RVing in New Zealand II

Hi there meandering mind followers and welcome back to my thoughts about RVing in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

We arrived at the RV rental (caravan in NZ lingo) just after opening and the first thing that we needed to do was was do a little studying. You see the road signs in NZ are not the same as they are here in the States. Here's an example, where normally we would see a "YEILD" sign, in NZ the sign is "GIVE WAY". The speed limit signs are all in KPH not MPH, and the bridges are still a bit of a mystery to me. Then you need to decide who is going to drive or if there will be multiple drivers and at that point you need to provide insurance proof (take care of the insurance before you arrive, we did and it was really helpful). Of course before you even leave for NZ, you need to reserve your caravan ahead of time. This is a popular mode of transportation for tourists and Kiwi's so caravan reservations are a must. After getting the rundown of the caravan, performing the inspectin with the rental company, and making certain that everything you wanted in the caravan is there it is finally time to hit the highway.

Now up until now everything has gone pretty well, although it did take some time. The real trick here is now you are on the city streets of Auckland (pop. 1 million plus) and you are driving on the left side of the street, sitting on the right side of the caravan, and shifting gears with your left hand. It sounded easy enough, but until you hit the street, you just don't quite understand what it is like. It's SCARY!!! But, you learn really, really fast. So, off you go and once you get used to it, it is not so bad.

The really great thing for me was to be able to stop anywhere I wanted and stay as long as I needed and not feel pressured to make a deadline. The views were incredible and it was so great to be able to pull over and take a picture or just soak it all in. So many things we would have missed if we had been in a tour bus or if we had chosen to stay in one or two locations. Even driving a car limits your flexibility, because you need to get to the next motel location. With the caravan, it may be best to make holiday park reservations, but if you don't make it there, you have a bed and food and bathroom right there with you. You can just pull over to take a nap at any time too, and actually take a comfortable nap. Another great part of renting a caravan is that you don't have to move luggage twice every day. You just load up the RV and you're done.
And don't forget about meals. Now we didn't eat in the caravan all the time, but it was so handy to fix a sandwich for lunch or eat breakfast without having to go for a meal out.

We had a great experience and would do it again as well as recommend it to others.