[Dom]

Hi,

we are going on Holiday to NZ in October - there will be me and my wife and our 17th month son.

I was looking at a 2+1 campervan but am really not too sure this will be big enough for a) Our cases and b) a travel cot to be erected as well as our double bed.

The next step up from this seems to jump to a 4+2 van which is quite a lot dearer.

Has any members here been in the same situation with a baby and 2 adults ? If so did you manage with the 2+1 or did you have to get a bigger van ?

I was lookng at booking thru Pacific Horizon New Zealand as they seem not too bad.

cheers

[aberdian]

We did it with a 4 berth, 2 adults and 1 12mth old. It's fine if the weathers good, if it's raining you have to sit in the cab :) I think we slept above the cab and the boy had the double bed at the back. So much fun we're doing it again in October, only this time he's 6 and his sister is 2 so it'll be more interesting fitting them both in.......

Ian

[stejude]

We hired a 2+1 last december for 2 adults. It wasnt big enough for us. Id hire the biggest I could afford, just for the comfort sake. When we went to Australia we hired a larger one and that was so much better all round. You need some space!!

[Dom]

We did it with a 4 berth, 2 adults and 1 12mth old. It's fine if the weathers good, if it's raining you have to sit in the cab :) I think we slept above the cab and the boy had the double bed at the back. So much fun we're doing it again in October, only this time he's 6 and his sister is 2 so it'll be more interesting fitting them both in.......

Ian

Ian, was yours a 2 double-bed van ? Which rental company was it as not all of them do them I think. Also is it possible to put a travel cot in it ? I presume I would have to put down the double bed and then put the cot on top of that and then we kip in the bed above the cab.

cheers,

Dom.

[aberdian]

Bizarrely I can't remember if we put the travelcot in the van or not. I don't think we did as the boy ended up in the double bed at the back (it was a 2 double bed one from Maui) and we slept above the cab. I seem to remember using the packed away cot as a barrier so he didn't fall out of the bed......

This year, we're just splitting it, me and the boy in one bed, wife and girl in the other. Not ideal as I'll get get kicked to bits and have the duvet stolen, but it'll be fun :)

When and where are you going?

Ian

[Dom]

we're going in October 22nd-7th Nov.
Pickup from Christchurch and drop off in Wellington.

My boy will be 17 months by then. Am not sure about putting him in a bed in case he falls out as you know they move around a lot !

We are mainly doing the south island as we're going to Wanaka for a wedding but we are dropping off in Welly as I want to check it out as that is prob where we will be based if/when we move over there.

[Dom]

BTW are these extra insurance things worth taking out ?

[Mels]

We travelled round North Island for three weeks with our then 9 and 7yr old sons in an eclipse 6 from pacific horizon in Oct 2004. We got a cheap upgrade deal from the - I think 4+2. They were helpful, efficient and we had no problems :clap
It was warm enough even on the cold nights which was on one occassion -4C in Taupo!!!!!!!! They gave us blankets to add to duvets. We were glad of the extra space and I always bagged the shower first - ladies first afterall!!!!!!!!!!. :laugh

My OH found it OK'ish to drive, just big and heavy. Tricky in cross winds outside of Wellington though, we timed our arrival with a bad storm, snow on the desert road and a tornado outside Stanford!!!!
I have to admit I chickened out of driving it :o
but we had a great time, hope you do too :cheers

[aberdian]

My OH found it OK'ish to drive, just big and heavy. Tricky in cross winds outside of Wellington though, we timed our arrival with a bad storm, snow on the desert road and a tornado outside Stanford!!!!
I have to admit I chickened out of driving it :o

Oops, totally forgot (read blanked) the fact that I ripped the rear bumper off ours in the queue for the Welly ferry. Pulled out of the parking space and forgot it hung over the back quite a bit and hit a lamppost. Went back on ok with only a little brute force and Maui were very understanding, fixed it in Kaikoura for us. That was without the extra insurance.

[chazndave]

Hi there, we did it in February.
My husband and I and our son who was 16 months at the time.
We didnt take a travel cot this is something that we aquired on route, but thats another story.
We met a couple who had a pacific horizons van, and we only wish we could of got one but at the time we wanted one they were fully booked. We had a van through EZY 2 + 1, it was cramped and ended up 3 in a bed!...the van had numerous problems and it was brand new! It involved trips to a garage etc.
My advice would be to get a Pacific Horizons (4 + 2 if you can afford it), and one where you can sit 3 in the front is nice, well and helpful, a driver contending with the driving and baby monitoring isn't a great combination. The second van we had in Australia I had to sit in the back! missed out on looking at things and keeping Eliot occupied, boo hoo!

[nippa&pippa]

from my experience, travelling cot does fit inside campervan of 2 double bed (4 men berth as got 2half years old with us) but very very very tight, practically I had to squeeze the cot into space we can find and we found that to get around mean we had to climb over the cot to into our bed, to front door to get out (not ideal with fire situation), or to toilet at night!! so we got rid of cot and I end up had 9 weeks old baby sleep with me and my husband sleep with our son in other bed...so forgot travelling cot, can your child sleep with you?

[Dom]

Thanks for al your replies. I think we're gonna have to go for the 4+2 as it sounds like anything smaller will be a nightmare.

I think I'll get the middle level of insurance too - although I loathe paying insurance but I guess its a necessary evil.

[Nick88]

I have made a few trips in campervans here and definitely go for the biggest one you can justify paying for. There is never enough room for things like travel cots, so if there is a way round it don't use it. Extra insurance is probably a good idea, especially considering the amount of uninsured drivers on NZ roads.

[Park City Partner]

You might also ask about the car seat situation. We bought a campervan from Kea and we were orignally told that the car seat could go in the front no problem, you just get the airbag turned off. The front was a bucket seat set-up so one adult would be in the back. Problem is we couldn't get the airbag turned off. It is illegal to do so unless it comes with an on/off switch from the factory. To make a very long story short. Kea switched out the bucket seat for a bench seat and now baby sits in the middle. Not ideal as we now can't go from the back to the front from inside.
We can only get into the back from the back of the van. The position of the airbag and the car seat is still a bit close I think but Land Transport signed off on it.

So, when you are renting make sure there is a place for the car seat!

[nippa&pippa]

You might also ask about the car seat situation. We bought a campervan from Kea and we were orignally told that the car seat could go in the front no problem, you just get the airbag turned off. The front was a bucket seat set-up so one adult would be in the back. Problem is we couldn't get the airbag turned off. It is illegal to do so unless it comes with an on/off switch from the factory. To make a very long story short. Kea switched out the bucket seat for a bench seat and now baby sits in the middle. Not ideal as we now can't go from the back to the front from inside.
We can only get into the back from the back of the van. The position of the airbag and the car seat is still a bit close I think but Land Transport signed off on it.

So, when you are renting make sure there is a place for the car seat!

forgot about that, yep you need to check that, lucky we hired maui (check if it is still no air bag as it been a year since we hired their) that doesn't have airbag on passenger side, so our 9 weeks old baby can there as need to be in rear facing seat for up to 1 years old while my son was in another car seat (front facing seat) at the back of van with me..

[Dom]

You might also ask about the car seat situation. We bought a campervan from Kea and we were orignally told that the car seat could go in the front no problem, you just get the airbag turned off. The front was a bucket seat set-up so one adult would be in the back. Problem is we couldn't get the airbag turned off. It is illegal to do so unless it comes with an on/off switch from the factory. To make a very long story short. Kea switched out the bucket seat for a bench seat and now baby sits in the middle. Not ideal as we now can't go from the back to the front from inside.
We can only get into the back from the back of the van. The position of the airbag and the car seat is still a bit close I think but Land Transport signed off on it.

So, when you are renting make sure there is a place for the car seat!

Good point. Thanks for the reminder !