New Zealand touring (19 Viewers)

[new2it]

We are fortunate in being able to plan an extended trip to Australia/New Zealand. As part of this trip we will hire a motorhome to tour the north island of New Zealand for 3 weeks. We are looking for any tips, destinations, sites etc from any Funsters that have had experience in touring there.

 

[Two on Tour]

We are fortunate in being able to plan an extended trip to Australia/New Zealand. As part of this trip we will hire a motorhome to tour the north island of New Zealand for 3 weeks. We are looking for any tips, destinations, sites etc from any Funsters that have had experience in touring there.

This may be of interest to you.

Motorhome rental in New Zealand!

Come explore New Zealand in our motorhome! 🚐 We have had our own motorhome in NZ for years and have also travelled overseas and hired motorhomes with our two young children. We now have one to rent out and have set it up with all that we know will...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Bernie P]

Excuse the spelling:
Waitangi
Cromondal peninsula (hot water beach)
Napier
Rotorua
Cape Palliser (Seals & Lighthouse)
Huka Falls
Lake Taupo
Stonehenge Aotearoa (near Wellington)

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

Ohope beach.
Hobiton, cheesey, but brilliant detail, have a pie and pint in the Green Dragon Inn.
Mike.

 

[jongood]

We are fortunate in being able to plan an extended trip to Australia/New Zealand. As part of this trip we will hire a motorhome to tour the north island of New Zealand for 3 weeks. We are looking for any tips, destinations, sites etc from any Funsters that have had experience in touring there

Its a wonderful place to visit with lots of amazing scenery and freedom camping spots in lovely spots. We did mostly South island because we did that first and spent more time there than we planned, NZ was bigger than we realised with each island being roughly the size of the british mainland and not much in the way of motorways.

We were able to use share a camper which now belongs to something called camplify, basically an airbnb for motorhomes so ours came with everything.

The commercial hire companies can be a bit naughty with the extras, needing you to buy all sorts of packages to get something usable, the worst one is the toilet scam, to be able to stop in the best places you need a "self contained" vehicle with a sticker on it so among other things it needs a toilet, so they include a hygenically wrapped potty, if you take the wrapper off they "fine" you. so it means your self contained Mh isnt unless you pay more money. They also supply people carriers that arent really suitable unless your really small or really young and can sleep anywhere. Forewarned is hopefully forearmed.

On North island we did get to Taupo- Volcanos etc, Napier - Art Deco town, Wellington - got a real traveller/ frontier feel but really windy & Auckland - the most laid back capital we've ever been to. There was a great beach stop just north of Wellington.

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[Chrisvh]

We toured each Island for a month. N Island really surprised us. We enjoyed it as much as S Island. Loads to see. Traffic around Auckland can he heavy but everywhere else was fine. Heading N from Auckland the Bay of Islands area is very pleasant for a few days to find your feet. Russell makes a good base. Whale watching boat trips and good restaurants. Boat trips across to Waitangi.

Don’t miss Martinborough, South of Napier. Pretty little town with about 20 vineyards, restaurants etc. Hire a bike and have a day tasting NZ best Pinot Noir. Highly recommended.

 

[Parrot Face]

I prefer the southisland.

 

[jongood]

This may be of interest to you.

Motorhome rental in New Zealand!

Come explore New Zealand in our motorhome! 🚐 We have had our own motorhome in NZ for years and have also travelled overseas and hired motorhomes with our two young children. We now have one to rent out and have set it up with all that we know will...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

That could tempt us back

It has to be said though thatNZ Mh's are pretty crap, we went in 2016, they were mostly old fashioned, rear lounge very few fixed beds unless you fancied the overcab, single glazed, single floor a piddly little 1 inch discharge for the grey waste. But the scenery, the stopoffs and the space was wonderful.

 

[Two on Tour]

That could tempt us back

It has to be said though thatNZ Mh's are pretty crap, we went in 2016, they were mostly old fashioned, rear lounge very few fixed beds unless you fancied the overcab, single glazed, single floor a piddly little 1 inch discharge for the grey waste. But the scenery, the stopoffs and the space was wonderful.

We are off for a 3-month tour of New Zealand in January, but when we looked into hiring a MH, the cost was ludicrous for a van of the size we currently have and most were around ten years old, so we have booked a hire car and will stay in mainly motels which are good value.

 

[new2it]

Many thanks to all for the tips and advice.
We are doing the South Island by train and car but fancied a slower wander around the North Island in a Motorhome.
We are travelling in the latter part of Feb and early March in the Motorhome, do any campsites need booking in advance and are there the equivalent of Aires available. Also is wild camping allowed.

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[mapman]

We were there at a similar time 10 years ago and commercial sites were quite busy. The nearest thing we found to aires were the DOC ( dept of conservation) sites some with facilities but others basic. NZ very strict on campers being self contained so don’t go for the cheaper firms. We used Wilderness twice and had a Burstner Ixeo which was fine. Also need to check if they allow use on gravel roads. We used Top 10 and with their loyalty card sites were reasonably priced. There are some NZ motorhome club sites for members only but we never found out how to join. We phoned ahead for sites in busy areas. One tip we visited The Red Shed store as soon as we got the van and bought all those little things that we were used to in Europe but were not in the van - storage box condiments herbs olive oil cheap tea towels( rattles also!) sharp knife, colander,coffee etc .On our last day we found a charity (thrift in NZ) shop supporting young mums and gave them the lot. Enjoy

 

[jongood]

We are off for a 3-month tour of New Zealand in January, but when we looked into hiring a MH, the cost was ludicrous for a van of the size we currently have and most were around ten years old, so we have booked a hire car and will stay in mainly motels which are good value.

We did a bit of both, and found the car/B&B thing is ok for a few days but the camper was massively better. Why not have a few weeks in the one you linked to at some point? 3 months in a suitcase is a very long time.

 

[jongood]

Many thanks to all for the tips and advice.
We are doing the South Island by train and car but fancied a slower wander around the North Island in a Motorhome.
We are travelling in the latter part of Feb and early March in the Motorhome, do any campsites need booking in advance and are there the equivalent of Aires available. Also is wild camping allowed.

There are lots of freedom camping spots (kiwi for aires) have a look at Rankers app ( I think) To do it again I would also join NZMCA, it keeps you aceess to lots of shared places and big discounts, particularly off the cook strait ferries ( an adventure in itself)

 

[Graydo]

Sidney is stunning,

Harbour bridge (you can walk over it)
Opera house
Ferry to zoo
Ferry to Manly
Botanical gardens

Not sure about camping areas though, we stayed in hotels last year.

Graydo

We are fortunate in being able to plan an extended trip to Australia/New Zealand. As part of this trip we will hire a motorhome to tour the north island of New Zealand for 3 weeks. We are looking for any tips, destinations, sites etc from any Funsters that have had experience in touring there.

 

[Two on Tour]

We did a bit of both, and found the car/B&B thing is ok for a few days but the camper was massively better. Why not have a few weeks in the one you linked to at some point? 3 months in a suitcase is a very long time.

We are all booked up and ready to go, just waiting for the clock to tick around.

When we looked into the places we wanted to visit and campsites in those areas and access to places in a MH, we decided that it was going to hold us back too much from what we wanted to do, plus the cost of extra mileage per kilometre over the allotted amount for the hire period was a killer.

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[Graydo]

Many thanks to all for the tips and advice.
We are doing the South Island by train and car but fancied a slower wander around the North Island in a Motorhome.
We are travelling in the latter part of Feb and early March in the Motorhome, do any campsites need booking in advance and are there the equivalent of Aires available. Also is wild camping allowed.

Queenstown
Queenstown
Queenstown
Do the jet boat rides up the river
Go up the gondola and take the go cart ride

Shark attack ride at the harbour, very unique, never seen it anywhere before
Sort of, part speedboat, part submarine looks like a shark and submerges before breaching verically out the water.

Sounds like you're already doing the southern alps by train.

Graydo

 

[Twoleftfeet]

IMO hire a car, we done the north island and left the car at the port and Collect another car at the South Island, that’s the way car hire works, we stayed in Nelson for a week and watched the New Year in, don’t be afraid to negotiate a better deal at motels if you’re staying in on place for more than two days.
IMO the South Island is the most scenic, and kiwis have a can do attitude, never found a jobsworth Thankfully

 

[Porridge Oats]

YouTubers "Extreme Motorhome Adventures" recently toured New Zealand. Maybe of interest.