Ben Awcock
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Timaru ▷
Kia Ora Campers
I was struggling to get any positive replies from the smaller, individual, Camper Van company's in NZ, until I came across Rankers.
What a truly great result that was. Within 24 hours, I was contacted by a number of company's, some saying they could help and others saying they were full. I received an email from Vicky at G&J Camping, saying that although they could not meet my specific needs, they gave me some options to think about. Vicky could not have been more helpful, talked me through the process, as a virgin camper and they offered me a fantastic deal with a 4 berth camper.
Everything went smoothly and Ross from G&J Campers met us at Auckland Airport and showed us everything we needed to know about the Camper. He understood we were inexperienced and took his time to explain all we needed to know. He is an asset to their team.
We went on our merry way, but within 48 hours disaster struck....we were parked up 30km north of Kiakoura and the Earthquake struck!! We were trapped between two massive landslides, the road was completely torn apart and we had to abandon our Camper Van.....it will be stuck there for at least 3 months. We were helicoptered to safety and taken to Blenheim.
PC Alan Hendrickson called Vicky at G&J Campers for us, to explain the circumstances. I could not believe what happened in the next two hours.
Vicky from G&J called me back, saying that if we wanted, they would arrange for flights from Blenheim back to Christchurch, where they would provide us with an upgraded 6-berth Camper, at no cost at all to ourselves. Steve from G&J then sorted everything for us, booked our flights, arranged for our replacement Camper Van to be delivered to AKL, and after a short break, our Camper Van holiday was back on track.
To say that Vicky and Steve from G&J Campers went beyond the call of duty is nothing short of an understatement.
This is all TRUE.
IF YOU WANT TO DEAL WITH THE BEST CAMPER VAN COMPANY....CALL G&J CAMPING....end of.
Ben Awcock - UK.
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South Island ▷ Kaikoura Region ▷ Kaikoura ▷
Paparoa Point
Stayed there on the night of Sunday 13th November 2016 and decided to stay the night, along with 4 other Camper Vans.
A beautiful place.
Awoken at 00:02h on the morning of Monday 14th November 2016 by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake !!!!!
Road completely broken up in several places, and two massive landslides either side of this ideallic spot meant that we had to abandon our vehicles and we had to be rescued by helicopter.
This spot likely to be unreachable until early 2017, but when it is, head there.
As a point of note, subsequent to the earthquake, the sea bed is now 2 meters higher than it was on Sunday 13th November 🙀🙀
I will return one day (from the UK) ....... the most memorable of experiences !!