Australasia > New Zealand > North Island > Bay of Islands > Articles > Coach, Car or Campervan?

It's no "Kiwi joke". Near the tip of New Zealand's North Island is a sixty-mile long beach called Ninety Mile Beach. Nor is it a joke that, mid-way along the beach, a Honda sedan juts from the sand like an old metal road-kill, devolving from rust to dust. Smothered to its sills, the Honda is an epitaph to illusions - of some driver's excessive faith in his own skill and in two-wheel traction.

We roar smugly by it, in a coach. The scene embodies the choice that many travellers New Zealand consider: to drive or be driven? Australian holiday visitors (last year there were 140,000 of them) contemplating a tour of the Land of the Pink Cream Lamington should consider well in advance of their departure date whether to rent a car, join a coach tour or hire a self-drive campervan. Each has significant pluses and minuses.

By car.

Free to wheel wherever you like, in your own vehicle you can enjoy a highly flexible itinerary. Keep in mind that during summer peak season, you should make accommodation reservations beforehand.

"Pluses" include the following: an Australian state driver's licence will suffice; New Zealand (like Australia) drives on the left side of the road; and traffic signage follows international codes. In short, it's much like driving interstate in Australia, so there's little road trauma, other than the inevitable "getting lost" adventures. Also, you can anticipate your travel expenses quite well.

Road distances in New Zealand are often greater than the country's size (relative to Australia) might suggest on the map. A self-drive vehicle gives you the chance to explore forests, obscure coasts and city suburbs. But it can also tempt you to plan more for your itinerary than the slower roads - and often slower local drivers - permit. Don't be over-ambitious with distances: driving all day, every day is the death of a relaxing holiday.

Good fly-drive packages are a popular (and hard to beat) option. Look for regular bargains in return economy airfares to New Zealand with, for instance, five nights accommodation and five days car hire (including unlimited kilometres and insurance).

Finally, if you've driving to beautiful Dunedin on the South Island, consider - but don't necessarily attempt - hilly Baldwin Street, listed in the Guiness Book as "The World's Steepest Street". This short, sharp incline (of over 38 degrees) attracts a parade of thrill-seekers, many of whom stall half way up the hill. The car rolls back... the brakes don't hold... The residents of previously sleepy Baldwin Street have lost count of their wrecked fences.

By campervan.

It's a house with a handbrake? A carburettor with a kitchen sink? No, it's a campervan, a motorhome - one of the most popular ways for visitors to navigate New Zealand's roads. Like rental cars, these self-contained homes-on-wheels can be booked in Australia, prior to your departure; indeed, if you're planning a trip for this summer, it's already time to do so.

Your choice is between a two, four or six berth van. All include a dinette-cum-double bed, galley kitchen (sink, fridge, stove, utensils), running water, 240-volt power lead and bedding. Larger models have air-conditioning, microwave, TV, toilet and shower. Summer rates for a two berth "camper" start at around A$150 per day.

Advantages include freedom from group itineraries, hotels and meals. You can drive all day, or for half an hour; you can cook the sort of food you like; and at the end of the day, for around A$20, you can pull into a caravan park, plug into mains power and use their amenities block. Note: campers are not off-road vehicles; beach driving or bush-bashing are absolute no-nos. Only a standard licence is required. The main drawback is "cabin fever": you're living in your vehicle all day, then all night. (Solution: treat yourselves to a good hotel every now and then.) Also, campervans are bulky, especially beyond the two-berth model, and require more effort to drive than a car.

One lesson in captaining a campervan is that it doesn't overtake much, even New Zealand's mobile motor museum pieces, like 1964 Hillman Imps. Therefore, enjoy driving like a country Kiwi - motoring like a moa - not a "Trans-Tasmaniac".

By coach.

The great fern-cloaked kauri forests, thermal springs and sparkling bays of New Zealand can come to life when illuminated by an informed commentary. A good coach captain always knows his stuff, and you'll never be left guessing about the history or significance of what you're viewing.

With your fellow 40 or so passengers (who are often very good company) you file off your coach at regular intervals to witness all sorts of natural and cultural phenomena. At night the hotels and motels that coach lines use are surprising good - no less than three star standard, often higher. The choice of routes, major attractions and itineraries is excellent: you can see the whole country in 18 or 20 days, or just selected regions of one island in as few as six.

A definite plus of "coaching" is that meals and entrance fees (plus all accommodation, of course) can be covered in the one price; your only extra expenses are discretionary. Very keenly priced airfare-coach tour packages are available.

Among the minor minuses is a sense of "coachdom" passivity - being fed, trundled from sight to attraction to gift shop, then fed again. You can become a "coach potato". And with all those pink lamingtons, the centre aisle of the coach seems to grow daily narrower.

WHERE TO GO

Both islands of New Zealand have many fine destinations for the road traveller. You can't see them all (in less than a month of Sundays), but consider the following ones:

North Island

Waitomo Glow-worm Caves. Transcendentally beautiful; a Milky Way of tiny phosphorescence glowing on an velvet-black cavern roof. Coromandel Peninsula. Thermal springs, good waves, uncrowded beaches. Ancient kauris and a pine clad landscape, plus elegant settlements like Pauanui Beach.

The Bay of Islands. Tranquil waters where bottlenose dolphins and whales are frequent visitors among the 150 scattered islands. Cruise boats pass through the spectacular "Hole in the Rock" at Cape Brett.

South Island

Dunedin-Otago Peninsula. Dunedin's beautiful Victorian-Edwardian architecture is complemented by the wild grandeur of the 33-kilometre long Otago Peninsula. Rare Royal Albatrosses and Yellow Eyed Penguins inhabit the peninsula, which is crowned by the towers of Larnach Castle.

Christchurch-Canterbury Plains. Christchurch is a picturesque and surprisingly entertaining city. Beyond it, the fertile Canterbury Plains (particularly around Methven) offer plenty of soft adventure options, like hot air ballooning, horse trekking, 4WD excursions, whitewater rafting, cycle tours, and trout and salmon fishing.

Queenstown. The adrenaline junkies' capital of the Southern Hemisphere: skiing, bungy jumping, river surfing (riding "standing waves" with a boogey board), heli-touring, and of course, jet-boating. A steamboat trip across Lake Wakatipu is the tranquilising antidote.

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