[Haka chant] If you haven't been to New Zealand yet, you
should probably move it to the top of your bucket list. And hiring a camparvan is just one of the many ways to take in all that the land of Kiwi's has to offer. But, like everything else in travel, there
are just as many ways you can get it wrong Stick around with us and we'll show you all the ins and outs tips and tricks for renting or as they call it hiring a campervan here in New Zealand [Rock music] Why a campervan? Why not just stay in hotels and rent a car
to get around. Well First off, New Zealand is big. It may look tiny on the map but if you flew
a plane, overland, it’s over a thousand miles or 1600 kilometers tip to tip. That’s about the same as a trip from Portland
to San Diego, or New York City to West Palm Beach Florida. The next consideration is that new Zealand
is relatively expensive. Anything not made in the islands faces large
costs for importing and taxes. Hotels and restaurants aren’t cheap either. You can easily spent $150-250 US a night and
$35+ per person per meal. Most of the great sights, are not within short
distance of the hotels and towns, and the back and forth driving eats up precious hours. Our campervan was equipped with a full kitchen,
toilet, shower, queen bed, and dining space. For $652US including taxes and insurance fees,
we were able to stay in it six nights, with a free seventh night we didn’t even use. We bought groceries, and prepared all but
one of our meals, for less than $250. For comparison, our one night in a hotel with
one meal was $194, and a subcompact car from Avis was $500US for a week. New Zealand has a well established support
systems for campervans. There are public free and fee based campsites
and private holiday parks all over the islands. There are a couple of apps you can download
that show you where the sites are around you, and they work off line, because cell coverage
is spotty in new Zealand. We were able to set up camp on the edge of
a lake or the ocean each night and wake up to the most magnificent views, all free of
charge. We did splurge and spend $24 one night on
a hosted holiday park. Mostly because it was pouring rain and we
wanted to just soak in the hot pools across the street. I don’t think there is any other way I would
want to see New Zealand. Even with our mistakes, it was a magnificent
trip. Where to go? New Zealand is divided up between the North
and South islands. If you have the time, plan on visiting both. If you are limited on time though, try to
choose only one. Each island is rich with sights and activities,
trying to cram in both islands on a short stay will just force you to leave out too
much from each island or rush through so fast you don’t get to enjoy any of it. We had seven days, and tried to do both islands. We really regret that. Which island should you choose? The answer there has to be very subjective. If you are an “adventurer” and you like
thrills and excitement, then the South Island is for you. Queenstown is the adrenaline junkies meca. Within a few kilometers you can skydive, bungee
jump, jet boat, and helicopter tour a glacier. But it’s also covered in some of the most
beautiful nature and scenery on our planet. From aquamarine rivers and waterfalls to glacier
capped mountains, to penguin lined beaches, the south island will keep you in awe. The North Island, though much smaller, hosts
about three quarters of New Zealand's population, and most of that is centered around their
largest city Auckland. The northerly latitude makes the north island
much more temperate in the summer and thus better for beach goers and watersport activities. There is the Bay of Islands, the geothermal
wonders in Rotorua, and of course Hobbiton for all those Lord of the Rings geeks. Our original plan was to fly into Auckland,
take a commuter flight to Christchurch in the South Island, rent our campervan there,
tour the South Island for four days and then ferry across Cook Strait to the North Island. There we would make our way north along the
east coast to Auckland, where we would turn in our campervan and board our flight home. After making all of the necessary reservations,
Air Zealand notified us that they had canceled our prefered commuter flight. I plotted out our entire itinerary out on
a timeline chart and quickly realized there was no way to see as much as we had aspired...not
without spend every waking hour driving. I had to make the hard decision to reverse
the trip, cut all of the North Island sights out, rocket run from Auckland to Wellington
with a sleepover at Lake Taupo, and lose a whole day to the ferry crossing. This enabled us to at least travel the South
Island, driving no more than four hours each day, and leaving plenty of time for sights,
activities, and of course relaxation. This after all was supposed to be a vacation. How much did it cost? I wont get into our airfare to and from New
Zealand, as this will vary with where you are coming from. We were coming from Fiji and heading next to Hawaii. We spent $652 for the campervan. Fuel for the trip totaled $230. The Ferry crossing between islands was $300. Our Food bill was $255. We spent one night at a hosted campground,
$25. We splurged on a visit to the hot pools at
Franz Josef, $41 for two people. Our last night was spent in a hotel and was
$195 including a meal and a couple drinks in the hotel bar. The airfare to get back to Auckland was $63
each or $126 for two people. We spent $50 or $25 each on local sim cards
with 6gb of internet. All of this adds up to $1,860. Not included in that is $160 we spent on gifts,
souvenirs, and some clothing. What did you get for your money? The campervan included five days rental with
two free days, a basic supplies kit including toilet chemicals and one tank of propane,
linens, a folding table and two camp chairs, and final cleaning. Nobody wants to do that. The van we rented was from Apollo, and was
the Euro-Tourer Model. It was a long wheel base, high-top, diesel
Sprinter chassis with a manual transmission. The cockpit was spacious and well equipped. I never felt any fatigue or cramped on extended
drives. Visibility was surprisingly good. The van handled well and the ride was incredibly smooth. I was actually very impressed with the Sprinter. The cabin had a forward dinette, and both
captains chairs swiveled around to face it. The rear bench seat berths folded down to
form one modified queen birth. There was another small dining table here,
but we used it only as an extension for the galley counter. Once we made the bed up, we left it in place
until the end of the trip. We were provided with a set of sheets and
two down comforters in duvets. Each of us got a bath towel, one hand towel
and a washcloth. There was one kitchen towel. Our clothes fit nicely into the overhead bins,
and we unpacked our cases and stowed them under the bed for the duration. The drivers side rear compartment contained
the shore power cord and adapter, and the hoses and hardware for draining and cleaning
the holding tanks. Our pre-trip package included the two camp
chairs and folding table. The galley was equipped with a hot water sink,
three burner stove and a microwave. There was an assortment of pots pans, and
utensils, a tea kettle, toaster, and blender, those of which needed 240 volt shore power. The bathroom was mid-ship and was a combined
shower toilet stall or ‘wet bath’. There was no sink in the bathroom, we cleaned
our teeth and groomed in the galley sink. There were blackout curtains for all of the
windows, and we never felt a lack of privacy. The two big bay doors on the rear allowed
us to back up to the ocean and lie in bed with an unobstructed view. The large side sliding door made roadside
picnics a breeze. A breeze, you see what I did there. We covered both islands, driving 1,993km or
1,238 miles. We drove about four hours each day. We stopped once a day to refuel. The one small bottle of liquid propane gas
lasted all week. We cooked most of the meals and made coffee
each day and we were conservative about the furnace, but did run it as needed. On the ferry crossing, we were not allowed
to stay in the camper, nor could we get to it while under way. This forced us to buy some snacks from the
very overpriced cafe on board. With loading and unloading, it was over a
five hour ordeal. We shopped at the major grocery stores, and
got a week's worth of groceries, wine, beer, and way more sundries than we needed all for
$215. Meat, especially beef and lamb are cheap in
the islands, as are fresh fruits, vegetables and cheeses. We did splurge on one breakfast at a restaurant
in Punakaiki, more as a time saver than anything else, and that ended up costing $40 for just
some pancakes, eggs and bacon. Each night we found a new and different place
to camp in what are called Freedom Camping sites or in the US we call it boondocking. These spots are limited to self-contained
vehicles, or those with a proper toilet and septic system. Smaller vans and campers that aren't self-contained
are relegated to other sites with facilities or to the paid “Holiday Parks” All of
the spots we found we sparsely populated and near some body of water. Some had pit toilets, some had full restrooms. When we arrived at the village of Franz Josef
Glacier, it had been raining most of the afternoon, was a bit cold, and we were a bit weary form
the rushing around so far. So we thought it best to check into a hosted
campsite for the night to recharge, in more ways than one. There we had unlimited showers, coin laundry
machines, a lounge and library to relax in, and a full kitchen and outdoor grills to use
as we needed. We were able to dump and clean our holding
tanks, fill up with fresh water, and charge up all of our batteries. Best of all on this chilly rainy evening,
We were right across the street from the Hot pools. Inside they have three shared pools, each
with different temperature, and some private pools you can hire separately as well as some
massage services. We decided $20 each for the shared pools was
worth it to finally really relax. We got notified by Air New Zealand that once again they were changing our flight. This time bumping our early morning flight bumped to an even earlier flight. There was no way we could get back to
the airport, get the campervan cleaned out, turned in, checked in, and get over to the terminal fly back to Auckland and make our connecting flight. We decided we had to bite the bullet and turn the camper in a day early,
and stay at an airport hotel Which also meant we couldn’t cook our dinner
and had to eat at the hotel bar. Spend $200 which we didn't have in our budget Just because of Air New Zealand. Our only other expense was the SIM cards we
bought when we first arrived in Auckland. Wifi coverage is very spotty in New Zealand, and cell coverage is even worse We were happy to have the off-line feature
on the Campermate app, so we could have it in our phones, with all the data there and not have to rely on a connection to find where we were and were we were going to camp that night. How did you choose your campervan? There are several great companies operating campervan
hires in New Zealand. Do your home work. Prices and inclusions vary greatly amongst
the companies, and everything changes with availability and season. We have learned that some of the companies
operate as two or three sub-companies. They do this to disguise their rate differentials
between their older units. Their newest campers will be marketed under
one brand, then when they are a year or two old, then re-brand them under a different
name, and when the reach five or so they switch them to their clearance brand. Be wary of this latter group, it can mean
breakdowns on the road, very worn out and uncomfortable mattresses, and seats We found the 2-5 year old coaches to be a
good sweet spot between price and comfort. There are aggregator sites that seem to broker
multiple companies. I found it best to shop these sites, find
what you like, then go to the host company and rent directly from the dealer This way you know you are going to get good customer service. they tend not to be as freindly and helpfull
when you rented through a third party agent. What would you do differently? There were a lot of thing we could have done differently. there was a lot of things we think we did wrong, There were a lot of things, well, we probably wouldn't change. Do - Rent a campervan with a full toilet and
shower. There are lots of other campervan companies out there that are basically renting out minivans with nothing more than a mattress stuffed in the back I compared one of them to ours, Wicked Campervans it only came up $100 less for the whole week Don’t - stress about emptying or cleaning
the septic. It's not that big of a deal In the New Zealand style they use these cartridges and even though I made Joe do it, It's really not that big of a deal. So don't worry about that. Do - take advantage of all those campsite with restrooms in them because you don't want to deal with having to have an empty tank Don’t - plan on driving at night. Most of the roads in New Zealand are single lane undivided highways, and the bridges are one lane shared You will be driving on an unfamiliar side
of the road, and there are no street lights outside of towns. Most of the commercial trucks operate at night
to avoid the traffic and tourists. The other thing about it is you will miss way too much of the scenery Do - plan on reaching your campsite BEFORE
dark. Finding some of these remote sites is very
difficult. Sometime they may already be full. Give yourself enough daylight to find an alternate
if needed. Don’t - Plan on taking the ferry. It cost us over $300, and we lost most of
a whole day to the crossing. You are not allowed in or around your camper
over the five plus hours, and have to plan a bag lunch or buy from the ships over priced
bar and galley. That is UNLESS… You are visiting New Zealand for more than
a week, and you can get a good deal on a “relocation” rental. During peak season, a lot of renters rent
in Auckland, and turn in in Christchurch. This leaves an abundance of campers piled
up in the south island. Many rentals will waive the one-way fee, if
not discount the whole rentall to a just few dollars if you rent in Christchurch and drop-off
in Auckland. This was our original idea. No thanks to Air new zealand for screwing
up our flights, and thus the whole trip. Do - If you have less than ten days, pick
one island. There is just so much to see and trying to
cram in both islands will just disappoint you. If you have ten days or more, and can’t
get a ‘relocation’ rental, plan on two separate rentals, and just fly between islands. The airfare is much cheaper than the ferry,
and I haven't seen any cost penalty to two separate rentals, and you get a nice clean
coach half way through your trip. Don’t - depend on the ferry or the airlines
to be on time. If you are planning your travel down to the
hour or even half day, you could get surprised or stranded, We made our trip work, but had
some white knuckle moments. Don’t - Stay at Holiday parks if you don’t
need too. Freedom camping may seem intimidating, but
with a little forethought and planning, it can be very rewarding. Do - Bring extra cables, chargers, and power
splitters for your toys. The Camper may have only one 12 volt outlet. I brought a three hole 12 volt splitter, a
six-slot USB car charger, and an inverter. Whenever you are driving, take the opportunity
to top up the charge on everything you can. Do - Get a SIM card with at least 4 gigs of
data, download the Campermate app in advance, load up your kindle with books or movies,
and pre-download your itinerary on google maps. Access to internet is spotty. Some places we camped had none at all. Don’t - buy too many groceries the first
day. The refrigerators are very small. Storage is a premium inside the camper. Grocery stores, markets, shops, and even farm
stands were plentiful along the way. The first day, we bought everything we thought
we needed for a week. At the end of the trip we ended up throwing
a lot of it away. Do - Buy local cheese, meats and especially
wines. And make sure to bring along a few reusable
grocery bags. Don’t - depend on the camper to be well
equipped with kitchen gadgets and utensils. Do - plan simple meals that can be cooked
in one pot and do not need an oven. There was a microwave on board, but it ran
on 240 volts and we needed to be plugged into shore power for it to work. Get a disposable grill for outdoor cooking,
or rent one from the Campervan company if available that connects to the propane gas
system. Don’t - bring hard sided luggage. The compartments are often oddly sized. Have baggage that can be collapsed when not
in use or stuffed under a bed. Plan and pack for varying temperatures and it rains in New Zealand,. All the time. Do - Have a backpack or daypack that you can
keep all of your valuables in. Take it with you whenever you leave the camper,
even for a few minutes. To check out the local ducks. Some other things we found helpful… Many campers buy too much stuff and end up
with extra food, cleaning supplies, baggies and the like at the end of their trip. Many will leave this for the next camper. ASK the rental agent if they have a ‘goodie’
table you can peruse. Things like aluminum foil and trash bag are
expensive and often come only in large quantities. Getting ahold of someones leftovers can be
a great budget saver. Get paper towels, a lot. There are only one or two hand towels provided,
and you don’t want to waste them cleaning up that red wine spill because you forgot
to secure the fridge door. Do check all cabinet and appliance doors each
time you plan to move the vehicle. One pothole and you can lose everything out
of a cupboard. Do - Remove the smoke detector before cooking. It will pretty much go off every time you use the stove. [Joe] Especially if I'm Cooking. Oh? Most importantly, come during their off season. May was the time we went and it was absolutely beautiful. temperate weather, no crowds, and everything was discounted appropriately. If you come during peak season Rentals will be more expensive parking spaces and campsites will be at a premium you are going to be facing crowds and the highways will be clogged If you are into photography, or you want to see the sights standing five deep behind six rows of tripods is no fun. We watched a lot of videos in preparation for this trip. Some of the most informative and best, came from Tim & Fin and their Tripped Series But most of all, Kara and Nate, as they attempt to do 100 Countries before 2020 We hope these tips were useful to you and we hope that they will help you make the best of your New Zealand trip. If you haven't already seen them check out our other videos in the series about New Zealand They'll be linked at the end of this video. If you have any questions for us or you have anything you know from New Zealand that might be useful for our other viewers Please let us know in the comments section below. We like to reply to everybody. We'd also like to ask you to smash that like button, and if you haven't already done it, subscribe to our channel Hit that little bell notification so you're made aware when we're ready to upload another video. Unitl then... Kia Ora! [Music] Hello Kara. Hi Nate. This video is for you. You guys influenced us so much. You were mentors in us taking this New Zealand road trip. We got the campervan, thanks to you. We've done everything thanks to you. We're seeing the sights thanks to you. So we thought we had to pay a little tribute and do the TimTam Slam. You ready? [Music] Hey! That's good. You're supposed to eat the whole thing. Oh. It's melting! Thank you Nate and Kara! [Music]
