shell and mark

evening guys
heres a question for you all .....
our house is well on the way to being sold so starting to plan our trip to new zealand via australia for a couple of months.
there is just the 2 of us who dont mind roughing it a bit
the question is do you think it would be cheaper hiring a camper van (with shower and toilet)for the duration of our reccy ( 6 months or more ) or to buy a car and pay for accomdation which would be something one up on backpackers but less than hotel are there plenty of campsites or can you just pull up for the night.
i have had a look at prices for buying a camper but they seem out of our league.

any advice would be gratefully recieved

regards
shell and mark

darkuser

We had a campervan from escape camper van rentals. We travelled down from Auckland to queenstown and stayed in the camper and in some hostels along the way. We loved it as it gave you freedom and the ability to choose the route on a whim. We didn't have a toilet or shower either as the campsites tend to be well provided and cared for.

shell and mark

sorry to be nosey but how long did you hire and how much was it ?

cheers
us

darkuser

we had the camper for a couple of weeks and it cost a couple of hundred quid.

you can get a quote from www.escaperentals.co.nz/

Colin in the middle

When we came over there was just the two of us and the cheaper option was Car.
Since your going to be travelling for 6 months or more it would be cheaper to balance out the cost of rental over those 6 months versus buying a car.

Considering your stopping in Aussie first though that option could also be looked at easy to pick up a cheap backpackers car and sell it on at the end of your trip to another backpacker.

We stayed in self contained cabins on campsites compared to the UK or Australia campsites are far more advanced in what they offer in NZ. Whilst we travelled we were looking to buy a Car as fate would have due to a fault with our rental we ended up in Rotorua, where we saw a low mileage car for NZ$2000 the guy wanted to make room on his lot and sold us the car for $1000. Good buy cost us $250 a few weeks later for a ignition problem and 4 new tyres and 4 years later she is still the most versitle reliable car I have ever owned.

My Cousin who is doing a 1 year stay picked up on trademe a few weeks back a Van equiped with camping gear from a vacating backpacker for $1800 from trademe. Not always roses though I got the same type of Van dead in my back garden ( a disaster purchase).

Trick is DO NOT just us the internet for your searchs, backpackers can turn up some good motors just avoid Auckland Backpackers because a lot of dodgy used car sales person have cottoned on to the pretend to be backpackers scenario.

Basically if you can get a Van from a departing backpacker then you probably hacve and inexpensive run around compared to renting.

shell and mark

cheers colin
good advice all round i was thinking of the buying off backpacker in aus......did that last time i was out ....where the cabin expensive to rent? and are they plentyful all over?


cheers me and her

Colin in the middle

Pretty much anywhere in New Zealand you will find a campsite not yet found one that does not have a caravan or a cabin for the night, not forgetting a Tent as a back up plan which in the 2 months we toured we only used once because we picked a bad weekend to hit Taupo (race weekend). Backpackers are plentiful and pretty good value as well some even have motel units.
If you got a Tent the Department of Conservation campgrounds are good value although basic.
Prices vary we aimed at no more than $30 per night and pretty much hit that with caravans and cabins. Accomodation where my wife works is $35 for a room and thats peak ski season although they kept the summer prices to drive down the scandelous prices in National Park.
Think just outside the tourist trails and you can find real bargains for accomodation.

shell and mark

Thanx For All the Help and advice on this one....

BEVS

That is amazing Never found that anywhere , even ten years back.

Colin in the middle

Last year National Park got a shake up with the new accomodation block called The Park which 50% of the 150 plus rooms got allocated to RAL staff at a vastly cheaper price than the other accomodation on offer.
Kind of addressed that imbalance which still has a strangle hold in Ohakune certainly woke up the backpackers a bit