New Zealand is called “Gods own country” by the locals and when you finally see it, you will understand the reference. This country is like no other, untouched and unspoiled. There is so much diversity on these two islands, from beautiful deserted beaches, glaciers, rainforests, and amazing fjords.
When we decided to camper-van around New Zealand, we had no idea what we were in for! This would be our first trip ever in a recreational vehicle, and in a foreign country where they drive on the other side of the road. Our trip was planned for 16 days, and originally we wanted to go to both Islands, but after realizing NZ is WAY too huge, we decided to only circle the north island.
Our flight arrived in Auckland late at night, so we stayed the night at the Novotel right at the Auckland airport, and I’m so happy we did. Our flight ended up being delayed 3 hours, so instead of arriving at 8pm, we arrived well after 11pm. It was really nice being able to walk right out of the international terminal, across the street to the hotel and into our comfy beds. We also woke up to an amazing breakfast buffet before starting our adventure. If your going to Auckland, I highly recommend Novotel. Check out these five tips, to save you money and make your camper van experience a good one.
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Book your camper van directly with the company.
We rented our camper van from “freedom campers”, they are a smaller company located on the out skirts of Auckland. There are a ton of different websites similar to “expedia” (but for camper vans), to get quotes. I do not recommend booking with one of these sites, reason being they charge extra for their services, when you can go straight to the company itself and skip the extras. We made this mistake when booking our NZ camper van, and we ended up paying almost $300 more then just going straight to the company. So long story short, use the search engines to figure out what kind of camper van you want and how much you wanna pay, but go straight to the company to reserve.
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Don’t be cheap, get the insurance.
Another thing I recommend is getting the extra insurance, the van is BIG (I almost backed my husband into an overhang) and the cost for repairs are expensive, save yourself the stress and pay for the insurance! Another bonus to getting the full insurance is you don’t have to put a bond on your credit card. Some companies charge up to 7 grand on your credit card, until you return it in sound condition, then they will refund the money.
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Get an automatic transmission van
Our camper van was an older model, so it was a standard (stick shift), with the steering wheel on the left side. I know what your thinking, all of this AND you have to drive on the opposite side of the road? It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, so please don’t let this discourage you from camper-vanning this beautiful country! Thankfully my husband is left handed, so he had no problem shifting with his left hand, and he quickly got used to driving on the left hand side of the road. But if we could do it again, we would have paid the extra to get an automatic transmission van. This country is huge, there are many winding roads, and down/up shifting gets old fast. Save yourself the hassle and your foot getting tired, by renting an automatic.
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Freedom camp as often as possible.
Freedom camping is basically free camping on public conservation land. But as you may have heard, you cant freedom camp unless you have a “self-contained” vehicle (van with a toilet). There are a TON of places to freedom camp, the kiwis are pretty chill people, and unless there are signs that say no freedom camping, your ok. Just use your common sense, don’t disturb the locals and leave no trace behind you (as in take your trash with you). We tried to camp every other night at a free spot, that way we could charge our vehicle at a paid site every other day. Almost every town has an iSite (visitor information center), a great resource where you can check the area for freedom camping spots.
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Dont reserve at holiday parks ahead of time.
We visited NZ during the last 2 weeks of December, directly during the holidays. When we planned the trip we were worried that we needed to reserve the holiday parks in advance because we were traveling during the peak season. However, since we didn’t know what towns we would be in and when, we decided to play it by ear, and I’m so glad we did! Only one time did we come across a park that was booked, and this was on the weekend of New Years.
So if your visiting in the off season, I wouldn’t worry about booking early. The greatest thing about camper-vanning, is your traveling with your home! If you want to stay longer/shorter in certain areas you can, and having that flexibility and spontaneity is part of the adventure! Another small tip, download the app camper mate where you can search the area your in for holiday parks and freedom camping spots. Also if your planning on arriving to a town late at night, find a holiday parks on camper mate, and call ahead to reserve your spot, because often times the office will close early. Several times we had the office leave us a packet for our camp site on the office door upon arrival. Check out our tour of the van we rented in Australia below.
To this day, camper-vanning New Zealand is one of my favorite trips! There is nothing like experiencing “Gods own country” in a camper van. Check out 5 Things You Must See on New Zealand’s North Island.
If you have any questions about camper-vanning NZ please leave them below, and if you have camped there before I would love to hear about it.
