NZ on a shoestring budget

NZ is really quite affordable even with a South African Rand budget.

However you will need to be smart about it. I don't care if everyone tell you to do the north island first because the south island is so much more beautiful than the north island. Don't do the north Island first if you want to do it on a budget, as you won't be able to take advantage of relocation deals. I promise both islands are amazing in their own way, as long as you expect it to be different you won't be disappointed.

So starting south you should study the relocation websites for specials on cars and campervans and you can get great deals.

We relocated a car from Queenstown to Christchurch for NZ$0.02 and we had 3 days to do so, which meant we were able to have a car the last day in Queenstown and do a little road trip to Christchurch. Then we relocated a campervan from Christchurch to Auckland for only NZ$1 per day for the first 4 days and NZ$45 per day for the days after that to a maximum of 16 days. We took 14 days that gave us plenty of time to do everything in the South Island we wanted to do and see enough of the north Island before we got to Auckland. This saved us about NZ$3,000 compared to renting a camper from Auckland to Christchurch over the same time.

Along the way there were plenty of free campsites and also paid sites (average NZ$15 per person per night which is not that bad). The paid sites mostly offered showers, power, wifi and more, while the free sites often only had a long drop toilet but worth staying for free if you have a self contained vehicle. You could stay in a paid site every other day just to get a shower and charge phones etc. on a regular basis.
More often than not the free site are located best next to the beach or some view so not bad.

The One card from AA in partnership with Countdown, BP and Caltex. This safes you between 6 and 12 sent per liter on fuel which basically saved us $35 over the 17 days we had vehicles.

Buying groceries at Countdown, a grocery store, not only help you to get more discount on fuel with the one card but also the quality of the meat and veggies are brilliant and don't forget the great selection of wines. If you shop smart you can even save more on marked down stuff, for example an average bottle of wine cost about NZ$15 and we just looked for specials and managed to buy bottles for about NZ$10, saving us about NZ$5 per day 😜. This way you will save a ton of money by not eating takeaways or in restaurants all the time.

You might ask how do you cook all the groceries. You can rent a portable gas Braai/BBQ (which has a grill and stovetop for one pot) with the campervan for only NZ$35, well worth it as you can basically cook anything on it from boiling water for coffee to cooking gourmet pasta dishes and of course braai some lamb chops.

Yes excursions like heli hiking or wine tasting etc will set you back a couple of dollars, that's unavoidable. However there are so many free things to do and see in NZ that you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on stuff to do. If you mix it up and do some free stuff and some stuff that cost money you will get a full experience of NZ without breaking the bank.

All and all a very affordable awesome trip!

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