Living in a New Zealand Campervan

So far, we’ve spent 11 of our 90 or so days here in New Zealand living in a campervan.

Before being in a couple of RV’s with friends (in the states), I always thought of motorhomes as (more than just a bit) ghetto or hillbilly.

But because of the experience I had with friends’ motorhomes, I got opened up to the idea of being in a motorhome/campervan.

And driving around in campervans is one way we’ve been seeing the country of New Zealand.

I am surprised how much I’m enjoying having an RV.

Carrie put it best by saying that the reason she’s liking having a campervan is that it’s great while being on the road, knowing where you’ll sleep every night, and not having to worry about taking all your stuff with you, because you already are where you’re sleeping every night, and you’re already taking all your stuff with you.

The campervans we’ve rented have been roomy (for two), comfortable, and equipped with everything we need, as well as pretty much everything we want.

And, I’m used to driving on the other side of the road now, having spent a fair amount of time in the driver’s seat.

So far, in 11 days, we’ve covered 3250 km. by road, in 2 campervans (Motorhomes).

We’re about to rent another one as well.

That’s 2,020 miles in 11 days, or about 200 miles/day.

It’s great during this time to have good company. Carrie and I keep ourselves and each other occupied while on the road.

We do this by:

• Playing games like 20 questions
• Talking about business ideas, web content, products/services, finances
• Planning our next steps of our travel
• Etc.

We also occupy our time with Carrie reminding me about bridges.

There are a surprising number of one lane bridges here in NZ. There aren’t a lot of people here, especially on the South Island.

Being that the country has a lot of rivers and lakes, many of the major roads go over these rivers, but there’s no real need for more than 1 lane bridges, even on many of the major roads.

For whatever reason, I’ve been neglecting to slow down to approach these bridges (even though they’re extremely well marked and are easy to see from the higher position of the driver’s seat in the campervan). So Carrie usually will say “One Lane Bridge”.

If that doesn’t register with me quickly enough, my foot now automatically moves to the brake when I hear her say “You might want to slow down…”

Actually, this has only happened a couple of times in 11 days. They’re all new roads to us.

The views are incredible – from the beaches to the snow capped mountains.


Mostly, we’re really enjoying being able to spend the night wherever we feel like stopping, so long as there’s (a picnic area or a) camper park, or in one case, a country road with a shoulder that was way off the road. (We woke up there to the sound of a guy on a four-wheeler and his dog herding cattle.)

A campervan, motorhome, or RV is really an incredible way to see New Zealand.

It’s something we’re surprised to recommend so highly.

So far, we’ve rented 4 berth campers through Maui (did a return for them for about $25/day(after insurance)) and a Backpacker Quattro. Backpacker costs a lot less (if you’re not doing a return). However, the Maui rental had a diesel heating system (which works wherever you are), whereas the Backpacker’s heater is electric and only works when you’re plugged in at a camper park.

We’ve loved it and are looking forward to our upcoming campvervan rental (another rental return) to head back up to Auckland.

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TAGS: back packer, backpacker, camper, campervan, driving, hire, Maui, motorhome, New Zealand, NZ, rental, rv, tourism, Travel, van