I see these all over NZ and OZ. They look interesting:

http://www.wicked-campers.co.nz/

We spent 2 months in a campervan in NZ last year (in their winter!) and absolutely loved it.

We used www.adventurevans.co.nz and found them to be a bit cheaper than the mainstream cos. and very good. Personally, I would google campervan companies in Queenstown as not all companies will be based there.

http://www.jucy.co.nz/campervan-hire-listing.asp may be worth a look as they do very small vans that you just sleep in without toilets and they have outdoor cooking facilities.
From memory most commercial sites charged about $20-30 per night (The DOC sites just a nominal charge).

If you are going to rent a car and use hostels, I would say teh van works out cheaper (and a lot more flexible and fun).

We took our laptop with us and most sites have WiFi but iwe found it wasn't that good and using Skype was difficult in most places. Most campsites have computer access and skype was ok from there.

As for food, we mainly shopped in supermarkets and local shops and cooked in the van or the campsite kitchens (which are well equipped and a good place to meet other travellers and pick up some tips). Food prices are cheap and teh quality is very high. In places like Kaikoura, we were even picking mussels and oysters directly from the rocks on the beach!

Here is alink to our blog. Entries 44-65 cover NZ.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/candcthai/1/1213732980/tpod.html

I have never campervanned in NZ, so can't help with your queries, Gills, but picking up on crellston' comments about harvesting mussels, etc, just be sure that, if you do this, you take those that remain under water at low tide -- i.e don't take those that are exposed on the rocks when the tide goes out. That will help you to stay healthy. You may already be aware of this, but better to be sure and safe rather than have a holiday spoiled by a bad shellfish experience.

Rob.

Thanks for your responses. I've been looking more and more into the campervan and I'm getting excited for the roadtrip we have ahead of us. Wicked Campers looks fun as does Jucy. I'm going through your blog right now Crellston. Any other advice would be appreciated!

kiwi rob - We are not shellfish eaters so no need to worry about that. Thanks for the advice however!

kiwi rob - good advice! I didn't know that!

Gills - A few websites we found invaluable:

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/
http://www.newzealand.com/travel/i-sites/i-sites_home.cfm
http://www.tourism.net.nz/

You should consider staying at some of the DOC sites. No nuch in the way of facilities but they are situated in some of the most amazing location.
Also, check out the iSites as soon as you get there. they are all over the place and are REALLY helpful, good advice, lots of maps and will help you get the most out of your trip.

Hey Gill

There are great camping grounds all around New Zealand where you can park your camper and use all the campsite facilities. I recommend http://www.top10.co.nz/find-a-park.html - TOP 10 Holiday Parks have great facilities and pretty consistent all over the country. Most of them also have wifi or at least internet access.

You might also want to check out Driftaway Campers for your campervan hire - I am not sure if they do a drop off in Qtown though. Their website is http://www.driftawaycampers.com/ if you want to find out more.

There are websites for all the main tourism destinations in New Zealand which should provide you with more info.

The South Island is not brilliant for beaches to relax on, but there are loads of small towns with lots of character and charm, particularly throughout Central Otago. It won't be super hot when you get here yet, but you will enjoy the Lakes - Wakatipu (Queenstown), Wanaka, Tekapo etc. Lake Hawea (near Wanaka) is a well kept secret, absolutely beautiful and not crowded.

If you plan to Whale Watch, then Kaikoura is the only place to do that .... something else you might like to add to your itinerary, especially if you are interested in a few days on the West Coast, is a stop at Castle Hill to see the standing rocks - they are just awesome, and an easy walk in from the road. And they are free (only in NZ would you get something this cool for free!)

i don't know, i may have to disagree here.

when i looked at it, campervan rentals were pretty expensive. much more expensive than just getting a cheap little car. and of course they burn more fuel, too, since they're bigger and heavier.

when i did nz i did it in a small little car, and i had a tent with me. so i camped out at doc campsites, and i didn't always have to sit in the carpark...i could lock my car, hike in a half mile or so, and pick out a really choice spot with my tent. i think that was a LOT cheaper than trying to rent a campervan the entire time. but i could be wrong.

the one disadvantage i found to the tent camping was of course that you have to set up a tent every night. i was very familiar with my trusty old tent, though, and could put it up in a very short time. and of course you'd want a good tent because of the nz weather.

i don't know, those are my two cents. the campervans, although they look like fun, just seemed too expensive relative to the car and tent route. not to mention bulky, slow, and i wouldn't want to be driving my house, all perfectly arranged, over all those washboard dirt roads.

also many hostels will let you camp at the hostel for cheap, cheaper than at a doc site and with better company...

that's my take. look at the numbers and think about what sort of experience you want; it is different for everyone!

We travelled for 3 weeks by campervan/motorhome in Nov. 2006, and LOVED it. Two weeks on the South Island and one on the North Island. We had a 3 berth with shower and toilet from Adventure Campervans and it did have automatic transmission. The advantage of having S/T was huge if you, like us, are inclined to get away from others by not staying in organized campervan parks. We stayed in DOC camping grounds some of the time, and in an organized campervan park only once. Many places we could just back up to the ocean and enjoy the view, often with no one else nearby. Would be hard to do free-camping responsibly if you didn't have a toilet, though. The third berth (over the cab) came in very handy for storing our luggage. The dinette made up into a kingsize bed, and each day we just rolled the bedding up to the end wall of the camper and set up the table for the day.

We had never travelled by motorhome before, and liked it so much that we are about to do the same sort of trip in Australia, but don't expect it to be so idyllic.

Here's a brief rundown of what we did and where we went:

Three Weeks in New Zealand - Oct. 27 - Nov. 18, 2006

Oct. 27 - 2 p.m. departure on United to DEN, SFO, crossing int’l. dateline

Day 1 - Sun., Oct. 29 - arrive Auckland 6:30 a.m., fly to Christchurch, arr. 9:50 a.m. Christchurch cathedral tour (Sun. 11:30), Indian restaurant lunch, Weekend Market, Art Centre, Botanic Garden, 5:15 evensong @ cathedral, overnight @ Stonehurst Accommodations.

Day 2 - Oct. 30 - pick up camper (Adventure Campervans), groceries, to Mt. Cook via Lake Tekapo (church), Lake Pukaki. ON @ DOC cycle camp on Lake Pukaki.

Day 3 - Oct. 31 - Mt. Cook, Hooker Valley dayhike, Old Ball Hut Road hike to view of Tasman Glacier , informal camp at DOC gravel harvest site at N. end of lake.

Day 4 - Nov. 1 - Cromwell, Kararau River bridge bungy jump site, Te Anau, Milford Road, Mirror Lakes walk, Gunn Lake nature hike from Cascade Creek. DOC CG

Day 5 - Nov. 2 - Chasm hike, Milford Sound Nature Cruise, foreshore walk, Marian Lake hike, overnight @ Deer Flat DOC camp

Day 6 - Nov. 3 - Te Anau, Lake Wakatipu, Glenorchy, Mt. Aspiring NP, Double Barrel walk, stuck in mud, ON Routeburn Shelter road end

Day 7 - Nov. 4 - Routeburn Track Hike to Harris Lake past Falls Hut, Glenorchy, ON 12 Mile DOC camp on Lake Wakatipu W of Queensland

Day 8 - Nov. 5 - Cardrona Road to Wanaka, Mt. Aspiring NP, Rob Roy hike, Haast Road, ON Lake Hawea informal camp

Day 9 - Nov. 6 - Haast Highway, walks at Blue Pools, Fantail Falls, Thunder Creek Falls, Pleasant Flats; Knight’s Point (seals), Fox Glacier, Gillespie Point on sea, informal camp along Gillespie Road by creek (views of peaks & glacier)

Day 10 - Nov. 7 - Franz Joseph Glacier, Flowing West film, drove up West Coast, lunch stop at Lake Ianthe (water refill), Ross Goldfields Interpretive Center, Hokitika, informal camp south of Punakaiki on road to sea

Day 11 - Nov. 8 - Paparoa NP Pancake Rocks & blowholes, Truman Track to beach, Inland Trail walk, Matai Tree walk, Cape Foulwind Seal Colony, Westport, Karamea, Nikau Palms walk & Scott’s Hill hike, DOC camp on Kohaihai River

Day 12 - Nov. 9 - Oparara Basin, Moira’s Gate-Mirror Tarn loop walk, guided hike through caves with sub-fossilized moa bones and glowworms, Crazy Pavement & Box Canyon caves, Oparara Arch, Big Rimu Tree walk, informal camp on beach at Little Wanganui River

Day 13 - Nov. 10 - Karamea (refill water @ Fresh Choice supermarket), Buller River Gorge, Motueka (ferry reservations), Kaiteriteri, hike down to Split Apple Rock beach, Marahau, illegal camping in TH parking lot for Abel Tasman Coastal Track

Day 14 - Nov. 11 - Water taxi up the coast to Bark Bay, hiked Coastal Track back to Marahau, drove to Queen Charlotte Sound, ON Aussie Bay DOC CG

Day 15 - Nov. 12 - Drove to Picton, ferry to Wellington, Cable Car, Botanic Gardens, Te Papa Museum, headed North, ON Tararua Forest Park DOC site

Day 16 - Nov. 13 - Tararua Loop Hike, Mt. Bruce National Wildlife Center, kiwis, drove to Tongariro NP, Taranaki Falls loop hike, informal camp by stream in NP

Day 17 - Nov. 14 - skipped Tongariro Crossing hike due to high winds, Lake Taupo, Huka Falls, Aratiatia Rapids, Craters of the Moon DOC park, Broadlands drive, Murupana visitor center, Whirinaki Forest Park, H Tree loop hike, Waiatiu Falls Hike, ON @ TH

Day 18 - Nov. 15 - Rotorua, Redwood Memorial Grove, Otere Falls (campervan was rear-ended), N to Coromandel Peninsula, Opoutere Beach, ON private RV park at beach

Day 19 - Nov. 16 - Beach walk, N to Hot Water Beach, Cathedral Cove, 309 Road to Kauri Grove, ON informal camp along Castle Rock Road

Day 20 - Nov. 17 - Coromandel Peninsula, cont., Square Kauri hike, Kauri Grove Hike, Firth of Thames, Miranda Shorebird Center, ON along Firth foreshore (free-camp)

Day 21 - Nov. 18 - rainy day, poked along shore to Auckland, Botanical Garden, returned campervan, 8:15 p.m. Air New Zealand flight across date line to SFO, United to DEN, home to Montana at 10:46 p.m. same day

Hope this helps!

Crellston - thanks for the links. I've never heard of an isite so I'll check those out. My husband plans on bringing his laptop (unless all of you think this may be a bad idea). He runs his own business and (although this is a vacation) he may need to check in on a few things works wise.

Silvergirl - I've heard of the top 10 sites and we'll definitely want to stay in some of those since we've only heard good things. Unfortunately driftaway campers does not have a depot in Queenstown. So we're still searching for the perfect campervan. Your suggestions on what to see sound amazing. The lakes will be restful if we can't find a beach.

TrekThePlanet - Though camping sounds fun for a few of the nights we are there, I don't see us wanting to do it the entire time. We are trying to relax while we can. We have an energetic 1 year old at home and need to unwind and have fun at the same time. I can already see us getting crabby at each other because of uncomfortable sleep in a tent on the ground. Thank you for your input though! Maybe we'll ask if we can rent a tent for a couple days just for the experience.

KimbyMT - I haven't gotten through your entire itinerary yet, but THANK YOU! I can't wait to dissect what you did every day and figure out what we would want to do out of all your activities! Do you remember how much you paid for your camper and how easy it was to drive. I've hear the bigger they are the more headache they cause because of all the curvy and narrow roads.

Yes, it is a bit challenging to drive a bigger motorhome than a van, especially when meeting large trucks on the road. I checked the website for Adventure Campervans http://www.paradise.co.nz/display-camper.php?pageid=19
and found that they don't rent the vehicle we had anymore, and they may not rent automatic transmissions from what I can tell, and they don't have an office in Queensland, just Christchurch and Auckland, which works great for the type of trip we wanted to take (a 2 island trip), or would work well if you could get back to Christchurch instead of needing Queensland to be one end of your journey.
I'll dig out my journal to see what we paid, but being 2006, it may not be terribly relevant. You could check their website for current prices. The 2 berth Fiat Ducato looks comparable, except it's manual transmission. A nice feature for off-the-grid camping is the solar panels for replenishing the batteries. (The only things in our camper that didn't work off the grid was the microwave and the toaster.)
You will LOVE campervaning in NZ!

Yeah I looked up Adventure Campervans too and we are arriving into Queenstown and ending in Christchurch so I don't think that rental company will work for us. That's okay. I'll keep searching. Thanks for the info though!

Ok so I did a little estimating on how much it would cost us to stay in hostels versus staying in a small campervan. My calculations could be completely off but they seem to be around the same price (roughly). We wouldn't be getting a camper with a shower/toilet since we don't want to drive around a beast. Therefore we would have to stay at campervan sites every day which cost about $40 a night. Plus campervans take more fuel correct? Does this sound right to all of you or am I missing something with the campervan concept? I just want to make sure we are getting the best bang for our buck and that we are getting a good adventure. I want to get the camper or car rented by the end of this week so I can move onto itinerary details!!!

Thanks everyone!

This company might be worth a look info@standbycars.com
They often have VERY good specials on campervans, often on a one-way basis, which might be useful for you.

Another option that might work is to rent a small car and stay at on-site cabins in caravan parks, small local hotels (pubs) or YHAs. There are some magnificent YHAs in NZ and membership is a pittance.

Sorry - here's the website: http://www.standbycars.com.au/