New Zealand tour (1 Viewer)

Silver-Fox

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Morning all

So the MH is booked flights are booked and stop overs booked.
I now need to get to the nitty gritty of the subject so close to many of our hearts money

What's the general consensus of how to pay for things ie shopping fuel tips etc.
I have signed up for a pre load Thomas Cook card but had a look at some of the fees and they seemed a bit steep.
The card is a Mastercard pre load.
I prefer to use something I know how much is on it and what the exchange rate is.

Any help much appreciated.
The trip is in March 2016.
 

Cossieg

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I'm using a travelex supercard in Portugal and it has b v good so far. Exchange rate seems ok and no chrages for getting cash which is a saving.

Keen to hear about your trip, we ship our van to NZ next year and then plan a 6 month tour in it.

Have you got a 3 sim to use?
 
Oct 15, 2012
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We visit NZ at least every 18 months and the USA yearly as well as Europe and have found the HalifaxClarity card to be excellent. The only problem we had was using it to buy fuel in Italy. When we tour NZ we stay in BB, lodges and small hotels, as much as we love Motorhoming we find this much cheaper. :)

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Silver-Fox

Silver-Fox

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Looked into 3 sim. I was told by a guy in the store it's good for calling back to the uk but if used in NZ you get charged for roaming.

We will be using Skype and only need a phone for emergencies.

I need to check costing of getting a sim over in NZ and going pre pay.
2gb a month should be plenty I think.

I was also told you can't use a phone sim in an ipad or tether an ipad to a phone on pre pay.

It's a mine field out there
 
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Silver-Fox

Silver-Fox

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Davidbaldam

I wanted to do the full experience with lots of wilding on or by beaches.
Didn't want to be tied down to a schedule

Will have to look into the Halifax then, thanks.

I had heard Nationwide can be good for traveling as well.
 

etap

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When we go to NZ and stopovers we usually buy some NZ dollars and Aussie ones ( if that is a stopover) also always take some pounds, and the other stops we use a MasterCard who now give you the commercial rate but deduct 2.75 percent , it is easy to get money in most hotels or towns and for fuel use MasterCard, don't know how long you are going for our trips are usually 5 or 6 weeks.
Have a wonderful time.

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Clickem

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We went in February and I would also recommend the Halifax Clarity CC, we used it in NZ and extensively in Europe. For cash we use a Caxton Global Traveller Card. You can load the card in about 8 different currencies, including NZ Dollars

Caxton card is a Mastercard so you can use it to pay for things but we just used it for cash from ATM's as the Halifax Clarity is tops for exchange rate, for fuel food etc. The Caxton card is linked to your UK current account and you can top it up as needed on Internet or even set it up so it can be topped up by text

If you had any currency left on the card when you get back you can change it to Euros or draw it back into your bank. Thing I like is if the card is lost or stolen, you do not need to have much money on it, to lose. You choose exchange rate from what is going rate at the time you decide to load it
 
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Silver-Fox

Silver-Fox

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etap

Our trip is nearly 3 months long

Stop overs are Hong Kong and Australia so happy to just use my normal debit card from UK. As it's only a few days and payment for hotels are in sterling on my credit card pre booked.
 
Jan 22, 2013
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setting of today to Hongkong then In a weeks time to New Zealand ,
will be trying out the new revolut card that gives great exchange rates in over 80 currencies,
Not sure how good it will be but very good write ups so far, plus the bonus of no charges for getting money from a ATM and best rates
in comparison to banks,
will try it tomorrow in Hong Kong and report back

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etap

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Yes sounds fine to me plenty of time to see all the sights, having been to 43countries so far(according to my grandson) We have always done it simply with debit or MasterCard and cash as the savings are minimal to the cost of holidays, our view anyway.
Enjoy

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Nov 5, 2013
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As we banked with HSBC we put in place a regular transfer into our debit card account for withdrawing cash at HSBC branches in NZ and a Santander Zero credit card for everything else!
You'll have a great time.
 
Nov 23, 2015
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Hi Rich, my better half is a Kiwi. I’m sure she can guide you with some places to go. As soon as she has finished her surgery hours i’ll get her to logon and update you. Are you going to both North and South Islands ?

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nelly

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We are off on Fri morning to NZ i am a cash man so have changed some money to take with us and going to use debit cards as well

Neil
 
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Silver-Fox

Silver-Fox

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Hi Steve
Yep North and South

Starting in the North and dropping to the South with one way hire on the MH.

Would be help with an idea of time needed in the North before going South.

Not booked the ferry yet so that needs doing.

Any pointers would be great always open to suggestions
 
Nov 23, 2015
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Hi Steve
Yep North and South

Starting in the North and dropping to the South with one way hire on the MH.

Would be help with an idea of time needed in the North before going South.

Not booked the ferry yet so that needs doing.

Any pointers would be great always open to suggestions

Yep, I am sure Kat can give you some pointers... She’ll be back early PM...

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DBK

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I was also told you can't use a phone sim in an ipad or tether an ipad to a phone on pre pay.

For tethering from a MiFi and an ipad you need a mobile data sim, not a normal phone sim. Three do them and NZ is one of their feel at home countries so you will only pay UK rates. You can get PAYG version. You may have problems using one sim for three months so get two or three and swap them every month. They cost peanuts or a free depending how you get them.
http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home

For money a simple visa debit card should give you a good rate without charges. You pay the visa rate at the time of the purchase or shortly after. The rates are here, if using an ATM always ask to be charged in sterling, so you get the visa rate. Don't let them charge you in the local currency as the ATM bank will use their own almost certainly poorer rate. https://www.visaeurope.com/making-payments/exchange-rates
 
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Looked into 3 sim. I was told by a guy in the store it's good for calling back to the uk but if used in NZ you get charged for roaming.

We will be using Skype and only need a phone for emergencies.

I need to check costing of getting a sim over in NZ and going pre pay.
2gb a month should be plenty I think.

I was also told you can't use a phone sim in an ipad or tether an ipad to a phone on pre pay.

It's a mine field out there

David bought a local sim card for his phone when we got out there.
I took my iPad 2 linked to my Virgin Pay As You Go phone which is paid by direct debit.
We also loaded Tom Tom NZ on the iPad which was very good as it works via GPS. Internet reception was very spasmodic and I did find the iPad didn't always connect to the internet when on camp sites, so couldn't rely on it all the time but we were in some quite remote places sometimes.

We used a prepaid Post Office NZD Travel Money card, think you can do it online, it was fairly easy to top up.

Personally would allow more time in the South Island, and finish with the spectacular west coast on that island. :)
 
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Silver-Fox

Silver-Fox

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DBK

Looks like I might have been given duff information.
I was told I couldn't tether on a pre pay, I knew I needed a data sim and 3 was the place to go. I was also a time issue for some reason.

houdini

Tom Tom sorted as I went for the full on insurance package. It was around 110 NZD but covers all issues including tyres under body and windscreen with sat nav included I figured split into nearly three months it was reasonable. Even get camping chairs zed table lol.

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nelly

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Tom Tom sorted as I went for the full on insurance package. It was around 110 NZD but covers all issues including tyres under body and windscreen with sat nav included I figured split into nearly three months it was reasonable. Even get camping chairs zed table lol.
I bought a Tom Tom from ebay for £50 for Aus/NZ and was going to sell it when i got home
Neil
 
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Silver-Fox

Silver-Fox

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My post should read 1100 NZD for the MH insurance.
The bond was so big I didn't want to risk it.
 
May 23, 2008
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Fantastic experience. We did both North and South Island a couple of years ago over a 3 month period and it was brilliant. Used vere few campsites as loads of wild camping allowed everywhere. We found the south Island better but that's just preference. When booking we discovered a travel writer in NZ and he booked our motorhome hire. It was exactly the same as we requested in the UK but with a NZ email address and it was nearly £2000 cheaper. No need to book anything from the UK as it's much more expensive for us Brits. The only minus to NZ was the cost of everything, take plenty of money.
If you want any information please PM me.
Good luck and we hope you enjoy.

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Silver-Fox

Silver-Fox

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Wiljoy

Was it just day to day items that was expensive or leisure items.

Will certainly do our best to enjoy it
 
Nov 5, 2013
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We didn't book our ferry until we were in NZ as we wern't sure how we would get on,in fact we crossed earlier than planned to give us more time on South Island.
 

Clickem

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Wiljoy

Was it just day to day items that was expensive or leisure items.

Will certainly do our best to enjoy it

We found pretty much everything that you buy is more expensive than the UK. Wages in NZ are higher and locals can afford it. Daughter lives in Auckland and when she comes to UK they stock up on clothes, household goods and just about everything that they can carry back

Having said that we did not find eating out to be an aweful lot more than UK

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Silver-Fox

Silver-Fox

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Always thought things were cheaper over there.

Will make sure we take the correct clothes then
 
Dec 16, 2014
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Wellington has its own motorhome site right in the middle of the city on the waterfront.I joined Top 10 Holiday Parks to get good discounts on sites.If you want help/tips let me know
 
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Silver-Fox

Silver-Fox

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Wiljoy

Pm sent

Thanks

Thanks for the replies they have been most helpful.
Now looking at Halifax card as I didn't realise how much it would cost on a prepaid card, weird or what.

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