Motorhome hire New Zealand Nov ‘18 (1 Viewer)

[Mousy]

Evening all, we rather impulsively booked flights to New Zealand last night and are now working out the best way to travel around.
Having being spoiled by the freedom motorhoming gives, we are wondering if hotels and a fixed itinerary may be too restrictive.

Has anyone any experience of hiring a motorhome in NZ?

Company recommendations? Pit falls to avoid etc?

We are thinking a small pvc might be just the job.

Thanks in advance Mousy.

 

[rb62]

When we went in 2012 we used these people,

https://www.motorhomebookers.com/

Got us a cracking deal as we were hiring for 10 weeks,picked it up in Auckland and left it in Christchurch.(Sept-Nov) Managed to get away with no one way fee or mileage charge.Price will depend on how new the van is! Plenty of other threads if you search New Zealand!

 

[rb62]

Don't know how long your going for,we did North Island first and thought that was spectacular but South Island just blew us away so allow plenty of time for South Island,Planning will certainly keep you busy,Ros took three years researching our trip when she wasn't busy at work!

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[MrsBB]

We booked a motorhome through caravan and camping club as we didn’t want any hassle with insurance etc. Didn’t book anything else....even booked ferry last minute from south to north . This gave us ultimate flexibility . We freedom camped in some stunning places but you have to be self contained with own toilet . Certainly was holiday of a lifetime which we thoroughly enjoyed. Feel free to pm me if you want to know more details or have any questions.

 

[Silver-Fox]

How posh do you want to go?
We took the view go cheap on the Moho and spend on the good things in life

We booked direct with this company, their vans are fourth or fifth hand old with a good few miles on them but very serviceable.

If you choose the full insurance package there is only a couple of roads you are banned from driving on. This allows you to explore NZ properly including unpaved roads where the posh MoHo's arnt allowed.

 

[davidbaldam]

There are plenty of Motorhome hire companies, we go to NZ every 18 months or so as we have 2 sons living there. We found it best to hire a car and book into B & Bs, small guesthouses or lodges, you can get a list from any tourist office and we’ve never had any problems. Each to their own but this works for us.

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[cliffanger]

Evening all, we rather impulsively booked flights to New Zealand last night and are now working out the best way to travel around.
Having being spoiled by the freedom motorhoming gives, we are wondering if hotels and a fixed itinerary may be too restrictive.

Has anyone any experience of hiring a motorhome in NZ?

Company recommendations? Pit falls to avoid etc?

We are thinking a small pvc might be just the job.

Thanks in advance Mousy.

Brilliant that you’re forward planning and booking flights etc (even if it is on my birthday ...

Our friends daughter emigrated to NZ years ago, and they visited for 4 months every year. I asked them if a Motorhome trip would be good and they said that a lot of towns have height restrictions and in their opinion a car and motels would be a better bet if you’re travelling around.

 

[Anthea M]

@Kiwi Brit could you help advise @Mousy on her exciting trip please?

 

[JoCo]

Hi I am a Kiwi and live here. There are many small MoHO hire companies that are cheaper. There are also two websites where owners
rent out their own private vans on a commercial basis, I understand the arrangements are cost effective. Most are hired in Auckland,north
Island and dropped off in Christchurch, South Island. Rent the other way and its often much cheaper. Remember NZ is the size of Gt Britain
so don't try and see the lot in two weeks, it's just is not possible.Glad to help you with specific advice, I think you can PM me thru this site.

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[StephandJohn]

Island and dropped off in Christchurch, South Island. Rent the other way and its often much cheaper. Remember NZ is the size of Gt Britain
so don't try and see the lot in two weeks, it's just is not possible.Glad to help you with specific advice, I think you can PM me thru this site.

Good advice about not trying to see too much. Some friends have just come back fro a totally exhausting three weeks on a coach trip of NZ. They said it was fantastic but travelled nearly everyday for 7 to 8 hours. Everyone on the coach got ill with bad chest infectons and then the 44 hour trip home followed by jet lag finished them off.
They loved NZ but in hindsight wish they'd chosen a different itinerary.

 

[Silver-Fox]

Car hire and B and B are fine but do you get to wake up next to a beach with the sun rising over the horizon?
Parked next to seals and other wildlife?

Your choice really does depend on if you want the freedom of a MoHo or tied to being at a certain place at a certain time

Good luck what ever you choose it’s a fantastic Country.

 

[jongood]

We went last year. Fantastic trip We did 1 + 1 weeks of car and b&B and 5 weeks of Camper. Camper won by a huge margin, the freedom camping is amazing there are sooooo many great places. The car thing required too much planning for us.

The NZMCA gives a lot of info on this and also have their own member only locations but there are also apps available. If you are considering going on the ferry joining the NZMCA before you go is a no brainer, you will save the membership on the ferry alone.

We hired through share a camper, this worked well for us and was a lot cheaper but its like airbnb for campers so you have to be really careful that you understand what you re booking and prepared to deal with surprises.

The motorhome hire market is busy and the commercial boys have some dirty tricks so look carefully at the extras. To use all the freedom places you need to have a blue 'self contained sticker' all proper motorhomes will have this but some charge you a deposit on the toilet which costs about $50 if you actually use it.

Diesel is much cheaper than petrol but you then have to pay road user miles, some of the hire companies 'forget' to tell you this. its about $62/1000 miles.

It is huge The scenery is amazing but the roads are poor, they look straight on the maps but when you zoom in you see the number of bends and hills. You need to allow time to get places.

Hth

Jon

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[jongood]

Car hire and B and B are fine but do you get to wake up next to a beach with the sun rising over the horizon?
Parked next to seals and other wildlife?

Your choice really does depend on if you want the freedom of a MoHo or tied to being at a certain place at a certain time

Good luck what ever you choose it’s a fantastic Country.

Totally agree with this.

 

[Parrot Face]

We did about 3 months in NZ about 3 years ago. We got a little camper van from Apollo for about 8 days and travelled around the south island in it. Cost was around £1000 for 8 days. Enjoyed our time in it but found the bedding that came with it was very old and 'suspect'. Had to take care when choosing sites on west coast as many of them were plagued by sandflies that had really nasty bites. Many of the good sites have log cabins for hire. Looking back we found using a hire car and Air BnB accommodation was the better option. South Island is beautiful but some places can be quite remote. We also loved the Bay of Islands and The Coromandel in the North. Our blog and in particular the section covering Dec 2014 to March 2015 covers out trip in detail , see link below.
http://lightningtours.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/

 

[Mousy]

We are Air bnb superhosts ourselves so are obviously open to staying like that. However it’s the fixed itinerary I’m struggling to like.

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[Mousy]

Thanks for all the help so far.

We will have about 5 weeks but intend to visit old friends in north island.

Would we be better concentrating on North island and saving South Island for another time?

 

[rb62]

Sad to say but we think you would be better staying on North Island....


Then get yourselves some flights booked for next year to do South Island...
minimum four weeks

 

[Silver-Fox]

Definitely only do North Island if it’s 5 weeks you have for the visit.

You’ll find plenty to do and the time will just disappear.

We drove around the coast then zig zagged across the middle and that took around 5 weeks.

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[AXO66]

South island is fantastic, but check the weather. There is an app that tells you the various free places to stay. Lots of towns have parking for MHs, in a normal car park, usually free. Usually arrive mid afternoon and leave early the nextday type of rules. It,s a way of life there! So dump places and waterfill ups all over place . Green with envy , were there in 2014.