# New Zealand



## jmayo (12 Jan 2007)

Hi all, we will be flying into NZ mid next month for three weeks and I am wondering about car hire and accomodation.  
Has anybody hired car on South Island and dropped off in Auckland ?
What is the story regarding ferries between two islands ?
What is best car hire company, need unlimited miles ?
Did anyone have problem with accomodation ?
I am more into the mountains, lakes, etc. and my better half is more into beaches, wildlife and would love to see some whales etc.
What are the unmissables and what are the missables ? 
Thanks..
J


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## Lauren (12 Jan 2007)

All the major car hire firms operate in NZ and you will have no problem starting on one island and dropping off on the other...Ferries are no problem between islands also..Beautiful country although the weather can be quite changeable and often reminded me of home! Accommodation is cheap enough and plentiful at all standards...The people are really friendly and helpful...


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## DirtyH2O (13 Jan 2007)

The ferry is a slow four hour journey, most people fly up to Wellington instead. You could rent another car there instead of bringing one on the ferry. We rented from Hertz and got a good deal on a mid size. Huge distances to cover in such a short time, it's much larger than most people realise. Northland & Bay of Islands is well worth some time, you could sacrifice the bungy jumping in Queenstown and Zorbing in Rotorua stuff instead. Beaches, tropical rainforest, not half enough people include it. Their loss could be your gain.

www.fourcorners.co.nz/new-zealand/northland

A day around the vineyards in Marlborough is <hic> good too. Penguin colony in  Dunedin is very funny. Private flights over Mt Cook and the glaciers from Omarama. Tramping trails.


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## Stiofan (14 Jan 2007)

Rent a car for the south island and one for the north. Its quite expensive to bring a car across on the ferry and very easy to pick up a new one whether your in Picton or Wellington. As for cost its remarkably cheap to rent over there. Depending on how much gear you have you can pick up a station wagon or a 2.0L saloon. Would recomend a saloon if you can fit as a concealed boot is alot safer when your on the move. Can't recall the crowd I used for the south island but on the north it was Omega (NZ$20 a day). A quick net search for budget dealers will give you lots of options but don't restrict yourself to the big companies as their generally dearer.

Get the ferry aswell its a nice trip throu some amazing fjiords and certainly not that much of an inconvenience thats you'd want to fly.


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## lala (15 Jan 2007)

was in new zealand last april, bueatiful place. hired cars through budget and they were very good and reasonable also, they do not allow their rental cars on the ferry but it is unbelievably easy to collect a car from their depot at the wellington or picton sides, ferry may be slow but it is a breathtaking journey which is a must in my opinion. regarding accomodation it is very easy to find good motels at a reasonable price, yself and my girlfriend stayed mostly in the bellavista chain of motels which i would highly reccommend, at a cost of around $120 (€60) per night for studio appartments which are extremely clean and comfortable. also these motels are a chain and are in almost every town and city of interest and at reception they will book you ahead to the next bellavista at your next stop, thus avoiding the worry of finding somewhere to stay.
regarding sightseeing one of the highlights of our trip was the transalpine train which goes from christchurch to greymouth. although the road runs beside the rail track for most of this journey and you can drive it i would have to reccomend the train which takes about four hours and has breathtaking views with a very entertaining commentry throughout giving info which would be impossible to get while driving the route. also a car can be dropped off at christchurch train station and picked up at greymouth trainstation with no problems.
other highlights:south island
dolphin swimming and whale watching kaikoura,
skydive lake wanaka, bueatiful town also and lookout for puzzleworld,
moving glacier hiking in franz joseph fantastic three quater day hike,
bunjy jump and white water rafting queenstown,
flight cruise flight out to milford sound, unreal,
north island:
super 14 rugby game in wellington, up the hurricanes,
quad biking in taupo,my girlfriend had never drivena quad but after this she is addicted, go at your own pace through a rainforest for a two hour trip with full instructions and guide,
meal up the sky tower in auckland, book when you arrive, not the buffet but the revolving resturant, food fantastic,


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## oopsbuddy (15 Jan 2007)

Excellent summary lala. I'm thinking of booking already!


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## emmt (15 Jan 2007)

if you're going whale watching in Kaikoura, probably best not to go out on the first boat ride in the morning. We did that in November and since it was the 1st boat trip of the day, the crew didnt know where the whales were! We spent about 2.5 hours on very choppy water and saw 1 whale - then back to port. If you maybe get the next trip, they know where the schools of whales are and you'll have a better chance of seeing some.
me and partner rented a camper van and it was the greatest trip ever. no checking on/out of hotels, no packing/unpacking, and we had the greatest views in the world. If you want more info on campervanning, let me know.
It was the best holiday we had so look forward to it!


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## jmayo (17 Jan 2007)

Thanks to everyone for the information, got plenty of ideas there.

Lala, I not sure about using trains for scenic trips.   I am one of these people that will stop every 10 minutes to take a photograph or look at something.  Does tend to annoy whoever is in the car with me.  Maybe I should really travel by bike?

I wasn't sure about the pickup of hire car on one Island and drop off on the other island.  I didn't know some of the car hire companies do not allow it.
I guess it is like the whole thing about driving on unpaved roads and such.
The plan is to spend more time on South Island, and then head to North Island, probably dropping in my girlfirends cousins along the way.

Emmt, thanks for the advice on the whale watching times.  I found out something similar in Canada about spotting bears, they are more suitable times than others.


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## SlurrySlump (17 Jan 2007)

Any creepy crawlies there?


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## Stiofan (17 Jan 2007)

emmt said:


> if you're going whale watching in Kaikoura, probably best not to go out on the first boat ride in the morning. We did that in November and since it was the 1st boat trip of the day, the crew didnt know where the whales were! We spent about 2.5 hours on very choppy water and saw 1 whale - then back to port. If you maybe get the next trip, they know where the schools of whales are and you'll have a better chance of seeing some.
> me and partner rented a camper van and it was the greatest trip ever. no checking on/out of hotels, no packing/unpacking, and we had the greatest views in the world. If you want more info on campervanning, let me know.
> It was the best holiday we had so look forward to it!


 
You must of been on the same boat as me!! Kaikoura was probably the most dissapointing part of my NZ trip. 2 hours of chasing phantom whales only to get a couple of tail photos.

Should rename it Tail Watching!!!

Enjoy the trip Jmayo, its one of the best ones you'll ever do.


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## jmayo (17 Jan 2007)

Has anyone used Apex Rental or Ace Rental Cars for car hire ?
Just wondered about these two, because they appear to rent older cars.

Ideally I am looking for renter that doesn't break the bank (e.g Hertz or Avis tend to do that unless you have contacts or part of bonus system).
Also nice to have renter with locations at Ferry terminals and Airports (Auckland and Christchurch).

Stiofan, I really looking forward to New Zealand.  I have heard great things about it from anyone that has ever been there. 
To date my best holiday experience has been BC/Yukon/Aberta in Canada.
It is hard to beat sitting on road watching mammy bear and two cubs crossing.


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## JohnnyBoy (17 Jan 2007)

As regards Kaikoura-highlight for me-u should get in the water!!!-swam with loads of dolphins,came so close to me I could nearly touch them!!


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## Jason_77 (17 Jan 2007)

A very interesting read.

We are going to NZ in November of this year, as part of a 4 month honeymoon. The plan is to travel around NZ for approx 5 weeks, so I have found a lot of this info very interesting.

Emmt, can you please provide more info on the campervans? We were thinking of using this mode of transport and accomodation in both NZ and Australia.

Jmayo, hope you have a great trip and don't forget to post your highlights when you get back.

Thanks,

Jason.


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## Stiofan (18 Jan 2007)

jmayo said:


> Has anyone used Apex Rental or Ace Rental Cars for car hire ?
> Just wondered about these two, because they appear to rent older cars.
> 
> Ideally I am looking for renter that doesn't break the bank (e.g Hertz or Avis tend to do that unless you have contacts or part of bonus system).
> ...


 
I used a crowd called Shoestring rentals on the South Island. Small operation but very cheap renter using older cars. Picked up an estate in Christchurch airport and dropped off at the Picton ferry, absolutely hassle free. Only problem was the chap was a bit of a gimp but for NZ$30 a day it will do and won't break the bank. On the north island I used Omega, bigger company but equally cheap. Heres the links



http://www.omegarentalcars.com/

when you contact these places ask them if they have any special offers or relocation deals first. Play the backpacker card and haggle, you'd be surprised what you get!!!

Again enjoy the trip and thanks for the tip on Canada.

As for Kaikoura I heard I did make a bad decision on going tail watching instead of dolphin swimming but I suppose i'll have to put that down to hindsight and hopefully i'll get back to right that wrong in the future.


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## deanwood (18 Jan 2007)

J 

I went travelling around NZ for a month and I used Ace Rentals the cars are quite old but to be honest they did the job my only complaint about one of the cars that we got in the south island they didn't have a cd player!! but we asked them for a different car and they had no problem with us changing it! we did have to get an automatic instead of a manual though!


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## davidoco (18 Jan 2007)

jmayo said:


> Hi all, we will be flying into NZ mid next month for three weeks .............
> I am more into the mountains, lakes, etc. and my better half is more into beaches, wildlife and would love to see some whales etc.



Three weeks is not a lot of time to see NZ both North and South.  All the lakes and mountains and good tourist stuff is on the South Island so you might concentrate on that.  Auckland is a very spacious city so you don't really get the buzz of being in a city except for a few key streets.

Dolphin swimming in Kaikoura is for people who like or don't mind being treated like sheep. Better to swim with the Hector dolphin down in Akaroa Harbour near Christchurch.  Plus the Akaroa peninsula is an unusual place, very like Irish hilly fields stretched and pulled

Fav shot of south island
[broken link removed]  399kb file size.


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## jmayo (19 Jan 2007)

Stiofan, thnks for the links on car hire.
I have been looking at Apex, Ace and Ezy.
Not sure about hiring old cars.  I remember the "rent a wreck" crew in Florida and some of their cars were true wrecks.

One thing Canada taught me was the concept of massive driving distances so Australia and New Zealand shouldn't prove too much of a shock.

It is my missus that is into the whales and dolphins.  I may sit the whole thing out since I don't even like the water.  My idea of hell is sitting in small boat crashing through the waves.  She can take one of my cameras and do the needful, perhaps catch a good tail shot.  
My buzz is flying so really looking forward to Queenstown, Mt Cook, Milford Sound by air.

Davidoco, we only have 3 weeks in NZ, since we will already have spent 3 weeks in Australia and plan a week in California on way back to Ireland.
The plan is to spend 15 days or so on South Island, but I have been told we have to visit hot springs/mud baths on North Island and also a cousin in Auckland, so maybe try and fit that into 5/6 days.


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## OCY (19 Jan 2007)

Used Apex for car rental in NZ.  Car was about 4-5 years old.

We picked car up in Aukland and dropped off in Wellington, got ferry, picked up another car in Picton and dropped it off in Christchuch, this way we did not need to book ferry ahead, as we were foot passengers.


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## emmt (19 Jan 2007)

Hi Jason_77

there are loads of companies you can rent camper vans with. Maui http://www.maui.co.nz/ do mostly new campervans.Then when these get a bit older, they are rented out under the Britz http://www.britz.com/ label. Then when the Britz vans get older again, they are rented under the Backpacker  label. It depends on what your budget is. We went with Britz and the van was in good condition. A few creaks but nothing out of the ordinary. Saw a LOT of Kea http://www.keacampers.com/ campervans over there but didnt know about these before we left so dont know what the prices were like.
http://www.maui.co.nz/ 
http://www.britz.com/

http://www.keacampers.com/

We rented a long wheel base campervan with shower/toilet facilities so we didnt need the shower facilities in the campsites we used. My hubby is 6ft 2in and laughed when he saw the shower but he was a convert by the end of the hol. It did what is said on the tin!!

As far as camping was concerned, we mainly stayed in the DOC (Department of Conservation) camp sites that cost a pittance. Most of them had cooking/shower facilities but very few had power. So about once in every three days we stayed in a serviced site to charge up the mobile phone etc. 

http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/summary.aspx?id=37254
[broken link removed]

On the last night we stayed in Akaroa Top10 park and the view was SPECTACULAR. If you go out to Banks Peninsula, call in to the park early, take a drive around and see if any of the really nice sites are available, and book asap. I think you can actually book accommodation over the phone if you are sure of your dates but we were just taking each day as it came and were just lucky to get one of the best spots. They go quickly. (Theres a nice winery in this area for a liquid lunch too by the way..!)

On the west coast especially, there are some really ice places where you can just pull off the main highway and camp for the night. As long as you are out of general sight the locals dont seem to mind. And the DOC have a list of sites where you can dump water, toilet etc and fill up with water without having to call into a serviced site.

lastly, i didnt find the distances too vast. The longest drive was to Milford Sounds but its such a nice trip that you dont mind the distances.

If i think of any other tips. I'll pass them on or if there's anything in particular you'd like to know, let me know.
Hope this is of help,
Emmt


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## jmayo (19 Jan 2007)

emmt, the plan is to go with car and try find accomodation.  
Looked at whole camper van thing and decided against it.   I know it has advantages but sometimes nice to have room with  shower etc.
Maui is the one favoured by Trailfinders and they always look to be the nice new ones.  I wonder any chance of an old VW micrabus or 1980s Hi ace ?
The comment about distances is more for Australia rather than NZ.  
Looking at some long drives especially Perth and Alice.


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## Jason_77 (22 Jan 2007)

Hi Emmt,

Thanks for that information.

Just wondering of you could provide some further info.

How long did you travel for?
What kind of insurance cover did you take out on the campervan?
Can you remember the exact type of vehicle you hired?
Does it work out cheaper or fairly much the same as travelling by bus/train and staying in hostels?

Anything else that you think would be of benefit would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jason.


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## Daffodil (26 Jan 2007)

Trying to organise a holiday in NZ for folks. Both are OAPs and don't want to drive over there and the less hassle for them the better. Something organised from start to finish would be ideal.  Would like to get them a package deal that would include flights and tours around the North & South Island.  Have anyone heard of any companies that do something similar.


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## Perplexed (26 Jan 2007)

http://www.scenicpacific.co.nz/  I've been looking up this crowd myself. They don't include flights to NZ however.  Look up the www.cie.ie & look at their tours. They have some lovely ones of NZ & NZ & Australia. Don't think the flight is included but they will give you info if you desire


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## bartbridge (29 Jan 2007)

Going to NZ in August and was wondering can anyone recommend a nice place (hostel/self catering) to stay in Christchurch, not too expensive? I want to have something booked in advance for the first night or two and wing it from there. I'm guessing we'll be like zombies by the time we get off the plane so will probably need to sleep for a while when we arrive...


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## nelly (30 Jan 2007)

just back! used ezy rentals backpacker car and with the Picton wellington crossing fare included it was about 900NZD all in for a Nissan Sunny for 20 days. 
the crossing is beautiful and i would advise ( on a good day) to take it and not to fly. 

if you are flora and fauna folks then check out the seal colony at westport - loads of they just basking for free! ate in the dennison dog restaurant there incidently and it was really good food. 
Go to Milford S in the morning as it clouded over when we were there and although it was gorgeous it might have been better if not so overcast. 
The glacier is a must as is that drive (we were stopping every while too and it was a race to take photo and and not be passed out by pseky slow campervans!!)
We were in some lovely campsites and some really great value double room youth hostels so don;t get bogged down trying to book them from here - there are loads of accommodation options.
If it rains do the activities anyhow - we kayaked in the rain, and heat or Abel Tasman park - and it was gorgeous, when the sun came up it was really wow. 
lastly Napier Art Deco weekend is on in Feb i think and i thought it was a nice place to drive around and visit the vineyards. 

oh and don't forget to go North of Auckland - Bay of islands is also beautiful. 

Sooo depressing to be back....
you will love it  - have a great trip!


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## punter (24 Feb 2007)

Hotels
Rates vary widely depending on the season - we were there in November (late Spring rates) and the prices were half the summer rates. We used www.wotif.com to make reservations as we went along, and got some great rates for good quality accommodation. For example we spent 2 nights enjoying the countryside and thermal springs in http://www.heritagehotels.co.nz/hanmer-springs/ at what weren't too far off hostel rates.

Car Hire
We used www.argusrentals.com (Irish based) to hire a car for the 3 weeks. *Advantages were:*

Fantastic rate for a saloon
Dealing with am Irish based provider somehow appears to offer some additional comfort
*Disadvantages were:*

Local provider (www.scotties.co.nz in Christchurch) was exceptionally gruff and rude to deal with
Car was a Japanese import, 6/7 years old
Local provider not airport based, requiring a (provided) 30 minute bus trip to and from the car pick-up - this actually cost us a half day at each end.
A niggling feeling wondering what would happen if the yoke stopped in the middle of nowhere and we needed a replacement - could have cost us a day or two.
In summary, you get what you pay for.

Driving
Regarding driving, having been to both Islands on separate 3 week trips, I would recommend if possible spending 3/4 weeks on each island - there is so much to see and do. Resist the temptation to cram it all in to one short holiday. While I wouldn't normally be a fan of Tourist Board propaganda, the NZ Tourist Authority has great route suggestions http://www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/driving-routes/driving-routes-home.cfm - we used these as a basis and it was really helpful. 

One other comment, if you decide to visit Milford Sound (and you should), I'd recommend leaving the car in either Te Anua or Queenstown and enjoy the journey from the comfort of a coach - the drive is very demanding and in inclement weather (always a likelihood in that area) could be hell. Flying in/out is also an option (we booked, but the flights were cancelled and we had to take a coach because of the cloud)


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## Perplexed (24 Feb 2007)

Re the whales at Kaikoura.
Is this do-able on a day trip ?  I've got one day to spare in Christchurch & wondering if I would have enough time.
I saw on No Frontiers that you can see them from a helicopter !
I already swan with the dolphins in Sorrento( south of Melbourne) on my last Ossie visit & yes it's a wonderful experience, but it's the whales I'm more interested in this time.


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## jmayo (26 Mar 2007)

The whale trip is few hours only, you get introductory film.
You then boat out to where they were last spotted and then you hang around until they surface again.  Then you just float beside them and then the big moment is when they dive.  You might get glimpse of dolphins or penguins swimming alongside.  They also take you to seal (se lion ?) colony and you get to spend few minutes there.
There were no Japanese tourists to be seen on board so was much quieter and relaxed.
It is tail watching really but nice to see once anyway.


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