traffic lane. I came very close to getting nailed doing that.  And speaking of walking--- walk on the left.

 

- Maori culture.  It's helpful to have some historical background on the Maori as you'll see many references to the culture and meet Maori people.  Also, it's helpful to understand what a marae complex is and understand it's importance to the culture.  That helps us understand that invited guests are welcome but you don't just wander around a marae complex you come upon while driving around.

 

Finally-- quick story.  We were very happy to find a small country-style bar way, way out in the boonies of the North Island's East Cape. We struck up a conversation with some local younger guys as they shot pool.  When they asked where we were from and I said Pennsylvania, one guy had a question that had been bothering him for some time --- "Are the Amish Mafia real?"

 

PS-  From the Cruzy Campers About Us page....this customer video of drone shots of various spots on the North and South Islands from their trip in one of Cruzy Campers HiAce vans...

 

 

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Edited by Old Crow, 08 July 2019 - 07:43 PM.