UKC

Can you recommend (or warn against) any campervan companies in NZ?

We're 2 adults and a 10 month old son so looking for something based on a transit or similar with 2 distinct sleeping areas so we can sit up and drink wine once he's gone to bed. I think a smaller van is going to be a bit claustrophobic.

The rate seems to vary a lot from 250nzd to 400nzd a day with Britz campers. Is it worth paying more for a better service or better equipt van?

Picking up in Auckland and need it for about 7 days.

Thanks.. G

In reply to George Fisher:

Prices do vary a lot but are generally expensive.

7days isn't very long are you sure you definitely want a camper van? It would be cheaper to hire a car and stay in motels... or holiday parks have cabins if you want to live the camping lifestyle.

Having said that, we hired a camper to move house from Auckland to Dunedin in October/November.

We used Budget Campers, which were considerably cheaper (about 150NZD per day but October is out of season). They were fine, a bit rough around the edges as you would expect for a 1998 camper done >500K km. Perfectly comfortable enough though with loads of space for the 3of us and our belongings. It took us 2800km including some rough terrain up to Lake Waikaremoana.

It had the same equipment as a new Britz/Tui/Maui/Apollo etc (Budget is owned by Tui) just slightly older.

Anyway, happy to provide further info if needed/desired.

Good luck and happy travels!

In reply to George Fisher:

Oh yeah, make sure you get a camper that takes child seats, a lot of them don't. Not being patronising, almost made that mistake myself, the website was not very clear!

Camper van or car, many here don't have Isofix especially as they are generally older vehicles.

In reply to George Fisher:

I'd warm against Wicked Campers, not because we used them - we didn't - but because some of the designs on the campers were a bit offensive really. We saw one for example that from memory had a slogan that could easily have been read as a fairly homophobic blazed all along the side of the vehicle. Their vans are basically all done out in graffiti art and you don't get much of a choice of van. This was in 2007 though, could be different now.

In reply to George Fisher:

Hi George
I spent a few weeks in NZ with my 12 year old last year; I rented the Condo from Jucy. It’s only a few mins from the terminal in Auckland & you don’t have to drop it back there if you’re flying out of another airport. They do cater for child seats & has 2 double beds one in the back & one in the top which my daughter loved, however it is just one big space really & the upstairs prob won’t be suitable. Try not to get to carried away on the size of the van as there are a lot of hills, you’ll love the views wonderful place currently saving my pennies to go back a.s.a.p. as didn’t see as much as I wanted as kept on getting stuck in wonderful places.

In reply to George Fisher:
I was not impressed with juicy, poor van and leisure battery issues.

I would hire a car next time and stay on the great camp sites most of which have lodges, remember you cant "wild campervan" anyway as its illegal and any locals take a very very dim view if they catch you doing it.

In reply to wheelo: Are you certain about this?

The relevant legislation
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2011/0061/latest/whole.html

The view from Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camping_in_New_Zealand

Example: As the Act applies in the Queenstown Lakes area
http://www.qldc.govt.nz/freedom_camping

In reply to Dee:

I haven't come across problems "wild camping" but sites are plentiful and equipped, especially with a 10month old, that would be my preferred option.

I would definately consider car rental and cabins although there are advantages to camper van hire, like not having to pack your car everyday.

In reply to wheelo:

The legal situation has changed a bit, mostly as a result of idiots sh*tting around the best spots as they don't have toilets in all the campers, but it isn't illegal as such except where clearly marked as such as long as you have a loo in the van.

Wicked Campers (the graffiti ones, which can indeed be borderline offensive) for instance can't just pull up anywhere for the night. Given the campsites often have individual huts/cabins and toilets, kitchens etc it's no great loss.

Having camped with a 1 yr old in tents vs in cabins with flushing loos there's no competition really!

b

In reply to ben b:


That's a shame it came to that. We spent 5 months living in a Nissan Vanette and never felt the need to shit by the side of the road. Anyway, for the OP, there's plentiful DOC campsites anyway, which from memory always have some sort of loo and are frequently free, or at least inexpensive.

In reply to wheelo:

yeah the campsite where good, most i stayed at had static vans/huts you could rent for the night.