Going to New Zealand - Our retirement present to ourselves

Well, we've done it! Hired a M/H through Mighway, a peer to peer system and considerably cheaper than hire companies, no added extras like tables and chairs to pay for, and cheaper on insurance for excess cover, even specialist insurance companies.
Diesel is cheaper and the fuel charge works out at 7pence per 100Km, not per Km, so slight inaccuracy there folks.
We wouldn't have considered any other mode of transport except M/H as we reckon it's the best way to visit, same as the continent and the UK.
Now time to work out our itinerary, which includes Carey Bay, named after my 3x great uncle.:D
Thanks to you all who posted with info.
Alistair
 
alandfee said:
Well, we've done it! Hired a M/H through Mighway, a peer to peer system and considerably cheaper than hire companies, no added extras like tables and chairs to pay for, and cheaper on insurance for excess cover, even specialist insurance companies.
Diesel is cheaper and the fuel charge works out at 7pence per 100Km, not per Km, so slight inaccuracy there folks.
We wouldn't have considered any other mode of transport except M/H as we reckon it's the best way to visit, same as the continent and the UK.
Now time to work out our itinerary, which includes Carey Bay, named after my 3x great uncle.:D
Thanks to you all who posted with info.
Alistair
Click to expand...
Well Alistair you are in for a treat
Spent the evening at Careys Bay last night.There was even a 1913 OVerland parked outsude the pub. A quiet little bay around the corner from Port Chalmers where the cruise boats dock. They are too large to use the berths in Dunedin. Enjoy your trip. Weather is to me comfortable here in the South. Others may disagree.
John
 
You’re in for a treat of a lifetime. NZ is the most stunning country I have ever toured in my life. I did the north and south islands by car and stayed in youth hostels, many moons ago. You’ll go up mountains, down mountains, through mountains - and see sights and vistas that will simply take your breath away. Believe everything everyone above has said, because it’s true. Plan it carefully - do it in a motorhome and revel in the country’s awesome natural beauty. You only have one life - so live it!
 
Rusty Pumper said:
You’re in for a treat of a lifetime. NZ is the most stunning country I have ever toured in my life. I did the north and south islands by car and stayed in youth hostels, many moons ago. You’ll go up mountains, down mountains, through mountains - and see sights and vistas that will simply take your breath away. Believe everything everyone above has said, because it’s true. Plan it carefully - do it in a motorhome and revel in the country’s awesome natural beauty. You only have one life - so live it!
Click to expand...

believe it or not my wife got to the point where she said she was 'sceneried out'.
Luckily we were on our way back to Wellington!

On a more serious note @alandfee , if you are considering going to both islands you should give serious consideration to joining the NZMCA. It is expensive but you get a discount off the ferry that will almost pay for your membership and access to members only places to stay.

Jon

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
First of all have a great time as I’m sure you will.

We went in March 2016 did 4 weeks in the North the 5 in the South.
This is the tail end of the season, weather was great and less Aisians driving so safer :)

We hired from Wendy Kristen, yes the Moho had 300k on her clock but we didn’t pay a fortune for her either. Sliding scale pricing meant the last weeks we were down to around 350 nzd a week, bargain (y)
Take out the top level insurance as it covers windscreen, tyres, underbody etc.
This meant there was only 4 roads we weren’t allowed to drive on (y)
Lots of Un paved roads and that’s where real NZ is seen.


Join the NZMCA they have loads of cl’s cs’s
They are hot on checking hired vans and don’t take kindly to free loaders, each costs a couple of dollars and some are on members farms etc.

We mainly wild camped or did NZMCA sites.
Nothing like waking up to the sound of seals by your door or the sound of the sea lapping on the shore a few yards from where you are parked :)

I would advice always keep the coast on your left as it makes it easier to pull over as you will do every few miles to take in the scenery.

Join one of the super markets clubs, it’s free and you get discounts on food.
You also get a till receipt with discount on fuel we had up to 15c a lot off.

We also didn’t hold back on “touristy” things to do. Including jet boat, bunjy jump etc at Queenstown.
Helicopter onto the glaciers at Franz Joseph.
Swimming with Dolphins at Kaikora.
Even had a pee in a Hobbits toilet :D

Finally everyone we met was friendly and full of advice if asked.
All we planned was to drive around the coast first then we cross crossed the islands. This did mean re visiting a few places but that was no hardship :)

Edit just read you’ve got MoHo sorted, enjoy (y)
 

Attachments

  • 4BA55BAE-F49F-424C-88F8-2794145D9A97.jpeg
    4BA55BAE-F49F-424C-88F8-2794145D9A97.jpeg
    279.8 KB · Views: 65
  • 2F76510D-80D7-4B19-9709-9F54ADEEC259.jpeg
    2F76510D-80D7-4B19-9709-9F54ADEEC259.jpeg
    136.6 KB · Views: 59
Last edited:
Hi,

This young woman has been touring, living and working in NZ in a caravan for some time now. Her channel is worth a look, as well as a scheme by one chap she talked to, in helping motorhomes and truckers have a more pleasant and cost effective stay on his and other ‘KiwiCamp’ credited sites:

 
Last edited:
davidbaldam said:
Both island are very beautiful but to my mind the south is the better of the two.
Click to expand...
Totally agree with David here, we rented a people carrier and just drove grabbing Boutique Hotels and Homestays every few days.

We met Billy Connolly at Fox's Glacier and also did our first sky-dive there so that holds a special memory.

You'll have to cover Queenstown and you'll need many days there. The Paddle steamer trip up to old Mac's Farm is a must as are the Shotover boat trips and for me the Bungy jump a few miles outside Q'town. We chartered a light aircraft and flew over the mountains to land in Milford Sound which we had visited by car only three days earlier but the flight and difficult landing was what it was all about.

You're gonna luv-it! The only place I have ever visited that I would happily move to!
 
As above we used to stay out in nz great country scenery spectacular people lovely friendly hospitable love it :)
 
jongood said:
This is not quite correct.

Diesel is cheaper than petrol because there is no excise duty at the pump. The NZ authorities make up the difference by charging diesel vehicles on a mileage basis

https://www.transport.govt.nz/land/...etrol-excise-duty-ped/light-petrol-vs-diesel/

the current rate for a camper or car is 15c (7.5p)/km.

It is correct that many of the hire companies tend to treat this as an 'extra' and sting you for it at the end though but you can get this whatever you rent.

The hire companies can be real sharks, they have a lot of 'extras' and with a motorhome it increases the scope.

One of the really naughty ones with the smaller Toyota previa types that they equip them with a loo and charge you about NZD100 deposit, the loo is brand new and wrapped, if you unwrap it you loose your deposit. The reason they do this is that to use the best spots in NZ you need to have a 'self containment' sticker and the only way you can get that is if you have your own loo.

We hired through share-a-camper

https://www.shareacamper.com/

Which is a peer to peer rental like airbnb but for campers. You rent someones camper.

It worked well for us because it was totally honest, came with 5000 km RUC ( see above) and no silliness. Its also cheaper but don't expect brand new or big support network.
Click to expand...
Apologies fro getting the value wrong. The fact is that we didn't have to pay this charge for the car so the fuel made the overall cost for a diesel vehicle much cheaper than it would have been for petrol
 
alandfee said:
Well, we've done it! Hired a M/H through Mighway, a peer to peer system and considerably cheaper than hire companies, no added extras like tables and chairs to pay for, and cheaper on insurance for excess cover, even specialist insurance companies.
Diesel is cheaper and the fuel charge works out at 7pence per 100Km, not per Km, so slight inaccuracy there folks.
We wouldn't have considered any other mode of transport except M/H as we reckon it's the best way to visit, same as the continent and the UK.
Now time to work out our itinerary, which includes Carey Bay, named after my 3x great uncle.:D
Thanks to you all who posted with info.
Alistair
Click to expand...
I would check the fuel charge again if I were you
 
jongood said:
Yes I think we all got it wrong :LOL:
Click to expand...

Road User Charge - direct from rental people Mighway

This is charged post hire, on all kilometres driven, at a rate of $8 per 100 kilometres ($0.08 per kilometre). This distance is calculated using the signed vehicle drop-off form that is filled in with the owner. (only applies to diesel vehicles).
 
So we did over 3500 KM in the car we had so that would be $250+ to pay
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top