Tips, tricks & a short conclusion of New Zealand

CamperMate: If you plan to travel through New Zealand, I definitely recommend to download the CamperMate app before incl. all cards to use this app in offline mode. This helps you to find good campsites, toilets, showers, attractions, free fresh water and much more. You can also read through reviews about everything. This app lives from all users. So if you find some new campsites or attractions which are not mentioned, just add them for others.

Countdown: traveling through New Zealand, you will use some gas, of course. To save money, do your grocery shopping at Countdown, and ask for the One Card. Show this one every time you shop there and save money while refuel at bp or caltex. This can be up to 0,15 $ per liter. As soon as you got the card, you have to register. That’s the only bad thing about it.

Mobile card: another way to save is to get a fuel card at mobile gas stations. On our first refuel there we got 0.06. $/Liter off. Just ask for it while you pay.

New Zealand card from New World: save money for refuel with the card from New World. Just ask at the counter. There are several deals within the shop and if you ask for the bill, you can always save on refuel at different gas stations.

Save while shopping groceries: At Countdown you can get 3 different varieties of meet for the grill for just 20$. If you buy them as singles, you pay almost 30$. In a lot of the cheaper supermarkets like packandsave, Countdown or New World, there are often offers like 5 for 4. Just have a look around to save some more. These promotions are often available for fruits, vegetables or bread. Within the supermarkets prices can differ and sometimes things are cheaper at one store and the other way around. So I definitely recommend to compare prices a bit.

Bookme: it’s an app, where you can choose in which area you stay at the moment and then it shows you several different offers. Sometimes it’s a bit of a pain in the ass, because if you just looked at one promotion and then want to see another you have to scroll down again from the very top. But sometimes they have real good offers. So just download it before you get to New Zealand.

Internet: best Signal you can get is with spark. So if you need data, try to get one at the beginning of your trip. You even have one GB for free every day at their WiFi-spots.

Stand up early: if you want to visit famous sights, I definitely recommend to stand up early. I know you have holiday but that’s the only way to avoid big crowds and huge groups.

Ferry: if you need a ferry from north to south or the other way around, book your travel a few weeks before to get a space. You also have to know, which size your car will have by then. We took the interislander ferry. Everything was clean, they are well organized. We left and arrived on time and although there were a lot of people on the ferry this day, everything went very smooth.

Laundry: if you didn’t take enough clothes for your whole trip, that’s no problem at all. There are several self laundry services around and you also can choose to wash your stuff at the campsites. But that’s always connected with a pretty pricy site. So if you don’t want to spend that much money I recommend the laundry chain Liquid Self Service Laundromat. You need a little blue key with a chip on it, which you always get at a little shop near by and just add money to the key. A small washer cost 4$ and a small drier 4$ as well. But they have enough capacity.

Know what you definitely want to see: have a look what New Zealand had to offer and what must be on your bucket list before you arrive. It saves you a lot of time. And you still can change it anyway. But a rough plan should be in your mind. If you need a hint, just write us and we will share our route with you.

Conclusion: although we had just 3 weeks in this beautiful country, we were really amazed. Such beautiful landscape. Avoid the big cities, you won’t regret it! They don’t really have much to offer compared to the nature there. We made some tours, which were definitely worth the prices we paid. I really recommend Zealandia. That’s a great project. A camper is the best way to discover New Zealand. Don’t make the decision by renting a normal car and stay in hotels. It’s worth to discover a campers live. It was our first time with a camper, but we would do it again. If you want to dive there, Milford Sound and the Poor Knights are amazing. You can’t compare them with each other because the nature under the surface is totally different.

So now it’s up to you! Get yourself a flight ticket, a camper and hurry up to discover this unique and beautiful place!

We left this country with a crying and a laughing eye. We don’t really wanted to leave but we were also very excited what waited for us in Fiji. I think that’s just the best picture to describe our mood back then 😉

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