New Zealand dec 08 for a month..any advice appreciated!!

[winniewoo]

Ok..think we are going for it! Myself, DH 3 DS 8,5,3
Flying Christmas Day ( when flights come down in price!) and planning to be there for 4 or 5 weeks.
At present I am trying to cost out motorhomes against car hire and motel idea. Would possibly only do campervan for 2 weeks max but is it worth it??
Costing looked at Cod's old thread through wilderness is about £120 per day.
Any advice on websites, car hire motor home firms appreciated or anything really!! What to miss, what not to miss!!
Thanks in advance

We went in 2002 and spent 6 weeks in 6-7 berth one

It was soooooooooooooo deffo brill

Do a search for New Zealand and you will come up with loads of info

It was the Mercedes one

I mean do a search for new zealnd on Mumsnet

Hi

I spent 6 weeks backpacking round NZ with my DP in 2003 on a fairly tight budget and had a fab time.

We did lots of research and plumped for hiring a car and staying in hostels (we went in the NZ winter so the cold weather was a factor). We found it loads cheaper to hire in the south island and drop the car off in the north island as most tourists do the opposite and car rental companines are looking for ways to get their cars back north. We paid £7 a day to hire a 4 door white honda for 4 weeks picking up in Christchurch and dropping off in Auckland.

For hostels, we found BBH Backpackers to be excellent. They have a user rating system which worked well - we didn't stay anywhere that got less than 80% and the general standard was very good. On average we paid about £16 a night for a double room (a bit more for an ensuite).

As for stuff to do - i don't know where to start! My favourite things were:

1. Heli-hiking on the Franz Joseph Glacier
2. Sea Kayaking and the 'World of Wearable Art' off Nelson on the south island
3. Thermal Spas and Maori art in Rotorua
4. Black water rafting in Waitomo Waitomo - you go zipping through underground glo-worm cave rivers sat on a rubber ring
5. Sea lions on the beach at the bottom of the south island - you can really get away from it all....
6. Sailing round Milford Sound
7. Snowboarding in Queenstown
8. Wai O'Tapu Thermal Park

Have a great time!

I think the decision is whether you like packing and unpacking every night or whether you want the freedom of motorhoming

We did freedom camping too a couple of times which of course is free

you know...it's so exciting to come back to this thread and there in front of me is info to delve into!! Will get a little more research done later when DS sleeping!
Thank you

Someone said today to me that the beauty of not having a motorhome and using motels is the freedom of getting away from the kids for a little while and having quality time with DH!! Not sure what I make of that but well aware that 3 boys 24/7 for 5 weeks will be fab but manic!!