N. Zealand...... Is this viable or just a stupid idea

[wfdTamar]

I got a price recently to ship ours to Perth. £6,500 one way. You have to pay an official Australian registered company to fumigate the van when it arrives. I believe NZ regs are very similar.

Can I ask how big is your motorhome as I've been toying with doing that. The motorhomes available here (Australia) are expensive and have poor layouts and quality. Nowhere near as good as my Hymer B584 in the UK. Saw a nice 2003 Hymer B7xx one (can't remember the exact model) which would be a roll on roll shipping job. Too big for s container.

 

[Two of usI]

Can I ask how big is your motorhome as I've been toying with doing that. The motorhomes available here (Australia) are expensive and have poor layouts and quality. Nowhere near as good as my Hymer B584 in the UK. Saw a nice 2003 Hymer B7xx one (can't remember the exact model) which would be a roll on roll shipping job. Too big for s container.

7.5M

 

[Lady kay]

We have been over to N.Z. a couple of times and absolutely love the people and the country and it will our top priority when we are next able to travel....... We have been dreaming and come up with ( maybe stupid) a plan.... we would like to ship our M/ Home out there and then fly out and spend maybe 6 months there, after which we thought of selling the van ( we have been told the prices are seriously higher than here ) and coming back home to buy another !!!!!!! Honest / constructive opinions please ????

Hi we purchased a one year old Trailite with all the bells and whistles (even a pull out barbecue). It worked perfectly, Trailite looked after it when we were in the Pacific Islands (6 months every year on our sailing boat) (NZ winter. We lived in it 6 months a year for 2 years. They resold it for us with a very small loss in NZ$ and a 30% increase in sterling equivalent due to drop in the pound. Rentals are generally poor. We paid top whack in Tasmania for one and it was still very poor quality. At the time for comparison we had a Hymer in the UK.

 

[LesW]

I got a price recently to ship ours to Perth. £6,500 one way. You have to pay an official Australian registered company to fumigate the van when it arrives. I believe NZ regs are very similar.

You could hire one in NZ for a month for that sort of money, perhaps a bit more, and that would include return flights.

 

[Jezzapux]

We bought a small 7m bus Hino(commercial Toyota) and visited NZ every year 9 for their summer, had a great time and made some wonderful friends over there.
First thing to do is join the NZMCA there whilst still here, you will then get access to their classifieds and get their travel directory which list hundreds of places to stay. Even a brand new van would not comply with some of their standards for self containment and gas.
Getting a second hand one, as long as it has the correct certification is much easier and of course when after 9 years of going to and fro made it easy to sell. The old busses are becoming fewer and further between. Driving- you can drive whatever you are licenced to here. Maximum time 1 year and the time is not cumulative. We started off by doing a MH swap with a Dunedin couple met loads of lovely people through the NZMCA.

Heavy vehicles have to pay a price per Km and are subject to an bi-annual registration an so getting a more standard MH is lighter saves you quite a lot of money and hassle. We negotiated a deal with a member to leave the old bus under a cover in a paddock when we were not there. We soon learned that a further deal for electricity was necessary to keep the inside dry with a time switch and fan heater and hour a day kept it really well.
Go for it and enjoy yourself. Eventually old age got in the way 24 hours sitting in an aeroplane became too much for me anyway to say nothing of our governments stealth reg change ie medical for the over 70's increased the hassle factor by too much and we decided to sell it and go to Spain in the summer in our Adria. It was great fun and we still get visited by Kiwis and their children now and again. We went to loads of places and all areas in NZ including some places that perhaps a bus shouldn't go! and met some wonderful, sometimes eccentric Kiwis. Look up Danseys pass Marlborough sound, Paradise, the abandoned Rimutaka rail track, Arthurs pass and up to the foot of Mt Cook, Mt Aspiring, Lake Coleridge, The Catlins and many more

Another useful piece of info is look at Trade me the NZ version of Ebay

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[bobnick]

Can I ask how big is your motorhome as I've been toying with doing that. The motorhomes available here (Australia) are expensive and have poor layouts and quality. Nowhere near as good as my Hymer B584 in the UK. Saw a nice 2003 Hymer B7xx one (can't remember the exact model) which would be a roll on roll shipping job. Too big for s container.

Auto-Trail Imala 743. Not sure width and Height but length is 7.45mts. Shipping co have all the specs.

 

[bobnick]

You could hire one in NZ for a month for that sort of money, perhaps a bit more, and that would include return flights.

I know i did. 6 weeks rental was about that price. Fares not included. One of the reasons i thought i would do the exercise. Company we have used in Aussy 3 times is Lets'GO.

 

[wfdTamar]

Everything about motorhomes and campervans is way more expensive in Australia and New Zealand, though some fitout parts are quite a lot cheaper. Those from Europe (for example Seitz Windows) are pricy (even more than there), but electrics stuff for example (solar, batteries etc) much less. I’ve bought things for my UK Hymer here (Australia) like Victron stuff.

The local built vans tend to go for crude strength and simplicity which makes them heavy, but maybe stronger for off bitumen driving. Then you virtually have to use a 4WD to tow it, or a heavy base vehicle in a MH. Or if they do use a lighter one (Fiat, Renault) the layouts are very basic. Forget the huge space saver of the Hymer drop down bed (though there are some compact ones which have electric drop down beds over the lounge area which is not a bad option). Also compactness is not such a necessity for driving as it is in Europe. No ancient villages with tight streets. Though I wouldn’t fancy peak hour Melbourne or Sydney in a big motorhome.

 

[The general]

Yes the only traffic jams you get in NZ is in Auckland that’s it ,BUT if adverse weather especially on the South Island there tends to have big land slips and if roads are blocked there are very very limited other routes have to wait to roads get cleared . I particularly liked the bridges that the road and trains share

 

[Jon Spencer]

New Zealand new prices are around 35 to 50% higher than the UK. Check out trademe.co.nz (its where everything is sold here) and go to the Motors/Motorhomes section to see what you pay for various makes. I would buy a new one and import it, it would be quite the outlay but you could easily sell it for a profit and have a holiday for free. Or, you could buy one here and sell it at the end of your holiday, I‘ve bought and sold three motorhomes in the last 11 years here and have always made a profit.

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[John Barrett]

Yes the only traffic jams you get in NZ is in Auckland that’s it ,BUT if adverse weather especially on the South Island there tends to have big land slips and if roads are blocked there are very very limited other routes have to wait to roads get cleared . I particularly liked the bridges that the road and trains share

Yes, we didn't see many traffic jams: this might have been the worst one...

 

[wfdTamar]

Problem is the place will be overrun with ugly Australians for a while as it’s the only place we’re allowed to go to still. I think we’re on par with Brits and Yanks when travelling en mass.

 

[bobnick]

Problem is the place will be overrun with ugly Australians for a while as it’s the only place we’re allowed to go to still. I think we’re on par with Brits and Yanks when travelling en mass.

Ugly Australians, i've been on Bondi and Manly many many times, the ones i was looking at certainly were not ugly

 

[Wyvern]

We looked into importing our 7m sprinter PVC to NZ and gave up on the idea…as a non resident just not worth it with transport and tariff costs. 2 years ago we bought a Ford ranger and slide on imported from Australia. No km duty on a Ute or import. Spent 3 months in it before returning Christmas before COVID and returning to the U.K. A great bit of Kit that allows you to get placed most MH can’t get to. Surprisingly well equipped (shower, heating etc). Plan was 4/5 months NZ rest U.K./Europe…miss winter and bought a job lot of flights at a discount from Quantas. Covid has got in the way BUT the rig has gone up in value and hopefully one day soon we will be able to travel….if not we will have to sell!

 

[Poursay]

Yes the only traffic jams you get in NZ is in Auckland that’s it ,BUT if adverse weather especially on the South Island there tends to have big land slips and if roads are blocked there are very very limited other routes have to wait to roads get cleared . I particularly liked the bridges that the road and trains share

Our son, who lives and works in Tauranga would strongly disagree with you about traffic jams!

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[wfdTamar]

We looked into importing our 7m sprinter PVC to NZ and gave up on the idea…as a non resident just not worth it with transport and tariff costs. 2 years ago we bought a Ford ranger and slide on imported from Australia. No km duty on a Ute or import. Spent 3 months in it before returning Christmas before COVID and returning to the U.K. A great bit of Kit that allows you to get placed most MH can’t get to. Surprisingly well equipped (shower, heating etc). Plan was 4/5 months NZ rest U.K./Europe…miss winter and bought a job lot of flights at a discount from Quantas. Covid has got in the way BUT the rig has gone up in value and hopefully one day soon we will be able to travel….if not we will have to sell!

So you have a vehicle in storage in New Zealand you can’t get to. I have one in the UK I can’t get to. You’re in the UK. I’m in Tasmania. Jeez, we should swap until things are back to normal! Except mine doesn’t have a working fridge till I get back.

 

[orridge]

Problem is the place will be overrun with ugly Australians for a while as it’s the only place we’re allowed to go to still. I think we’re on par with Brits and Yanks when travelling en mass.

Not for long with the current numbers that Trans Tasman bubble looking a bit shaky now.

 

[The general]

Our son, who lives and works in Tauranga would strongly disagree with you about traffic jams!

Must admit my last visit( been there 6 times ) to NZ was 2008 so things might have changed , but the population not increased much ?

 

[Poursay]

First went in 1995, joke at the time was ,As the plane lands at Auckland, the pilot announces,” welcome to NZ, please put your watch back 25 years! “.
AK totally different now, just like most capital cites, many Asians buying in, locals moving out particularly to Bay of Plenty area, pushing up house prices there. Some have doubled in the last 5 years or so.
Son moved out there in 2002 and we have visited every couple of years or so.
still a great place and we would be out there like a shot if not for commitments here.

 

[Clickem]

New Zealand new prices are around 35 to 50% higher than the UK. Check out trademe.co.nz (its where everything is sold here) and go to the Motors/Motorhomes section to see what you pay for various makes. I would buy a new one and import it, it would be quite the outlay but you could easily sell it for a profit and have a holiday for free. Or, you could buy one here and sell it at the end of your holiday, I‘ve bought and sold three motorhomes in the last 11 years here and have always made a profit.

If buying a new MH in the U.K. to export to NZ, which manufacturer would be a good choice, thinking of any possible/likely warranty issues and availability of parts in NZ

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[rangi]

To get an idea of living expenses, bearing in mind you won't be allowed to take any food with you, Google this video. It is from 2018 and just over 9 minute long and deals with prices in Auckland. Covers fuel, house and food prices, not sure if the costs are relivent or not but it'll give you some idea. Can't give you the link, but I found it easy enough on You Tube.

" Cost of Living in Auckland New Zealand" The Peter &Yen Video NOT the Janet Li video

last figure I looked at was £GB 1 = $NZ 1.87

 

[The general]

I looked at was £GB 1 = $NZ 1.87

It’s an expensive country , but truly beautiful and well worth a visited

 

[rangi]

It’s an expensive country , but truly beautiful and well worth a visited

Once did a visit that lasted 24 and a bit years

 

[Silver-Fox]

When you see 90 mile beach ( named after 90 ml track I believe ) it’s hard not to drive on it ! With the breakers pounding it , I had a Toyota Land Cruiser and just followed the locals , hoping not to hit soft sand , an exciting ride ,. Another banned rd is skippers canyon . A fantastic country .

I did cheat a bit on the rule.

I drove from the car park area on to the beach did a big u turn and back off

If I owned the the Moho I would of traveled along the beach

 

[rb62]

If buying a new MH in the U.K. to export to NZ, which manufacturer would be a good choice, thinking of any possible/likely warranty issues and availability of parts in NZ

Both Autotrail 3 dealers North Island,1 South Island and Roller team,Auckland have a presence there

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[rangi]

I did cheat a bit on the rule.

I drove from the car park area on to the beach did a big u turn and back off

If I owned the the Moho I would of traveled along the beach

Don't know if they have fixed up "Gentle Annie" , I expect they have, I drove it a couple of times in the 80s, It certainly got your juices flowing!!
It went off Highway 1 at Waiouru and wound it's way down to the Taupo - Napier road (think that was Highway 2???)
There was a lunatic about halfway down that had a couple of Tiger Moths, if by chance he was out and about in one, he would buzz you in one of the damn things. If he was in a "playfull" mood he would bomb you with a small bag of flour!
It was just a gravel track really, a corkscrew was straight as a dye compared with Gentle Annie!