mojo Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 WE INTEND TO HIRE FOR TWO MONTHS IN JANUARY.PACIFIC HORIZON OR APOLLO ARE COMING UP THE BEST VALUE . ANY ADVICE FROM OTHERS WHO HAVE HIRED BEFORE ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Chodkowski Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 We visited New Zealand this year and hired from Maui for six weeks prebooking with Trailfinders, the visitor numbers are well down this year and if we had waited till we got there we would have had a much better deal. What ever you pay it will be worth it, we had asuper time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 We hired from Maui and found them very good. Check and see if you collect your motorhome in Christchurch and bring it up to Aukland and return it to their depot there they pay your ferry fare which is quite high. They did that for us but that was a long time ago. If they don't do that they finish up with most of their 'vans left down in Christchurch. Tour South Island first that is fantastic. Be sure to book a flight over Mount Cook in Franzjoseph, but camp somewhere else as the wistling frogs keep you awake all night. You will look back to your NZ tour and remember every bit of it for the rest of your life, you will love it all. Ask about right turns at road junctions when you collect your motorhome! they use all junctions the way we use mini round-abouts takes a bit of getting used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossifan Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Mojo, the replys you have so far are spot on.With the time you are spending there you will be able to see everything at a comfortable pace.Spend more time on the south island-more to see and do,especially if you are the active type. We used Trailfinders as we were visiting several other countries but you could do your own hire direct and depending on your taste-prebook your sites as well.On the van hire, I would say make sure the fleet is top quality late vehicles-Kea had the latest fleet in Dec 06-we chose Mauri and booked an automatic-good van but their Auckland depot were a pain,unlike Christchurch where we returned it to, who were much friendlier.Like all hire deals-watch out for the add-ons,extra insurance cover etc. always bumps up the price.Hire rates are on the top side although I recently paid £100 per day but in NZ it was nearer £120 with insurances. Sites we used were mainly Top Ten and are superb,pre-booked most of them but this is only required in the popular resorts at the time you are going.Wild camping is not something we do so I won't comment. Awesome scenery-lovely people-much easier pace-plenty of space to do your thing and no pressure.I would go back tomorrow-motorhomers heaven! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 mojo - 2009-05-15 6:28 PM WE INTEND TO HIRE FOR TWO MONTHS IN JANUARY.PACIFIC HORIZON OR APOLLO ARE COMING UP THE BEST VALUE . ANY ADVICE FROM OTHERS WHO HAVE HIRED BEFORE ? Like the others on here I too cannot comment on Pacific Horizon or Apollo except to say that the vans I saw from those companies seemed to be reasonably up to date vehicles. It seems that the age of the vehicle you get depends on how much you pay, so IF you just base your booking on the lowest prices you could end up with a 'much travelled' van. We went last year with Maui. When we collected from Christchurch I noted that the depot was also the collection point for Britz and Backpacker vans, who it seems, are all part of the same group. Apparently the vans start off as new with Maui, then get passed on to Britz, then to Backpacker as the mileage increases. (I would add that I didn't hear any complaints about the older vehicles as we toured around). We spent two months there, about a month on each island. I would agree that the South Island is best, but that's because it is so much less developed and populated.( Plus I don't like towns or cities !) Before we went we were showered with adverts / leaflets for the Top Ten sites and started off in one in Christchurch. Assuming we would be using a lot of them I bought a Top Ten 'members' card which would give us discounts at other Top Ten sites. In our case that was a mistake because we only stayed at one or two more. Many times we made use of the DOC ( Dept. of Conservation ) sites, which are a bit like our CL's and CS's. Almost without exception these were well kept although very basic, ideal for an overnight stop. They cost a couple of pounds or so per night. It is certainly one of those places that you need to spend as much time as possible touring - for us two months wasn't really long enough ! I'm sure you will enjoy it - great country - friendly people - and lots of space. Have a great trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Hire vehicles are prohibited from some roads. ninety mile beach road is one example. Another tip. You are not permitted to park against the flow of the traffic. In other words you have to park on the side of the road you are travelling on. Another thing to consider is hiring a car and staying in bed and breakfast - this way you meet the locals. There is a book full of them and costs may not be much different to hiring a MH and site fees. If you are on a site they will usually make a phone call and book you in to your next one if it is in the same chain. Enjoy every minute - we did five years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE HIRE COMPANIES LEAVES US FEELING HORIZON ARE THE MOST HELPFULL.THE HAVE A SCHEME WHERE YOU PAY EXTRA PER DAY TO HAVE A VAN NO OLDER THAN 18 MONTHS.THIS CAN ADD UP BUT IF BOOKED BEFORE END OF JUNE THEY OFFER THIS FREE,FULL INS COVER FREE,GAS THROUGHOUT THE TRIP FREE.(WATER&HEAT IS GAS) . LOOKS LIKE THE ONE FOR US. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP. WE THINK 5 WEEKS IN SOUTH AND THREE IN NORTH.AS WE ARE GOING MID JAN WE WILL FOLLOW THE WEATHER AS THE SUMMER ENDS BY STARTING IN SOUTH ENDING IN NORTH. THE DOC SITES SOUND GOOD,ARE THERE MANY OF THEM ?GOOD VALUE LEAVES MORE FOR THE EXCURSIONS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Mojo I think there is at least a couple of hundred DoC sites. We bought a book of maps from Maui when we got there and I would recommend it. It's the New Zealand Road Atlas by Hema and shows all the DoC camps plus all the dump stations ( plus commercial camp sites ). We went for whole of Feb and March, which is not much different to you, and the weather, most of the time, was very good. Also had no trouble getting on to sites. We booked the first one, ( after spending one night in a hotel to recover from the journey), a Top Ten site in Christchurch, because that did fill up very quickly with all the new arrivals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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