Relocating | Transfercar Blog

New Zealand driving tips

If you’re planning on driving a relocation car or campervan in New Zealand for the first time, these tips will assist you in understanding the rules and regulations of safe driving practices and help you have a safe and enjoyable vacation.

Not sure if you are allowed to drive?

Check out our article Driving in New Zealand

What’s the speed limit?

Speed limits are normally clearly posted by the road side.

New Zealand is blessed with gorgeous little winding roads as well as open stretches that go for miles. Every type of road in New Zealand has its good points and its bad.

If you’re driving in rural areas, watch out for gravel verges, especially on corners. Some isolated roads are unsealed and use gravel as the surface. In these cases, drive slowly.

Continue reading New Zealand driving tips

Driving in New Zealand

I’ve had many questions from our Transfercar drivers about what licence they need to drive our vehicles. Here is a road great article about New Zealand driving regulations that will answer many of your queries.

International Driving Licences and Permits

You can legally drive in New Zealand for up to 12 months if you have either a current driver’s licence from your home country or an International Driving Permit (IDP). After 12 months you are required to convert to a New Zealand licence. This applies to each visit to New Zealand.

In New Zealand all drivers, including visitors from other countries, must carry their licence or permit at all times when driving. You will only be able to drive the same types of vehicles you are licensed to drive in your home country. The common legal age to rent a car in New Zealand is 21 years.

Rugby World Cup Car Rental Fever

New Zealand Rental car companies have joined the multitude of Rugby World Cup hopefuls as the hype and anticipation of this global sporting event continues to rise.

With the RWC looming ever closer (9 September – 23 October 2011), rental car companies are pushing for customers to book cars and campervans early, touting the issue of lack of car availability due to the estimated 85,000 international visitors expected to arrive in New Zealand specifically for the event.

This is a good sign for Transfercar as many visitors are expected to travel around the country during this time with a number leaving their cars at major airport locations. These cars and campervans will need to be relocated back to their place of origin and we will be there ready to fulfill this need…..

For those interested, here’s the RWC schedule:

Auckland

09 September 2011 NZL – TGA
17 September 2011 AUS – IRE
24 September 2011 NZL – FRA
25 September 2011 FJI – SAM
01 October 2011 ENG – SCO
15 October 2011 WQ1 – WQ2
16 October 2011 WQ3 – WQ4
21 October 2011 LS1 – LS2
22 October 2011 WS1 – WS2

Christchurch

10 September 2011 ARG – ENG
11 September 2011 AUS – ITA
18 September 2011 ENG – EU1
25 September 2011 ARG – SCO
01 October 2011 AUS – EU2
08 October 2011 WPB –
09 October 2011 WPA – RUB

On the road

My name is Brian and I am one of the founders of Transfercar. I have written this article series to help people who are thinking of relocating a car, camper van or motorhome for the first time via Transfercar.

This is the third and last article. The first part in this series explains what a relocation car is on what it means to be a relocation driver, and the second article explains how to find and book a relocation.

On the road

Day 1, our flight was scheduled to 6.40 am and we arrived Chrichchurch on time 8.00 am. On arrival we called the rental car company and they picked up us from the airport for free. It is a good idea to arrive early to get the most out of the first day.

crayfish shop The relocation motorhome was ready to go, but first we had to sign a normal rental agreement (just as if you rented a vehicle under normal circumstances). Standard insurance was included in the relocation deal, but we still chose to upgrade the insurance to full cover. The additional insurance was $25 per day – no excess and a peace of mind but it is totally optional. Before getting on the road, the friendly staff of Jucy gave us a tour of the vehicle including how to operate the shower, kitchen and power.

Around 9 am we were on our way to Picton via Kaikura – approx 330 km. First stop was Kaikura to have fresh Crayfish at Nims’ Bin at State Highway 1. It was a fantastic day and absolutely gorgeous to sit on the beach in the middle of the winter.

Day 2, we drove around the Marlborough Sound before crossing to Wellington at 2.30. The weather forecast predicted gustily wind, but luckily it turned out to be North Easterly with gave us a smooth crossing. In Wellington we stayed overnight at a public car park at Victoria Heights. We woke up in the middle of the night because we thought someone was trying to force their way in only to find out the next day that the rumble was an earthquake – 5.2 in magnitude. In a motorhome that feels shaky. our camper van

Day 3, we drove from Wellington to Napier over Greytown and Dannevirke. We found this little neat tea-house in the middle of nowhere serving high-tea in good old English fashion (sorry for those living in Greytown but it is in the middle of nowhere). We arrived Napier around 5 pm after about 5 hours driving from Wellington. Weather was beautiful the whole way and very mild 21 degrees.

Day 4, from Napier we took the inland route to Taupo, where we stayed overnight at a parking lot nearby the lake before returning to Auckland the next day. No earthquake this time but just a beautiful view over the lake. In New Zealand you are allowed to stay overnight at most public places (variation of rules may apply to different districts – see for instance camping policies for Tasman District), but the problem of course is that lack power supply and disposal of wastewater and rubbish. Therefore it is advisable to stay at a dedicated campground every now and then to put fresh water on the campervan and empty wastewater. You don’t get far with only 80L of water in the tank. Top 10 Holiday Parks are located throughout the country and they charge between $14-$22 per person per night including the campervan.

Day 5, we returned at Auckland Airport at 3.30 pm. We had a great trip and spread out the driving equally on 4 days. One day normally goes with crossing the Cook Straight. Bear in mind that these campervans are not race cars. They can be difficult to get up to 100 km/h and it does take longer time to get from A to B than a standard vehicle. Normally we covered 70-80 km per hour depending on elevation and traffic.

For 5 fantastic days on the road our total expenses looks something like this for 2 people:

Jetstar	$90
Ferry for passengers	$100
Diesel 1,400 km	$160
Top 10 Holiday Park (optional)	$80
Additional insurance (optional)	$125
Total cost	$555

This is the third and last article in the article series about relocating with Transfercar. The first part in this series explains what a relocation car is on what it means to be a relocation driver, and the second article explains how to find and book a relocation.

How to get a relocation vehicle?

My name is Brian and I am one of the founders of Transfercar. I have written this article series to help people who are thinking of relocating a car, camper van or motorhome for the first time via Transfercar.

How to get a relocation vehicle – preparation and planning

transfercar-frontpage The first thing is to find a relocation car at www.transfercar.co.nz that suits your travel requirements. The table of available relocation cars on the front pages gives a good overview of what is available. Pay attention to the free extras column that tells you what is included in the relocation deal. The more things included the better for you as a relocation driver. Normally the rental car companies include ferry and standard insurance with the relocation car. From time to time the rental companies also add petrol vouchers or a free tank of petrol. Often this applies to urgent relocations. The available column tells you the earliest pick-up date and latest drop off date. It does not mean you can have the vehicle during the whole period. The number of days you can have the car for free is specified in the details that can be viewed by clicking anywhere on the row of the relocation you are interested it. Most rental car companies allow between 4-7 days for a relocation between Christchurch and Auckland.

To request a relocation car click the Drive it free!-button. Your request is send directly to the rental car company and they will accept or reject your request within 12-48 hours. Sometimes they receive several requests for the same relocation. So if your request is not accepted, don’t despair – just request another one! Until you get accepted the whole booking is a ‘blind process’. You will not be told who the rental car company behind the relocation is until you have been accepted by the rental company.

I requested the motorhome approximately 7 days prior to the date we preferred to pick it up. Our request was accepted within 12 hours and we received a confirmation email from Transfercar and later on we also got an email from the rental car company – In this case it was Jucy Rentals. I called up Jucy to organize the exact pick-up time and drop-time. The rental car company also schedule the ferry crossing for us. In our case Jucy covered the cost of the ferry for the motorhome and we had to pay for passengers – $50 per person when booking through the rental car company (otherwise it is $58 with Interislander)

After having organized the relocation, we booked flight tickets with Jetstar – $39 (without luggage) and $49 (20k allowance) per person. Alternatively try Grabaseat or virginblue – you just gotta love love the competition 🙂

The concept of getting from A to B

Getting from A to B can be a bit tricky if you don’t have your own means of transport. This goes for all travellers without weels, whether they’re locals, international or national visitors. After all, if you don’t own or have access to a car or bike, how are you going to get from let’s say Wellington to Auckland? Or even more challenging, Katikati to Lumsden, Great Barrier Island to Napier?

Just stay put where you are? Or go walking? Or put your thumb up and go hitch-hiking?

A website dedicated to hitch-hiking culture, digihitch.com , says the “simple, unplanned and spontaneous act of sharing transport” has been around as long as there has been transportation. But hitch-hiking in its purest sense – thumbing rides from passing motorists – followed the invention of the car in the late 19th century. It became common in the war years, when soldiers hitched rides, and entered the realms of popular culture with Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road in 1957.

Literature, films and music have often played on the fears surrounding hitch-hiking. Tales of lost hitch-hikers and hitch-hiker murders possess a power like no others.

New Zealand is still wondering what happened to Mona Blades, the 18-year-old who disappeared without a trace when hitching on the Napier-Taupo road in 1975.

And what about the unfortunate German backpacker Birgit Brauer? Her trip, and with that her dream, ended tragically in October 2005 when she was found under the towering redwoods in Lucy’s Gully, near New Plymouth. She loved New Zealanders’ down-to-earth attitude and believed she was safe hitch-hiking.

Times have sure changed and with this in the back of your mind, why take the risk of hitch-hiking? Surely a lack of transportation can be solved otherwise?Well, dear backpackers, students and all other travellers, there is an alternative to consider.Listen.

Lots of savvy backpackers have over the years already called or surfed the sites of rental car companies in pursuit of ‘one-way’ deals. But arranging this takes time, not to mention effort and can be very frustrating as you often miss the boat with rental company’s ‘one -way’ deals.

The idea of relocating cars is really quite simple and not new or innovative. There already exist websites in other countries (USA, Norway and Denmark) that specialise in relocating rental (or private) cars. However, up to recently such service didn’t exist in New Zealand.

Now, rentals, whether these are motor homes, bikes or cars, tend to accumulate there where a branch doesn’t need them to be. The car fleet moves in one direction according to the flow of tourist and companies spend a lot of money transporting unallocated cars between branches.

And this is where you as a traveller without wheels come in the picture. Why not pick up a car at point A, drive it to point B and voila: you are where you want or need to be, and the car is where the rental company needs it to be.

So, a simple concept with the added plus of a win-win situation for you and the rental companies.

New to New Zealand is http://www.transfercar.co.nz/; an online relocating service that offers free use of rental cars to travellers. And that’s you, right?

Check it out, organise a ride and have a safe journey from your A to B.