[vixxann]

we are coming over for a reccy trip in March/April and having been chomping at the bit to do more holiday organising (flights were booked last August and I've done nothing else since!) We are now beginning to think about the ins and outs of the holiday - where to go, how etc etc

Would love to hire a camper van for at least part of the holiday (3 week whistlestop tour of both islands - madness I know!! :exit ) but the prices seem very high - I think altogether it may be best option as we have three kids and can imagine it beginning to be a strain when packing/unpacking into different motels every night - but one big worry is that in a camper van we may be restricted as to where we can go. We want to see the "real" NZ not just tour around the popular tourist spots. Is it going to be possible to get into towns and park with a campervan? We'd probably have a largish 6 berth one.

Also just thought - are they pretty safe to leave parked up - we'd have all our belongings in it?

Anyone with experience or just their thoughts on the matter please reply :)

[neilw71]

No experience directly, but on your question of safety, I would just remind you that you need to stay at designated grounds if out of town. There have been a few nasty things happen to people who park up in remote areas. Just play it safe and you will be fine. General parking in small towns should be safe.

As for parking, you shouldn't worry too much about that. Reall just with the major towns, you may need to park a bit further out than the direct centre and walk an extra few paces.....I would not really worry about that aspect of your trip. It sounds fun BTW! Good luck organising everything :)

Neil

[Carey]

We're thinking of doing exactly the same with 3 kids also, so interested to see what replies you get. When we were in NZ before, hitch-hiking and working as volunteers, pre- kids, we felt an awful lot of camper vanners didn't get to see the real Kiwi's or even get off the beaten track, so my advice would be to meet and mix with as many local people as you can, even if that's only on camp sites.
Wonder what your planned route is ? We can definitely recommend Northland, having spent the majority of our time there( 2 six month stints), but then we mostly stuck to the the rural areas.
Have a good trip and maybe we could Pm each other with progress on plans, routes, campsites etc? What company are you using to book your van?

Carey

[vixxann]

When we were in NZ before, hitch-hiking and working as volunteers, pre- kids, we felt an awful lot of camper vanners didn't get to see the real Kiwi's or even get off the beaten track

Carey - that's my worry - we really want to feel like we have visited the kind of places that could be future home towns - we want to see how people live their daily lives, shop, work, school, play etc . I worry that in a big campervan we might not be able to get into small areas - park up and look around. The sites do sound fantastic and I know we'll have a good holiday whatever!

[TFR]

don't worry - NZ is full of campervans! No probs at all. The only thing to watch is the length of time it will take you to get from A to B. I would give yourself a max of 40-50kph average time. The roads may look ok on the map, when you drive them they are just something else! :) Don't want to spoil it for you but you'll have a great time.
Shop around for the best deal - there are loads of companies. Off the top of my head: Britz, Maui (same place), United, Tui - there's loads more but have a google first and compare quotes. Watch out for the hidden extras as some don't include diesel tax, ins bond etc.
The other thing to consider is getting a car and then turning up to motels/hotels etc - just depends on how flexible you want to be. There's loads of campsites, the "top 10" have very good amenities especially for kids (:( as we don't have any ;)) but even the DOC ones are good.
You'll just need to be sensible with the size of it. Obviously you're not going to get a 8 berth camper down a tiny little road, having said that, you can have some excellent fun with 4 wheel slides on the "unclassified" dirt track roads with them - oops!
Most of the campsites we found by just turning up to a place, calling in at I-site and asking. Most were within easy walking of the town centre/restaurants etc but that's all part of the adventure :)

[wobbler]

Interesting to see what people think, but we are coming over in late Feb for effectively 2 weeks and have hired a Britz campervan. If you search for motorhome on this forum you will find good threads on the matter.

We have small children 3 and 5 so we can't go mad in the great outdoors (short legs!). We will be aiming to do some tourist thingys but will also be just hanging out around one or two cities, or around the campsites. I am hoping we will get a view of NZ by the very fact we cannot run amock on the tourist trail. Small children are great ice breakers too.

[Glenda]

We see quite a few campervans in our town. They usually park in the local supermarket carpark where they can take up extra parking spaces.

We eventually decided on renting a car and staying at motels, which the kids enjoyed as after several hours on the road they liked nothing more than to check out the tv programmes. :roll :laugh

[vixxann]

thanks Glenda
still gathering info - we are undecided against which option to do

I suppose ideally we could do a bit of both! ..... campervan in one island and car/motels in the other?! don't know which way round would work best for which islands though - anyone any opinions? :confused: