New Zealand - Final Post

Sadly, this is the last New Zealand post. The last nine days have been everything we could have asked for. This country is incredible. If it wasn't so far from the rest of the world, we would come back every year. Seriously.

Now, for a fun summary post.

The little blue circles show where we spent the nights of the last nine days. Every night except for 2, 5, and 9 were in the campervan. These three nights were in hostels / backpacker accomodations.

Statistics... some true, some fabricated, just as they should be

• Kilometers driven = 1,868
• Sheep spotted = 4,326,000
• Number of breakfasts of muesli = 8
•  Most popular campervan / motorhome companies spotted:
• #1 Jucy
• #2 Britz
• #3 Apollo
• #4 Maui
• #99 RoadRunner Rental (just us)
• Number of times we said "OMG, that's epic!"  = > 3x a day
• Money figures in case you were curious on bugetting a similar trip (note that the campervan prices fluctuate a lot on season, winter being much cheaper):
• Campervan rental = 430 NZD
• Campervan rental insurance = 150 NZD
• Campervan petrol (averaged 18 MPG) = 510 NZD
• Food (cooking breakfast and lunch, eating out dinner) = 360 NZD
• Accomodations (powered campervan sites + hostel) = 430 NZD
• Activities (just the one cruise) = 158 NZD

• Average Cost Per Person Per Day = ~115 NZD

Last New Zealand words of advice

• Car vs. Campervan
• I'd suggest campervan the first time just for the experience. It's really fun and adds flexibility to your trip. Especially in the summer time, it would be even more fun and comfortable. Price wise, I think they even out. Campervans are more expensive than rental cars but then you save on accomodation costs. Cars are obiviously cheaper on the rental price, insurance, and petrol but you end up paying for rooms everywhere. 
• One thing to consider is that backpacker / hostel accomodations are really cheap. Only 10-20 NZD more than a powered campervan site. So if you're okay with sleeping in bunk beds with five other people in the room, cars + hostels may work out best for you. Either way you get communal showers, rest rooms, kitchen, and lounge areas.
• Shopping carts are called trumblers. Doubt that will ever help anyone but we found the sign hillarious so there's that.
• Respect the green. Don't be the guy who buys extra paper towels when the rest of the country is trying to compost every little scrap.

Highlight reel - mainly because we can't live without pictures

Day 1 - Campervan adventure began

Day 2 - Hokitika Gorge

Day 3 - Drive from Franz Joseph to Wanaka

Day 4 - Drive from Wanaka to Queenstown

Day 5 - Drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound

Day 6 - Milford Sound Cruise

Day 7 - Hooker Valley Track hike

Day 8 - Timaru walk around town

Goodbye New Zealand. Hopefully we'll be back soon.

Thanks for reading our blog so far! Next up, some South East Asia fun. Hopefully we can keep the updates coming timeley :)