stantheman Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Hi Have been reading a few posts on this topic as I'm in Kuala Lumpur for a couple of months over Xmas and want to get to see NZ in Jan for 4 weeks. A few things I'm not clear on. 1. The damage xs seems extremely high. Is it worth paying the extra to reduce it? 2. I emailed a hire company in NZ who advised booking sites in advance, as Jan is high season and some could be full (almost as bad as our CClub sites!). Not easy though, if you don't know what you will want to see. Is it worth taking a chance and not booking? 3. I only have 4 weeks, so would it be best to stick to touring the South island or is the North not to be missed either? Any advice would be welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffers Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 January tends to be when the Kiwis are on the road - not sure about needing to book for sites - except perhaps in the really popular places, but may need to book trips if that is what you want - eg Milford Sound we did 2 weeks on each Island - would stick to the South next time - but each to their own - both have a lot to offer whatever you decide - it'll be terrific, wish we were coming suggest you join Top10 http://www.top10.co.nz/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I preferred South Island as it is less developed - but then North Island has the thermal areas, so it's a matter of personal choice. We were there in Feb/March so just missed the high season so can't advise on that, but we used a lot of the DoC sites ( Dept. of Conservation ) which are very basic " tap + toilet " sites which always had space, and were kept clean. Many roads are unmade so the xs may well be worthwhile. Great country to tour - just right for motorhomes ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffers Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 check your terms and conditions - you may not be covered for driving on unmade roads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 duffers - 2010-10-20 7:15 PM check your terms and conditions - you may not be covered for driving on unmade roads We were given a map which indicated which roads we could not use. Many other ' unsealed' roads were o.k. As you say, good idea to check with the hiring company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistair Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 As a born and bred South Islander, I think that any visitor with limited time should give the South Island preference over the North, but I may be a little biased! Some travel insurance policies will pay the damage excess on a rental vehicle in the event of an accident so the value imposed by the hire company becomes irrelevant. Worth checking. As Duffers said, January is the busy time as it's the summer school holidays. However, I tour regularly in the UK and would say that the situation in NZ is never as bad as the Caravan Club sites in high summer, but it could be frustrating in some areas. I haven't camped here for a few years but have found in the past that if you arrive by mid-afternoon, it would be surprising if you were turned away. I would think that at worst you may miss out on electric hookup. In busy areas like Queenstown (SI), Rotorua (NI), Bay of Islands (NI) etc it might be advisable to call ahead a couple of days before you get there and make a booking to ensure you get electricity, but for most of the country, I would be surprised if you had problems as long as you arrive at a reasonable hour - streams of touring motorhomes come pouring into the popular camping grounds late afternoon and early evening so if you beat them your chances are good. I imagine that even late arrivals would generally find something in a corner somewhere although smaller camping grounds with all marked pitches may fill up completely. NZ is a good place for wild camping also, but check the local regulations out first as some local authorities have banned it because the areas have been abused by careless campers. Some places permit wild camping, but only for fully self-contained vans so make sure you van has been certified as such. Your hire company will be able to advise. The DOC sites mentioned by Malc d are often in fabulous areas and range from fully equipped to very basic, with most being in the basic category. I agree with Duffers about joining the Top 10 organisation - it gives you 10% off camping ground fees, they are widespread and their standards are always high. Staff will also help you with availability enquiries to your next destination(s). Again as Duffers said, I would recommend phoning a few days ahead to book tours as they can fill up quickly. Once you call them and find out availability you can adjust your route to take account of what you can book. In particular, if you stay at Te Anau or Manapouri and want to take trips to (and on) Milford Sound and/or Doubtful Sound, you should phone ahead as they can be very popular. Operators collect customers from the local camping grounds. We had friends from Scotland who recently toured in a hired motorhome for three weeks. They covered most places in that time but felt a little rushed in places so an extra week would have been useful. I'm happy to try and answer any questions you may have about my country, particularly the South Island. I, and many others, have made comments on previous threads about touring NZ so a search of the forum may give you more useful comments. Enjoy your visit and spend lots of money - we need it! Alistair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Hello Alistair thanks for some of the tips, we have hired a camper to tour both islands for exactly 8 weeks, (dont like rushing) picking the camper up in Christchurch and dropping of in Auckland. We arrive in Christchurch The camper is a coach built and is fully kitted out so will hopefully be doing a bit of "wild" camping, we travel Europe most of our time so no problems with "wild" stop offs. i have yet to check out the Top 10 organisation and in the process of obtaining travel books on New Zealand but in the meantime are there any areas you can recommend to start us off with, all tips would be gratefully received. (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 We joined the" Top 10 Club " when we landed in Christchurch when we toured NZ a couple of years ago but lost out because we then only used one or two of their sites over the next two months. They were very good well equipped sites but at that time seemed more expensive than a lot of other sites. I suggest that you check out the cost of joining ( about £20 ?? ) but also look at the cost of staying on their sites, and compare them with other sites, including the DoC sites ( which were about £4 a night ). If you prefer to stay mostly on top range sites then it may be a good idea to join. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffers Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Hi Alistair loved Christchurch - hope everything is getting back to normal now, it's gone very quiet on UK news since the initial quake and first few after shocks :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistair Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Thanks for your good wishes, Duffers. We were in the UK when it happened, the night before we were due to fly home after three months in UK /Europe. We heard about it on the Radio 4 news and contacted family and friends by text. Neighbours checked our house and found it OK. A concrete block retaining wall and two block fences have cracked and moved and will have to be replaced, but not urgent. Our house has cracks in the mortar of the concrete block veneer cladding but it’s not structural. Most NZ houses are timber framed so they can flex and recover without structural damage, although cosmetic damage can result. The vast majority of houses have no or only minor damage. The most common significant problem was the collapse of chimneys, sometimes falling through roofs – something like 16,000 chimneys have come down, I read. About 95% of businesses are back in operation. Some residential areas have had major damage and are still without sewerage connections. They look like war zones. The lives of people in these areas have been devastated. Insurance will sort out the properties and the Council will fix the services but the scale of the problems is so big it will take up to two years in some areas. Very sad for them. Many old (by our standards) brick buildings in the CBD and suburbs have been damaged beyond repair and have been or will be demolished. These buildings were damaged mainly by the shaking whereas the serious residential damage was mainly caused by ground movement. If you’re familiar with Christchurch, you may be interested photos on this site: www.crashbang.co.nz. Lots more on other sites to be found on Google. We’ve had more than 2,000 aftershocks, including one this morning. Most cause no damage and many are hardly noticeable, but since we’ve been home (we arrived two days after the big one) we’ve had two that have been very strong, close to us and shallow so the shaking has been violent but fortunately brief. The more recent of these was on 19 October and caused more damage in some areas. Fortunately, the frequency of aftershocks is diminishing and we’re getting the occasional full days with nothing. This is all a bit off-topic and this post is quite long enough. I’ll respond to Curly’s questions in another post soon after I give it some thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffers Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Interesting though, thanks and good luck, we hope to come back in 2011, shall check out web site B-) struggled with that link, but this is frightening http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stantheman Posted October 23, 2010 Author Share Posted October 23, 2010 Hi Folks, Thanks to everyone for the advice and best wishes to Alistair. Glad your house survived intact. But it must be heartbreaking to see those lovely old buildings that have stood for many years destroyed in an instant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistair Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 They seem to have taken the crashbang site down. Here are a couple more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bliA2Yxukk http://www.stuff.co.nz/4095395/Latest-photos-7-1-quake I'll send Curly and Stantheman some itinerary suggestions by PM as what I've got is a bit long and specific for a forum message. Could Stantheman please send me a PM so I can get his email address? Thanks for the good wishes. Alistair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.