I was thinking of travelling around New Zealand (both North and South islands) and wanted to drive.
What would be a cost effective way to get from Auckland to Queenstown and are there any recommended rental options?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
i hitchhiked around the north island in 1999. had about 15 lifts in 2 weeks. met some very interesting people.
Wow. So some interesting experiences that are still very memorable to you today.
it was a great holiday and very interesting. one day in the north I wanted to book a high speed boat sea trip. asked at the tourism office in the small town i was in. they said go to the blue house opposite the petrol station. arrived at the blue house and knocked on the door. a voice shouted for me to come in. entered with my israeli friend and here was this guy with a few empty beer bottles around him watching a Robbie Williams concert on TV. the guy was getting into it. likely, really into it. explained that we wanted to go on his boat the next day and he said "fine, be there at 8. but sit down an watch this concert, bloody fantastic, i love robbie williams. help your self to a beer in the fridge." I casually mentioned that I had seen RW at Glastonbury the year before and he was "mmmmaaaaaarrrrghhh, what!! tell me about it". 3 beers later we left. the boot trip was great.
Most effective is to fly, its fast and affordable.
You can also drive, ensure you use europecar because it covers north island and south island (other charges you fee when returning in different island)
I drove around north island in 2011. We just rented ultracheap cars (can't even remember the rental co name) but they were fine. NZ doesn't have the stupid import restrictions Australia has, so there are lots of cheap second hand cars; this rental co just used those.
I've used http://www.apexrentals.co.nz/new-zealand-car-rental-deals/re… for car hire before; they've been a good budget rental option for me. They currently have relocation deals from Christchurch - Auckland for $19 per day. Max 9 days, includes inter island ferry ticket. More people go from Auckland to Christchurch than the other way around, so if you haven't booked flights yet, that's something to consider.
If you want a campervan, which can then be your accommodation as well -> https://www.drivenow.com.au/onewayrentals.jspc#/relocations/…
There are vans available Auckland-Queenstown at the moment for $5 per day, but you can't book these deals very far in advance, and there's no guarantee they'll be available when you want.
Auckland - Queenstown is 20+ hours of actual driving, plus the ferry, so a few days (which is all you get with these deals) doesn't leave a lot of time for sightseeing though. Be aware that there are many roads where you can't average 100km/h, so driving long distance can take longer than you're used to in Aus.
As above, flying domestic in NZ can be cheap. Your choices are Air NZ or Jetstar.
Check https://grabaseat.co.nz/ for discount seats on Air NZ.
Can vouched for Apexrentals as they provide good service and budget price, easy to deal with.
I used ApexRentals from Auckland in Nov last year and was fast and easy. Previously I drove down to Wellington, caught a flight to ChristChurch then drove around the south island with a different car.
You could get a relocation deal through Imoova… http://www.imoova.com/imoova/relocations But they usually don't give you a lot of time.
Otherwise, I hear NZ is pretty safe to hitch hike?