Tips for hiring a camper van in New Zealand

First up – hiring a camper van is awesome and surprisingly affordable for a family of 5 to have a really amazing holiday!

However, there are some things that I wish I had of read about hiring a camper van before embarking on a journey across the South Island with our 3 children….  Hopefully some of this will give you some useful tips for hiring a camper van in New Zealand.

After the inevitable toilet stop we finally made our way out of Christchurch airport and on the shuttle headed for our Maui camper van pickup.

I had checked in earlier in the week online and printed all the information we needed so I was ready to race in, pick up our camper van and head off to the city to meet my good friend Sarah for a well deserved wine.

This is a good time to point out that organisation is not my strong point.  I’m more a big picture thinker and the finer details not only escape me – they scare the living daylights out of me.  It probably won’t surprise a lot of you given the name of this blog (Getting Lost) that I prefer to cruise along and see what happens.  So clearly for me this level of pre-organisation is only reserved for the very special occasions where I need a speedy departure.

Feeling mighty proud of my organisation skills I sauntered in with kids in tow ready to collect our keys.

An hour later I’m sitting at a table with 3 children in various stages of melt down, hot chocolate spilt over the floor and luggage strewn all over the place.

Finally we get to key time but there is some fine print in the terms and conditions that we didn’t read where it said that in the event of a roll over we wouldn’t be covered by insurance.  These things are high and let’s face it – the chances of rolling one of these is probably higher than anything else we drive.  Grumpily I pull out my credit card and decide it’s just not worth the stress.

Finally we head out to the camper van.  By this time all three kids are in complete meltdown, I am grumpy and James is looking like he might just drive off without us all but I’m excited to see my new Maui camper.  So I’m a little surprised when they lead us up to a Kea camper….  Apparently all the same company but in my head I had made a decision for Maui over Kea so I felt quite disappointed.

The purpose of this blog is not to complain about companies, but I do feel that if I had of done a bit more research and read a few more blogs before our trip then I wouldn’t have felt so disappointed initially – I hope it does the same for you.

Overall Maui/Kea provide fantastic camper vans that drive brilliantly and have great on road assistance.  They answered my complaints quickly and authentically and went out of their way to help fix the situation.

There are however some things that I wish I had of read about hiring a camper van first….

1. There will be a wait when you check out your camper van – even if you do it online.  Allow for 2 hours from when you arrive at the airport and plan entertainment for the kids.
2. Maui and Kea – same company.
3. For peace of mind, expect an extra charge for roll over insurance
4. There are some roads that are excluded – like the road from Queenstown to Cardrona – if you are planning on going over there you will need to take an alternate route (we did – it’s not bad at all, just longer)
5. The TV is not able to be viewed from the seats down low – only the cabin up high – this really helps with bedding expectations
6. For Kea (not Maui) the rear bed is cut on an angle so while it is a double at one end it is a lot narrower at the other and has cushions that separate instead of a mattress – again, helpful to set expectations with where little ones are sleeping.

Grumbles over we are on the road.  The music is blasting and we are singing at the top of our lungs, waving madly at every camper van that goes past and James is asking if we can download that song about the King of the Road.

How we rated it….

Sophia (6 years old) rates it 6/10

Krystal (8 years old) rates it 9/10

Bella (9 years old) rates it 7/10

James rates it 8/10

Cat rates it 7/10

Christchurch – a start of a new and vibrant city

I was born in Christchurch and I love the city.  I spent a bit of time wandering around Christchurch in my 20’s after my best friend Sarah moved there and it is a truly beautiful city.  However, like may other New Zealanders the earthquake shook my confidence in visiting Christchurch and I am a little ashamed to say that this is only my 3rd visit since the quakes.

My first time down was last March and I literally cried when I saw the white chairs to symbolise those who lost their lives, and again when we talked to the priest at the Cardboard Cathedral and for a third time as Sarah took me on that harrowing route she took the day of the quakes from her work to get her babies several blocks away at day care.  It was a truly emotional experience.

The second time James and I went down and we visited the damaged buildings and trapped through the city again.  I was determined to take our children down to see Christchurch as it is now before it is built into an amazing state of the art city – which became the catalyst for this trip.

However taking the kids through the city it overwhelmed me with sadness and I understand why many of the locals avoid it.  It’s not just the broken buildings but the emptiness and the loss of heart of the city that once was so alive.

I walked past a building and it had on it in huge lights – “Everything is going to be alright” – I pointed it out to my friend (a local) and she had never seen it before – it will take more than affirmations to rebuild but if I know Cantabrians they will make it happen.

As a New Zealander or even a visitor to New Zealand you all really should visit Christchurch now – you need to see that scars, the rawness, the hurt before it is gone to truly appreciate the city of beauty that she is soon to become.

I urge you to go now before like a butterfly in a chrysalis she is fully transformed, but for this post I don’t want to focus on the broken (no photo’s could begin to portray it in any case) and instead I would like to focus on the art that is popping up all around Christchurch – a start of a new and vibrant city.

Mural in Christchurch

Art in Christchurch

A new funky Christchurch

Sophia (6 years old) rates it 2/10

Krystal (8 years old) rates it 10/10

Bella (9 years old) rates it 10/10

James rates it 6/10

Cat rates it 7/10

The South Island Road Trip – Packing

Only 3 days until we will be getting lost in the South Island and preparations are well and truly underway for the great South Island Road Trip.

7 days, 2 parents, 3 kids and 1 6 berth camparvan – first stop Christchurch.

Today’s mission – packing.

Packing and children, especially girls, do not mix.  If your daughters are anything like ours they pack pretty much everything except what they will actually need (which coincidentally is what I do as well so maybe that apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree).

We once arrived on holiday for 2 weeks with our eldest child Bella sporting just one (yes one) pair of underwear for the entire trip.  Another winter holiday we found that Krystal had packed only singlets.

Determined not to repeat past clothing disasters and aware that the current forecast in Christchurch is a chilly 2 degrees I decided that supervision was the key.

The problem with most boring things like packing is that they are just that to kids – boring.  So I decided to make a bit of a game of it with an elaborate points system for the person who could get back the fastest with the correctly specified garments.

It worked a treat and in no time at all we had the correct number of hats, gloves, tops and pants – the problem now being how to fit it in the one baggage allowance that I had (in my infinite wisdom) decided was all we needed….

The cat (Monkey) is never far from the action so got in on the action – I did have to check he wasn’t actually in a bag after last weekend getting stuck inside a cushion (seriously – this cat needs a blog of his own) and was even obliging enough to pose with one of my vintage suitcases for this blog.  And no, just in case you were wondering – it’s not the suitcase we are taking….