[afrosheama]

Hey all,

I'm a Canadian travelling through NZ this spring with three girlfriends of mine. We plan on arriving in Christchurch and renting an RV to travel the two islands over the course of six weeks. The four of us have little international travel experience, so we are looking for any insights that our more experienced backpackers may have! Things such as climate, laws, costs, places to see, places to avoid, ferry, comments on RV-ing, camping, etc. anything and everything that you have to offer would be great!

Thank you in advance!

[sneakypeters]

My boyfriend and I travelled NZ for 4 months are we brougth a camper van (very spacious) and sold it afterwards. We amde a profit on it. We had a fantastic time, definately travelling by yourself is better because you get to stop whenever you like and appreciate the fantastic scenery! There are lots of guides to buying and selling but if your hiring you should be fine but def doing it in your own is the best way to see NZ.

We stayed at a chain of holiday camps called "Top 10 Holiday Parks" and these are scattered all over NZ and 9 times out of 10 there facilities are superb! But most of all if you sign up for their membership you get 20% off the ferry price between the islands and you save loads on local tours.....i.e. 20% of glacier hikes etc.

You cana lso sleep on the side of the road in picnic areas unless it states otherwise. We had a blast and my only regret is leaving it! My own personal favourite was Akaroa Banks Peninsula - a lot of Kiwi and Stray buses miss this but it was absolutely gorgoeus! It is just 45 mins from christchurch. Mout Cook was also fantastic.