campervan in NZ winter
 

We're planning a vacation in June/July in NZ--with two kids, ages 10 and 17. Can anyone tell us what it's like in a campervan at that time? Will the roads be OK? Will the campervan be comfortable enough in the cold? What about the Holiday Parks--are they open etc?

If you stay on the north island it shouldn't be too bad though south of south island can be very cold. The people of NZ are very outdoor people so probably the caravan parks will be open then. A cousin of mine lives in one all year around. I would think the west coast of the south island (mostly countryside) if it had any snow, it would stay there for some time. Expect quite a bit of rain. The campervan could be cold at night. Drop in at a garage as most do hot pies of several varieties. They're good!

Why are you going in winter?

we're going in winter, cause my kids are out of school then! We can't take them out for three weeks or so during the school year.

We owned a campervan that had a 220v electric heater - we stayed in holiday parks most nights, and plugged into the mains power, and were quite toasty. Also, we usually cooked our meals in the communal dining areas that are in most holiday parks, instead of being cooped up in the van. At that time of year, most holiday parks are empty, except those near the ski fields. A few will be closed, but most stay open.

Higher altitude roads on the S Island could be a problem if it snows a lot - you should just be prepared to have to wait a day to go on a particular route. As noted above, the N Island will be warmer and drier.

Thanks, Alf....that is very helpful. We're all looking forward to this trip, and will bring lots of warm dry clothes!

Try this site:


http://www.newzealand.com/travel/


On the home page it has a link to camper vans. Also, if you click on driving routes (home page), it can give you a number of itineries, then a day to day breakdown, then finer detail on where to go each day. It also has a lot of other helpful information.

We rented a campervan in NZ in July of 2004 for 15 days. As was previously stated, the heater inside keeps you toasty, even in temperatures near freezing at night as you might encounter in some parts of the South Island in July. Near the end of our travels our heater gave out in Wanaka on one especially cold night, and that was not terribly pleasant, but Maui came through with a rapid solution the next morning (paid for an electic plug in heater for the rest of our rental period). Even on the South Island, all holiday parks were open in July. All parks had available sites, although in Dunedin we got one of the last sites. If you book through Top 10 Holiday Parks, they will reserve your next site for you before you leave, meaning that you will never worry about not having a place to stay. One of the main problems about travelling in the NZ winter is the limited daylight -- count on driving from about 8 am until 5:00 pm to be able to see any scenery while driving. I would not recommend driving at night in some of the more mountainous terrain. Between Wanaka and Oamaru, Linzer Pass was a bit icy, otherwise we found no traction problems. They spread "grit" on the roads for winter traction, rather than the salt we are familiar with in Canada. The campervan tires do not have aggressive tread, and would not be suitable for snowy driving. I would recommend driving the campervan to Te Anau, then taking a coach for the trip to Milford Sound. The Top Ten campground in Te Anau is superb!

Have fun.