our home on wheels

Before I delve into the highs and super-highs of our recent New Zealand trip, I thought I'd take you on a tour of the campervan we hired for our adventure. Being a thorough kind of guy, Ben did loads of research, trawling motorhome websites and reading reviews by holiday makers who had travelled NZ in this mode. He settled on this model for several reasons; it's high winter rating, fuel efficiency and the fact that the vehicle was fully self contained and suitable for freedom camping. From the time we first made contact with the company we experienced nothing but excellent customer service. On arrival to the Wilderness depot in Auckland we were taken through the components and functions of the van; covering features such as how to check water and power supply, how to operate the cooking and heating appliances, and importantly, how to dispose of our black and grey water. Ah yes folks, grey water AND black water.....can you guess what the difference is??

here's a peek inside...

Ben found the campervan very easy to maneuver. It had all manner of bells and whistles for reversing safely.  Rarely did we find ourselves in a situation where we were unable to find a reasonable place to stop. Even in the larger towns and cities we found suitable parking spaces! NZ caters super well for this type of touring and as we drove around we passed many other campervans. All the roads we travelled were in great condition, uncrowded and well sign posted. Really, nothing about this holiday was difficult (except perhaps learning to put snow chains on...but that's a story for later). Ben used his mobile phone as a GPS...it worked brilliantly. We also had our iPad and could look up campsites in a jiffy using this app. The reviews were helpful and very honest.

The kids of course loved their campervan experience. For them it was one of the biggest highlights of our trip. Kids are clearly easy to please. I was concerned they would have a restricted view from the windows in the back, but they didn't. I'd also heard that sometimes passengers suffer motion sickness travelling in vans like these. This was only a problem once, when Till felt a little queasy from the windy road we were exploring. Her bout of "car-sickness" was quite uneventful (phew) and once we stopped for a break she recovered immediately.

Each night Harry and Till's double bed had to be lowered from the ceiling and set up, a process that took a minute or so. There was even a ladder which was stored under the mattress when the bed was packed away. Wilderness provided Harry and Till with sleeping bags and a doona, but they mostly slept under the doona because they were too warm. Ben and I also slept with just a doona and no extra blankets. We were never cold at night, not once!! The heating and insulation in the van was exceptional, especially considering how cold it was outside.

Storage in the campervan was also great. I'd been given the heads up from friends to pack soft bags and not hard suitcases. Once our bags were unpacked, we stored them in a large cupboard under our bed, to be ignored until the conclusion of our holiday. We had bulky items like parkas and coats but instead of storing them in the wardrobe, we had them lying on the spare lounge seat ready to pop on every time we stepped out somewhere.

The fridge was larger than I would have expected and we stored enough food for days at a time. We didn't use the stove much because we often ate dinner out or bought take-away. We could only use the toaster and microwave when we had access to electricity. The fridge and stove ran on gas. The kitchen had all the cooking equipment we required and then some (we just had better things to do besides gourmet cooking). I did buy washing up liquid, extra sponges, paper towel and all purpose cleaning spray (most of which I hardly needed and shouldn't have bothered purchasing). I also bought a packet of throw away disinfectant wipes for giving the loo a daily once-over. We had to provide toilet paper and toiletries, naturally. Bath towels, tea towels and all linen were included but we did buy a few extra cheap pillows. If only I'd asked for extras when we were at the Auckland depot, I'm sure the Wilderness staff would have obliged.

Ben and I enforced a shoes-off-at-the-door-policy the whole time we were touring. You can appreciate with all the muddy, snowy, wet, gravelly, sandy walking tracks we covered, potentially our moving home could have been quite unpleasant with dirt traipsed all through it! The kids took turns sweeping the floor with a dustpan and brush, it didn't take long and they were eager to help.

For anyone planning a trip to New Zealand, I'd say why not consider touring this spectacular country in the comfort of a motorhome! There were so many advantages for us. Never having to find a public toilet is a big plus, like-wise being able to stop and sleep when the need arises. Pack light, be patient with your kids (who will be far too excited to sleep most nights), stop often to wear your kids out, take very short showers (the water doesn't stretch far) and be prepared to bump heads and shoulders a lot! Go with the flow and I guarantee you'll have a whole lotta fun!

here are my top campervan travelling tips...

Pack rubber gloves (and a garbage bag to kneel on) in case you need to put snow chains on - it's a VERY grubby job!

 

In a NZ supermarket, I bought the smallest bottle of washing up detergent I could find. We hardly got through it. Pack your own from home in a little container!

 

I also bought laundry liquid but every caravan park laundry we used provided it!! I'd say, don't bother buying it all or pack a little bottle from home for emergencies.

 

Pack a chamois cloth for drying off the windscreen.  We couldn't get on our way each morning until we'd dried off the inside of the windscreen...all those breathing bodies creates considerable condensation.

 

Emptying the black water tank was...well...pretty yucky! A peg for your nose and disposable gloves may help to get you through the unpleasant task!! Lucky for me, Ben was in charge of this job.

 

ALWAYS check that your kids have closed the fridge door properly...or as you go around a corner, you may lose the contents of your fridge...ahem....would I be speaking from experience!?

 

If you like our shoes-off rule, either ensure your kids are highly proficient (and I mean fast) shoe-lace do-er-uppers or pack shoes with velcro!!!!!! We are training Till as I type...oh she can tie laces no problem...but have you ever watched grass grow?

Our bathroom and toilet were within the one ity-bity space....which meant the floor needed to be wiped after showering or toilet-goers ended up with wet socks. Pack a spare towel!! 

 

NB. This is NOT a sponsored blog post and ALL opinions are my own!