[Default] On Sun, 7 Jun 2009 20:41:34 +1000, " A Mate"
offered the following words of wisdom:

I'd recommend renting a car - $29 to $39 NZD per day for a good quality
medium sized used Japanese vehicle.

Motels - which always (outside Auckland) include fully equipped kitchens -
from $69 to $100 NZD per night.

That's either cheaper or marginally more expensive that a campervan - and
fuel costs will be less. Food costs exactly the same. - and driving and
parking so much easier!

We've done it that way many times - most recently in January/February this
year - and would do it no other way!!

In late March, early-April we enjoyed a two week road trip from
Northland to Wellington and return to visit the Impressionists'
Exhibition at Te Papa.

Other than our hotel in Wellington (The Museum Hotel across from Te
Papa) we made no other advance bookings and stayed in motels at places
that appealed to us.

In some cases, we landed at motels we weren't sure about, but we never
had a problem asking for a look around the unit before we booked in.

Most of the units had mini-kitchens (small fridge, microwave, sink)
and some had full kitchens. But in Cambridge (on the way down) and
Hamilton (on the way back) we encountered motels that had no food
preparation area other than a small beer fridge and we treated
ourselves to takeaways.

In both cases we'd left it too late to try and find another motel and,
in Hamilton, we were lucky to get the last unit on the afternoon of a
major Waikato Chief's match against South Africa.

Before we checked out we discussed the kitchen issue with one of the
motel owners and he told us that more and more new motel units were
being designed without kitchen facilities because: one, they were
cheaper to build ; two, because the guests they were catering to
didn't need a kitchen when they travelled (eg: takeaways, restaurants,
family, friends, business associates, etc): and three, because they
were cheaper to build.

So my advice would be to get a current copy of either the AA or Jasons
accommodation guides for descriptions of the motel facilities before
you get there, or, like us, ask the proprietors for a look around
before you commit.

It's a little embarrassing when you say, "Thanks, but it's not exactly
what we're looking for." But some of the places we checked out were
not up to a standard we'd be comfortable with and it was a good thing
we looked the unit over first. On the other hand, we found a place in
Oakura (on our way back) that was so comfortable that we stayed three
nights instead of one.

(BTW - we travel with an "Eskimo" electric refrigerator that plugs
into the cigarette lighter and carries essentials like beer, wine,
dairy products, fruit and veges. So we save the cost of buying
breakfast regardless of where we stay.)