New Zealand or Bust

[StillGoing]

Well the foundations have been laid, flights are booked and a motorhome has been hired for 7 weeks touring North and South island, we land in Aukland at the end of January and have a few days acclimatising in an apartment before picking up a sub 7m motorhome, not a lot of storage, no inverter, no coffee machine, microwave only on hook up ah well I am sure we will cope, oh and a cassette toilet so that will be a "blast from the past" after nearly 5 years with a black tank.

We don't have much of a plan at the moment, we have joined the NZ motor caravanners association and have several apps for parking places, we have booked a ferry North to South after 10 days on North island, we have 5 more days on North island on the way back to Aukland, one snippet I picked up on another thread was to travel Clockwise so unless anybody can offer a good reason to do the opposite that will be part of the plan.

There are a few obvious thing that we know we want to do/see,

Rotorua
Coromandel peninsula and I fancy a Kayak trip
Bay of islands

Dunedin and Otago peninsula as it seems to be the place for penguins
Franz Josef and Fox glacier
Milford Sound
A vineyard and wine tasting I am sure

Any suggestions and advice gratefully received

We’re in Auckland at the moment just chilling before picking up a motorhome. Today we took a ferry to Waihiki Island then got buses around the island. A great way to spend a day.

 

[jongood]

We’re in Auckland at the moment just chilling before picking up a motorhome. Today we took a ferry to Waihiki Island then got buses around the island. A great way to spend a day.

Are you giving the bungee jump from the skytower a miss then?

 

[Two on Tour]

We had a wander around Whanganui today which has got some nice old buildings.
The museum on local and Moari history is worth a look around along with the tramway museum.

This is our transport for tomorrow.

 

[The general]

nice old building.

Pure art deco , napier art decor capital of the world also hastings worth a visit

 

[Two on Tour]

Pure art deco , napier art decor capital of the world also hastings worth a visit

Both on our list to visit.

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[lorger]

Enjoy your trip

 

[funflair]

We are in that strange limbo world of air travel, it’s 09.15 UK time and just had breakfast after a decent sleep but it’s 17.15 at our destination, it’s -42 degrees outside so has warmed up a bit as it was -56.

And who knew there was WiFi at 10668 metres and travelling at 931km/h, well I didn’t

 

[Two on Tour]

We are in that strange limbo world of air travel, it’s 09.15 UK time and just had breakfast after a decent sleep but it’s 17.15 at our destination, it’s -42 degrees outside so has warmed up a bit as it was -56.
View attachment 1006222
And who knew there was WiFi at 10668 metres and travelling at 931km/h, well I didn’t

Lucky sod, you got to sleep !!!
I can never sleep on flights, went 46 hours without sleep this time before getting my shut eye at our first digs.

 

[funflair]

Lucky sod, you got to sleep !!!
I can never sleep on flights, went 46 hours without sleep this time before getting my shut eye at our first digs.

Jen is now watching Titanic to stay awake so she can sleep tonight, you know what I Am doing

 

[PaddyM]

Our flight to NZ is on Tuesday , following your thread with interest . We are going down the car and air b n b route .

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[FEC]

You will have a brilliant time -loads to see and scenery is spectacular everywhere -and while we loved Oz and did 3 MH trips there it was a case of boring drives between lovely places while in NZ it tends to be lovely drives between lovely places! It is 20 years since we were there so interested to see how those glaciers are faring? We walked on the Franz Josef G when we were there but I believe it has retreated massively due to climate change over last 2 decades. But I have yet to hear of anyone who has gone to NZ and come back disappointed. Its up there in our top 3 holidays ever! Have a fab trip!

 

[Otter Spotter]

Looking forward to following this thread.

Can i just say on the MH v Car/hotel/motel/site cabin?villa or whatever.
We have just done 4 weeks in Aussie using car and above. In our opinion it;s equal.
Would be the toss of a coin if we do get to NZ of which mode we use. Both would be equally enjoyable..............for us, as was our Aussie trip recently.............in fact this trip it was in the car we feel.

Just a quick ‘chip in’ we did NZ in a Motorhome for 3 weeks before moving to a Hotel for a week and my observation is that if we went again I would do a month with 2 weeks in B&Bs ( farms, Vinyards etc) and 2 weeks in MH, only because we found that in the MH we only really spoke to other tourists Brits, Dutch and French and didn’t really meet any true New Zealanders. Some of the campsites on South Island were being managed by Brits !
The 2 Vineyard’s we did visit for bottles, the owners were fantastic and so friendly, one couple even feeding us and getting us well and truly p@ssed.

 

[TwistNShout]

Enjoy your NZ trip everyone. We're currently planning for later this year, as part of a round the world trip. We've got a few places we must visit, seeing family and friends, but just deciding whether to fly into Christchurch and drive up to Auckland or fly into Auckland and drive around from there. Decisions, decisions

 

[garry f]

After spending 10 months in a motorhome in Australia went round clockwise then went to NZ for 2 months Doubtful sound was really good, also recommend Stewart Islands to see Kiwi. Also on north island 90 mile beach was good fun with sand tobogganing at the end was really good fun.

 

[The general]

But I have yet to hear of anyone who has gone to NZ and come back disappointed. Its up there in our top 3 holidays ever!

Without doubt

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[The general]

Also on north island 90 mile beach

Yes the mighty rollers coming in they dont call it the roaring 40s for nothing

 

[The general]

Hard place to find ? Rainbow warrior memorial

 

[The general]

I think it must be expensive now first time I visited 3plus dollars to the pound

 

[Mikey RV]

I think it must be expensive now first time I visited 3plus dollars to the pound

That’s what I got when touring for three months in 2001. The camper van we hired from Britz cost us £1000 for three months.

 

[houdini]

You will have a brilliant time -loads to see and scenery is spectacular everywhere -and while we loved Oz and did 3 MH trips there it was a case of boring drives between lovely places while in NZ it tends to be lovely drives between lovely places! It is 20 years since we were there so interested to see how those glaciers are faring? We walked on the Franz Josef G when we were there but I believe it has retreated massively due to climate change over last 2 decades. But I have yet to hear of anyone who has gone to NZ and come back disappointed. Its up there in our top 3 holidays ever! Have a fab trip!

Wot he said!
Have a great time.

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[Holly's mum]

Our flight to NZ is on Tuesday , following your thread with interest . We are going down the car and air b n b route .

That's what we are doing and all good so far