campervans? rent now, rent when i get there OR buy

[justNoZi]

not sure if this is really right forum - as its not so much about a location rather a vehicle which gets me to various locations :) anyways on to the point eh. ::)

i fly out on the 15th November :D and have a hotel booked in Auckland for a week.
I then have a few days booked at Lake Taupo - there is a wee cycle challenge there i'm not gonna miss, cant wait :)

but from there i have a wee problem and know i can rely on fellow MTNZrs to help me out, hope so anyways.

I know i will travel,explore,holiday etc for a couple of months - i generally know when and where i will be heading - BUT do i book a campervan now for when i arrive OR wait til i get there and get one cheaper hopefully OR would it be wise to buy second hand as i will need it for at least 2 months?

I have looked at various sites and heard good and bad points on this but was wondering if anyone had similar ideas and would be good to know what they did?

thanks again

[MotherBear]

Hi NoZi,

Whether to buy or rent a campervan would be down to your funds stretching far enough to buy. ?The point with buying is that you can always sell it again and, with luck, get most if not all of your money back. ?Just take care that it's a good solid runner as you wouldn't want to be stuck with something that falls apart on the first hump-backed bridge you come to.

I know Moggy was talking about renting then buying a van. ?She's about to land in Auckland today, all being well, so we're not likely to hear from her yet. ?

Camper vans are pretty pricey, unless you buy something like an older Toyota Hiace conversion or something. Renting them isnt too cheap either. At that time of year, if you dont mind roughing it a bit, you could always just buy a car and a tent? Most camp sites have showers etc, and you can still watch the TV in a tent! The weather will be warmer by November too.

[MotherBear]

What about one of those VW combi things? Small enough to run around in and park without too much troube, but has all the basics of a campervan. No good for a family but fine for one or two people who are out and about a lot.

[justNoZi]

hi,

thanks for the info. yes, it wil be one of those smaller ones, just me so no need for a big 4 or 6 berther.

a friend in work tried booking a 4 berther for her holidays later this year and was told none available so had to book a 6-berther so it aint just rumours that its a busy busy time of year.

anyways, found quite a reasonable price at Ace rentals. Just seen a couple of second hand models at around $15000 and thot it might make sense to buy? still cant decide :-/

oh and p.s. the car was sold today wooohoooo! ;D
so one more thing ticked of the list and now onto the setting up of a bank account - i'm off to do some more research. :) thanks

[LilAmy]

Hi,

We had the same dilema about the CV then decided to buy a car instead. For what you pay for a CV, then petrol and charges for staying in Campervans spots you're easier off with a car and staying in beach hut/chalets which range from about $11+.

That means you can get around easier and quicker round NZ, dont eat up loads of petrol and its easy when you do go to cities or on the back roads. But again everyone's different. I must admit after getting our car instead of the CV I am much happier.

Good luck with what ever you choose!

[justNoZi]

hi lilAmy,

thanks for the advice :) i'm gonna take that into account too. So how long did you travel for? Sounds like you made the right choice - is there no problems with these beach hut availability then?

it is an option i thought of but just thought a CV would be better for ensuring i did have somewhere to sleep rather than booking hotels/bbs etc. also safer storage for my bike.

could you give me a bit more info on your choice of these huts rather than campsites? i'm beginning to think car mite be the way to go.


thanks again.
:)

[LilAmy]

Hi,

We travelled for three weeks round NZ last year and did 2.5 weeks a couple of weeks ago. Both times we just had our luggage in our car and off we went no bookings or anything.

Most Caravan Parks where you'd go if you had a CV as well have small cabins, you have shared facilities for the loos etc and a kitchen but you have your own wee chalet with a bed and power which are usually dirt cheap. When we went around last year and this time round we had our choice of huts to stay in. You can also sometimes get small cabins at motels as well so it's sometimes worth asking for prices etc.

We also stayed in a lot of hostels, get yourself a BBH card (backpackers card) for about $40 I think and it gets you $5 off rooms when you stay in BBH places plus $20 calling card for the phone. You get these at the Info centres (Ithink) and at all BBH hostels. It's given to you there and then.

They give you a list of all the BBH places and rough guide to prices. Again for them they're fairly cheap spesh if you stay in shared dorms ($15). A lot of the time in the more rural places no one is actually staying in the dorms so you have a room all to yourself for half the price of a private room. If you decide to stay a few days ask what deals they can offer.

Just remember to haggle lots when you do go to hostels and campsites. They'll always knock something off for you even if it is just $5 its still a saving.

Staying in the huts and hostels is nice I'd say compared to the CV as you have the warmth, clean loos and a kitchen. I would still like to do a CV at some point but it was so nice having a warm place to put yur head down.

It's still chilly at the moment here and if you were to stay in a CV I could imagine it would get very cold!

[justNoZi]

hi again,

you sound like you had a great time touring around. lots of good advice there thanks.

its good to hear the parks have facilities for travelling both by car and cv - so i'm still not decided on that yet but another plus for the car.

I'm travelling for 2 months hopefully, just finalised my itinerary there :) ive never been to NZ so i want to see as much as possible before i get down to some serious job hunting. thats my excuse for holidaying a wee bit anyways ;)

i am doing this partly get a wee holiday and do some tramping, cycling, etc but mainly to see where i could settle best - hence why so much emphasis on the plans and whats the best way to travel in as much comfort - or as little discomfort ;D as possible. certainly seems you werent put off by car, hut and hostel plan.

i'm hoping the temperature will be a bit higher when i get there - be middle of November and probably late Nov before i start my journey in my car/CV.

also thanks for the tips on the BBH card and the haggling bit - as you say every little saving will help.

oh and are the standards of the hostels pretty good? my experience of hostels is mixed - scotland pretty bad, france and belgium ok and germany is top quality.

cheers again

[LilAmy]

Hi,

We've always been happy with our hostels, all clean, most with enquite for us and clean cooking facilities.

If you get a BBH card or even the BBH brochure with the list of Hostels in it, it always give you a percentage of how other recommend it and a bit about them. We've always used that and to date it's not failed us one bit.

You can also get AA leaflet/brochures when you are in the Airport of the places you'll be visiting eg Bay of Plenty and the do the recommendation scheme as well.

All brochures give you an idea of costs as well which is good.

As long as you plan your route you'll get to see a lot of NZ over the two months. As I say we saw both North and South Islands in 3 weeks no problems but you have to be prepared for the travelling part, some days we spent most of a day in the car just stopping for pit stops etc. Enjoy the travelling and dont worry if you dont get to see it all. We've still not been everywhere we want to go but we have 2 yrs to see it all maybe longer if we get PR :)