Got back on 1st Feb after two months in NZ.
Missed most of really bad weather.
Found the people there to be of a wide range of nationalities and everyone really friendly.
Very disappointed with the sheep - only saw one loose on the road in two months - was lead to believe that huge flocks of sheep cause massive hold-ups on the road.
Apollo Motorhomes first class. Their MH was in good condition, well maintained and reliable though the introduction was not as thorough as I would have liked. There is a huge range of MHs for rent from top quality with good range of facilities down to rather old vehicles with little more than a bed. Many were beautifully decorated - quite different from Europe,
Road surfaces were quite often poor, more so in the north island and there were many sections under repair with unnecessarily long stretches with 30 kph restrictions which were almost totally ignored and very difficult to achieve.
Roads were often very windy and quite narrow with a large number of single track bridges, some very long. However almost everyone obeyed the rules so hold ups were minimal.
Outside the few coastal big towns the roads were often empty making driving a pleasure. Occasionally taken by surprise when road surface turn to dirt.
Camping off campsite was easy in most cases though we did camp on site quite a bit to make use of facilities and recharge battery.
One New Zealander who had visited France and used the Aires there has started up something similar in NZ called Native Parks. Quite useful though not too many at the present.
Cheaper, more natural sites can be found in the DOP Parks (use Google) though they were often off the beaten track up dirt tracks.
Plus points included clean toilets with lots of hot water and soap at the wash basins. Good showers with control over water temperature. Large communal kitchens with a wide range of facilities, TV/recreational rooms. Plenty of water taps and EHU points often on every pitch. Most sites had places to dump waste. Prices mostly between $20 and $35 (£9 and £16) though some in the main tourist areas were higher. Campers were extremely friendly and considerate and everyone seems to go to bed when it got dark. The Kitchen and TV room often shut at 19.30
Minus points with formal campsites. I had a 7.5m VW and I often had difficulty getting it on the pitch. Quite often the nose had to overhang the road. Many pitches were between 35 and 50 square metre. Over Christmas we had pre booked a site in Kaikora, as we originally had no idea as to availability of camping over Christmas and the New Year. The pitches here were extremely small with some outfits being less than 2m apart. See attached photos. I find this lack of space surprising in a country the same size as ours with a population of only 4.5 million.
Petrol quite dear but diesel much cheaper ($1.10 per litre - just under 50p). Owners of diesel vehicle seem to pay some tax based on yearly mileage but this was included in the hire charge.
Food - I thought food in supermarkets was more expensive than at home. Eating out was easy especially if you like Eastern or junk food. On the whole I thought that the range of non-Eastern food was not as good as in the UK.
Wifi. Cheap wifi not so easy to find but many campsites had it at around $8 (£3.60) and hour. Still better than the CC or CCC. Some campsites did have something like 100MB to be used over 24 hours at $5 which was good value.
Main downside of flight - 14 hours to Singapore and then 13 hours to Auckland. The best bit - Singapore Airlines, especially their new Airbus A380.
On the whole we had a superb time - would we go back - you bet we would.
I am hopeful awaiting my £56,000,000 win on the lottery. Well even £50,000,000 would do at a pinch.
Missed most of really bad weather.
Found the people there to be of a wide range of nationalities and everyone really friendly.
Very disappointed with the sheep - only saw one loose on the road in two months - was lead to believe that huge flocks of sheep cause massive hold-ups on the road.
Apollo Motorhomes first class. Their MH was in good condition, well maintained and reliable though the introduction was not as thorough as I would have liked. There is a huge range of MHs for rent from top quality with good range of facilities down to rather old vehicles with little more than a bed. Many were beautifully decorated - quite different from Europe,
Road surfaces were quite often poor, more so in the north island and there were many sections under repair with unnecessarily long stretches with 30 kph restrictions which were almost totally ignored and very difficult to achieve.
Roads were often very windy and quite narrow with a large number of single track bridges, some very long. However almost everyone obeyed the rules so hold ups were minimal.
Outside the few coastal big towns the roads were often empty making driving a pleasure. Occasionally taken by surprise when road surface turn to dirt.
Camping off campsite was easy in most cases though we did camp on site quite a bit to make use of facilities and recharge battery.
One New Zealander who had visited France and used the Aires there has started up something similar in NZ called Native Parks. Quite useful though not too many at the present.
Cheaper, more natural sites can be found in the DOP Parks (use Google) though they were often off the beaten track up dirt tracks.
Plus points included clean toilets with lots of hot water and soap at the wash basins. Good showers with control over water temperature. Large communal kitchens with a wide range of facilities, TV/recreational rooms. Plenty of water taps and EHU points often on every pitch. Most sites had places to dump waste. Prices mostly between $20 and $35 (£9 and £16) though some in the main tourist areas were higher. Campers were extremely friendly and considerate and everyone seems to go to bed when it got dark. The Kitchen and TV room often shut at 19.30
Minus points with formal campsites. I had a 7.5m VW and I often had difficulty getting it on the pitch. Quite often the nose had to overhang the road. Many pitches were between 35 and 50 square metre. Over Christmas we had pre booked a site in Kaikora, as we originally had no idea as to availability of camping over Christmas and the New Year. The pitches here were extremely small with some outfits being less than 2m apart. See attached photos. I find this lack of space surprising in a country the same size as ours with a population of only 4.5 million.
Petrol quite dear but diesel much cheaper ($1.10 per litre - just under 50p). Owners of diesel vehicle seem to pay some tax based on yearly mileage but this was included in the hire charge.
Food - I thought food in supermarkets was more expensive than at home. Eating out was easy especially if you like Eastern or junk food. On the whole I thought that the range of non-Eastern food was not as good as in the UK.
Wifi. Cheap wifi not so easy to find but many campsites had it at around $8 (£3.60) and hour. Still better than the CC or CCC. Some campsites did have something like 100MB to be used over 24 hours at $5 which was good value.
Main downside of flight - 14 hours to Singapore and then 13 hours to Auckland. The best bit - Singapore Airlines, especially their new Airbus A380.
On the whole we had a superb time - would we go back - you bet we would.
I am hopeful awaiting my £56,000,000 win on the lottery. Well even £50,000,000 would do at a pinch.
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