Planning a recce trip in July.

[vixxann]

It will be freezing and although you could rent a camper with all mod cons to offset that, the cost would be eye wincing.

Heaters in motorhomes are often gas powered and really don't use / cost that much.

Don't forget that if you are staying on a campsite you can plug in and pretty much have unlimited electricity - so when we travel in our bus we always take along a fan heater for when ever we are on mains electric.

Plus... five people in one motorhome helps keep you all toasty anyway !!

and another positive point... you don't have to worry about bringing just one or two cases that you can easily pack up when you leave each motel. You just need to try and bring soft bags / rucksacks rather than suitcases - that way you can store them away easier in the motorhome.

[Kanga]

I've done four months solid in a camper in NZ and it wasn't the cost of running the heater (negligible or non existent as vixann says)- it was the daily hire cost plus cost of campsite if you're using a paying site. We sorely regretted the camper van because it was either cold, or when warm was horribly wet windowed and sticky-damp feeling (good preparation for Kiwi rental homes, tho).

We were 2 adults and 1 child at the time so we were forever kicking ourselves as actually a motel room or camp site cabin or cheap bach and car hire would have been less and much, much more comfortable. Every couple of weeks we'd "break" resolve and check into a motel or something and we laughed every time at the number or campervans parked up outside all the rooms. I like campers for a few days, but no more.

Daniela, I'm worried for you



When it rained it was miserable- this was between September and December!

[josiejo]

Ok, so a few more hours surfing the internet and I have tried to scale down the areas as follow (nights in brackets)

Auckland (3) - Bay of Plenty (Tauranga) (3) - Napier (3) - Wellington (3) - Nelson (2) - Palmerston North (1), Taranaki (2) and Hamilton/Cambridge (3).

Have chosen a mixture of motel/holiday home accomodation and have emailed several places to find out definite prices/availability etc. Love the idea and freedom of the campervan and could get one really cheaply (£555 for 21 days - older model). However, remember many cold, wet days caravanning in Wales early Spring and just feel that 3 weeks will test our family to the limit!!!! Also, want to drive around surrounding areas and won't be so easy in a monstrous 6 berth home. Can't imagine parking it at the supermarket.

girlwithanewf - thanks for the tip about the Cook Strait in Winter. researched this a little more and found some frightening tales on one website. Flights for 5 of us from Welly to Nelson would cost just under 1000NZD, compared to 744NZD on ferry, risking life and death??????

This trip is mainly to get a feel for NZ and a rough idea of areas. I would like to visit teacher recruitment agencies in Auckland and Wellington to drop in my teacher reg, NZQA and CV (if I get organised enough).

This is quite exciting.....
Jo

[mikeandcaroline]

I'm excited for you

You can get down to Rotorua in 45 mins now the new SH has opened through Pyes Pa, so you can still visit there without too much hassle. If you do go down there a visit to The Fat Dog cafe for coffee and/or lunch is a must - I should be on commission for them but I'm not.

[Kanga]

Rotorua is a lovely 1 hr drive from Cambridge (easy day trip) and is an absolute MUST-DO for a NZ trip- there's nowhere else like it! I'd suggest Wai-o-tapu (http://www.waiotapu.co.nz/), the luge (http://www.skylineskyrides.co.nz/rotorua/ssr_luge/), Fat Dogs for lunch (http://www.fatdogcafe.co.nz/), Te Puia (http://www.tepuia.com/) and if you can fit it in a soak in the Polynesian Spa (http://www.polynesianspa.co.nz/), though the spa is not as fun if you have family it'll still be pleasant as the family area has a hot pool with slide for the kids and large soak spas too. A blow the budget sort of day but it's such a fantastic place!

[Manks]

We did the Fat Dog on our way through Rotorua recently. The Top 10 campsite gets a discount so that's why we chose it. Mr Manks had the Dogs Bollux burger! I won't ruin it but there's a reason the burgers don't come with fries!

[vixxann]

Ok, so a few more hours surfing the internet and I have tried to scale down the areas as follow (nights in brackets)

Auckland (3) - Bay of Plenty (Tauranga) (3) - Napier (3) - Wellington (3) - Nelson (2) - Palmerston North (1), Taranaki (2) and Hamilton/Cambridge (3).

This is quite exciting.....
Jo

Very exciting!!

happy planning

[mikeandcaroline]

We didn't have a burger at the Fat Dog as we weren't feeling too hungry, so opted instead for a bowl of nachos and a bowl of wedges as a 'snack' between the four of us - adults - and didn't eat it all. Beware of portion sizes when you eat out.

When in Cambridge early last year, the first visit in a few years, we decided to treat outselves to a meal out and on the menu I liked the look of the lamb shank and though they had a spelling mistake when it said lamb shank's' but when it arrive it was infact two lamb shanks. Reminding us that even after a few years between visits the quantity and quality of the food hadn't changed.

So we now rememeber again to look around at what others are eating and gauge the size of the portions before ordering a full meal each.

[lush77]

Hi
We too are hoping to head over to Auckland to do a recce. We have been looking at a few websites for places to stay that aren't too pricey. Any advice for places to look at?
Thanks
Lindsey

[VileTraveller]

Auckland (3) - Bay of Plenty (Tauranga) (3) - Napier (3) - Wellington (3) - Nelson (2) - Palmerston North (1), Taranaki (2) and Hamilton/Cambridge (3).

That sounds very achievable, our trip was Auckland-Coromandel-Tauranga-Whakatane-Rotorua-Napier-Taupo-Waitomo-Matamata-Auckland in two weeks - ours was about 50/50 holiday and reconnaissance. You're probably right in choosing car-and-accommodation instead of campervan if you stay more than a day in one place, as it's a lot easier to get around. You should be able to book at short notice in the winter period, too - we had very little trouble even over the Easter holiday. But we found it very useful to check out accommodation on Trip Advisor and make a shortlist before going, because internet access was rather spotty when we were in-country and travelling.

We originally intended to camp, but we found that a car and hotel/motel/homestay was cheaper (and homestay was great). Also, NZ roads are small and winding and short on crash barriers along cliff edges, so believe it when you hear that short trip will take you 3 hours! Still, my wife tells me the scenery was lovely (I had my eyes glued to the road).