Camper van in New Zealand

Tips:

Avoid driving after dark as there is no network in the hilly regions on state highway 73
If you do, please check there is a working spare tire, tools and you are able to change if needed
All gas stations and restaurants close early in the remote areas so stock up
Be sure to book the holiday parks in advance as they get sold out

References:

There are many good reasons for hiring a camper van in New Zealand – budget friendly stay, adventure, flexibility of travel and kitchen access in holiday parks. For us it was honestly all of these. We visited New Zealand along with Thailand from USA for a total of 15 days (5 days in Thailand and 10 in NZ). Thus budget was a big part of consideration and we were able to save a lot by camping in a van for 5 nights. Since a lot of restaurants close early, having kitchen access in the holiday parks is definitely a plus. We hired the camper van in Christchurch and covered the south island. We drove a total of 1782 kms in these 5 days as below.

We hired the ‘Happier 3 Kuga berth camper’ from https://www.happycampers.co.nz/ This costed us a total of NZD 616 back in 2016. The camper size was perfect for a couple and a child. It had a decent storage and a small kitchen. We had booked camp sites for our stay which provided shared restrooms and kitchen.

Driving this van was very easy and similar to a car. We had booked a holiday park in Hokitika which was around 3 hr drive but just when we were an 1 hr into our drive the tire bursted on highway 73. There was no network and in hurry we had not checked that the van had no tools for changing tire and by then the rental office was closed. Fortunately this Kiwi was kind enough to stop and help us change the tire. Since by the time it was quite late and also the spare was not in a great condition we decided to spend the night in the parking lot of a gas station in Springfield (advantage of a camper van).

We got up early and started our drive to Queenstown with stops at Franz Josef Glacier and Arrow town. We stayed in Springfield(1N) – Queenstown(1N) – Milford Sound(1N) – Queenstown(1N) – Ashburton(1N) and back to Christchurch. This was definitely a great adventure and learning for us. Exploring a new country by road has its own charm, you get to meet local people, try authentic cuisines. For all those reasons we highly recommend this adventure to everyone 🙂