Camper van or car and tent?

You're going at a good time for probably missing most rain and with what you will save on a campervan, you can settle in to a hostel if weather was a bit yucky or just to have a break from the tent.
Out in the country areas, you will probably have a few hostels allowing you to pitch for a small fee and have use of their facilities and so you'll just be sleeping in the tent.
Have a look at BBH, and order their guide (reasonable maps) and you'll get a good idea on spread of locations and prices.
Likewise YHA and there's another association as well over there plus a listing of Holiday Parks and Top 10 is another you can google, but a l;ot of parks have good communal facilities, including BBQs, and what with summer late light, tenting ought to be pretty good.

You'll need to weigh up the cost and hassle of getting camping equipment against the cost of a campervan. Though at that time of the year, campervan hire wont be cheap. Places like K-Mart will stock all your camping needs as will The Warehouse if you dont want top of the range.

"probably missing most rain"

don't count on it

We have chosen a sedan and are using a mix of hostels and park cabins in both the cities and tourist destinations (this for a holiday late Dec and all of Jan). We considered a campervan, and rejected it because of price mainly, but also ease of driving (my partner not being the most confident person in this regard), and convenience in cities. We did not opt for camping this trip (since we're flying in), but we do it all the time in Australia. Personally I prefer camping wherever possible, but not to the point of martyrdom - use the tent if it's fine, but straight into a hostel or park cabin if the weather is bad, or the location is not so good. Certainly cheap that way.

I road tripped the Sth Island last summer in a van, sleeping sometimes in the van and sometimes in a tent (was with 4 others). We stayed at a proper campsite every 3 days or so to use the facilities. It was an excellent saving but beware there are millions of sandflies around the lakes and rivers - so have a supply of flyspray (to spray the car, slam doors shut for 5 mins, and return to car when all sandflies are dead) and mozzie repellant. Also, you should make sure that if you find a free spot to camp in that there are other campers around too. NZ is generally safe but there have been muggings. If its just the 2 of you, you can save and be quite comfortable in a car/van that's large enough to sleep in - more warmth and security than a tent. There is a car and van market for tourists on K Rd in Auckland, the sellers being tourists who are about to go home. Another bonus of having a vehicle you can sleep in (as opposed to a tiny car and a tent) is it gives you more options for accommodation - arriving in Wellington one evening to catch the ferry the next day we couldn't find anywhere to stay - even the one tiny campground (read:backyard of a hostel) was full - so we just parked in the ferry terminal carpark next to some Swiss people in a campervan and it was fine.

Great thanks - I will put a post on how we get on!

Hiya,

We're on the road in NZ right now, travelling with a Spaceship (www.spaceships.tv).<BR><BR>They cost about $55 a day - Wicked, Jucy, Escape, Maui etc were all more expensive.

Also, these aren't huge camper vans; it's a Toyota people carrier, so no harder to drive than a car... but it does get a little cramped in the back.

On the plus side, it has a DVD player and is really nicely set up inside (buying a camper van and converting it for living doesn't come close).

Cheers,

Ben and Debs

Hi!
I´m travelling to NZ in March, 20 th and flying to OZ aroud the 10th of April (so I will stay around 3 weeks in NZ). I´m planning to hire a car and look around the North Island for 5 days (2 in Raglan), sleeping with my wife in small hotels (max 80 NZ dollars per night for us both, is it difficult to find?). Planning to leave the car in Wellington and fly to Christchurch. I´d really prefer to hire another car in the South Island and sleep in hostels or small hotels (I do not like tents). But there is also the campervan alternative... In that time (end of march beginning of april) is it difficult so find rooms in the hostels/hotels? Would I need to book it in advance? Those "holiday parks" also have rooms to hire? What would the prices be?
Thanks in advance.
Gustavo.