*Got a campervan for our 2 weeks here. Went with the ‘Spaceship’ company, so we cruised around New Zealand, one of the most amazing and unique landscapes in the world, in a spaceship!! If you are wondering about price, it was VERY cheap (not usually the case in New Zealand) and it cost us $280 for 2 weeks!! As for sleeping, it was quite cramped quarters, but it was the weather rather than the space that caused us trouble.
--our camper van was a ghetto fabulous orange minivan equipped with a bed in the back and decent storage space--- it would have to do for the price!!!
-- we took a metered cab to the camper van depot which was a mistake! The campervan company offered us a cab for fixed price of $25 which we should have taken. The ride was only 7km so we assumed it wouldn’t cost that much. Wrong! It cost almost $40! For 7km!! That was our first introduction to New Zealand prices……..many more introductions after that!
*Accommodations: When you have a campervan, you are supposed to stay in designated areas overnight. Sometimes these places cost a few dollars/ person or sometimes they are free. If you need a powered site (for heat) it is obviously a bit more. There are plenty of campgrounds all over this country, either private owned or government owned ‘Department of Conservation’ sites.
*We knew we were going to New Zealand during their winter season. It was an ultimate decision we made back in Australia when we decided we preferred a less hot India to roam around and could put up with a colder New Zealand. Usually New Zealand winters are easy to deal with compared to Canada. Unfortunately, we came during some weird cold snap and the cold was quite hard to deal with in our camper van. It was manageable on the North Island, but not on the South Island where there was often frost on the ground in the morning and we definitely needed to pay for a heated site campground (we also stayed in a hotel in Queenstown to give ourselves a little break after a week in the camper van!). We were told frost was not a normal occurrence and we happened to be on the South Island during a particularly cold time L This situation made things more expensive than we had predicted. We decided, from now on, we would only do camper vans in summer. It just made for a more stressful trip which is never fun.
*Both islands are easy to navigate by car and I would highly recommend seeing this country via campervan (however, in the summer, not in a cold snap as mentioned above)! With your own vehicle you can stop as often as you want and enjoy the scenery to the fullest. That is exactly what you want in a country with such spectacular scenery!
*You need at least a few weeks to calmly see each island. There is a lot to see in this country and you could really get lost in all of it if you try to see too much at once. We didn’t have that much time on our tapas trip….
* We are used to some of the mountainous and hilly landscapes that this country has to offer so we decided to focus on places that were very unique to us and just skim through the stuff that we have seen before. Many people that come here have never seen mountain ranges so I can only imagine how incredible this scenery is to them. Not at all trying to undermine it, it is absolutely breathtaking!!!
*Stupidly, we should have started in the South and moved North to try to go from colder to warmer, but oh well……I think we are getting tired of travelling and not thinking clearly.
*The hats, umbrella, and fleece sweaters we bought on the North Island really came in handy !!
* The landscapes in this country remind me of Canada, and the people do also, although they seem more cynical and a little bit more depressed than Canadians. They don’t often have a smile on their face and their not huge on customer service, but they are generally nice and blunt (which I like). I think part of the ‘people skills’ issue may be the isolation…..i cannot imagine living this far from the rest of the world..
* We had 2 flat whites every day during our time in New Zealand. For some reason we made that our ‘thing’. I actually got Thomas to drink coffee daily and he loved it. We also loved it because we could say ‘Flat white’ every day (which we won’t be able to do back in North America!). Flat white = espresso with milk and a nice layer of froth on top…..mmmmmm good!
* Winter in this country is ridiculously beautiful! Picture this: Magnificent fall colours on all of the trees and shrubs + Rainforests all around you + snow capped mountains + occasional frost on the rainforest vegetation + low lying cumulous cloud cover + sun peaking through in different areas constantly (on a cloudy day) + magnificent rainbows every day !!! I think it may be the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen……
*New Zealand costs approach that of Australia’s, however, a key difference is that wages do not approach that of Australia’s. I can imagine how frustrating that can be for the common New Zealander (apart from the isolation).
*The price of gas in this country is bonkers!!!! Take a wild guess………………………nope, more! $2.00-2.18/litre!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Unfortunately, the most beautiful and scenic parts of this country also have the most unpredictable weather. It is extremely rare to have a sunny day in Fjordland, and even more rare to predict it accurately.
*The minute there is a tiny bit of snow on the ground in this country, the place shuts down! Sucks for winter travelers L
* Customer service here is rare. There is no tipping culture so maybe that’s why? But Australian’s were nicer and there is no tipping culture there either???
*Accommodations are ridiculously expensive and wifi costs extra everywhere. It’s funny that I can get it free in southeast Asia but not in New Zealand?
*This country is full of Indians. I love my Indian friends but this place is just comedic. You walk into a rural fish & chips café or pub and every customer you see is Indian except the waitress or bartender. And this is in a town of 500 people! It feels so out of place it’s hilarious! It is very clear that Indians have conquered this country post the British! lol
