info needed for my upcoming visit to NZ, please

Hi,

I'll be visiting NZ for four months next Summer. I intend to stay in
backpackers hostels and campgrounds. I've pretty much put my itinerary
together but it's still open for changes and I was wondering if you could
point me to good campsites and backpack hostels all over the country. Is
free camping allowed? And i'm a firm believer of leave no trash and disturb
as little as possible. Are there places I shouldn't miss at all? Do I need
to buy a folding table and folding chair when arriving in NZ or is seating
provided at the campsites. DOC campsites have tables. Is it necessary to
book in advance as I plan on looking for a campsite no later than 3pm. Any
rentalcar company you'd recommend?

all help and info much appreciated and a big thanks in advance

grayseal

How long have you got to read up on all the great places in NZ? Four months
will let you see almost all of the country if you plan well. Theres plenty
of places that allow free camping but be careful as not all posted as "no
camping" if you arent allowed.
Small table and chair wouldnt go a miss.
Rental cars are available but for four months I seriously would look at
buying a small car for $2000 or so and leaving it at the airport if ya cant
sell it in time. Plenty of cars available in the paper and for $2k you
could geta reasonable Jappa. Fuel is expensive in NZ, $1.20 per litre ($5.40
GallonNZD) at the moment I think. (Allthough better idea to sell for stuff
all to the another backpacker) Rental cars are fairly expensive and I would
recommend trying somewhere like National rentals rather than the big
companies such as Hertz, while the bigger company cars are much newer and
nicer to drive, for two months would end up very costly. $75 day for four
months is $9,000 with nothing to show for it. At least if you buy a car from
a car yard you could hit up a deal where they guarentee it mechanically for
your trip and then theres a minimum buy back at the same yard on your
return. Even if you loose $1000 on the deal yourve got yourself a very cheap
mode of transport for four months.






"grayseal" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'll be visiting NZ for four months next Summer. I intend to stay in
backpackers hostels and campgrounds. I've pretty much put my itinerary
together but it's still open for changes and I was wondering if you could
point me to good campsites and backpack hostels all over the country. Is
free camping allowed? And i'm a firm believer of leave no trash and
disturb
as little as possible. Are there places I shouldn't miss at all? Do I need
to buy a folding table and folding chair when arriving in NZ or is seating
provided at the campsites. DOC campsites have tables. Is it necessary to
book in advance as I plan on looking for a campsite no later than 3pm.
Any
rentalcar company you'd recommend?

all help and info much appreciated and a big thanks in advance

grayseal

"Scotty" wrote in message
...
..

Fuel is expensive in NZ, $1.20 per litre ($5.40)


Come to England/UK where it is a 80p per Litre which is about NZ $2.10.


Now that is expensive.

Glad its only 82c litre in Brisbane!

(Depending on what day your buying that is.)




"Road_Hog®" wrote in message
...

"Scotty" wrote in message
...
.

Fuel is expensive in NZ, $1.20 per litre ($5.40)


Come to England/UK where it is a 80p per Litre which is about NZ $2.10.


Now that is expensive.

In article , Scotty
says...
Glad its only 82c litre in Brisbane!

Yeah, but the savings are eaten up by the cost of the airfare and the
security guys get antsy.

82c - It's 89.9c where I live (Aspley)!! Where are you?? Could save me
big bucks!!




"Scotty" wrote in message
...
Glad its only 82c litre in Brisbane!

(Depending on what day your buying that is.)




"Road_Hog®" wrote in message
...

"Scotty" wrote in message
...
.

Fuel is expensive in NZ, $1.20 per litre ($5.40)


Come to England/UK where it is a 80p per Litre which is about NZ $2.10.


Now that is expensive.

Hi Scotty,

How long have you got to read up on all the great places in NZ? Four
months
will let you see almost all of the country if you plan well.

I've been pretty busy last year checking up on what's available on the net
:-) but I prefer to hear from people who've already been there instead of
the official tourist pages though they're great to start with.
My route starts and ends in Auckland. It goes as follows; Rotorua, Taupo,
Masterton, Wellington, Picton, Kaikoura, Westport, Christchurch, MtCook,
Oamaru, Dunedin, Southern Scenic Route, Invercargill, Te Anau, Queenstown,
Haast, Fox and Franz Jozef Glaciers, Reefton, Motueka, Collingwood, Nelson,
Havelock, Wanganui, Te Kuiti, Leigh, Whangarei, Pahia, Cape Reinga, Kaitaia,
Kauri Forests, Coromandel Peninsula, Eastland, Napier, Turangi, New
Plymouth, Hamilton.

Rental cars are available but for four months I seriously would look at
buying a small car for $2000 or so and leaving it at the airport if ya
cant
sell it in time. Plenty of cars available in the paper and for $2k you
could geta reasonable Jappa.

Yeah but can I trust that everything is in order. As I don't know ditto I
won't know if I'm being sold a solid one or one that'll fall apart whenever
I'd so much look at it. :-)

Fuel is expensive in NZ, $1.20 per litre ($5.40
GallonNZD) at the moment I think.

That's cheap compared to where I live. :-)

(Allthough better idea to sell for stuff
all to the another backpacker) Rental cars are fairly expensive and I
would
recommend trying somewhere like National rentals rather than the big
companies such as Hertz, while the bigger company cars are much newer and
nicer to drive, for two months would end up very costly. $75 day for four
months is $9,000 with nothing to show for it.

I don't intend to pay $ 75/day, I'm not going to rent from a big
international company. I'd have to pay till I'm blue in the face. :-)

At least if you buy a car from
a car yard you could hit up a deal where they guarentee it mechanically
for
your trip and then theres a minimum buy back at the same yard on your
return. Even if you loose $1000 on the deal yourve got yourself a very
cheap
mode of transport for four months.

That was something I had in mind too but I was hesitating as I didn't come
across a reference for a good one? Do you happen to know of a reliable one?

Thanks for the info
grayseal

This weeks fuel priceing at Garden City Shell:
(All pre voucher prices)

Monday and Tuesday till Wed morn = 84.9c
Wednesday to Thursay mid day ish was = 84.5
Thurs lunch to Friday 4pm = 89.4
Friday till Mon morning was 89.4

Dont quote me but thats just from memory.
Try motormouth for true details but yes Theres a Shell (Coles) and a Wollies
outlet 200m apart from each other on Kessles Road and a nice little price
war going there. The shell used to be the dearest around till Woolies
started up there. The BPs local are around 3-8 c a litre dearer almost all
the time.
use ya Coles voucher and get 4more cents a litre off. Two weeks ago the
price was (pre voucher) 82.4 so filled all cars up and two 20 litre jerry
cans with the coles voucher. Took three weeks to use it all up. :-)



"A Mate" wrote in message
...
82c - It's 89.9c where I live (Aspley)!! Where are you?? Could save me
big bucks!!




"Scotty" wrote in message
...
Glad its only 82c litre in Brisbane!

(Depending on what day your buying that is.)




"Road_Hog®" wrote in message
...

"Scotty" wrote in message
...
.

Fuel is expensive in NZ, $1.20 per litre ($5.40)


Come to England/UK where it is a 80p per Litre which is about NZ $2.10.


Now that is expensive.

Can only recommend one in Hamilton which you would have to get down to from
Auckland.

Buying from a yard you would have to strick a deal with a written buyback
price. Most yards would have a nationwide warrenty so you can take it
anywhere to be fixed if it does give ya greif. Just make sure that you can
do that if you do buy from a yard.

By the way, why arnt you travelling North of Auckland? Some real good senery
up there and nicer weather.



"grayseal" wrote in message
...
Hi Scotty,

How long have you got to read up on all the great places in NZ? Four
months
will let you see almost all of the country if you plan well.

I've been pretty busy last year checking up on what's available on the net
:-) but I prefer to hear from people who've already been there instead of
the official tourist pages though they're great to start with.
My route starts and ends in Auckland. It goes as follows; Rotorua, Taupo,
Masterton, Wellington, Picton, Kaikoura, Westport, Christchurch, MtCook,
Oamaru, Dunedin, Southern Scenic Route, Invercargill, Te Anau, Queenstown,
Haast, Fox and Franz Jozef Glaciers, Reefton, Motueka, Collingwood,
Nelson,
Havelock, Wanganui, Te Kuiti, Leigh, Whangarei, Pahia, Cape Reinga,
Kaitaia,
Kauri Forests, Coromandel Peninsula, Eastland, Napier, Turangi, New
Plymouth, Hamilton.

Rental cars are available but for four months I seriously would look at
buying a small car for $2000 or so and leaving it at the airport if ya
cant
sell it in time. Plenty of cars available in the paper and for $2k you
could geta reasonable Jappa.

Yeah but can I trust that everything is in order. As I don't know ditto I
won't know if I'm being sold a solid one or one that'll fall apart
whenever
I'd so much look at it. :-)

Fuel is expensive in NZ, $1.20 per litre ($5.40
GallonNZD) at the moment I think.

That's cheap compared to where I live. :-)

(Allthough better idea to sell for stuff
all to the another backpacker) Rental cars are fairly expensive and I
would
recommend trying somewhere like National rentals rather than the big
companies such as Hertz, while the bigger company cars are much newer and
nicer to drive, for two months would end up very costly. $75 day for four
months is $9,000 with nothing to show for it.

I don't intend to pay $ 75/day, I'm not going to rent from a big
international company. I'd have to pay till I'm blue in the face. :-)

At least if you buy a car from
a car yard you could hit up a deal where they guarentee it mechanically
for
your trip and then theres a minimum buy back at the same yard on your
return. Even if you loose $1000 on the deal yourve got yourself a very
cheap
mode of transport for four months.

That was something I had in mind too but I was hesitating as I didn't come
across a reference for a good one? Do you happen to know of a reliable
one?

Thanks for the info
grayseal

Originally Posted by grayseal

Hi,

I'll be visiting NZ for four months next Summer. I intend to stay in
backpackers hostels and campgrounds. I've pretty much put my itinerary
together but it's still open for changes and I was wondering if you could
point me to good campsites and backpack hostels all over the country. Is
free camping allowed? And i'm a firm believer of leave no trash and disturb
as little as possible. Are there places I shouldn't miss at all? Do I need
to buy a folding table and folding chair when arriving in NZ or is seating
provided at the campsites. DOC campsites have tables. Is it necessary to
book in advance as I plan on looking for a campsite no later than 3pm. Any
rentalcar company you'd recommend?

all help and info much appreciated and a big thanks in advance

grayseal

Ahipara Motor Camp just five minutes from Kaitaia has a great very comfortable backpackers, a few minutes from the beach. Hokianga Farmstay also have a backpacker option at $45pp incl dinner and breakfast.
If you are going near Akaroa Le Bons Bay backpackers is a lovely retreat.
Try Rent a dent car hire for a good deal