New Zealand: The Road Trip of a Lifetime

Hello Wonderful People!

 

 

The final stop on my 2013 backpacking tour was the stunning New Zealand. I can't strictly say I backpacked around this country, like I did the others, as myself and 3 other friends hired a campervan and went on one epic month long road trip. We could have opted for the Kiwi-Experience, a popular hop-on-hop-off coach tour for backpackers, but we went for the campervan as it gave us so much more freedom and was pretty cheap.  We hired a 4 berth Britz campervan (check out our bad-boy here) and headed out on the open road from Auckland with only a trust sat-nav to guide us.

 

Having a campervan was amazing as it gave us so much freedom. We could stop whenever we wanted to take in the majestic scenery and if we really loved a particular place, we had the ability to stay for as long as we wanted. We pretty much stopped a couple of times an hour to take pictures of the amazing scenery around us; New Zealand really is a stunningly beautiful country. There were quite a few times when we just pulled up on the side of the road to camp for the night, which gave me the most amazing feeling of freedom. Waking up to the view of snow capped mountains, or a view of the open ocean really is an amazing experience; something you can't get with a hostel.

 

 

 

Sadly, freedom camping (as it's called in NZ) has its downsides. No showers, hot water or electricity can be a slight pain in the bum, but as it's usually only for a day or so it isn't unbearable. Checking out where you can or can't freedom camp is also a must if you're planning a road trip. If you're caught camping in a none freedom zone, then you can expect a hefty fine. You're best checking into a local campsite, pretty much every town or village has one and you'll get to use the facilities (yay showers) and plug in so you're van has electricity.

 

Prepare to get to know your fellow campers very well, as you will literally be living, eating and sleeping together 24/7. It's a pretty teeny-tiny space inside the van, so can get super cramped when cooking or getting changed. Plus, there is absolutely no privacy, so make sure you're good friends with your van-mates as they will definitely been seeing you in your nick-knacks. But hey ho, that's all part of the fun of life on the road. As long as you have some cracking road trip tunes, a few DVDs (we watched LOTR, 300 & Bruce Almighty around 6523 times), a pen and paper, a deck of cards and some beers you'll be reet. You'll also be stuck in the van on a few rainy nights, with nowhere to go, so campervan games become an essential part of your day. We invented several games, my favourite consisted of trying to knock other peoples beer caps off the table with your own beer cap. Cutting edge, I know, but it got extremely competitive and I won' hear a word against this amazing game.

 

Hiring a campervan and hitting the road is by far the best way to experience New Zealand. Not only did I learn to drive a fat ass van up a mountain in the snow (Hollahhh - life skillz) I also got to see the most amazing scenery and have the freedom to go wherever in this amazing country. I also didn't have to pack and repack my backpack every other day, which was an absolute luxury compared to the past 3 months. Yay for campervans!

 

 

 

S'laters people!