New Zealand is a fantastic motorhome holiday destination with lots to see and do on your travels while enjoying the freedom to pick your own path. A little planning and these tips and tricks will help you get more from your holiday.

Before you come – having a bit of an idea about New Zealand before you arrive along with what you would like to see and do will help pull together an itinerary. Even if it’s sketchy, a rough plan will maximise your precious holiday time. There are plenty of on-line resources, which your favourite search engine will lead you to. Another way if you would like to stop over and meet the locals is to get the Native Parks guidebook so you can make up an itinerary from the people and places that catch your interest. While in New Zealand the local people are a great source for information about the surrounding area and swapping stories with other travellers will give you ideas too.

Getting on the road – your camper or motorhome should have ample space to store your personal items but they are not suitcase friendly. Bring bags that will fold down or if you will return the vehicle to the pick-up point ask ahead and see whether your rental company will store empty luggage.

Getting around – a good road atlas helps and some will have camper friendly info and points of interest (try Hema New Zealand Touring Atlas). Not all rental companies provide detailed road maps so it’s worth checking and if you can get one before landing in NZ it will assist with your trip planning. The open road speed limit is 100 km/hr, though don’t expect to cover much more than 75km/hr and if you are stopping for photos and such 50km/hr would be more realistic. Even with a good road atlas it is possible to get lost in large towns and cities, the best option here is to take your time and head in the direction that you want to exit from. A compass is a huge help, especially if you are from the Northern hemisphere, as the suns position in the sky is opposite and can be quite disorientating.

Parking up – at night you want your motorhome to be level, what may appear to be flat during the day will be extenuated at night while you’re in bed, especially if you are a bit head down. If you’re not sure an easy check is to put a ball on the floor of your camper and see which way it rolls. The perfect thing is a glass marble and if your campervan is carpeted, as many are, put a book on the floor. If you like some shade in the morning you need to consider this when parking up, your compass will help here too. During peak times camping grounds are busy and a set of ear plug may restore your sanity.

Logistics – a camper is your home away from home, but instead of being connected to essential services you carry these with you. A self-contained motorhome has a fresh water tank, grey water (from sinks and shower) and black water (toilet). Grey water and the toilet cassette can only be emptied at a dump station, of which there is an extensive network throughout New Zealand and your rental company will give you a brochure covering where to find these. The toilet cassette contains chemical to kill bugs and keep everything smelling fresh, nevertheless treat the dump station surrounding area with suspicion and wear deposable latex gloves. It is usual for a tap to be situated near the dump station so the cassette can be rinsed after being emptied. NEVER use this tap to refill your freshwater tank. All this being said, with care the dump station process is clean and hygienic. Fresh water is easy to come by if you’re staying at established campgrounds, but many travellers prefer a less formal approach and finding water requires a bit more ingenuity. One potential source is from petrol stations, you’re bringing them business so ask and they will usually say yes. The same goes for rubbish deposal, using public rubbish bins for household rubbish is not appreciated but its fine to use the ones at petrol stations. The key is to dispose of your rubbish frequently so that the quantity stays small. For a couple expect your fresh, grey and black water to last three to five days between servicing. If you are travelling for an extended period it can be a good idea to completely empty the fresh water tank periodically when refilling. Lights, water pump and refrigerator all run off the household battery, which needs to be conserved when not hooked up to mains power. The easiest place to save power is to turn the fridge temperature down, especially when you stop at the end of the day. It’s usual for fridges in rental campers to be 2-way (mains power and battery), 3-way fridges can only run on gas when the vehicle is stationary.

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