Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - mass transit in NZ?

I'm planning my NZ trip for late August/early September, and am wondering pros & cons about mass transit vs. car rental. I understand they have a fairly good network of busses. I'll definitely rely on public transit in Auckland; beyond there, I'm not sure. I may go all the way down to Stewart Island.

I've done the "drive on the other side of the road" thing in Britain and lived to tell about it.

I like the independence of having your own car, but also enjoy riding in trains/busses and enjoying the scenery out the window.

I'm finding some reasonable rental rates for cars, but wonder how the price of gas is there.

Anyone with experience in the cost/comfort/convenience of these options? Thanks!

JP

Rental car is a must if you want to see the best parts of NZ -- they are all in the country and off the beaten trek. Gas is triple the US price, but you can rent a nice car getting 40 mpg. I did a 20 day trip in NZ (north and south island) and did 3000 miles, still didn't see everything. Too much driving in retrospect, I'd suggest minimum of 2 weeks for each island as the most aggressive possible schedule. NZ has tremendous variety and lots to see; Auckland is the worst of NZ, it gets better (much better) elsewhere. I had a Ford Festiva from Hertz (tiny car, smaller than a civic, but well built and a lot of fun to drive a 1 litre engine with a stick shift using the wrong hand as well as on the wrong side of the road). Some of the roads in the south island have one car an hour (and this is on the main highway!).

Do mass transit and tour bus in and around Auckland. Then rent a car. I agree with 2 weeks for North Island. 5 days Auckland, 2 days drive and sightsee on coast. 2 days Wellington, 2 days in the ____ art deco area, 2 days Rotorura, a day back.

We did not go to South Island. I understand you can exchange cars or take your car on the ferry...but did not do.

Driving outside of Auckland is really easy as there is very little traffic. The only drawback I found is a large portion of Kiwi drivers that pass insanely with little regard to oncoming traffic.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
Gas is triple the US price</font>

No no no http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

It is not nearly triple. Gas costs around NZ $1.10 per liter in NZ I believe, which is about $0.60 US per litre. Now a gallon (the US measure) is about 3.75 liters meaning that the gas price in NZ is the equivalent of about US $2.25. On average then, NZ customers pay up to 50% more for gas than their US counterparts.

Thanks for the insight. I especially want to poke around Fiordland Nat'l Park on the south island, and I suspect a car will be required.

I've only got 2 weeks allotted, so it will be somewhat of a whirlwind tour--enough time in Auckland to get over jet lag, then I hit the road.

I was in Spain in August, and ended up with a diesel Citroen (I had reserved economy and was given luxury http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif ) that, though large, was stingy on fuel. Are diesels popular down there?

I also wonder if anyone has found a web site that tracks fuel prices in various countries.

Again, thanks!

JP

Not a lot of rental car companies in NZ rent diesel cars, although most campervans are diesels.

For travelling around Fiordland and Southern South Island, you'll be better off with a car - the buses tend to stick to just a few routes. Try http://www.intercitycoach.co.nz for bus info.

I may be biased, but the South Island is the better of the two islands, and Stewart Island is just incredible. You'll be here in winter, so if you make it this far south, you could even get some skiing in (ask for ski chains from the rental car agency in advance if this is in your plans). Quite a few fields around Queenstown and Wanaka, and also Mount Hutt near Christchurch.

Getting between the two islands - ferry http://www.interislandline.co.nz/ -drop off rental car at one ferry terminal, pay only for foot passenger, and collect car at other terminal. Alternatively domestic flights are cheap if you're limited on time.

Enjoy your time in NZ http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif.

You may want to research the weather thoroughly. I visited Franz Jozef in December, and my guide on the glacier hike told a story about the time he did his survival training with the ski patrol, there were 10 of them in a ski lodge somewhere near Fiordland, a storm moved in which lasted for 2 weeks and dumped over 10 metres of snow ... yes, 35+ feet of snow in one storm, and almost 3 feet every day. They could barely keep up enough to keep the chimney clear. I thought it was a tall tale, then I looked up the precipitation statistics ... just about the wettest place in the world, depending on when/where you are. Not to discourage you, it can be a wonderful trip, but know what the average/maximum that you may be getting into, and have the right gear with you. Also check with the rental car firms if they will allow you to go into Fiordland with their car, some don't (for obvious reasons), and NZ is a small country, they will know if you do go there. In August I'd be tempted to just head for the 100 mile beach (extreme north part of NZ, and semi-tropical).
As for diesels, a few are available but not many (not like Europe). If you do go to the south island it might be better to fly to CHC and rent a car there, the drive is 2 days without seeing anything and better spent touring (if you take it slower, than better to stick to the north island -- and while the south island is magnificent, the north island is also magnificent, and warmer/more volcanic).

Thanks for the great responses & links!

I hadn't looked much at north of Auckland. A friend is trying to do the trip with me. If his time is a bit shorter, then it sounds like a day or two up there would be in order.

I'd like hook up with a company that lets me drop one car on one side of the ferry, and pick one up on the other. I'm seeing some budget rental companies that must deal in higher mileage but well-maintained vehicles. Does anyone have experience with these? Again, thanks!

JP

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by j379pa:
I'd like hook up with a company that lets me drop one car on one side of the ferry, and pick one up on the other. I'm seeing some budget rental companies that must deal in higher mileage but well-maintained vehicles.</font>The major car rental firms all let you pickup at Picton (there are a half-dozen of these companies). Campervans must be taken across on the ferry, as must the budget cars (which makes them much more expensive -- check the cost of taking a car across, I forget the exact amount but it was huge, much more than a week's car rental and something like 10x the passenger fare). The car ferries are often sold out for several days at a time so you have to carefully arrange that part of your trip in advance (also if you are late for your ferry, you may be delayed for a long time). Finally in the winter storms can be bad enough to keep the ferry from operating -- a bit of a problem if you have to get back to AKL to make your international flight. While rare, it does happen almost every year, so allow at least 2 days slack time to get back from the South Island if you can't leave the car there and fly back.