So there are a few things about the camper that I have rented and I thought that I would go ahead and share them with you guys in case you decide to rent a camper van in New Zealand. The camper van that I rented is from Mighty Go campers and it is the Highball. It is the cheapest camper van that they have and it is the second smallest of the bunch. This camper van can sleep up to three people. It has a fridge, microwave, two plug outlets, a bed that you have to make out of supplies they give you, a bed up in the top portion of the van, and a sink that also comes with things like bowels, plates, and etc.
When you get a tour of the van they show you how to use everything, where it all is and they tell you how to set up the bed. The even tell you where the guides are in case you have any trouble with the van. Of course they are super basic so they also have video guides that are build into the GPS system that they give you.
From the few days of driving this thing around I do have a few things to say about it.
1) The gps system isn't 100% reliable. When your trying to get to a campsite or select it it sometimes glitches out and stops working. Not only is that frustrating but it adds to the amount of time that you have sitting in one area trying to pinpoint where your trying to go.
2)They don't give you directions for the portable toilet that comes in this camper van. They just kind of point to where the supplies are, tell you that it is in fact the toilet and then move on. I did figure it out eventually but I will say that it would have been nice to have directions on how to use it since I have never used a portable toilet before. Or at least I have never used one where I myself have had to empty/clean it.
3)The outlets only work when you are plugged into a powered site. Really this would have been super useful to know as I tried to use them at a very low cost campground and found out that the lights work but not the power outlets. Talk about frustrating. So not only do you have to make sure everything you own is fully charged before hand but you also have to watch out for times when you do want power in general.
4) Wifi is almost useless. Now I'm not saying its a complete throw away but I will say that it is impossible to use at your free will and most of the time you will find that there are no places to actually use it. The lady explained to me that the wifi only works when you are in a location where you can receive wifi and you cant just turn it on anywhere to use it at full use. Basically you have to be in a campsite where they have wifi or in a location that has a strong signal. I have found that even when I am in a campsite that has wifi it doesnt always work. Now you may ask why I don't just use wifi at the campground. The reason is that they want you to pay to use their wifi. Yea. No thanks.
5) You cant drive anywhere and I really do mean that. When you sit down and they explain everything with you they tell you that you cant go on anything that isn't paved. No gravel, grass, dirt, etc. The only exception is if the campsite is off a paved road and you don't have to go very far to get to the site your trying to get to. It just means you have to go 5mph until you get to your destination. The reason they tell you is that they have equipment underneath the camper that they don't want to get damaged and you are held reliable if any damage does happen.
6) Storage isn't really a thing in the camper van. I have seen some of the other camper vans that have had some convenient storage in them but in this one everything is being used for something that they provide (cups, bowels, silverware, etc) and there is some small storage underneath the seats that are in the back but its only good if you have small bags and are storing things like toilet paper.
So those are some things that I noticed about the camper van. I don't know if anyone is wanting to rent a camper van while they are in New Zealand but I thought I should give a list of some of the things that I noticed. Of course if you are going to New Zealand I do hope this helps you out in some way.
Overall I can say I'm satisfied with the camper and I am really excited to continue this journey.
