[Madoxen]

Does anyone know weather it is worth the extra expence on campervan hire to go for the full insurance options for 25 $ a day extra ???this will cover tyres windows and all els the van is already a wopping $214 per night for a Large 4 berth same size as the 6 berth )with out this there will be an execess payment of $2500 for any claim and will have to pay for tyres or windows if damaged ???

[russetoak]

Hi there,

We had this same worry last Easter. Decided to pay the extra. It was a lot of money but it gave me peace of mind and my driving was much more relaxed because of it. In hindsight we didn't need it.
Would I pay it again?
Probably yes.
My OH and I couldn't afford the excess and the upset if anything did happen. It's a toughy though and a lot of money either way.

On the up side the holiday was fantastic and would recommend campervan's to everyone we loved it.
Have a fantastic holiday whatever you decide.

[victoria24]

pay it.. we were crashed into by a little old lady in new world car park.. very slow and not massive damage but i wouldnt have wanted the grief or the cost

[Fern01]

good advice has been given, at least you will have peace of mind. enjoy.

[Nathan]

You might want to check what your travel insurance and your credit card cover before you buy more coverage.

[Kanga]

At that price you could rent a car and stay in a motel every night, which would surely be much comfier anyway. I'm a bit of a campervan sceptic after our stint in one in 2001 when we discovered that the cost of hiring one+ the cost of paying for a pitch (assuming you do) + the extra petrol cost to hunk the thing around + the extra hassle of NOT having a small nippy vehicle +plus the cost of ditching it for a night in a motel every now and then (and parking up beside heaps of camper van renters doing the same thing!)+ it being crap in bad weather and not much better in good + the hassle of packing up every day made it a really expensively uncomfortable way of seeing NZ. If you're a campervan holiday lover I apologise :exit

[victoria24]

kanga talks good sense, we made the same calculation retrospectively. each top10 site has cheeky little chalets. saying that, you cant beat the feeling of collapsing a table to make a bed and to hear the whirring of the fridge cutting in and out to add to the romance ;)

[Duncan74]

Ok, depends on how long you've got it for. We went for the middle option, as over 5 weeks we would have paid the difference in excess. The only benefit you're likely to get is if windscreen cover is included as the road surface in NZ is a killer for screen chips, and we ended up paying $50 for a chip to be repaired. More the hassle than the expense, but you'd need to do that even if covered anyway I suppose.

We loved having the van, no hassle with carrying bags in and out, no noisy motels with paper thin walls, and critically no worry about sticking to a schedule even in Feb / March. Only day we had to go for option 2 on the campsite was on the Coromandel on Good Friday - hardly surprising as we didn't try booking until noon on the Friday. Doh.

Meant that we could cook our own food every other night, which didn't just save money, but eating in restraunts every night for 5 weeks would be a bit too much for us in terms of being 'chilled out'.

Only place the size of the van was a slight problem was in Wellington (although we didn't go to Auckland), and even then we just parked it in a hotel car park and enjoyed 2 days of luxury (Museum Hotel has a surface car park big enough).

The spin side was being able to shower and change once you'd finished at the beach, or finished a walk.

[newarrival]

We had a huge 6-berth campervan in 2003 and we did go to Auckland with it and parked about 5 minutes from the Skytower:D

[norma]

You might want to check what your travel insurance and your credit card cover before you buy more coverage.

We've hired several vehicles over the years in NZ (campervans and cars) and never had a screen chip or tyre problems. We used to pay the additional insurance but then found that out travel insurance covered it. We now take out a NZ-only travel insurance policy when we fly and hire within NZ as it is cheaper to do this than pay the extra vehicle insurance.

[norma]

At that price you could rent a car and stay in a motel every night, which would surely be much comfier anyway. I'm a bit of a campervan sceptic after our stint in one in 2001 when we discovered that the cost of hiring one+ the cost of paying for a pitch (assuming you do) + the extra petrol cost to hunk the thing around + the extra hassle of NOT having a small nippy vehicle +plus the cost of ditching it for a night in a motel every now and then (and parking up beside heaps of camper van renters doing the same thing!)+ it being crap in bad weather and not much better in good + the hassle of packing up every day made it a really expensively uncomfortable way of seeing NZ. If you're a campervan holiday lover I apologise :exit

In support of the campervan, I have to say that my family of four loved the experience. The kids loved the excitement of travelling and sleeping in it, and the playgrounds on most of the camp sites. Being a young family at the time it was great to be able to pull up anywhere and be able to prepare food on demand. If you don't want to cook in your van, most camp sites have good kitchens. It was also good to be able to unpack our stuff rather than living out of suitcases for three weeks.

We've done a few motel stays aswell (on a different trip) and while most have been fine, some have been grim.:(

[Madoxen]

Thanks all for your replies, we are staying for 24 days but have the Van for 21 days so the extra insurance will set us back 525 dollers and this covers all items including windows and tyres so think for peace of mind it might well be worth it.

I Think that we could save money by doing a car rental and staying in a B&B every night but it will be the hastle of having to be in a certain place at a certain time as i am sure i would have to book them up in advance where as the Van gives us the freedom to go where ever when ever and in the worst case if there is no room in the inn we can still sleep :D.

If any of you who have done the camper van thing befor have any highly recomended sites I would love to here them as is always good to have a few recomendations..


:D we are so excited about this whole trip. our 2 yr old girlwell will be 2.3 then should absolutly love it the little one will only be 6 month so will be a blur for him and me and the wife just cant wait :bluebanana:bluebanana

[mylesdw]

Normally I wouldn't bother with extra insurances but in this case I believe it to be a good idea. The combination of (possibly) driving something larger than you are used to together with some fairly challenging routes makes for a higher risk.

We did the camper tour thing years ago with one two year-old and it was great. The ability to stop as you please and eat or sleep was great.

You ask about places to stay but do you have a rough itinerary?

[wellywally]

I've used these chaps before (never claimed though) after reading about them in a UK paper:
http://www.insurance4carhire.com/

Might be worth checking if their cover includes campers. You don't need to be a British resident.


When it comes to buying an atlas i'd suggest http://www.aucklandmapcentre.co.nz/default,3339,new_zealand_motorhome_and_camping_atl as.sm
which can be got from any bookshop here. 1/2 of it is a standard but good road atlas and half is a very comprehensive list of places to stay from basic rest areas and free doc sites to all bells and whistles holiday parks.

[Duncan74]

Madoxen - Tips from us.
1) Buy a TomTom with a map of NZ. Navigating in NZ is pretty easy, but the TomTom has the location and phone numbers of all the campsites programmed it. So we entered the destination of the next town we wanted to go to, then did a 'via route' and it tells you which sites are on teh route, and how far along. So we then chose the one x hours drive and called them.
2) Pick up the 'Jasons' giudes to the north and south island campsites at the airport, or most campervans should have a copy in.
3) The 'Top 10' chain of sites are not the cheapest, but we found them all to be clean, have good facilities and reliable.
4) DeBretts in Taupo was by the far the best site.
5) Driving the van really isn't that hard, but then I drove a lot of minibuses round London when I was at college, so that helped.
6) We stayed 2 nights at each place, so you got a day with a fair bit of driving, followed by a meal out, then a full day in wherever and then a meal in the van before an early start.
7) Take the grilll out of the cooker and wrap it in the duvet (clean the grill of course!) The rattling sound will drive you mad otherwise.
8) DOn't let your OH have the camera or you'll have 3000 photos all of which have a strip of tarmac in front and an increasingly bug splattered view as the trip progresses.
9) Only place we were worried about fuel was on the way to Fox Glacier. Personally we didn't find there were too many issues with a lack of garages, although others have said that.

[Madoxen]

So far we have a very rough itinary of 9 days on north island and 11 days on south.

on north island we only have 1 stop so far for about 3days which is to see relatives between Hawks bay and Rotorua

and on south we wanted to look at selwin district in depth for posable end destination for the move

other than these we have a very open book to go from

[Duncan74]

We did 2.5 weeks in the north, just over a week in the south, and then 1 and a half on the north at the end. Lots of time around Taupo, two weekends (first and last) on the Coromandel. We did a 3 day Canoe trip down the Whanganui which was stunning.

Driving the east coast of the North Island was very differnt to the west - much less touristy.

Te Papa in Wellington is well worth a day, and there's van friendly parking right outside (as well as underground car parking for those not bothered about height restrictions.

Oh, very very important tip #1. Get a ribbon or other simmilar item to tie to the steering wheel of the van when you connect to the water and electricity at the campsite, and then remove the ribbon after you've disconnected - way too easy late on when you become complacent to drive off whilst still tethered.

[movergroover]

Sometimes you can buy travel insurance that will cover vehicle hire abroad. Might be a cheaper way to do it:)