New Zealand Camper Van Hire

Keedowah

Howdy,

I am going to be traveling around New Zealand for 6 weeks from the end of July with 2 others. I was looking at a company like this http://www.escaperentals.co.nz/ .

So what i am wonder is:

Has anyone been to New Zealand and bussed it around the islands? Were you happy with it or do you think that this would be a fun/cheap way of seeing the country?

Has anyone rented a van over there and were you happy with it? Did you experience any problems? How about bringing the camper island from one island to the other?

Thanks for your advice - i appreciate it!

Rabies

Hi,

I moved to New Zealand in Nov. Might be able to give you some info.

If you go the backpacker bus route to see the country then use, Kiwi Experience or Stray. Both were high recommended by people I was talking to on my travels.

As for rental vans, try Tui or Maori(can't remmeber exact spelling), both of these are fairly common on NZ roads.

oconn

I was there last year ...did the campervan ...great crack..couldnt recommend it highly enough !!! cheapest crowd to get it off is backpackercampervans. appears they get the vans off tui / britz / etc once they are 2 yrs old or so and then put their own signs over the original ones... I went in october and paid 700 nzd for 3 weeks. plenty room once you realise everythign has a place saw the kiwi exp busses everywhere good laugh too Id sy good chance to mix...

justagirl

Keedowah wrote:

How about bringing the camper island from one island to the other?

You lucky thing...... just got back (again!).... great place....

You better check with the hire company about taking the camper from one island (picton/wellington) to another... I know some car hire companies don't allow it so best to check just to be sure and also factor in the cost of your ferry crossing also .......Enjoy!!

Rabies

Another thing, hired vehicles are not allowed in a few areas because of insurance reasons. One of those is Ninety Mile Beach and most of the Coromandel Peninsula.
Both of these are on the north island. Check with your hire company about other places.

davidoco

I did a month there in September 2004. Used this hire company for camper van hire http://www.docholidays.co.nz and would recommend them. You can be sure you won't meet another camper everywhere you go in the same type of van. They have very powerful engines (automatic) which means you don't have to work so hard in the windy and hilly roads in some parts of the south island. It's a one man show with the campers and he is very helpful (even offered us a free guided day out on his cruiser fishing if we had time)

http://www.tourism.org.nz/climate.html July in NZ will be cold in a camper so pick up a little fan heater (€20 euro) unless of course you have a fancy van with heating.

We booked the ferry crossing online the day before we got to Wellington and it wasn't much dearer than prebooking and the same on the way back up.

Between 3 people getting a camper is the only way to go, and having 6 weeks there you should be able to negotiate a good deal.

Keedowah

Thanks for all the advice folks - cant wait to get there now!

anto8791

Thinking about getting a campervan when heading to NZ later this year for about 15 days in mid May. I just have a few questions about if and would be great if somebody could help me out.
Just wondering would the weather be OK for doing this during the NZ autumn ?
What are the campsites like ?
Would they be near cities or far outside. We don't want to save loads doing the trip this way only to spend a fortune getting into a city/town centre for a night out ??
Lastly would I actually need experience in driving/using a campervan before heading over ??
A few of these might seem silly questions so forgive me ....:)
Cheers