Auckland, NZ
With Greg’s mom on the way we realized we had a problem we had managed to completely avoid on our journeys until now: how do we get around?
It sounds odd but for the past several years and about 1/3 of the way around the world our method of day to day travel simply was not a concern. When working on sailing yachts our office also happens to encompass our primary means of locomotion and accommodation. As we sailed wherever our captain wanted and stayed as long as they wanted to, we didn’t put a lot of thought into where we would be going or how we would get there. We just took the ship safely wherever we were told when we were told to do it. Being land bound now we had to face such difficult questions like, “Where will we go?” and “Where will we sleep when we get there?” and the most urgent of these, “How will we get there?”
This is not a new question for most travelers to New Zealand and luckily a large portion of the NZ tourist machine is devoted to people like us: long-term semi-permanent travelers, or as they are more commonly called, backpackers. Which, we have come to find out, is what we are typically classified as by the locals when we aren’t onboard a ship.
No matter what we’re not driving near this dude
Since there is an entire industry surrounding the long term backpacker in New Zealand we found we had a lot of options for transport. We could rent or buy and the economics of renting did not necessarily beat those of purchasing our own vehicle. There is a thriving backpacker budget used car market in New Zealand and they even have dealerships that specifically target these kind of travelers. In Auckland there are also a auto swap meets where you can buy a car for cheap, like the Auckland City Car Fair . The upside to renting is you (ideally) get a better maintained vehicle and if anything goes wrong the renting company will help you out (again, ideally). You also get to avoid all the annoyances and costs of owning the car: registration, insurance, what to do with it when you leave the country, etc. The advantage of buying is you pay a single price (well, lump all the fees in there too) and get to keep the car as long as you want. Assuming the car is in good shape and stays so (which is a risk with second-hands) and your willing to put the time and effort in, you also get to sell it when you leave and recoup some if not all of your money.
Before you even decide on rent vs. buy though you need to decide what kind of vehicle you want. The classic backpacker-mobile out here is the “campah” basically a VW minibus / minivan / van converted into a motor home.
Gas mileage is not as great as smaller cars but it makes up for that in allowing you to avoid paying for accommodation (which is a HUGE cost in New Zealand that, again, we’ve haven’t had to pay for before. Really, this boat thing has seriously been saving us a ton more money than we realized.)
Though tempting most campahs (it’s spelled “camper” but they talk funny here) are only designed to carry two people legally as the back is gutted for the bedroom / kitchen. Additionally, being as Greg’s mother’s travel bug has most recently been appeased by cruises and a high end African safari we’re guessing that she’s been a bit spoiled and has things like expectations and a need to have an operational bathroom. Finally, the prospect of sharing a cramped double bed in the back of a van with Greg’s mother every night is not overly appealing to anyone involved so we just sucked it up and decided to sleep in hostels and hotels.
Since Greg owed a speaking business and all we should probably reference the Chris Farley SNL skit right? Ok, yes, this was a factor in the overall consideration process:
This wasn’t our first experience in land bound transportation. Suffice to say, Mexican buses were not at all what we expected them to be.
Greg and Tiffany are traveling around the world on sailing yachts and keep a video blog of their (mis)adventures. If sailing to Tahiti on a 44 ft sailboat, 3-day delays for wine tastings, getting pooped on by seagulls, opening coconuts with dull machetes, sailing past tornadoes and ukulele Christmas carols are for you, then check them out at www.CoastGuardCouple.com!
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