JoMary Smith
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North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Auckland ▷
Budget Rent a Car
We rented a mid range Toyota for 6 days to take us from Wellington to Auckland.
Budget NZ
Budget is not the cheapest but we chose them because their depots at either end were walking distance from downtown hotels which we had already booked. Staff were efficient and pleasant, and Budget does not fuss about stone chips which are unavoidable on NZ roads.
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North Island ▷ Manawatu - Wanganui ▷ Palmerston North ▷
Himatangi Beach TOP 10 Holiday Park
We had a 3 night stay in a kitchen cabin in February 2014.
Our cabin had a bedroom and kitchen and a covered deck with table and chairs where we could eat and sit out. Himatangi is a quiet resort with a vast beach, a small shop and takeaway and little else. The park is attractive and well run, shared facilities are modern and very clean. The owners are friendly and helpful: since we were visiting from the UK there had been a lot of emailing ahead of time to make arrangements which were exactly as planned.
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South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Wanaka Township ▷
Hampshire Holiday Park Wanaka
Nice tree shaded park with views of rugby club, rowing club and lake in the distance.
Good location walking distance from lake and town. The other parks in Wanaka are not well placed. Facilities a bit basic and dated. Shared kitchen was always busy and noisy owing to large number of tent campers. Very pleasant and efficient reception staff.
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South Island ▷ Central Otago ▷ Ranfurly ▷
Ranfurly Bike Hire
Friendly well organised couple run this business.
Simple to fit us with appropriate bikes and helmets, decide a route and recover us back to Ranfurly at the end of our half day ride. The trail is quite hard going in hot weather, but some parts are very scenic. Would have been a ten if we had not missed our own bikes (back in the UK) so much, we found these bikes not so comfortable.
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Christchurch ▷
Affordable Motor Home Rentals
This is a pleasant family run company which gives a personal service.
Their vans are not recent, but unlike many hire companies in NZ they tell you in advance what you are going to get and we had wanted this. We had a 20 day hire out of Christchurch in a 2 berth bed-at-the-back Ford Transit with a shower and kitchen. They give a detailed briefing of how everything works before letting you set off, and instructions about supermarkets and where to fuel up and stay. Affordable’s insurance can be supplemented down to a NZ$250 excess which we were happy with, and importantly their insurance covers hirers for all public roads including unsealed ones. This matters if you want to get into the mountains and the back country as we did. We had some problems with the van and were more than happy with the personal attention to getting things fixed.
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Akaroa ▷
Akaroa Harbour Nature Cruises
Black Cat is very professional and well run.
We had an excellent wildlife experience. The boat did not have many passengers so it was very personal. We saw lots of dolphins and the boat was stopped and engines off so that they would come really close. We also saw fur seals and lots of birds. The skipper gave us an excellent and informative commentary on everything we saw, and answered questions we had. It was one of the top experiences of our NZ stay.
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South Island ▷ Coastal Otago ▷ Oamaru ▷
Bushy Beach
The brilliant receptionist at Oamaru holiday park told us exactly when and where to go to view yellow eyed penguins coming ashore, there were not many on that particular evening but we had some good views
. Then we drove back into town and had a lovely meal, after which we found our way to the south side of the harbour where with a bit of patience it is possible to have excellent views of little blue penguins coming ashore to roost. There is a paid attraction (expensive!) but you do not need to go to it: the penguins have their own ideas of where they want to come ashore and while you will see more penguins at the paying place, you can have good close sightings if you wait quietly along the harbour. Take a torch but stay at a good distance from the penguins so as not to scare them.
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South Island ▷ Coastal Otago ▷ Portobello ▷
Portobello Village Tourist Park
A very quiet and attractive location in a pleasant and scenic village.
The owners are helpful and friendly, excellent kitchen/dining shared facilities. Lovely walking and scenery close by. the local pub has a lively locals scene and good food. The best place to stay or camp if you want to visit the albatrosses, penguins and fur seals on the Otago peninsular. The wifi worked well and some free time was included with camping fee.