Thorn Tree travel forum

1

A lot of hostels do not permit sleeping bags because of the animal life they may bring with them (not only you). A good silk sleeping sheet should help. I've never been cold in a NZ hostel, but I've never been there in winter. I am assuming that to stay in business they will provide sufficient heating or bed coverings.

2

Pretty much all decent hostels as part of the BBH list don't let you use sleeping bags; the duvets they provide should be good enough though,

3

Keep in mind if you bring a sleeping bag you might need to declare it to customs (i.e. 'camping gear'). This might cause delays at the airport. This can be a hassle. You shouldn't need to bring a sleeping bag though, NZ hostels that I've stayed at in winter are all warm enough (central heating plus duvets!).

4

I think that "camping gear" declarations only really relate to tents and tent pegs and things that may contain bugs unacceptable to NZ quarrantine laws. Sleeping bags should be OK, though I agree that you shouldn't need one.

5

No sleeping bags allowed in most hostels, as everyone else mentioned. If a hostel allows sleeping bags, it's probably not that great and is much more likely to have things crawling around in the mattress. When I was in NZ in early April, it wasn't that cold yet, but some of the south island hostels were starting to bring out their space heaters and duvets. They will provide you with enough warmth in the winter, so don't bring a sleeping bag unless you intend to camp (and that, I'd imagine, would be quite cold in June).

You probably won't need your sleep sheet either. Of all the hostels I encountered in NZ, every single one of them provided free bedding except one that rented it for about $1. Just stick to BBH hostels and you can lighten your pack by tossing the sleep sheet, too.

It's not wrong, it's just different!

Visit segacs's travels

6

Thanks for all the advice guys! Will definitely not be purchasing the sleeping bag then. And one less thing for my backpack, phew! I can barely lift it as it is!

7

It depends what you're thinking of doing, if you were going hiking obviously you'd need one. Bear in mind that NZ is quite often cold and damp and a sleeping bag is often useful. You won't have nay hassle with customs as long as there's no mud on it, and no hassle at hostels as you won't need it (they'll have duvets or blankets if they don;t allow you to use a sleeping bag). Most won't allow it and you should stick to their rules, they're designed to stop bed bugs being transferred around. On the other hand it may be cheaper for you to buy a bag ion auckland anyway, there's some good camping stores there.

Or you could just head to the Winterless North !