Road Trips - Everything You Need To Know

Choosing your motorhome for meandering around New Zealand isn’t the easiest thing to do. Do you go for one of the larger names in the industry like Britz or Maui, which are a tad more expensive but offer you peace of mind? Or the affordable alternatives like Jucy or Spaceships and skimp on space and luxury? We went for middle ground, choosing one of the luxury options fit for a moderate budget, with Wilderness NZ. In this review we’ll tell you exactly why, and whether we think the choice was the right one.

The Spaceships Rocket, you will see this campervan driving around in New Zealand everywhere as this is one of the most popular brands in the country. Of course, they are, because they are one of the cheapest. According to their website, they have won a few awards, but we wouldn’t put much weight into that. Personally, we based our choice on a mix between positive reviews and price. Their main competitor in New Zealand is probably Jucy, but their reviews are nowhere near as good. There are many other companies as well for you to consider, and we hope this little review will help you somewhat in taking a decision. 

Spaceships New Zealand is one of the most popular companies for campervan hire. New Zealand is also one of the best countries in the world to road trip and campervans are one of the best options for a budget journey around this incredible country. The Spaceships Beta is a perfect size for a couple, but a family with one small child will fit easily too and that’s what we did.

We knew we wanted to campervan around New Zealand. We therefore had to figure out which rental company to use for our family of 4 to explore the North Island and South Island for 32 days. The interesting part was that we knew absolutely nothing about campervans or travelling this way across a country, likewise campervan hire in NZ. We didn’t know the terminology with campervans and of course being Canadian we would have to drive on the opposite side of the road! So after many YouTube videos, reading reviews, and asking many other travellers we decided on going with a Maui Campervan, New Zealand.

We spent five incredible weeks travelling New Zealand in a rented self-contained Volkswagen Transporter from Kiwi Campers and Happy Campers NZ. It was an unforgettable experience and we often joke that New Zealand has ruined the rest of the world for us. We were really happy with the VW Transporter although we had some issues with Happy Campers Auckland which we’ll discuss below.

The perfect way to get around and see the island of the long white cloud’s best attractions is by motorhome or campervan hire. New Zealand is an incredible country to road trip when renting a motorhome or campervan. You will have the freedom and flexibility to see spectacular sights you might not otherwise see if you travelled by bus or train. But before you head off to live life on the road, you need to know the basics about hiring a campervan or motorhome in New Zealand. Don’t worry, we have you covered as road tripping is one of our favourite luxury travel hacks!