Motorhome Diaries Practical Guide to Motorhoming in NZ
Introduction
We spent about six weeks March to April 2012 touring New Zealand in a rented van conversion.
You will know from this website that we are experienced motorhomers and have our own vehicle at home, so there was no particular novelty about going away in a camper. The aim here is to offer a bit of guidance based on our recent trip. It is not a tour guide, it is not telling you what to do or who to go with, you can decide that for yourself . What we are trying to do is give some practical tips to you if you are thinking of doing something similar. If there is anything else you think we can help you with then get in touch.
You will know from this website that we are experienced motorhomers and have our own vehicle at home, so there was no particular novelty about going away in a camper. The aim here is to offer a bit of guidance based on our recent trip. It is not a tour guide, it is not telling you what to do or who to go with, you can decide that for yourself . What we are trying to do is give some practical tips to you if you are thinking of doing something similar. If there is anything else you think we can help you with then get in touch.
Where to go
This depends on how long you have got (or can afford) and what your interests are.If you are time or money limited you may want to consider doing one island only. More on what the islands have to offer later but remember that there are international airports north and south and you can hire a motorhome everywhere, remember too that you have the option to fly into one airport and out of another and you can rent from one of the larger motorhome rental company branches and return to another branch of the same company.
You have to do your research and decide what is best for you and prioritise according to time available and budget. We like New Zealand wines, bird watching and a bit of walking as well as seeing natural beauty so
for us spending most of our time on South Island suited us. If we had been
coming for a shorter period we would have come straight to South Island. We
spent a little over six weeks in New Zealand four on South Island and two in the North which suited us well.
You have to do your research and decide what is best for you and prioritise according to time available and budget. We like New Zealand wines, bird watching and a bit of walking as well as seeing natural beauty so
for us spending most of our time on South Island suited us. If we had been
coming for a shorter period we would have come straight to South Island. We
spent a little over six weeks in New Zealand four on South Island and two in the North which suited us well.
What to take
As with any self catering accommodation, there is always something that you wish you had brought from home, the same applies to a hired motorhome.Our must haves were:
*Favourite sharp knife
*Stainless steel cafetiere
*Thin flexible chopping board, our van did not come with one
*Electricity plug adaptors - available easily on eBay
*S hooks - invaluable for creating additional places to hang things up
*Suction cup hooks for the same purpose
*Bag clips for packets of crisps breakfast cereal etc, although our modest supply of larger paper clips did the trick
*Small resealable plastic bags to keep things in your tiny fridge or freezer
*A small torch, we needed ours to see into our cupboards
*Egg cups - none in our van and our first boiled eggs were eaten using the cardboard egg box.
Obviously New Zealand comes with it's own shops but some of the above will be relatively expensive and others may be more difficult to track down.
As for clothes, you will decide according to the season you travel but note that if you are planning to stay on campsites in NZ they all have washing machines and dryers so you could afford to take fewer clothes and wash them more often. In March 2012 the maximum cost for a washing machine was $4 (often only $2) and the drier about the same. If we had known this we probably would have left extra T shirts and undies behind.
These motorhomes don't come with carpets and in most cases they don't appear to be double glazed and our last minute decision to pack some thick socks to wear as slippers in the van was a wise decision one.
Your motorhome will come with bedding and towels but you may want to bring one extra towel each for use,on the beach or visiting the many thermal pools. Note that some campsites have spa pools too so that extra towel will come in handy
.
*Favourite sharp knife
*Stainless steel cafetiere
*Thin flexible chopping board, our van did not come with one
*Electricity plug adaptors - available easily on eBay
*S hooks - invaluable for creating additional places to hang things up
*Suction cup hooks for the same purpose
*Bag clips for packets of crisps breakfast cereal etc, although our modest supply of larger paper clips did the trick
*Small resealable plastic bags to keep things in your tiny fridge or freezer
*A small torch, we needed ours to see into our cupboards
*Egg cups - none in our van and our first boiled eggs were eaten using the cardboard egg box.
Obviously New Zealand comes with it's own shops but some of the above will be relatively expensive and others may be more difficult to track down.
As for clothes, you will decide according to the season you travel but note that if you are planning to stay on campsites in NZ they all have washing machines and dryers so you could afford to take fewer clothes and wash them more often. In March 2012 the maximum cost for a washing machine was $4 (often only $2) and the drier about the same. If we had known this we probably would have left extra T shirts and undies behind.
These motorhomes don't come with carpets and in most cases they don't appear to be double glazed and our last minute decision to pack some thick socks to wear as slippers in the van was a wise decision one.
Your motorhome will come with bedding and towels but you may want to bring one extra towel each for use,on the beach or visiting the many thermal pools. Note that some campsites have spa pools too so that extra towel will come in handy
.
Campsites
Top 10 kitchen at Te Anau
The standard of campsites is excellent
and have facilities which are way beyond what you could expect at a campsite in UK. All the toilets and showers are clean warm, equipped with loo paper and soap and occasionally piped radio.
I have mentioned the laundry facilities,big modern machines available at reasonable prices. Often the wash is a cold wash cycle and will only take 35 minutes or so but we had no complaints as to the cleanliness produced although we never got really filthy.
The kitchens varied from very good to excellent,there are always plenty of electric hobs, microwaves, and ovens. There is usually a hot water boiler, if not there will be an electric kettle. In some cases there will be some pots and pans and some stray crockery and cutlery, quite possibly left over from previous campers. The Top 10 site at Te Anau in addition to the
usual equipment has a rice cooker, panini/toasted sandwich maker,
electric fryIng pan and an ice maker, they all have large fridges to keep stuff in too. We found that these facilities were so good and as our own van was a bit cramped that we used the campsite kitchens most of the time.
The pitches themselves are often quite small but there is always electricity and often water at each pitch. The one weakness of many of the campsites is that the toilet cassette emptying facility and grey water disposal points are not always well signposted.
Sites averaged about $40 a night for two people on a powered site,that is over £20 which is not expensive by UK standards and no more than you
might pay on a Caravan Club or Caravan and Camping Club site and you do get a lot more for your money.
As well as the commercial sites there are Department of Conservation sites
(commonly referred to as DOC sites). There may be toilets and water on
site but nothing else and you can stay for a few dollars a night. There is also
free camping although sometimes you see signs near major tourist attractions that show that the area is not a free camping zone. For more info go to www.camping.org.nz
We signed up to the Top 10 club which gives you 10% discount on site fees which in practice brought the site fees on Top 10 sites down to the same price as their competitors but it paid for itself on discounts on attractions and also on the ferry between the North and South Island so it was worth the $40 it cost.
Most campsites have Internet facilities and most offer wireless Internet available for a small charge, we found one campsite with free wifi
during your stay,that was Mount Aspiring Motorcamp at Wanaka. The Richmond Top 10 near Nelson gave you a free hour. In many cases you can sign up for an IAC account, either pay for a day or an hour or a longer period where you can log in and log out rather than consume what you have bought in one sitting. If we had realised that this was a countrywide scheme we may have signed up sooner as we have iPads and a desire to
keep in touch.
and have facilities which are way beyond what you could expect at a campsite in UK. All the toilets and showers are clean warm, equipped with loo paper and soap and occasionally piped radio.
I have mentioned the laundry facilities,big modern machines available at reasonable prices. Often the wash is a cold wash cycle and will only take 35 minutes or so but we had no complaints as to the cleanliness produced although we never got really filthy.
The kitchens varied from very good to excellent,there are always plenty of electric hobs, microwaves, and ovens. There is usually a hot water boiler, if not there will be an electric kettle. In some cases there will be some pots and pans and some stray crockery and cutlery, quite possibly left over from previous campers. The Top 10 site at Te Anau in addition to the
usual equipment has a rice cooker, panini/toasted sandwich maker,
electric fryIng pan and an ice maker, they all have large fridges to keep stuff in too. We found that these facilities were so good and as our own van was a bit cramped that we used the campsite kitchens most of the time.
The pitches themselves are often quite small but there is always electricity and often water at each pitch. The one weakness of many of the campsites is that the toilet cassette emptying facility and grey water disposal points are not always well signposted.
Sites averaged about $40 a night for two people on a powered site,that is over £20 which is not expensive by UK standards and no more than you
might pay on a Caravan Club or Caravan and Camping Club site and you do get a lot more for your money.
As well as the commercial sites there are Department of Conservation sites
(commonly referred to as DOC sites). There may be toilets and water on
site but nothing else and you can stay for a few dollars a night. There is also
free camping although sometimes you see signs near major tourist attractions that show that the area is not a free camping zone. For more info go to www.camping.org.nz
We signed up to the Top 10 club which gives you 10% discount on site fees which in practice brought the site fees on Top 10 sites down to the same price as their competitors but it paid for itself on discounts on attractions and also on the ferry between the North and South Island so it was worth the $40 it cost.
Most campsites have Internet facilities and most offer wireless Internet available for a small charge, we found one campsite with free wifi
during your stay,that was Mount Aspiring Motorcamp at Wanaka. The Richmond Top 10 near Nelson gave you a free hour. In many cases you can sign up for an IAC account, either pay for a day or an hour or a longer period where you can log in and log out rather than consume what you have bought in one sitting. If we had realised that this was a countrywide scheme we may have signed up sooner as we have iPads and a desire to
keep in touch.
Motorhomes
These come in all shapes and sizes. The smallest are called Spaceships which are longish saloons which have been adapted to contain a bed and somewhere to keep your kitchen stuff. There is also a company called Jucy that has imaginatively converted small vans, neither of these have toilets. Go on the Internet and check out the many many companies offering motorhomes, campervans and these converted cars to rent.
We hired from Backpackers which is owned by Maui but there is Kea, Kiwi, Apollo and United to name but a few. Many vans are simple van conversions but the bigger vehicles are in the local style, which we likened to small horse boxes. We did see some Swift motorhomes that were hire vehicles and if you want something more European in style like this then try a company called Iconic. Ours was an oldish van conversion that did all that was necessary for our holiday but pretty basic. I have mentioned that bedding was provided - two sheets, two pillows and a duvet. Our bed needed to be made up each night from two sofas and the table, if you opt to use the sofas as two beds you need to consider whether to hire additional bedding. Eventually we got table and sofa dismantling, bed constructing and bed making down to 10 minutes which is no great hardship.The bigger 4 berth vans all seemed to have the end lounge option so the point about bedding relevant here too.
We were impressed by the handover of the vehicle as on our arrival we were given a DVD player which showed us what was were on the van and how things worked. We were also given two brochures - together these were the size of a mail order catalogue and there was one for each island. They contained lots of ads forcampsites and attractions as well as describing the highlights of each area. We found them very useful during our trip, probably more useful than the New Zealand guide book we had brought.
The equipment supplied is modest, two spoons, forks, bowls plates, cups etc. In light of this rather frugal supply it was strange that there were three
saucepans with lids as well as a frying pan and a full set of utensils such as
a ladle slotted spoon,fish slice etc. We bought a non stick frying pan on our
arrival which was well worth it. We also bought a few cheap plastic beakers to supplement our limited supply of drinking utensils and a couple of extra
pillows Each to their own of course,but I suggest that you plan to part with a
20 or 30 dollars to buy some cheap extras that you will probably leave
behind.
One thing to remember is that unless you have ordered a large motorhome then storage is going to be limited and there will be nowhere to store a suitcase,not even awheelie cabin bag. On the storage front, we found we made better use of our cupboards by using cardboard boxes of various sizes
retrieved from outside shops to create mini storage spaces. We also
used old plastic bottles to store things like cereals and pasta as items such as this tend to be stored in those brittle plastic bags that have a tendency to
rip.
We hired from Backpackers which is owned by Maui but there is Kea, Kiwi, Apollo and United to name but a few. Many vans are simple van conversions but the bigger vehicles are in the local style, which we likened to small horse boxes. We did see some Swift motorhomes that were hire vehicles and if you want something more European in style like this then try a company called Iconic. Ours was an oldish van conversion that did all that was necessary for our holiday but pretty basic. I have mentioned that bedding was provided - two sheets, two pillows and a duvet. Our bed needed to be made up each night from two sofas and the table, if you opt to use the sofas as two beds you need to consider whether to hire additional bedding. Eventually we got table and sofa dismantling, bed constructing and bed making down to 10 minutes which is no great hardship.The bigger 4 berth vans all seemed to have the end lounge option so the point about bedding relevant here too.
We were impressed by the handover of the vehicle as on our arrival we were given a DVD player which showed us what was were on the van and how things worked. We were also given two brochures - together these were the size of a mail order catalogue and there was one for each island. They contained lots of ads forcampsites and attractions as well as describing the highlights of each area. We found them very useful during our trip, probably more useful than the New Zealand guide book we had brought.
The equipment supplied is modest, two spoons, forks, bowls plates, cups etc. In light of this rather frugal supply it was strange that there were three
saucepans with lids as well as a frying pan and a full set of utensils such as
a ladle slotted spoon,fish slice etc. We bought a non stick frying pan on our
arrival which was well worth it. We also bought a few cheap plastic beakers to supplement our limited supply of drinking utensils and a couple of extra
pillows Each to their own of course,but I suggest that you plan to part with a
20 or 30 dollars to buy some cheap extras that you will probably leave
behind.
One thing to remember is that unless you have ordered a large motorhome then storage is going to be limited and there will be nowhere to store a suitcase,not even awheelie cabin bag. On the storage front, we found we made better use of our cupboards by using cardboard boxes of various sizes
retrieved from outside shops to create mini storage spaces. We also
used old plastic bottles to store things like cereals and pasta as items such as this tend to be stored in those brittle plastic bags that have a tendency to
rip.
Roads & Ferries
One Lane Bridge
Motorways and toll roads are rare, and out of the larger towns there is not much in the way of dual carriageways either, although there are regular passing lanes for the huge logging lorries to pass you. Having said that there are only 4 million kiwis so the roads are never really busy. The roads are well maintained and we came across no tolls,although I think there may be one if you drive into downtown Auckland.
In some areas the roads can get pretty bendy but there are plenty of signs warning of the curves and advising on speeds. if you have not got a satnav that shows you the road ahead then these suggested speeds give you an indication as to just how twisty the road ahead is.
We hired our satnav through the van hire people, it was cheaper than buying the extra maps for our own satnav. It was not really necessary as out of town there are not that many roads but they take any stress out of finding your
next campsite and good for negotiating cities.
Getting across to the South or North Island involves a ferry that takes about
21/2 hours. There are two companies Interislander and Bluebridge. As with most ferries the price depends on length. Our 6.6 metre van with two people cost $358 one way, that was with our Top 10 discount card but there are other less generous discounts for students or seniors. Despite the price these ferries are pretty tatty, but they do the job. This can be a rather pleasant trip as probably two thirds is throughthe Sounds where it is quite calm. Despite the price, don't expect a ferry of the standard of a typical cross Channel ferry.
Thecrossing to Stewart Island is $138 return per person, you have to leave your vehicle behind and go for a day trip or sleep over at one of the bed and
breakfasts over there.
Many of the bridges in the rural areas are one lane bridges, to be shared with
oncoming traffic and, occasionally trains. As the volume of traffic is generally
pretty light crossing them was not a problem. In busy areas you may find traffic lights on such bridges to control the flow.
In some areas the roads can get pretty bendy but there are plenty of signs warning of the curves and advising on speeds. if you have not got a satnav that shows you the road ahead then these suggested speeds give you an indication as to just how twisty the road ahead is.
We hired our satnav through the van hire people, it was cheaper than buying the extra maps for our own satnav. It was not really necessary as out of town there are not that many roads but they take any stress out of finding your
next campsite and good for negotiating cities.
Getting across to the South or North Island involves a ferry that takes about
21/2 hours. There are two companies Interislander and Bluebridge. As with most ferries the price depends on length. Our 6.6 metre van with two people cost $358 one way, that was with our Top 10 discount card but there are other less generous discounts for students or seniors. Despite the price these ferries are pretty tatty, but they do the job. This can be a rather pleasant trip as probably two thirds is throughthe Sounds where it is quite calm. Despite the price, don't expect a ferry of the standard of a typical cross Channel ferry.
Thecrossing to Stewart Island is $138 return per person, you have to leave your vehicle behind and go for a day trip or sleep over at one of the bed and
breakfasts over there.
Many of the bridges in the rural areas are one lane bridges, to be shared with
oncoming traffic and, occasionally trains. As the volume of traffic is generally
pretty light crossing them was not a problem. In busy areas you may find traffic lights on such bridges to control the flow.
Costs
You will probably want to take advantage of the various trips and experiences that New Zealand has to offer - these will cost you a lot of money. Apart from diesel being a bit cheaper than in UK nothing was cheap The weaker pound means that it
does not go as far as it may have done a few years ago and NZ$1 is about 90 pence.
When we visited the costs for a Milford Sound coach and cruise trip was
$165 each, more if you were going from Queenstown. A trip up the Skyline gondola in Queenstown is $25 return each but a must so you can enjoy the spectacular view of the town and the Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range. A flight from Franz Josef around Mount Cook and the glaciers is around $300 each. Bungy jump at least $180. A wine tour
out of Blenheim is $65. You are probably only coming in once so don't spoil it
by running out of money. One NZ$ is about 90p.
We resolved the perennial question of how to get at your money without paying those bankers yet more money in those sly little transaction fees by getting aTravelex card and loading it with New Zealand dollars before we left. Having set it all up before we left we found we could top up on line from New Zealand if we wanted to. On the subject of paying by card, we never came across anywhere that did not accept plastic, all places have EFTPOS (electronic fund transfer at point of sale). We were however extremely peeved to find that when we got to Backpackers to collect our vehicle they treated our Travelex card as a credit card and charged us a 2.5% fee which on a 6 week hire amounted to quite a lot. No doubt this was mentioned in some of the booking bumf but if wehad known once we had forgotten by the time we checked in.
does not go as far as it may have done a few years ago and NZ$1 is about 90 pence.
When we visited the costs for a Milford Sound coach and cruise trip was
$165 each, more if you were going from Queenstown. A trip up the Skyline gondola in Queenstown is $25 return each but a must so you can enjoy the spectacular view of the town and the Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range. A flight from Franz Josef around Mount Cook and the glaciers is around $300 each. Bungy jump at least $180. A wine tour
out of Blenheim is $65. You are probably only coming in once so don't spoil it
by running out of money. One NZ$ is about 90p.
We resolved the perennial question of how to get at your money without paying those bankers yet more money in those sly little transaction fees by getting aTravelex card and loading it with New Zealand dollars before we left. Having set it all up before we left we found we could top up on line from New Zealand if we wanted to. On the subject of paying by card, we never came across anywhere that did not accept plastic, all places have EFTPOS (electronic fund transfer at point of sale). We were however extremely peeved to find that when we got to Backpackers to collect our vehicle they treated our Travelex card as a credit card and charged us a 2.5% fee which on a 6 week hire amounted to quite a lot. No doubt this was mentioned in some of the booking bumf but if wehad known once we had forgotten by the time we checked in.
Food & Drink
Farmers Markets are popular and a good pla ce to get interesting foodstuffs
Our first shock was discovering that a bottle of New Zealand wine is probably cheaper in Tesco. Beer isn't cheap either, much the same price as in UK but
without the special offers in the supermarkets. We got talking to a local about wine and he told us that times have been hard for winegrowers recently and to break even these days the wine growers had to get $14 a bottle so no wonder there is no cheap wine in the shops.
Food is a similar price to UK - even New Zealand lamb. The one thing that kiwis do like though are pies and these are available pretty well everywhere and are not expensive, all sorts of fillings mince and cheese was one filling I didn't try but can recommend the venison. Fish and chips are readily available too. Note that the bakeries are not the place to buy a loaf - here you get pies, cakesand filled rolls. Bread you buy in the supermarket.
The links with UK mean that there is no problem getting your tea bags marmalade ketchup etc in the shops. Don't be tempted to bring some food supplies with you as there are tight controls on food importation and heavy fines can arise. if you ever watch Border Patrol on satellite TV you will know all about this.
without the special offers in the supermarkets. We got talking to a local about wine and he told us that times have been hard for winegrowers recently and to break even these days the wine growers had to get $14 a bottle so no wonder there is no cheap wine in the shops.
Food is a similar price to UK - even New Zealand lamb. The one thing that kiwis do like though are pies and these are available pretty well everywhere and are not expensive, all sorts of fillings mince and cheese was one filling I didn't try but can recommend the venison. Fish and chips are readily available too. Note that the bakeries are not the place to buy a loaf - here you get pies, cakesand filled rolls. Bread you buy in the supermarket.
The links with UK mean that there is no problem getting your tea bags marmalade ketchup etc in the shops. Don't be tempted to bring some food supplies with you as there are tight controls on food importation and heavy fines can arise. if you ever watch Border Patrol on satellite TV you will know all about this.
