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Motorhome Hire New Zealand ? How To Be A Careful Camper & Have The Best Start Possible For Your NZ Holiday Adventure

10 helpful tips on how to be a careful camper while visiting NZ in your Motor home.
Knowledge provided from experts with many years of experience and also from valuable customer feedback.

1. Arrival and Pick Up After And Before Long Haul Flights
It is highly recommended that you stay in a NZ Hotel or Motel for your first and last night of your New Zealand visit to avoid being overtired and to start your NZ holiday relaxed and refreshed. Be sure to book into a Hotel or Motel near Auckland or Christchurch Airport in advance.

2. For Peak Travel Over Christmas and New Year – Pre Book Your Holiday Park In New Zealand
We strongly recommend that you pre-book your campsite in advance to avoid later disappointment. Most NZ Holiday parks are equipped to please a wide range of people for a minimal cost. Within an attractive landscaped setting (often beside a beach or lake) they provide sites for tents, caravans and campervans. If you’re setting up camp or parking a Motor Home, you can choose to stay on a powered or non-powered site.

3. Freedom Camping
Each district in New Zealand has different rules in regards to freedom camping (and parking of campervans). We suggest that you contact the nearest Visitor Centre in the region you visit, to find out about camping in a particular location. The impact of freedom camping on the environment can be a strain to the environment – New Zealand Tourism does not recommend freedom camping in New Zealand.

In certain Areas in New Zealand it is forbidden to free camp – for example National Parks etc. If you do freedom camp it is very important to remember to not to leave any rubbish behind or any traces of your stay. Please consider the environment when you do free camp and be a careful visitor – leave only footprints! When you hire a Motor home in NZ, most if not all NZ motor home companies provide you with a list of Holiday Parks containing the contact details and many more ideas on where to camp.

4. Battery Power of Your NZ Motorhome
It is not always necessary to go to a campground each night but it is recommended to do this every third or forth night to empty toilet and waste water tanks and to get plenty of fresh water. You can camp on the side of the road or anywhere else as long as there are no signs indicating NO CAMPING or PARKING overnight.

5. Toilets on board your NZ Motor home
On board toilets from Motor homes can only be legally emptied into so called Dump stations. These are normally found in holiday parks.

6. Ferry Crossing North to South or South to North Island, NZ
Many visitors ask if they can exchange their Motor home at the ferry terminals in Wellington (North Island) or in Picton on the South Island.
Most campervan companies do not have any facilities or depots in those areas and the vehicle has to go onto the Cook Strait Ferry with you.

7. Peak Season Travel on Interislander or Bluebridge Ferry NZ
During peak season travel (especially during the Christmas and New Year period and during School holidays – availability for motor vehicles can be restricted and it is highly recommended that you pre- book the passage in advance to avoid waiting in long queues at the respective terminals or have to wait for the next day to get on a ship.
A daytime sailing is highly recommended as the journey of about 3 hours is very scenic and often Dolphins swim alongside the ship and make this trip a memorable one.

8. Manual vs. Automatic Transmission
Why are most NZ Motor homes equipped with manual gear shift and not automatic transmission?
Many visitors ask for a campervan or motor home with automatic transmission.
The reason why bigger NZ motor homes are equipped with mainly manual transmission is due to the way roads are built in New Zealand – many hills and mountains which means a vehicle with manual gear shift drives much easier in such conditions.

9. NZ Road Restrictions
There are a handful of road restrictions in place from most if not all NZ motor home and campervan companies – if you drive on any of the following roads – all insurances in place will be voided and you will be in breach of the rental agreement.

North Island:
Ninety Mile Beach – Northland
North of Colville Township – Coromandel

South Island:
Skippers Canyon – Queenstown
Ball Hutt Road – Mt Cook

North and South Island:
Any roads closed by Traffic Police or other authority.

10. Fuel Costs in NZ
Because of constantly changing world oil prices, fuel costs in New Zealand are not easy to predict. Current information will be available upon request from vehicle providers.

There are 1000 or more ways to improve your planning for a successful camper van holiday in New Zealand – we hope that you have found these 9 hints for your campervan hire useful and informative.

Flying Start For 2008 Holidays

As regular as Santa coming down the chimney at Christmas, the travel industry gives a dire warning of hard times for the year ahead, prices rising, and bookings looking poor.

But 2008 has been an exception with what could be record numbers booking for not just winter holidays but putting deposits down for a summer holiday.

Nearly all traditional travel agents and on-line travel sites report a surge of interest with many translating into bookings around the Christmas period.

ABTA, The British Association of Travel Agents, who safeguard consumer interests for the travelling public in the UK, put the rise in holiday bookings down to the awful weather in the country last summer.

The weather ABTA refer to were floods that affected large parts of England, claimed four lives, and left a hundred thousand homes without water for two weeks in parts of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Insurance companies have warned that the floods will ultimately cost small businesses millions, and insurers have processed tens of millions in claims from homeowners. The British government has given emergency aid to the worst affected areas to help with the cost of the clear-up. Yorkshire in the north of England saw some of the heaviest flooding, with thousands of homes left without power and three people dying.

Included in the holiday areas that have benefitted from the booking surge are Malta, Tenerife, Menorca, Majorca and Lanzarote – some of the favourites from previous years.

Early reports from Malta suggest that the holiday island had a best ever year for tourism in 2007, and is now considering how she can broaden her appeal to entice more tourists to the Mediterranean sunshine isle. Malta Airport saw a record number of passenger flights arriving in 2007 thanks to the low cost airlines bringing in extra visitors, and 2008 looks set to be busier still as more competition arrives.

The Canary Islands are hosting a winter festival of classical music and hopes to boost its visitors before the summer begins. The fourth largest island of Lanzarote, named for its red mountains, will host several of the festival’s upcoming concerts. Lanzarote is well known for its picturesque volcanic landscapes. It is perhaps also just as well known for its futuristic appearance and controlled development of wildlife and plant life.

Another of the Canary Islands, Tenerife, is known for its great winter climate and attracts nearly three and a half million tourists a year to its scenic 2,034 square kilometers. Most of Tenerife’s tourism comes from the United Kingdom, followed by Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy and France, among many others. The island is home to many beautiful resorts, including the Playas de las Americas and Los Cristianos. In fact, recent legislation was passed to ensure that any future resort construction must either be of five-star status or offer resort luxuries like golf courses or banquet facilities.

It is likely that both Tenerife and Lanzarote will see their first quarter tourism numbers up for 2008, and if bookings continue as they have been can look forward to a good 2008.

Motorhome Hire New Zealand – How To Be A Careful Camper & Have The Best Start Possible For Your NZ Holiday Adventure