Campervan Cruise New Zealand

New Zealand is an incredibly diverse and beautiful country. We covered nearly 2500 miles in our 17-day campervan tour and came home with a list of things to do next time even longer than the list of things we were able to do on this trip.

One caveat to prospective visitors, do not be fooled by the relatively small size of NZ. You do not move around fast there. Allow time for travel and time to stop and enjoy where you are rather than rushing to get where you are going.

Quick Tips:

NZ holiday parks have a variety of lodging options at a very low price, from tent sites to motel rooms with kitchens. You will have several options near any destination, no matter how remote. The facilities and quality of the parks vary. None that we saw were bad, but some were definitely better than others. We found that the NZ Qualmark ratings were not consistent. The Top 10 chain was consistently the best.

Best Way To Get Around:

Public transportation is good, but there are long stretches of road between towns and much of the best scenery and adventure is outside of the main locations served by public transportation. We rented a campervan this time but will rent a car next time. The roads are mostly two lanes, well maintained with little or no shoulder and lots of curves. So a car is easier to drive than a van. Get a diesel - diesel fuel is less than half the cost of gasoline.

Very nice modern hotel close to the city center. Located on Victoria Park, all of the major city sites are within 10 minutes walk. We paid about US$110 for a concierge level room. Rooms were quite comfortable, large and tastefully decorated. Service, like everywhere else in NZ, was top notch and frendly. The concierge level upgrade was US$36 per night and included access to a nice lounge with unlimited drinks and snacks throughout the day, and a nice spread in the evening that works as a light dinner. We felt it was an excellent bargain.

We stayed in about a dozen different Holiday Parks in NZ.

Holiday Parks are just what the name implies. Places to go and take your holiday. During the summer, families flock to these parks and settle in for a week or two. Most are located near the beach or some other attraction. All of the larger cities have at least a couple to choose from and even in the countryside, (most of the country), you are never far from one.

Accommodations range from tent sites to camper sites with power to cabins and motel rooms with private bath and kitchens. All provide communal kitchens, bathrooms, showers etc. Most have some sort of email/internet set up.

NZ Qualmark has a star rating system, one to five stars, for these parks. We found this system to be inconsistent. While none of the parks were bad, some were head and shoulders above the others. The Top 10 chain was consistently top quality.

Very enjoyable. Action was average, five decent fish in three hours, biggest was five pounds. Bruce, our guide, was very entertaining to talk to. This being only our second day in New Zealand, he was a wealth of information about where else to visit as well as providing insight into the goings on in the country from an Everyman's point of view rather than a guide book. Overall, this fully met my expectations. Bruce and his son guide fishing and hunting trips and are not limited to this particular style of fishing, this is just what was working best at the time we were there. By the way, it was winter time, late May, and as you can see in the pictures, pretty nice weather to say the least. Cost was $250NZ for half day.

Milford Sound was created by the retreating glaciers of the south island of NZ. The sound is about 14 miles long and opens onto the Tasman Sea. The scenery there is spectacular any time of the day or year, rain or shine. Rain is actually preferred, as when it rains, the cliffs on either side of the sound are covered in literally thousands of waterfalls. On dry days, there is just one waterfall that can be depended on to be flowing.

You have many options for visiting the sound.

You can fly in a small plane from Queenstown and take a three or four hour cruise.

You can join a tour either from Queenstown or Te Anau and be driven via coach to the sound and then take either the day cruise or an overnight cruise.

Or, you can drive yourself to the sound and join one of the cruises.

We chose to take a coach from Te Anau and the overnight cruise and were very pleased.

The drive to the sound is spectacular. Much scenery is missed by whoever is behind the wheel. Also, there is a lengthy one lane tunnel towards the end of the drive that can be a little tricky to pass if you are not used to it. The driver/guide was well informed and very friendly. We stopped at about six locations along the way to look at various scenery and historic spots.

Once we arrived at the sound, we boarded the MS Mariner for our cruise. One of the advantages of the overnight cruise is that there is a maximum of 60 guests on the boat vs. 100plus on the day cruises. The cabins on the boat are very comfortable with well equipped private baths. The trip includes use of kayaks, a very respectable dinner and breakfast along with snacks, coffee and tea throughout the cruise. The crew of the ship are friendly and helpful.

Alcoholic beverages are available but not included in the cost.

You will not see more stars in many places than on a clear night here. We encountered many sea birds including albatross as well as bottlenose dolphin.

This cruise was a major highlight of our trip to NZ and a nice break from sleeping in our campervan every night. We booked through RealJourneys.

The yellow Eyed penguin (Hoiho) is the third largest of the penguin species. Near the end of the Otago penninsula in Dunedin you can get up close with these birds at Penguin Place a reserve for the penguins. Viewings occur at dusk and are guided. You are driven out to the colony in small buses and then walk though covered trenches to various "hides" where you can view the Hoiho from as close as 3-5 meters in some cases. When we arrived, there were not yet any penguins on the shore, they fish all day at sea and return to their nests each night. As we watched, the swam to shore in small groups and waddled up the beach to their various nests. The network of trenches allows for viewing of a good number of birds from various locations. Wear good shoes, the walk is up and down quite a bit, but not long or overly difficult. A good telephoto lens for your camera is a plus, but do not bring your flash, you cannot use it as the birds eyes are very sensitive. There are two routes to the end of the penninsula, the high road and the low road. I recommend the high road on the way out and the low road on the way back. Both roads are narrow and very windy. The high road is one lane in many places. Since you drive on the left in NZ, taking the high road out and the low road back puts you on the inside lane rather than on the edge. Definately preferred if you meet traffic coming the other way in a narrow spot, and you will. Make a day of it and add the Royal Albtross colony and Lanarch Castle while you are on the penninsula. A very worthwhile day trip while in Dunedin.