Advantages of travelling by car or campervan in New Zealand:
1: Flexibility. You can go where you want to go, not
where a structured operator takes you.
2: You can stop when you want to to follow something or
somewhere (or someone??) that interests you. Good for taking photographs, for
instance.
3: A lot of the natural appeal of this country is best
found on minor roads. Main-line bus operators just don't go there, and even if
they do they don't stop at the good bits.
4: Gives you access to cheaper accommodation options.
Sometimes the best accom deal is slightly off the beaten track.
Disadvantages of travelling by car in New Zealand:
1: Cost, if there is only one person travelling. See
"Costs" later.
2: Driving on the "wrong" side of the road if you come
from a right-side-of-the-road country.
3: Local information. On a tour operation the driver
will have local knowledge and give you a running commentary. They'll also help
with accommodation and activities.
Renting v. buying.
If you are travelling in New Zealand for less than a month renting is
definitely the cheapest option. For less than two months renting is possibly your best option. For two months or more buying a car comes into the frame as a value option.
Some of the considerations are the cost of ferry crossing (see below),
one-way travel, and your preferences in age and condition of the car.
For more
information on buying a car in New Zealand click here.
Cost of driving in New Zealand
Rental Cars can start as cheaply as $15 a day -
but there are "special conditions" - Auckland to Auckland only,
minimum 40 days hire, older car, winter time only. Don't believe every headline
you see in rental car company ads. Mostly, they lie. Generally you'll pay around $30-35 a
day for a good car for a month or so, though sometimes I can still score cheap n
cheerful older models as low as $19 a day
Late model; cars, again small hatchbacks, would start at $40-45 a day
on a month basis.
There are three tiers of rental car operator in New Zealand:
- International franchises (Hertz, Avis, Budget,
Europcar, Thrifty, National etc). They usually operate late
model car, generally less than three years old.
- Large national operators who have cars ranging
from five to 12 years old and operate in several New Zealand
locations - Auckland, Wellington, Picton, Christchurch as a minimum.
- Smaller local operators who are only located in
one or sometimes two locations. Usually operate older Japanese
imports ranging from five to 12 years old.
If you want competitive quotes on rental car hire go to
http://new-zealand-rental-cars.com/New-Zealand-rental-cars.htm
Fuel. I always work on 10 litres per 100 km (because it's easy
to calculate). Later model cars, however, might do slightly better, large cars
and vans somewhat worse. A tour of a month will run up 4000-6000km
which, on current fuel prices will cost about $800-$1200. On a two month trip
you'll run up 6000-8000km. After that add about 50km a day. Shorter hires - less
than a month - usually average around 250km a day.
Petrol prices vary
from time to time. A great site to keep a watch on current fuel prices is
PriceWatch.
Diesel fuel is cheaper than petrol in New Zealand. That is because there is no road tax charged on it at the
pump. Instead you have to pay a tax, currently 5.5c per km, for every km run.
Even with the tax added, diesel is slightly cheaper than petrol . If , for
instance, you average around 200km a day you'll pay an extra $11 for road tax. Over two months
or more that will drop to around $6 a day.
Some car and campervan rental companies include the cost of RUCs
(Road user Charges) in their daily prices. Some don't.
Ferry crossings. New Zealand is cloven in two
by Cook Strait. That poses a problem for motorists. There are two types of rental firms when it
comes to dealing with this problem - those that have depots on each side of Cook
Strait which divides the two islands, and those that do not.
The first group -
which includes all the major operators - has the advantage that you leave one
car on one side of the strait and collect another on the other side, thus
avoiding the cost of transporting the vehicle by ferry. On the other hand they
tend to be the more expensive operations - those depots have to be paid for
somehow. The ferry cost ranges from $169 to $249 for
car and driver.
There are
two ferry operators:
The Interislander is the
long-established operation - they are a part of Tranz
Rail, the country's only rail operator, now owned (for the second time)
by the New Zealand Government. And there's
Strait
Shipping 's Bluebridge
service, which started out as a freight line but now
operates ships which carry cars and passengers.
For more details on crossing Cook Strait go to
http://new-zealand-travel-guide.com/cook-strait.htm.
Road rules.
The most important rule is "Keep Left".
In New Zealand the left side is the right side and the right side is the wrong
side. By and large the passenger should have the green grass outside the side
window and the driver should have the white dashes in the middle of the road.
If it's the other way round, something is wrong.
The second and third days are often the most dangerous
days for drivers from right-side-of-the-road countries. On the first day
you are conscious of the problem. By the second or third day you figure
you have it sorted . . . and you switch your brain off. What will help is
for the navigator to also take responsibility for keeping to the correct side of
the road.
In many places now they have large white arrows
painted on the road to remind you of the correct driving side.
Speed limits are 50kph in towns and cities,
100kph on the open road. As a general rule, though it is not an absolute, the
police will allow you 10kph over the posted limit as a warning zone. The
exception is in 40kph school zones (which are clearly signposted). There
's now allowance in those locations.
SPEEDING OFFENCES: If you are speeding you
have a very high chance of being caught. Every cop car has radar in it and
there are plainclothes radar cars everywhere. They are allowed to hide
them, and they do.
Licenses
A frequently asked question is "Do I need and International Driving
Permit". The short answer is no, provided your license is in
English. Your home country license is valid here under an international
agreement that allow countries to recognise each others driving
licenses. You are entitled to drive on New Zealand road for up to
12 months before having to get a New Zealand driving license. However,
if your license is not in English you may need an IDP or an English
translation. For the official line go the the
New Zealand Transport Agency website.
One way travel.
There is something of a
problem in NZ with an imbalance in travel directions.
Most travellers arrive at Auckland and with a
knee-jerk reaction want to hire a car, do their tourist number, then depart
through Christchurch to save going over the same ground twice. Result: Cars
pile up in Wellington and Christchurch and often have to be transported back the
other way at high cost.
Most companies which operate nationally will from
time to time, depending on the positioning of their cars, offer special deals
for south-north drives. It is more common to get such deals on a stand-by basis,
rather than by pre-booking. But even with a pre-booked vehicle there can be
incentives for starting in Christchurch. For instance
I recently got rental quotes for a client wanting a 21 day trip in
January. It was $30 a day Auckland - Christchurch, but only $19 a day the
other way around.
But a couple of other considerations:
1: The "In one city/out the other" mentality. Unless your time is particularly
short (under three weeks) you'll miss much, or spend a lot of time back-tracking
on this one-way approach. Go down the centre of the North Island, loop around the South
Island and come back up either the east or west coast of the North Island. Vary this
to follow special interests.
2: A lot of travellers find the convenience of drive-on, drive-off ferries
outweighs the cost. No unpacking /packing and shifting all the mountains of
possessions.
All of which means if you are trying to
sort out car rental in New Zealand you may need a cup of tea and
a lie down long before you've figured it all out.
If you want someone to figure it all out for you contact
me at
http://new-zealand-rental-cars.com/New-Zealand-rental-cars.htm. I do not
rent cars but after 27 years in the business I can help you navigate your
way through all the permutations and combinations.
I don't work like those automated sites that purport to
find you the cheapest deal (yeah, right!!). Remember, a computer is just a very
fast idiot. Do you want your rental car selection made by an idiot, no
matter how fast? I actually sit back and think about your options, get quotes
then give you the options. You choose.
Rental
Motorcycles
If you
like the idea of the wind in your face and the romance of
motorcycle touring there are a couple of operators that
can help:
Ardmore Auto Rentals, ex Auckland.
City Motorcycle
Rentals, 32 Allen St, Christchurch.
New Zealand
Motorcycle Rentals in Auckland.
GoTourNZ.com
operating from Nelson but with service also available in Auckland and
Christchurch.
