I too would agree about the "campervan in winter" thoughts - as you know we initially considered hiring a campervan for our first few weeks, but I am so glad we didn't - I think the kids would have gone stir crazy stuck in the same space for a few weeks. We rented a serviced apartment in Auckland for a week when we first arrived, then stayed in motels on our trip down to Wellington (stayed in Tauranga, Taupo, Napier) and then rented another apartment for a week in Wellington - the kids had space to run around (fortunately, as it rained all the time we were in Welly!!), we had full kitchen and bathroom facilities, and loads of space to store all the cr*p we had brought over with us
We just hired a big car to get us around (Ford Territory - booked before we left, can't remember how much it was, but don't think it was that expensive when we were paying in UK pounds) - and when we got to Welly, we bought a big estate car, which Ken then drove back up to Tauranga (I wimped out of another long road trip with the kids, and flew up with them!!)
We must catch up soon - can't believe you are going so soon. Sorry not to have been in touch for ages - Alex was poorly for quite a few weeks, so we were "confined to barracks", but she's on the mend now (fingers crossed!!) If there is anything we can do to help in the next few months, please let us know. Have a great weekend - doing anything special for his lordship's birthday?
Maggie xx