New Zealand in a camper
August 4, 2009
Renting a camper in France, Spain or the Netherlands makes even vacations abroad affordable, and travel by camper van will make the experience even more up-close and personal. This is especially true for New Zealand where on the Pacific nation’s South Island, every day is an adventure.
No taller or longer than an ordinary van, a VW camper is more fuel-efficient than an RV and far easier to park. And for the price of wheels, you get a bed and meals. Its pop-up top allows room to stand, revealing a loft-like sleeping area. Campers come with a propane-powered stove, a sink with a water tank and a refrigerator with Barbie-sized ice trays.
Friends who favor nice hotels might think you are eccentric, but finding a campground with toilets and showers is rarely a problem. And a cabin on wheels gives you a freedom to roam without thinking about hotel bookings, restaurant hours or timetables.
Imagine the most beautiful places you’ve ever seen — Grand Teton, Big Sur, Alaska’s Inside Passage, then cram them all into a skinny strip of land, and that’s New Zealand.
It’s easy to overestimate how much you can see and do in New Zealand. The two main islands are deceptively narrow; you are rarely more than a few hours from either the Tasman Sea or the Pacific Ocean or both. But top to bottom, the North and South islands stretch almost 1,100 miles. And the South Island is 65% mountainous, meaning twisting two-lane roads that narrow to one-lane bridges, even on the main highways.
More about camping in NZ at the Los Angeles Times: http://travel.latimes.com/
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