VAN LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND
As a gift to himself on his first day of retirement, my Dad treated himself to a VW Campervan, with all the trimmings. Decked out with a foldable bed, fridge, hob, toilet and all the extras you could need for a cosy camping trip this van is, in one word, immense. His dream for years has been to travel around Scotland in this van, living the simple life. Ten years ago, when my life revolved around jagar bombs and Rimmel fake tan, I would have laughed if someone had said I’d actually enjoy sleeping in a van without a shower for 3 weeks. But low and behold, this is exactly what I was doing in January 2017, and LOVING it.
New Zealand was a country that I have always wanted to visit, as my Dad actually spent a year living there in his teens and had nothing but good things to say. After doing a spot of sheep farming, he spent some time in Gisbon learning to surf, and I think if it wasn’t for the love of my mum, he’d probably still be there, in his all time favourite country in the world. So it was in New Zealand that I would experience my first real camping adventure, and where I would fall in love with the simple life that living in a van gives you.
If I could give one piece of advice for traveling around New Zealand it would be to rent a van with a ‘Freedom Camping’ sticker on it. This sticker shows that you have a toilet in the van [ours wasn’t fancy, we’re talking a glorified potty] but it means that you can camp in the Freedom Camping spots, which are situated in the more secluded areas on the island. And believe me, this is where you want to be! There are hundreds of camp sites in New Zealand, and the majority of these have excellent facilities - you can plug in your van to charge it up, shower, use the cooking facilities etc but not only do you have to pay but they also get very busy with many tourists and Kiwi families infiltrating them [especially during the summer months]. If you like the hustle and bustle then this is for you, but if you are looking for something a little off the beaten track, something quieter, something a little more unique, then the Freedom Camping spots are the one for you.
We made a rough itinerary before we arrived in New Zealand, with a planned route so that we could ensure we saw as much of the South Island as we could, but this changed on a daily basis as our days would consist of driving, and if something caught out eye we’d stop and stay. This happened on the regular as we were forever finding the most incredible freedom camping spots. My favourite has to be the Lake Tekapo one - we set up our table and chairs and cooked dinner overlooking the icy blue lake with Mount Cook standing tall in the background. It was magic.
Vanlife is definitely getting more and more popular - the photos of our trip were even published on Conde Nast Traveller in an article about the millennial nomads. We were also published in Foster Huntington’s coffee table book, Van Life. I can’t wait to explore more of the world in a van, living the simple life!
TIP: We had left the booking of the camper van quite late [as December and January is New Zealand’s summer, and therefore their busiest time of year]. But we lucked out with what we found last minute! The rental company is a small family run company called Campa South, run by a lovely couple from Christchurch, and the service was not only personal, but impeccable. Contact them here.