The ONLY way to travel in New Zealand

All this talk about traveling around New Zealand and we haven’t even mentioned how we got around (or where we slept and cooked…)! Yup, these are all one in the same.

“Home sweet home”

Of course there are many ways to tour New Zealand (bus, rental car + B&B/hotels, hiking, cycling) but there is no question that the best way to travel around New Zealand is by campervan. Here are the top four reasons why we think campervan travel is the ideal way to see New Zealand:

• Flexibility: You can adjust your plans and route as needed because you don’t have a chain of hotels already booked in advance across the country. NZ is a place where weather can be unpredictable, as such, there is a chance the amazing adventure (airplane ride, ice climbing, kayak trip, etc) you booked weeks in advance is canceled or although you called a few days in advance, the activity you wanted is booked up (many tours only allow a small group – but this is a good thing because its hard to appreciate nature when you are traveling with a mob).
• Efficiency: you maximize your time and move around to more locations without having to waste time every morning packing up your hotel because everything is already in your car. I don’t know about you, but I HATE packing and tempers get thin when we are moving hotels every night. With the campervan I only had to pack up my things once. It was blissful.
• Budget friendly (but more comfortable than camping): Everyone knows that camping is probably the cheapest way to travel. But then you have to sleep on the ground, and in a sleeping bag, and you sometimes don’t have the right pillow, and lets be honest, who has room to bring all that in their luggage. And eww, something about a rented sleeping bag makes my skin crawl.
• Easier on the waist line: We really loved that we had the ultimate freedom to make our own breakfasts and lunches as well as some of our dinners. I love eating out as much as the next gal, and I love me a cappuccino probably even more. However, not 3 times a day, every day, for 4 months. Or even 2 weeks. In our campervan we made fresh pressed coffee every morning with museli. For lunches we made sandwiches, usually with some sort of deli fresh lunch meat, some veggies and always avocado for a fraction of the price we would pay at a café, and we grilled up some amazing burgers, sausages, corn, eggplant, bell peppers and tomatoes. (not all at once of course haha). Then when we chose to go out instead, we could choose a place we really wanted to visit rather than always look for the middle of the road budget option or “best case” from a limited selection in some of the more remote areas.

So now your probably wondering what exactly a campervan is and how this all works…
A campervan is like a compact motor home created by taking a minivan (VW busses and Toyota Previa’s are by far the most popular models), removing the back passenger seats, and tricking it out with a bed and small kitchen set-up accessible by opening the tail gate.

Our campervan was a Toyota Estima (which is the Japanese name for the Tarago (Aus) and Previa (US & Other) and was rented from a company called CamperCo. We were very happy with the size of our vehicle and concluded it was the perfect choice for two people. While it was a bit smaller than some of the other vans out there, it was nice to drive around town and through windy country roads in a normal sized vehicle rather than a big boat. Plus gas is expensive in NZ, so we appreciated the fuel economy of our model.

Our campervan was set up as follows:

Front:
The front seat was normal like you would get it from the factory with the exception that the company included an DC to AC converter so you can plug in and charge your electronics with the cigarette lighter and in the glove box they included a solar powered light to use at your campsite at nights.

Cabin:
The rear seats of the minivan were removed and were replaced by a set of cabinets along the floor of the car where you could store your luggage and pulled out into a bed at nights with cushions and normal sheets, duvet, pillows, etc. There are black out curtains that pull across all the windows so you can sleep in privacy/not wake up at first light.

Rear:
The “Kitchen” is accessed by opening the tailgate of the capervan. This is great because if it is really sunny or raining you can still use your kitchen in comfort. The kitchen included a refrigerator powered via the cigarette lighter socket in the back, a camp stove and propane tank, a workstation and cupboards holding kitchen items, and a water tank. The kitchen items included place settings for two, knife, cutting board, wine glasses, mugs, tea kettle, coffee press, frying pan, pot, various kitchen tools, wash bucket, dish sponge and brush, and two dish towels. Not set up to bake a cake, but pretty much everything you need to make anything you would want to make while camping…

Perfect for a cup of coffee on the go… who needs Starbucks when you have a campervan!

So now where do you stay? Just about every town in New Zealand has a campervan park (or two or three) plus there are public camp sites along all the scenic highways. At the campervan parks amenities include restrooms, kitchens, and laundry facilities, and sometimes even pools, hot tubs, giant kids play areas, and TV lounges. The Public camp sites are more basic but always have toilets. We always stayed at campervan sites, and with one exception, we stuck with the Top 10 holiday park sites. Top 10 is a network of independent sites with high standards of quality that have joined together. These sites are typically the nicest and include extras like (pay) wi-fi access, very clean BBQ’s and toilets/ showers, but were often less than NZ $30 (US$24) per night).

Picturesque campsite for sure!

OK I’m interested, now how do I get one!?
Good! Well there are lots of options from big companies like Britz and Maui, to smaller backpacker companies like Backpacker, Jucy, Wicked and Hippie Van. We loved our company, CamperCo, for a few reasons.

1) The price was right. For way under $100 per night we got the van and the full insurance (often 40% more than the rental price). We also only had to pay $50 for a one way rental from Picton to Christchurch which can increase the price of other vans by hundreds of dollars.

2) they picked us up at our Ferry and let us drop off at our hotel in Christchurch. Small company = increased flexibility

3) The van was very new and reliable, much more so than some of the others we saw on the road

4) There is no branding on the van (like the purple and green painted jucy vans for example…) so your not flashing “hi! I’m a traveler with all my belongings inside!” and you don’t feel like a target for a break in every time you leave for a hike.

In summary – living in a van for 2 weeks was a much better experience than we ever thought it would be, and highly recommended for any New Zealand trip!