Van Pickup and Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park

This was it. The big day where we’d pick up our camper van and begin our 11-day road trip around the North Island of New Zealand.

This was not our first time traveling abroad via camper van. We had traveled around the Alps (Germany, Austria, Northern Italy, and Switzerland), Spain, Iceland’s Ring Road, and the South Island of New Zealand.

However, most of those trips had been in a 6-meter van. This time the only van we could get was a 7.4-meter one that slept 4 people - much more space than we needed. That extra 5-feet was definitely going to make parking and driving a lot more stressful on the narrow, steep, windy roads of New Zealand. Plus, we had to get used to driving on the left side of the road.

It was pretty spacious though and had a king-size bed and a separate toilet and shower. Still we would have gladly taken a smaller one.

One might think a camper is an inexpensive way to travel, but it’s really not. Our van cost $3,661 dollars for 11 days, which is $332 per day. Then there is the campground fees, which probably averaged about $30 per day. You can get a pretty nice Airbnb in New Zealand for that price.

Still, we like that mode of travel. We don’t have to pack and unpack every time we move to a new location, and we always have a refrigerator full of cold beer and wine. Also, the campgrounds in New Zealand are usually in very scenic locations.

The first destination of every campervan trip is a grocery store to stock up for a few days. Sometimes grocery stores in different countries are a bit challenging, but the Woolworth’s near the rental place felt pretty much like a U.S. grocery store.

After spending about $500 NZ on groceries, we set out towards our first planned stop in Rotorua, about 3 hours away (140 miles).

Rotorua is often called the “Sulphur City” due to its geothermal activity, but it’s equally famous for being the heart of Māori culture and a major hub for adventure.

However, it was already late in the day and we had other plans for less commercialized activities on our itinerary, so we just spent the night at the Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park before moving on towards Taupo..