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Again in 2018, Heath and I ventured throughout the ocean to New Zealand for our first massive worldwide RV journey. This journey modified our lives—plunging us additional in love with journey and convincing us that we must always transfer to this beautiful nation instantly.
We at all times dreamed of returning to New Zealand sooner or later however puzzled if or when it might ever occur.
Then, as we booked flights to Japan, a thought crossed our minds. Ought to we hop all the way down to New Zealand? We have been already midway there!
Properly, we have been kidding ourselves if we thought Japan and New Zealand have been remotely shut to one another! Japan is among the northernmost international locations in Asia and New Zealand is the southernmost nation in Oceania. It took a protracted, ten-hour in a single day flight, however we made it to Auckland prepared to start out our subsequent journey!
Take a look at our first day selecting up our motorhome and getting down to discover the North Island:
On this weblog put up, I need to share useful fundamentals for anybody impressed to take their very own street journey throughout the islands of New Zealand. I’ll cowl what you must know earlier than you go, plus ideas for planning your route across the nation.
Visas
Should you’re American, you do want a visa to go to New Zealand. (This got here into impact in 2019, after our first go to to New Zealand.)
It’s worthwhile to apply for what known as a NZeTA, or New Zealand Digital Journey Authority. The appliance is easy and simple. You’ll want your passport useful for this, but it surely shouldn’t take greater than two minutes of your time.
I needed to get 4 of those whole—one for every member of the household together with the youngsters—and every software was authorized in about 60 seconds through e-mail. They advise that you simply apply a number of weeks forward of time on your visa attributable to processing instances and you’ll even pay further to have your visa processed “in a number of hours.” I utilized a month earlier than our journey and as I discussed, we have been immediately authorized.
Whereas these visas are simple to get, they aren’t low cost. They value $58 NZD or about $36 USD every, which means it value almost $150 to obtain visas for our household.
Driver’s License
You don’t want a global driver’s allow or IDL to drive in New Zealand. All you want is an energetic driver’s license out of your nation—with an English translation, if obligatory—and the arrogance to drive on the left aspect of the street!
Flights
Flights to New Zealand may be costly and, in case you’re coming from the States, very lengthy. Now that we’ve got youngsters, we’ve got a brand new journey rule: All the time fly direct. We flew direct from Tokyo to Auckland and because the flight was in a single day, jetlag wasn’t too dangerous. (Plus there’s solely a four-hour time distinction between New Zealand and Japan.)
I extremely advocate flying Air New Zealand in case you can. We flew Air NZ from Tokyo and residential to Houston. Each instances have been superb and a few of our best flights but with the children. To not spoil the final video of our collection, however let me simply say, I’ve NEVER had such good sleep on an airplane. 10/10 would advocate.
Air New Zealand doesn’t fly out of each US metropolis, however they do fly direct out of main jobs. It’s value it to e-book with them to start out and finish your New Zealand journey!
(I’ve no affiliation with Air NZ, however flying with youngsters and infants is difficult. They made it simple. I’m now obsessive about them.)
Finest Instances to Go to
New Zealand, as I discussed, is the southernmost nation in Oceania, which means you’ll be able to count on chilly winters. That is the one time of yr I might not advocate visiting New Zealand. You’ll be able to campervan the nation within the winter—particularly in case you prefer to ski—however in case you’ve ever camped in freezing temperatures earlier than, you realize the challenges that include ice.
For each of our visits, we selected to go to through the fall months, March, April, and Might. The temperatures are good this time of yr. It’s heat through the day and chilly at evening, although you’ll be able to count on rain. You’ll want a heat jacket and a swimsuit (for these sizzling springs!). You’ll get comparable temperatures of their spring months, September via November.
Summer time might be the very best time to go to, with heat climate good for New Zealand’s many seashores or mountain climbing via the mountains. Nevertheless it’s additionally peak season for tourism, which is why we typically keep away from it. Busy season requires extra planning and reservations for campsites, which generally is a headache to e-book from overseas. We want shoulder season to beat the crowds and have a extra versatile plan. (Bonus: leases and different issues are normally cheaper within the low season too!)
Packing
Packing for a tenting journey may be very completely different than packing for different holidays. You’ve received to consider in case your suitcase can deal with mountain climbing boots and in case you’ll want a heavy jacket for tenting within the mountains. (I like to recommend each for New Zealand!)
One factor we have been very cognizant of after our first journey to New Zealand was our variety of luggage. We had three checked luggage for our journey and failed to understand that our ultimate flight into New Zealand—all booked with Delta—was on a associate airline that solely allowed one checked bag per individual. We spent 20 minutes on the ground of the airport repacking objects to suit into two luggage and be inside weight! (These mountain climbing boots ended up on our toes.)
A couple of years older and wiser, albeit with youngsters in tow, we now journey with just one giant suitcase.
How can we match every thing for 4 individuals into one suitcase for a month-long worldwide journey?
The quick reply: packing cubes. Folks swear by packing cubes and I’ve been transformed. They make packing SO MUCH EASIER.
The lengthy reply: a three-page checklist of must-have journey objects that I observe to the letter.
Packing for a street journey may be very completely different than packing for a visit the place you propose to remain in lodges or Airbnbs. It’s important to remember the fact that you’ll spend most of your time outdoors, that you simply’ll possible be cooking extra meals than consuming out, and that you simply’ll be in additional excessive temperatures in comparison with a climate-controlled resort.
Fortuitously, in case you e-book the correct camper, you don’t have to fret about packing sheets, towels, dishes, and different tenting gear.
Reserving a Camper
Heath and I’ve nowed RVed in 10 international locations, renting an RV in every. Not all RV leases are created equal. For instance, in Japan, we needed to pay further for a stovetop, cooking utensils, and sleeping luggage. And in our upcoming journey within the UK, we’re paying further for sheets and towels. Personally, I discover this extremely irritating. Nobody desires to fly midway the world over with sheets of their suitcase!
However in New Zealand, we’ve by no means needed to fear about this added problem.
Throughout each journeys to the nation, we rented our RV from Wilderness Motorhomes.
Once I say they’re the very best RV rental firm on the planet, I imply that very sincerely.
What makes Wilderness the very best?
- Have a look at that motorhome. It’s so extremely spotless and delightful. (Guys, getting a clear RV with the mattress neatly made… This isn’t a assure with different leases. Belief me on that!) Every thing a few Wilderness motorhome is opulent.
- Wifi included! Many rental choices don’t provide wifi. The web on board our Wilderness is among the greatest connectivity we’ve ever had in any nation. We had wifi service all over the place we camped. And we camped in some fairly distant locations!
- Wonderful customer support. Customer support is a key part of any journey plan, particularly while you’re flying all over the world to go to a rustic. If one thing comes up earlier than or throughout your journey, their crew is fast that will help you resolve any issues.
After we picked up our Wilderness Motorhome, one factor you don’t see within the video above is us signing the rental settlement stating that our rental can be returned on Might eighth. There was just one drawback with this. I booked our return flights to the US for Might ninth! 🙈 Such a rookie journey mistake on my half. I fully blended up the times after I booked our flight dwelling. Wilderness waved off my stress and shortly adjusted our rental to be sooner or later longer. There was an up to date settlement in our e-mail inbox earlier than we pulled off the lot. The crew was so fast to adapt, sympathetic to my mistake, and so variety to allow us to prolong our journey.
I, however, am nonetheless embarrassed!
We’re at all times blown away by the professionalism and heat of the Wilderness crew. There isn’t a different rental firm we might select to lease in New Zealand!
Planning our Route
As we state within the video, throughout our final go to to NZ, we spent most of our time on the South Island. A lot time in actual fact, that we needed to lower our North Island go to quick.
There have been a number of locations I knew I needed to revisit on the North, like Rotorua and Taupo, however I didn’t know the place to start out planning for the remainder of the island.
I headed to Wilderness’s web site, remembering how they helped me plan our journey again in 2018.
They’ve over a dozen street journey itineraries with stops, issues to do, and handy notes like what number of days a route would possibly take. I grabbed the Auckland to Cape Reinga street journey in addition to the Auckland to Coromandel itinerary. (You’ll see us begin driving the Coromandel peninsula within the video. Holy WOW it is among the most lovely landscapes I’ve ever seen.
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Should you’re planning a street journey to New Zealand, I extremely advocate downloading one in every of their free street journey itineraries that will help you begin planning!
Issues to Know Earlier than You Go
I’ve lengthy believed New Zealand to be essentially the most lovely nation on the planet. Revisiting New Zealand and seeing extra of the North Island has solely additional bolstered this perception. It’s actually a gem that must be on each bucket checklist.
We will’t wait to share this New Zealand video collection with you. You’ll want to subscribe on Youtube for all the movies 🙂