Accommodations and Transportation Advice
 

We are planning our first trip to New Zealand Feb 19 - Apr 9. We arrive in Aukland and plan to visit both islands. We're starting to explore accommodation and transportation options. We've tossed around the idea of renting an apartment in Aukland, which seems to be reasonble. But, of course, has the downfall of tied to one location. Also wondering if we should rent a car. Campervan. Buy a car. Or use the bus. We're looking for the right balance of economical and flexible. Is the bus service sufficient and flexible enough? We like the idea of not driving since we drive on the other side of the road. :) Is it economial and feasible to search for accommodation as you travel from place to place? Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

Accommodations and Transportation Advice
 

On Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:02:51 +0100, thenotebook
wrote:


We are planning our first trip to New Zealand Feb 19 - Apr 9. We arrive
in Aukland and plan to visit both islands. We're starting to explore
accommodation and transportation options. We've tossed around the idea
of renting an apartment in Aukland, which seems to be reasonble. But,
of course, has the downfall of tied to one location. Also wondering if
we should rent a car. Campervan. Buy a car. Or use the bus. We're
looking for the right balance of economical and flexible. Is the bus
service sufficient and flexible enough? We like the idea of not driving
since we drive on the other side of the road. :) Is it economial and
feasible to search for accommodation as you travel from place to place?
Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

The intercity bus service http://www.intercity.co.nz/
is good and cheap but leaves you with the problem of getting around
town when you reach your destination.

There are motel guide books which list motels in all the cities and
towns. They tend to run about $100NZ a night and are comfortable. I've
used rental cars and chosen motels from the guide books when I got to
my destination.

I do not advise that for Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch,
Queenstown or Te Anau. Those are the big tourist destinations.

You should check the exchange rate for the New Zealand dollar against
your own currency.
http://www.xe.com/ict/
--
John Oliver

AIM or MSN jdoliver98

Accommodations and Transportation Advice
 

On Sep 17, 2:02*am, thenotebook
wrote:
We are planning our first trip to New Zealand Feb 19 - Apr 9. We arrive
in Aukland and plan to visit both islands. We're starting to explore
accommodation and transportation options. We've tossed around the idea
of renting an apartment in Aukland, which seems to be reasonble. But,
of course, has the downfall of tied to one location. Also wondering if
we should rent a car. Campervan. Buy a car. Or use the bus. We're
looking for the right balance of economical and flexible. Is the bus
service sufficient and flexible enough? We like the idea of not driving
since we drive on the other side of the road. :) Is it economial and
feasible to search for accommodation as you travel from place to place?
Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

--
thenotebook

'Vietnam vacation, Vietnam tour'
(http://www.waytovietnam.com/tour.asp)|'Mekong Cruise, Mekong Tour,
Tour Mekong, Mekong River Cruise' (http://www.waytomekong.com)|'Mui Ne
Resort - Mui Ne Beach' (http://www.waytomuine.com)

Campervan!!!
A lot of people don't know this, but there are amazing deals on
campervans, especially in the south island.
If you go to the right place, you can rent a campervan from
Christchurch to Auckland for 1 NZD.
People have driven these campervans down to christchurch from
auckland, and the company has no way of getting them back. so they
basically employ you to take the campervans back to them.
also, i think driving is the best way to see NZ. For me, the real NZ
isn't the cities, it's the country and the nature. Travelling by road
you can see the most.
Hope i've helped!

Accommodations and Transportation Advice
 

You're right, Sarah - and they give you all of two or (if you're lucky) 3
days to do it.

Have a nice time!!!



"Sarah Adams" wrote in message
...
On Sep 17, 2:02 am, thenotebook
wrote:
We are planning our first trip to New Zealand Feb 19 - Apr 9. We arrive
in Aukland and plan to visit both islands. We're starting to explore
accommodation and transportation options. We've tossed around the idea
of renting an apartment in Aukland, which seems to be reasonble. But,
of course, has the downfall of tied to one location. Also wondering if
we should rent a car. Campervan. Buy a car. Or use the bus. We're
looking for the right balance of economical and flexible. Is the bus
service sufficient and flexible enough? We like the idea of not driving
since we drive on the other side of the road. :) Is it economial and
feasible to search for accommodation as you travel from place to place?
Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

--
thenotebook

'Vietnam vacation, Vietnam tour'
(http://www.waytovietnam.com/tour.asp)|'Mekong Cruise, Mekong Tour,
Tour Mekong, Mekong River Cruise' (http://www.waytomekong.com)|'Mui Ne
Resort - Mui Ne Beach' (http://www.waytomuine.com)

Campervan!!!
A lot of people don't know this, but there are amazing deals on
campervans, especially in the south island.
If you go to the right place, you can rent a campervan from
Christchurch to Auckland for 1 NZD.
People have driven these campervans down to christchurch from
auckland, and the company has no way of getting them back. so they
basically employ you to take the campervans back to them.
also, i think driving is the best way to see NZ. For me, the real NZ
isn't the cities, it's the country and the nature. Travelling by road
you can see the most.
Hope i've helped!

Accommodations and Transportation Advice
 

We like the idea of not driving
since we drive on the other side of the road. :)

Don't worry about it. Driving on the "wrong side of road" might seem strange
and difficult if you haven't done it before, but its really not that hard.
You will see far more if you can go wherever you like whenever you like. Get
some wheels.

Accommodations and Transportation Advice
 

We are planning our first trip to New Zealand Feb 19 - Apr 9. We arrive
in Aukland and plan to visit both islands.... Also wondering if
we should rent a car. Campervan. Buy a car. Or use the bus.

We went to OZ in '06 for 6 weeks. The locals said there'd be lots of
accomodation available (leftovers) from Olympics for $ 50 night so It would
be cheaper to rent a car rather than a campervan.

What we found was the places were there but had gone up to $ 75 night .
Cars are markedly cheaper to rent than the vans but adding the $ 75/day
would probably make it a "tie" [you still have to pay for most campgrounds].

We put almost 10,000Km on 4 different rental cars...we always got one with
"Unlimited miles"

We did one flight (To Tassie) rather than the ferry by: www.jetstar.com
It was MUCH cheaper than the boat.
If you decide to fly, book over a week in advance and try to avoid weekends
for the best prices.

If you decide to rent a vehicle, we found our best deals at:
http://www.apollocamper.com/

They have both cars & Vans. Ask for the "CHEAPA" rental cars..3-4 yrs old,
in fine condition..much cheaper than the NEW ones.

We also found that there was internet access in every little town with a
library. Booked "same day" accomodation online more than once (since we
didnt know how long/far we'd get each day) at : www.kayak.com and
www.asia.com

Pretty well all this also applies to NZL.

Good luck

R

Accommodations and Transportation Advice
 

Erm!! New Zealand is a different country from Australia. Similar in many
ways - but quite different in terms of scale of distances; and - peculiarly
enough - in motel pricing and facilities; and hire car rates.


There are many second string car rental agencies in NZ that offer aged, but
reliable medium sized Japanese cars for a low price - which usually includes
unlimited kms and insurance. $40NZD per day will get you a good car.

Motels in NZ (outside Auckland) almost always have a fully equipped kitchen
in each unit. Prices about $85 to $100 NZD for a good quality motel.





"Rudy" wrote in message
...

We are planning our first trip to New Zealand Feb 19 - Apr 9. We arrive
in Aukland and plan to visit both islands.... Also wondering if
we should rent a car. Campervan. Buy a car. Or use the bus.

We went to OZ in '06 for 6 weeks. The locals said there'd be lots of
accomodation available (leftovers) from Olympics for $ 50 night so It
would be cheaper to rent a car rather than a campervan.

What we found was the places were there but had gone up to $ 75 night .
Cars are markedly cheaper to rent than the vans but adding the $ 75/day
would probably make it a "tie" [you still have to pay for most
campgrounds].

We put almost 10,000Km on 4 different rental cars...we always got one with
"Unlimited miles"

We did one flight (To Tassie) rather than the ferry by: www.jetstar.com
It was MUCH cheaper than the boat.
If you decide to fly, book over a week in advance and try to avoid
weekends for the best prices.

If you decide to rent a vehicle, we found our best deals at:
http://www.apollocamper.com/

They have both cars & Vans. Ask for the "CHEAPA" rental cars..3-4 yrs
old, in fine condition..much cheaper than the NEW ones.

We also found that there was internet access in every little town with a
library. Booked "same day" accomodation online more than once (since we
didnt know how long/far we'd get each day) at : www.kayak.com and
www.asia.com

Pretty well all this also applies to NZL.

Good luck

R