Top Tips For Travel To New Zealand ~ Planning a Trip

Top Tips For Travel to New Zealand

We’ve spent several long British Winter’s in New Zealand, it’s truly a breathtakingly beautiful country. For us, there’s no better way to see New Zealand than by motorhome, which is why we bought a van and converted into a campervan. Here we’ll share what we learnt from those long Summer’s in New Zealand and our Top Tips for travel to this far away island nation.

Top Tips Travel To New Zealand — Tongariro Alpine Crossing

New Zealand is an easy travel destination

New Zealand just seems to have the whole package. There’s scenery that leaves you wanting more, as well as incredibly friendly people and unforgettable blue skies that seem to go on forever.

It’s a country the same size as the UK, but with a tiny population of just 4 million people. So there’s no real motorway network, long distances between places and lots of vast unpopulated space to explore.

Doesn’t it sound idyllic? If you’re thinking of a trip to the “Land of the Long White Cloud” then congratulations – you’re in for a treat.

But, where do you start with planning? What’s the best route? Should you have a stopover? Where should you fly to in country? How do you cope with such a long flying time? Where do you pick up a rental motorhome? There’s so many questions which we’ll try and answer.

Maybe, if you’re on a longer trip, you’ll be thinking of buying a campervan? Possibly, even converting one, which is what we did. We then had a campervan in New Zealand ready to use.

Flights

First up of our top tips for travel to New Zealand is flights. There’s one thing certain, if you’re British and you’re flying out of the UK, New Zealand is going to be the longest flight time you’ll make.

If you can afford Business Class, these long-haul flights are so much easier. Unfortunately, we’ve always flown Economy.

Choosing a Route and Airline

When searching for flights, we use a comparison site initially, such as Skyscanner. This gives an idea of prices and also has the facility to look at block weeks or months. This is really useful, if you are flexible with dates.

If you want a particular airline, this may determine the choice of route. The same applies with airports, if you want to fly from a specific location then you may have less choice with airlines for example.

It helps if you can be flexible with the departure airport. Our nearest is Manchester, but there is less choice departing from there. By the way, there are no direct flights to NZ from the UK, simply because it’s too far.

We’ve flown from Heathrow in the past, which is easy to get to and the choice of flights huge in comparison to Manchester.

Prices also tend to be cheaper. Although, you have to factor in transport costs to get there and maybe, an overnight hotel.

Departure Airport

Whichever airport we choose for departure, we usually book a one-way car hire, picking up locally and driving to the airport. It’s super easy and a shuttle bus takes you straight to departures. If you book in advance, there’s usually a good deal too.

We’d select a route dependent on both Airline and price. In other words, a good Airline with a good price.

Equally important for us is a flight with just one stop. Preferring a short transit between that stop and the second leg. Ensuring the connection isn’t too short if you’re not doing a stopover. After all, worrying about missing a connection is the last thing you want.

We’ve flown with Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand and Emirates. All were good.

Booking direct with an airline

Once we establish which route and airline is the best price, we book direct on the airlines own website.

We prefer to know it’s a direct booking, joining the relevant club with the airline to get their flying miles too. Also, if you fly regularly, the points on a long haul flight add up.

The only time I tried to book through a comparison site, the deal turned out to be unavailable. The company didn’t notify me until a few hours later, when I then had to start over again.

Stopover or Transit?

Booking a stopover is a great way to see somewhere new. It also gives a break between flights, this is known as a Multi-City flight.

Sometimes, we just have a transit stop. This is when you land and wait to board the next flight. It can be anything from a couple of hours to several hours. It’s important to check these transit times when booking.

We prefer a transit stop of about 3 hours. This is just enough time to stretch the legs, freshen up and get some food before boarding again.

If we choose a stopover, we collect the luggage, grab a taxi or transport and head to the hotel for a few nights. It’s just great to relax, re-cover from some jet lag, explore and see somewhere new.

If we’re doing transit only, then sometimes you have to collect baggage and re-check it in.

We had to do this, on a flight through Houston. In our opinion, this route to New Zealand is a rather tedious one. We needed an e-visa, applying online for a small fee and in Houston Airport, we had to collect our bags, re-check them in and go through immigration who were quite rude.

Which New Zealand Airport? Top Tips For Travel to New Zealand

New Zealand, is two islands, known as The North Island and The South Island.

The capital, Wellington is in the South of the North Island. Auckland is more in the centre of the North Island and is the larger International airport of the two, and busiest.

The main international airport for the South Island is Christchurch.

If you’re wanting to book a motorhome hire in New Zealand, the majority of hire companies are in Auckland and Christchurch. Although Jucy rentals did have a depot next to Wellington airport.

North Island Arrival – Auckland Airport

Auckland is a great central place to start a trip. It’s the main hub for international flights with a choice of Airlines, flight times and subsequently the best pricing.

All the major Motorhome hire companies have a base on the outskirts of Auckland airport. If you are collecting a campervan, then Auckland is an easy location.

If you’re thinking of buying a campervan or converting a van, then Auckland is really well situated too.

On the outskirts, there’s just about anything and everything available. It’s the largest urban area in New Zealand, and within good driving distances of many of the major tourist areas and large cities.

Just South of Auckland is the large town of Hamilton, where we sourced and converted our van into a campervan. This is also a town where you can buy everything you could possibly need.

Top tips on how to plan a trip to New Zealand — Travellers Autobarn Rental Campervan

Top tips planning a trip to New Zealand — Travellers Autobarn Rental Campervan

South Island Arrival – Christchurch

A flight into Christchurch is great for touring the South Island, especially if you’re short on time. Once you’re outside of the city, the areas become more remote and distances long, although, scenery is just amazing.

There are motorhome rental companies based at Christchurch too. Ideal if you want to tour the South Island independently of the North.

New Zealand has a maze of internal flights, small airports and connections between. It’s standard practice to take a flight between places, which makes it easy to link between airports if needed.

Coping with the Long Flight

I find, the best way to cope with flying for nearly 24 hours is to not think about it.

I make a point of breaking the journey into segments. It’s like watching a film – the beginning, where you’re getting into what it’s all about; the middle, with the gripping full blown story and the end, where it all comes to a conclusion.

Being comfortable is important, taking a neck pillow and headphones which block out noise from the cabin, an eye mask and flight socks to help circulation.

Also, another one of our Top Tips for Travel to New Zealand is to try and book an aisle and a window seat with a vacant seat between. As long is remains unoccupied, you have a whole row to yourself.

It’s always worth asking at the gate, if any upgrades are available or if they can assist with any better seating. We’ve had a row of seats with extra leg room at no extra cost, just by asking.

Preparing for the Journey

If you haven’t taken a really long flight in a while, you may be surprised at how much better modern aircraft is nowadays. The cabin is quieter, air flow better, mood lighting makes it more relaxing and generally, I think leg room is bearable too.

There’s also fantastic entertainment with the latest movies, music, TV programmes, box-sets and games. Overall, there’s plenty to keep you busy.

When I’m not eating or drinking, I find myself watching a film then putting on the eye mask to listen to soothing music. Usually drifting off and waking up in time for the next meal serving.

Some airlines provide eye masks, compression socks, toothpaste and toothbrushes. As well as plenty of snacks available either through choosing on the monitor in your seat or by stretching your legs and making your way to the galley.

If you’ve only taken a short haul flight, you will notice the difference in the long haul experience.

New Zealand North Island — Nigel converting our van

Buying, Renting or Converting a Campervan

This is a difficult one. It all depends on how much time you’re going to spend in New Zealand and how big your budget is. If you’re thinking of converting a van, you also have to be organised, capable and allow the time to do the conversion.

Hiring a motorhome is expensive, but, it’s your transport and accommodation in one. It’s also your cafe and gateway to some amazing locations to stop the night or take a picnic.

The worry of things going wrong is left to the hire company, there’s no unexpected repairs or parts to have to pay for either. So, you can just hand the motorhome back when the trip is over, without any hassle trying to sell.

If you’re planning on spending a large amount of time in New Zealand, then it may be worth investing in buying a campervan or converting an empty van. We were spending the UK British Winter there each year, so it was going to cost too much to hire a motorhome each trip.

New Zealand Freedom Camping — Our LDV V80 Self-Build Campervan

Buying a Campervan or Van – Top Tips For Travel to New Zealand

The e-bay equivalent in New Zealand is Trade Me. This is where you’ll find all new and used items for sale. Garages list their stock on here too. It’s a one-stop site to search for everything from private sales to new vehicles. https://www.trademe.co.nz/
Campervans, conversions, motorhomes, whichever you’re looking for, they tend to hold their value. So even older vehicles can be pricey. Both old or new is more expensive than buying the same vehicle in the UK.
We couldn’t find any second hand campervans suitable for sale at the time of our search.
Most campervans were extremely expensive, old and not inviting.
Another inconvenience is having to drive across various parts of the country to view. Distances are long and journey times much longer than the UK. There is no motorway system. Although some areas have Highway’s these aren’t like the UK version of a 3-lane motorway.
We hired a car for a couple of weeks to help our search for a campervan. This was invaluable, we based our search around Hamilton, where you can buy or source just about anything.
If you can afford to buy a brand new motorhome, then there are several dealers in the North Island. Expect to pay higher prices than the UK or Europe for the same van. New Zealand import many UK and European models and also have their own brands.
The actual buying process is very straight forward. Without a New Zealand bank account you’ll have to transfer the funds from the UK. We used a UK Foreign Currency Exchange company to make the transaction. This way the exchange rates are more competitive than a standard UK bank.

Buying Our LDV Van

We chose to buy a new LDV V80 high roof van. 5m in length and converting it ourselves into a campervan. This way, we were able to use new fittings, as well as getting the layout we wanted.
Once we’d done the deal with the main dealer, we were able to collect the van within a few days. In New Zealand there is no annual vehicle road tax. You have to pay a tax based on KM if it’s a diesel engine. This we’d do every 2000KM, at a cost of around $140. It’s displayed as a card in the windscreen. Fill out a form in the Post Office where you can buy the KM over the counter.
We bought insurance online. Unlike the UK, we didn’t have to buy insurance and show it to the dealer before driving off. Although, we did buy fully comprehensive insurance for our own peace of mind.
For us, it was worth buying a van, as our Son was living in New Zealand. The van was used by him and parked at his apartment when we weren’t there. It’s was a perfect size for every day driving and parking.
Self-Build’s aren’t for everyone! This is something Nigel had wanted to do for a long time. For us, it provided a great opportunity to fulfil his dreams of building a campervan, although we had also bought and converted a van the year before in Australia.
Whatever you’re looking at, ensure it’s “Self-Contained” and has the correct documents to prove it. If you want to make use of the extensive Freedom Camping facilities in New Zealand, there is no doubt that you must be classed as “Self-Contained”.

New Zealand campervan — Nigel Building our Self-Build Campervan

What’s a Self-Contained Campervan? – Top Tips For Travel to New Zealand.

This basically means you have on-board fresh and waste tanks. With proper drainage for the waste and the relevant hose to dispose of the water. There must be a toilet, that is fixed during driving. Both water and toilet must have enough capacity for the number of people that you want certification for. Enough for 3 days supply. You also must have enough space around you to use the toilet.
The rules changed a few years ago to prevent small people carrier vehicles, small vans and cars without facilities from using Freedom Camping areas.
In the past, they were able to obtain self-containment just by showing they had a portaloo and some water carriers. In reality, they would never be able to use the portaloo in the vehicles. After complaints from locals, witnessing the bushes being used as a toilet etc, rules came in.
Those that have already obtained a Self-Containment were be able to use it until the date of expiry (they last a few years). But were not be able to re-apply after this time under the new rules.
When we finished our van, we had to take it to an authorised person to check the right equipment was fitted to meet standards for Self-Containment.
A certificate was then issued and logged on their database, using our number plate and detailing the facilities on board.
We had Self-Containment for 3 people. The actual sticker to display on the rear of the van was sent in the post within a few days.
A list of authorised officers and further information on Self-Containment is available from:
The New Zealand Motor Caravaners Association website https://www.nzmca.org.nz/