Auckland,NZ

It was I that asked the original question, now I can answer it myself. I am leaving New Zealand in the morning after having spent the last 15 nights in a motor home driving through both the north & South Island. I have owned motor homes for 30 years, this was the most incredible experience I have ever had.
The secenery was unbelievable, the RV parks first rate & they actually encourage what they call freedom camping, boon docking in the US
We rented from Wilderness New Zealand they worked with us closely and took care of everything but the food
Thanks for all the suggestions
Ps driving on the other side of the road is really no big deal do not let that stop you
Dennis

And watch out for those left-handed roundabouts...... haha :E

No worries, mate! I’ve rented a motorhme twice in Australia and also driven in NZ. No problem for any competent driver. Only suggestion would be if you have never driven a R/H drive car on the left, stay in a hotel for 3 - 7 days before your motorhome rental and rent a car. Drive around in different areas to get used to it. Then enjoy your motorhome trip.....you will not regret it.

We did that in 2015, it was great. We rented a camper van, most are diesel which is good there. It was a Mercedes camper much like the ones here but kinda stripped of luxury items. No problem though. We had it for a full 3 weeks and it cost about $4500 dollars, so not cheap. I would suggest getting one that you don't have to make the bed down every night and then put it up in the morning to have a table. (from experience)
Lots of choices, as seems like soon as you leave Auckland every other vehicle you meet on the road is a campervan rental.
Here is a link to check out rentals.... https://campers.vroomvroomvroom.com

We spent a few weeks driving a car around NZ a couple years ago. As others mentioned, the roads are pretty narrow, but the RV's are also small, so it's a challenge, but doable. Outside the major cities, it's a very rural,country lIke setting. I did not check any of the RV parks in NZ like I normally do on our travels. We've been to AU a couple times and found the RV parks to be very nice and in great locations. Many city/town operated parks. Maybe the same in NZ ? Good luck and have fun !

rgatijnet1 wrote:
It looks like driving there is a challenge. You may want to read this before you decide to tackle it in a strange RV. Driving in NZ.

Driving on the opposite side of the road I stressful, as I found driving in the US. Rentals are not too bad in New Zealand

We were going to do the same thing several years ago around Christmas time.

Discovered the airlines were pretty booked up and all the RV's had already been reserved as that is their summertime. Didn't make the trip.

So I'd suggest making reservations early.

Been 14 years but I was there with a tour group in 2004. We rented Maui Class C's, which are similar to Sprinter based Class C's in the US. Some had auto trannys, others manual. Manual is a real challenge as ours were 6 speed and if you missed 3rd and hit 5th the engine died and you had to go to park to restart! Driving on the wrong side of the road, and in roundabouts, added to the challenge of left handed shifting, but we all survived. There was also a large number of van type RV's labeled as "Wicked Campers" that had racy graphics and were mostly occupied by young folks. Campgrounds were plentiful and good. Not sure what advance reservations may be required as the tour made them. Met lots of interesting Kiwi's in the CG's, and had great sport asking them to show us the Southern Cross constellation as most could not.

Be aware that a Kiwi interstate highway is only two lanes, and most bridges are one way. One day we encountered 57 one lane bridges on the drive. The longer ones have pullouts at one or more points.

It was a memorable, and fun trip. Our Fall is their Spring. All the baby lambs on the green pastures are real eye candy.

We will be there in February and March and were planning to rent a motor home, but found the offered units small, costs large.
And yes, we've driven in Australia and in Ireland; narrow roads and driving on the left are stressful.
So we're going with a rental car and staying in VRBO's.

Thanks,
Yep I have seen this