Hello
Do people travel by road long distances around New Zealand, by long distance I am considering more than 1000Kms distance. If they do, what type of vehicle do people prefer in New Zealand for traveling within city as well as outstation.
Hello
Do people travel by road long distances around New Zealand, by long distance I am considering more than 1000Kms distance. If they do, what type of vehicle do people prefer in New Zealand for traveling within city as well as outstation.
Hi...yes...yes we do travel by road in NZ!! The distance travelled depends on why you are making the trip in the first place and your own definition of "long", for example if you were a "Trucker" and driving 1000kms was a necessity of your job; however, would I travel 1000kms to/from place of work by road?....no!.... would I travel 1000kms to the (not so) corner shop or (not so local) supermarket?...no!... would I travel 1000kms to see a show or event or even on holiday?... possibly. The type of vehicle is irrelevant really. Best if you refine your question and explain the rationale behind your question..that way you might get a sensible response from the good folk on here....or at least do a search of the forum eh?
<sorry MODS....but really?!>
I agree with Grasshopper, the question is too vague! For what purpose? Over what time period? 1000kms is a long way and certainly feels longer on Kiwi roads than in other places due to the windy and hilly design. It requires a lot of concentration and takes longer. We have just completed a 2-week holiday in our campervan and covered 3,200kms in total. That is a lot of driving, even in two weeks.
For those kinds of distances, most people would fly. Or at least part of the way.
I am not sure if they travel that far. The hills are windy and narrow in some places and no country wide motor way or freeway system. However road conditions are generally good and pretty good markings. It takes longer than you think to travel by road.
Vehicle depends on what type of car/truck you like. People here drive smaller vehicles than the US and a lot of second hand, noone really cares what you drive.
Hope this helps.
It's less than 1000kms from Nelson to Invercargill. People don't drive those distances on a regular basis unless they are truck drivers. But for a holiday, yes, people drive those distances. A lot of tourists are on the road in the summer. Many buy a car at one place and sell it when they are done. I think our family drives a lot more than the average Kiwi family because we are always exploring. For example, my husband lived in Marton for 2 years as a child and he only went to Wanganui (36 km away) once when he had to go to hospital and had never been to Taranaki (less than 200kms) until we went over Christmas. To the contrary, his family used to go on holiday in the Coromandel. So, if your question is to ask will you be some kind of outlier or strange person if you travel long distances by car, the answer is no. Some do, some don't.
Many roads are windy so it takes twice as long to travel the same distance as it would in a nation that has multi-lane motorways.
In my area, most people drive station wagon type things, people movers, compact fuel efficient cars or 4x4 SUVs or utes. People drive anything and everything on road trips. Most roads are paved with the occasional alternative scenic gravel road. There are some roads that go to backcountry areas that need 4x4s but they are not thoroughfares and are easily avoided.
I don't know too many people who fly often. Flying is expensive.
If you do a navigation search via google maps it'll give a time the journey will take and 95% of the time that will be the time it takes(Ooh that's a lot of times in there ) This from a Mainland perspective
Used cars imported from Japan are popular here. Cars also seem smaller here than in the US (where petrol is much less expensive). Also the roads are very narrow in Wellington, so a smaller car is easier there. My OH has a passionate love of Mini Coopers, but I don't think we need one since we don't actually live in the city anymore. Up here in Kapiti all the roads are a more normal width (2 lanes instead of 1.5 lanes on side streets).
Thank you all for providing inputs, I agree my initial question was vague and did not have many details. Here is a little background, originally from India, travelled in US and currently living in Gulf due to work. As the petrol/gas is dirt cheap in this region compared to anywhere in the world, most of the people own big cars/ truck and travel by road. The condition of the road is good, no hilly terrain but it gets dusty and windy during summer and bit of risk driving during these condition.
I do occasionally travel to different places/ country during holidays, I will be making my move to NZ this year along with my family (2 adults and 2 kids) and want to know, should I opt for small car or sedan or MUV/ SUV - thought will travel mostly within the city and occasionally travel long distance. Also considering the petrol cost is not going to be as cheap as what I am used to paying while living in gulf.
I did bit research looking at the cars on sites like turners, trade me - there are many cars imported from Japan having decent condition. Seems the inclination is towards Toyota and Nissan, correct me if I am wrong.
Getting opinion from all here, helps me to understand what’s the preferred vehicle body type (sedan/ hatchback/ muv/suv) and certainly budget.
Cheers !
I just bought a used-from-Japan (new to NZ) Toyota Spacio hatchback for about NZ$11K with less than 30K on the odometer. I travel a lot in NZ. Besides having relatives from one end of the country to another, there are so many places I want to explore. I often go to google maps just to see what is around the corner in other parts of NZ.
My hubby and I bought a 2008 Nissan wingroad(new to NZ) and has done great as a family car. Plenty of room for 4 people, 5 if no car seats, and the large dog! $15,500K(NZ)