New Zealand Motorhome Travel

[Genie47]

thks for the great info...so seem I should not give it a try.... rather get a car and stay in motorlodge etc on the way......

 

Great that you made this choice. Now......as I have advised someone. GET THE AURION!

[Godfather]

Below is a list of the more popular campervan company

 

Budget campervan

 

http://www.jucy.co.nz/vehicles/campervans.aspx

http://www.spaceshipsrentals.co.nz/

http://www.escaperentals.co.nz/

 

 

Newer vehicles so higher prices

 

http://www.maui.co.nz/

http://nz.keacampers.com/

http://www.britz.co.nz/

[Genie47]

I think the main weightage you want to put your decision on is the weather. If it is summer, a campervan is good. At least some measure of comfort from the weather. Winter will make the trip a lot harsher if you are not to cold weather type of person.

[3677]

stricly follow the speed limit , there are many police around to catch you .Kena 03 summons for speeding

[Seaweed]

aurion....yes i still remember i mention in forum too i was given one by hertz while in darwin...when i full throttle from stationary...the steering will tends to steer one direction and someone told me the technical term is call something like "torque steer"...the car is great...i am surprise too by the fuel consumption....it drink little for a 3.5L V6 engine....

[Seaweed]

wow.....ok....will msg you when decided...now is only initial check with bros here whom have try before....because i looking for some trip with freedom....but if it is going to be tough....i probably can't take it as well...

[Will_I_Am]

Hahaa .. that someone is ME !

3.5 litre V6.

I'm changing my 1.6 to a 2.5

 

Great that you made this choice. Now......as I have advised someone. GET THE AURION!

 

[Will_I_Am]

What happen next? The rental company charged the summons to your credit card?

 

 

 

stricly follow the speed limit , there are many police around to catch you .Kena 03 summons for speeding

 

[Genie47]

I've encountered torque steer on my old souped up Starlet.

 

Basically this happens on FWD cars only. Because of the assymetrical drive shafts, the power transmitted to the wheels is not proportional.

 

So flooring it and transferring massive amounts of power to the wheels will make it veer one direction. Get yourself a clear road and let your hands off the wheel as you accelerate and you see the steering wheel move like it has a mind of its own.

 

Happened on my brother's monster Evo 2 Wagon Swedish Meatball Edition as well.

 

A note to all of you out there with FWD cars. No you will not encounter torque steer for any of your grocery getter cars. Only happens to a car with massive amounts of torque at FOT like a turbocharged FWD.

[Genie47]

Below is a list of the more popular campervan company

 

Budget campervan

 

http://www.jucy.co.nz/vehicles/campervans.aspx

http://www.spaceshipsrentals.co.nz/

http://www.escaperentals.co.nz/

 

 

Newer vehicles so higher prices

 

http://www.maui.co.nz/

http://nz.keacampers.com/

http://www.britz.co.nz/

 

The Spaceships are cool. I see that there are much more choices in NZ than Oz. More innovative use of vehicles coupled with roof-mount tents. A much better option as many tourists will not consider cooking but eating out.

[Ncp91]

Been there, done that, won't do it again.

 

Me and two other mates rented a six-berth motorhome in Tasmania, Australia. We picked Tasmania because the state has the least campervan restrictions in Australia. You could park up your campervan anywhere for the night, whereas in the mainland states you had to go to a campervan park, which costs additional money.

 

So this is what we got:

A Ford Transit with a sequential manual gearbox. It would blip the revs perfectly everytime you downshifted. A major bummer was that it was a diesel, and diesel cost a lot more than petrol down there. The interior could be configured for one queen sized bed and four single beds, or two queen sized beds. It had a tv, fridge, toilet/shower and a working kitchen.

 

As there are only two forward facing seats, the other passengers are supposed to sit on the bench seats in the back of the truck.

 

Having your own wheels (car or caravan) means you can stop to take photographs of amazing scenery like this

 

The provided kitchen facilities are reasonable - we made a simple CNY reunion dinner

 

This photograph to me represented the highlight of the caravan leg of our tour, and what caravanning is all about - parking on a beach, fantastic sunset in the background, a steaming hot meal cooking in the caravan and friends to enjoy it with

 

The not-so-good bits of the trip:

 

- In order to be able to cook properly we had to shop for condiment basics like salt, soy sauce, etc. It took some stocktaking of the caravan's facilities (Eg. was there a rice cooker?) in order to know what to shop for.

 

- The interior of the caravan is well-appointed and as a result, very tight. It takes organization for 3 grown guys to move around inside.

 

- Water was always a problem for us, and unfortunately it wasn't easy to get (free), as we all took daily showers and used water for cooking

 

- The chemical toilet needs to be cleaned out. Two of us did our number 2s at petrol stations, but the third guy couldn't hold it in and had to use the van's throne for his number 2. As a result he had to clear the chemical toilet's cartridge......

 

- You don't save money using a caravan, it costs as much as renting a car and staying in a hotel room each night

 

Caravanning is just one of those things that I guess seems like a good idea, and also is worthwhile to say, "I've done it", and now I can say I prefer not to drive around with my hotel room following me. Tasmania has some fantastic driving roads, and drove the roads in a 2-ton-and-some van that offered no driving pleasure at all.

 

 

 

 

[Seaweed]

absolutely fantastic info...so maybe a better idea would be to rent a campervan for a minimum number of days...maybe 3 days just for an experience...can probably start on a rental car with nites in motorlodge while looking out for interesting place to stop the campervan for the last 2 night etc .....but then again they seem to only rent with a minimum of 7 seven days...

[Jmsjckl3]

Below is a list of the more popular campervan company

 

Budget campervan

 

http://www.jucy.co.nz/vehicles/campervans.aspx

http://www.spaceshipsrentals.co.nz/

http://www.escaperentals.co.nz/

 

 

Newer vehicles so higher prices

 

http://www.maui.co.nz/

http://nz.keacampers.com/

http://www.britz.co.nz/

 

 

I think you forgot http://www.jamesblond.co.nz

[Megaweb]

My wife and I went to southern island of NZ in 2006. It was the most memorable trip we ever had. Beautiful sceneries with mountains and trees. We also cooked and enjoyed the freshness of the seafood and steaks.

 

We did self drive normal car and stay in motel.

 

 

Visit the below link for planning route.

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/getting-t...routes-home.cfm

 

 

Click below link to see some of my NZ collection

 

http://megaweb.clubsnap.org/nz/

 

http://megaweb.clubsnap.org/nz/pano/

[Xtrocious]

I so want to go back to NZ again for a break...

 

The last time I was there - 1997!

 

South Island is a lot nicer and more things to do although going all the way north on North Island is an adventure not to be missed - you can catch the meeting of the 2 oceans (green on one side, blue on the other) plus send a postcard back from the post office...hahah

 

And speaking of NZ, I actually don't mind retiring there as a sheep farmer - we went horse riding on one of the sheep farms and it was huge - the trail took 4 hours to complete and the owner had his own little helicopter to survey his sheep - how cool is that?!

 

 

[Zyrofillica]

what about camping facilities? Instead of motorhome, get a bigger ride and rent camping equipment so you have a choice of either staying at motor lodge or a nice camping site. is this a better alternative to the motorhome?

[Ichibawa]

Was thinking of going Auckland for a 10 day motorhome travel...Anyone have done it before?? Please share your experience like the convenient and inconvenient of travelling by motorhome.

 

Can we park the motorhome overnight at anywhere we like or it is only limited to motorhome park? How's the motorhome charges and motorhome park charges?

 

As much info will be appreciated

 

I would vote against that.Travelling by motorhome is entirely a different feeling and if you do enjoy doing chores to replenish and clean the motorhome. I think its wise to spend more time outdoors sight seeing and make your money worth.