[mathmussim]

For those that had a holiday in New Zealand, did you rent a car or take the bus to get around? (if you couldn't take the train).

Looks like the bus is very affordable, but is somewhat slow, and schedule options are limited. Pro for rental car is price and flexibility. Pro for bus is more time to relax, and more of a chance to meet other people.

Coming fom the US, worrying about the adjustment to driving on the left side of the road factors in too.

Any thoughts?

Thanks -

John

[Smiler]

Hi John

We spent almost a month touring Ni with a hire car, cost about $50 ish a day. But we took a couple of coach tours, one up to Cape Reinga and the other at Rotorua.

CR was an all day one. A lot of the roads were unsealed so a bit bumpy but brilliant value for money at about $35.00. It stopped at lots of touristy places but for me was a chance to rest from map reading and rubber neck out of the window.

Rotorua was more of a bus trip and OH hated it as every time people got on, the driver went round the bus and recited everyone's names from memory. Awesome but boring if you stop to collect 42 people, 2 at a time as we did. I enjoyed it for the same reason as the cape one.

We preferred to have the independence the hire car offered rather than be stuck to a timetable and waiting around for people to troop back and forth. (I also prefer the car cause I get to sit next to the driver up the front) :D

At some point we intend to take the train from Auckland to welly and again on the SI, really to rest and enjoy the scenery. We are waiting for the first lot of rellys to arrive before we do this.

http://ahipara.co.nz/caperunner/


Deborah
PS I'm sure she won't mind me saying but Susan from here (and Texas) hired a car and did really well with being on the 'other side'.:nice1

[Moorf]

Car Hire - no contest (for us, anyway). :nice1 Being able to stop wherever you want for that perfect photo, to stop at cafes for a coffee when you want to, to go off-road to some isolated spots... to generally have the freedom to go where you want, when you want and without a bus load of people getting out and spoiling the views..... :D

[GeorgeM]

The thought of driving on the opposite side of the road is far more daunting than the reality. If I can pick up a LHD car at LAX and make my way to Anaheim I'm sure that almost everyone could pick up a car at CHC and make their way to Queenstown!

[gil]

John,
Not yet been to NZ so can't comment on the mode of transport question.
However I am a Brit and drive happily in France, Italy, Spain, Germany etc on the other side. At one point, I lived in Italy and used to come back here every 6 months or so and had no trouble re-adjusting either way.
You just get absorbed into the driving until it becomes as automatic as the driving on the side you passed your test on (Honest!!)
Gil

[mathmussim]

Thanks for the replies. I'm leaning towards the car rental, because of price and flexibility. One initial worry I had about the car was if the $50/day price really meant $50. I remember a trip to the UK where my $50/day rental became ~$150/day after they added on all of the taxes and insurance. It seems that most advertised prices in NZ are usually "all-inclusive". I've made that trip from LAX to Anaheim before, so I guess I'll be O.K.

[Jason2112]

I am in the same boat, but we have elected to rely on public transportation during our stay in Christchurch/Queenstown/Wellington. I'm sure it's easier and possibly less costly to rent a car, but some of the people we are staying with (all b&b's and homestays) have offered to take us into town in the mornings, helping us save some money. Plus, I'd prefer to relax and look around while letting someone else drive for a change :)

We will be using Travelpass for our coach trips and inter-city transportation.

[Dazza]

I have searched the web and found these to be the cheapest/best deal for car rental....

http://www.a2brentals.co.nz/rental-rates.html