hey everyone, im gonna be in nz (south island) in june and july and was curious if anyone had some tips on how to get around? i was gonna hire a campervan, but it was just too expensive. Would anyone suggest a regualr car, or i hear the bus lines are pretty cool like the KIWI Experince? what'dya all think?

I traveled around the south island of NZ in 2003 using a pass from Intercity Coach. Since I was traveling by myself, I really enjoyed this bus service. The bus drivers provide a limited commentary on where you are and stop at photo ops along the way. The schedules were very convenient.

Martha

We just returned from a month in NZ....rented a Budget car in the south & Hertz in the north. There's nothing like the convenience of renting your own car........4200 kms later we wouldn't do it any other way!!
Prefer the car to the campervan....we like to explore the smaller roads!
Have a great trip!

Rent a car so you can travel on your own schedule. Driving is fairly easy in NZ.

From all I read about Kiwi Experience, it's suited to 20-somethings who like to get drunk and sleep around. If that's not your demographic, I'd definitely rent a car.

You might enjoy staying in hostels; it's a great way to meet people and you can save yourself some money by preparing your own meals. www.backpack.co.nz.index.html has a large listing of hostels.

Have a great trip!

Lee Ann

Lee Ann, "20-somethings who like to get drunk and sleep around" is very close to a redundancy!

Neil, I do know a few who don't, but Kiwi Experience certainly seems to attract that demographic!

Lee Ann

We hired a car for the 3 weeks we were there, and were REALLY happy we had done so. The roads are not bad at all over there, and we decided that a campervan would just be too hard to zip around in, and that coaches/buses didn't give us the independency we wanted.

R