Driving in NZ
 

My wife is coming over to NZ in October on a 2 week recce and is hiring a car to get around. We have an itinerary which involves driving to Hawkes Bay area, Tauranga and Whangarei, so she will be clocking up a few miles.

She has asked me to ask on the forum for any advice on driving in NZ, such as road conditions to expect and attitudes of other road users. how much is petrol a litre at the moment?

Any advice would be gratefully received

Re: Driving in NZ
 

Petrol is $1.70 per litre (57p), when we arrived we did the same sreas as you aswell as auckland, Taupo, Rotorua, Napier, Palmerston North, Levin, & wellington. we hired a campervan which was like driving a tank & i (female) did all the driving, & had no problems. The biggest problem i have is the right hand turn rule (when oncoming traffic turning is turning right you have to give way) which i sometimes forget but got away with it so far. Have not been hooted in 3 months & have only had the one finger salute once , but i admit that was my fault & i deserved it. I thought driving here would be a mare but its been ok, although i'm sure some others may have different views!
To quote the kiwis "she'll be right"
Good luck with thw recce.

Re: Driving in NZ
 

Hi,
Petrol is $1.71 a litre at the moment.
As for the driving, well, how can I put this without causing offence?
Let's just say there are some nutters out there. Sorry, make that a LOT of nutters out there.
Mark :scared:

Re: Driving in NZ
 

We are amazed at the amount of drink driving that goes on in Tauranga.We have seen loads of people who have had lots to drink but they just get in their car!!and lots of them drive stoned so this might be something to do with
them looking at you but then pull out infront of you :scared: The other habit they have is texting while driving. They are unbelievable.

Re: Driving in NZ
 

Drive slowly

Re: Driving in NZ
 

Something we are not proud of :mad:

Fellow Kiwis grow up !!!!!!

Re: Driving in NZ
 

The wiper switch being on the 'wrong' side can cause havoc too :D It's very difficult to look menacing at someone who's just pulled out in front of you if you intend to blow your horn but instead spray water at them - Hubby :rolleyes:

THERE! Take That! I nearly wet myself laughing. :D

Re: Driving in NZ
 

when we first arrived we thought the driving wasn't too bad, except for a nutter who was texting at 120 k's on the motorway outside Auckland and rammed right into the back of our hire car. ( which we have still had to pay for till he - being uninsured pays back everything!) So one word of advice - if you can afford it take out the insurance that lowers the excess - we payed $1500 excess for an accident that wasn't our fault)

the longer we've been here we realise that there is some truly terrible driving! I know you can say that about everywhere - but the bad drivers here are really bad!

One thing to realise is that some people will drive so close behind you that you think they must be touching your bumper ( oh! they were!)

Overtaking on some totally scary places. Pulling out right infront of you seems normal too. I dont mind the turning rule thingy - you do get used to it.

I suppose the best advice is just drive as carefully as you can - all the time - and watch out for what others are doing.
This is more difficult as it sounds - cos some of the scenery is amazing and you're going WOW all the time - I've found myself wondering over to the wrong side of the road - which means - I am one of the bad drivers. :o

Re: Driving in NZ
 

The driving standards here are pretty similar to the uk. You hear people complain about ropey driving, but in the main it's OK. (I was a driving instructor in Derby, so I know a thing or 2 about crap UK drivers!).

Driving in Auckland is the same as driving somewhere like Birmingham - fairly busy, lots of people trying to cut across lanes etc. - but generally ok if you're used to it. Outside of Auckland it's much quieter.

Have a look here for the specifics http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/roadcode/index.html on rules and stuff.

The main 2 things to watch for are:

1) Give way to the right if you're turning left (eg if your turning left at traffic lights, you have to give way to the cars turning right into the same road as you. If you're turning left from a main road into a side road, again you give way to a car coming the other way turning right into the same side road)

2) On multilane roads/motorways in Auckland, cars will overtake in any lane. So if you're driving up the outside lane on the motorway, it's normal for peeps to overtake on your left. Not a problem, but a lot of European drivers don't expect it and fail to check their mirrors when pulling into a left hand lane. Bad idea.

Overall, take it easy and you'll be right!

Re: Driving in NZ
 

LOL yea I've window wiped at quite a few folk over here too :D

Re: Driving in NZ
 

Some of them drive so close you might as well be towing them :D

Re: Driving in NZ
 

Watch out for fire engines too :p our first year here we had a really nice chat with the whole crew of one after they ran into us at a junction :)

Re: Driving in NZ
 

And they weave around behind you like it's a grand prix or something!
The really stupid thing is that they don't overtake when there's a good opportunity. You'll get somebody sitting too close behind you on a flat two mile straight with nothing coming the other way. They will then overtake you as soon as you come to a blind corner or brow of a hill. Amazing.

Re: Driving in NZ
 

You can look up the NZ Road code online so your wife can brush up on some of the sillier road rules. Make sure you have good insurance cover & just go for it. From everything Ive ever read on here being a Brit your wife like the rest of you should be an expert driver & have no problems coping with all us crazy NZ drivers.
Hope you enjoy the touring around, its a very nice part of the country your looking at. I hope it all goes well for you.

Safe travels
Shepslady

Re: Driving in NZ
 

:D