Wow!! 🤩 New Zealand has been truly amazing! It really exceeded our expectations. Renting a campervan for 5 weeks in the off season (autumn) was just perfect for us. The freedom to go where we wanted, the lack of traffic and the jaw dropping scenery have been spectacular. Even better, we took advantage of the one way rental discount from Christchurch to Auckland (it’s more expensive going the other direction) and the lower daily rates after May 15th. We’re really happy with the route we followed, and we drove a total of 4,800 km! (about 25% more than the straight driving distance, due to side trips)
We spent 42 days in New Zealand, 35 of those days were in a campervan slowly making our way from Christchurch to Auckland.
12 favorite things about New Zealand
- Hiking a section of the Kepler Track in Fiordland National Park from Te Anau to the Luxmore Hut. One of our all time favorite hikes!
- The Otago Peninsula, outside of Dunedin, for the scenery and wildlife
- Rainbows everywhere – seriously ridiculous!
- Okarito Trig Walk up to amazing coast to mountain views, magical.
- Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes = rainbow makers
- Tutukaka Lighthouse Walk and Smuggler’s Bay Loop Walk in the Northlands. More amazing views.
- Hooker Valley Hike in Mount Cook National Park
- Te Papa museum in Wellington
- Hobbiton!! 🙂
- Tongariro hot vents
- The amazing bird life
- Having a campervan: freedom to explore, cook, picnic, etc.
Cost of New Zealand as a couple
| Spending Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Campervan rental | $1,073 |
| Campervan Gas (incl Diesel Tax) | $924 |
| Wellington Ferry | $187 |
| Lodging | $1,371 |
| Food | $1,858 |
| Activities | $503 |
| Insurance & Misc Bills | $545 |
| Total | $6,461 |
Our total per day spending in New Zealand was $154 / dayÂ
This only excludes the flights from Koh Tao to Christchurch, which was $96 plus 50,000 miles for two tickets.