Epic New Zealand road trip
By far our all time favourite was New Zealand! For Europeans not always that straightforward as it’s literally on the other side of the world and it takes close to two days to get there and on top of that flights are expensive.
Preparing such extended road trip took quite some time and all general information can be found here, from the route, flight selection and our transportation decisions.
Road trip route
Flights
We spent quite some time in looking for good and affordable flights. In the end we selected top airline Emirates and flying from Brussels. It was the shortest duration and Emirate is top notch with good food, entertainment and service. Next to that we prefer to fly from Brussels. In earlier years, or when really needed, we would still go to Schiphold (Amsterdam, Netherlands) but that is quite a distance from Flanders. It easily takes 2h45 drive and when you get back home after a long travel, that is just too much. What is even better, is that we have a direct train from our home town straight to Brussels Airport. Public transportation in Belgium isn’t cheap, however, for such long periods it’s the cheapest solution. You do want to take the flight hours into account and only take the train option when you leave or arrive during the day.
Flight details going there
- Brussels – Dubai takes 6 hours 45 minutes
- Dubai – Auckland takes 16 hours 10 minutes
As we returned via Christchurch we did have to take an extra stop over in Sidney
- Christchurch – Sidney takes 3 hours 35 minutes
- Sidney – Dubai takes 14 hours 30 minutes
- Dubai – Brussels takes 7 hours 15 minutes
NZeTA
Make sure to either apply for a Visa or NZeTA way before departure! You can do this on this website. There is also an app for your phone which gets you going very quickly. You can push add traveller button, scan your international passport, confirm some details and you’re all set to pay. For the both of us this was 132 euro (About $255 NZD) in December 2024. Without the eTA you will most likely not be able to check-in onto your flight. It can take between 5 minutes and up to 72 hours to get approval.
RV - Motorhome
For transportation we selected an RV or motorhome. We learned from previous trips that a longer roadtrip by car can be cumbersome. Check-in and out of hotels can take some time and either live from your luggage in the car of drag it each day to your room isn’t something we enjoy. In 2015 we did a roadtrip with an RV in Iceland which we was awesome. When you are only with 2 people they aren’t necessarily big so till easy to navigate around the country. As it would be a 4 week trip, we wanted a real RV and not a van like we had in the Westfjords or USA road trip. Those vans were great for a shorter period but now we wanted to have a little bit of luxury without having to convert every night and morning the van. I’m also quite tall and can’t stand straight in a van, which was also a reason to go for a real RV. Next to that New Zealand is an RV friendly country.
After hours of searching we ended up renting our RV with Wilderness motorhome rentals. Their website, reviews, motorhome options, prices and communcation style attracted us. They were very helpfull during the entire process and even after booking they helped us out to arrange the ferry and advise for a camping option in Wellington.
All specifications: Wilderness motorhome Compact For 2
Ferry
From the start we decided that we would go longer and cover both the North and South Island of New Zealand. The Interislander is a convenient way to navigate between the islands when you are by car or motorhome. The route from Wellignton to Picton takes your around 3 hours 30 minutes. The Ferry doesn’t come cheap and we paid $79 NZD per person and $258 NZD for our motorhome. (229 euro in total)
Hotels
We would stay 23 nights in our motorhome during this road trip and hence we decided to book 2 nights in a nice hotel upon arrival and also stay 2 nights before heading back to Belgium.
Avani Auckland Metropolis Residences
A 4 star hotel with gym, indoor swimming pool and jacuzzi to relax after a long travel
We stayed during summer in New Zealand so an outdoor swimming pool was attractive. After living 23 days in a motorhome we wanted to have a bit more luxury stay before heading back and travel over 30 hours. The Chateau on the Park is a DoubleTree by Hilton and with our Hilton Honors Gold membership through American Express we could pay for 2 nights in style with our collected points during previous stays. It also comes with complementary breakfast and upgrade when available. Like this a more luxurious stay become affordable.