http://www.vodafone.co.nz/travel-sim/
https://www.spark.co.nz/shop/mobile/travel-pack.html
Can get at the airport.

Yup, do take a domestic flight to south island. If you can get into Queenstown directly then it'll save you more time too. Compare the prices for your car rental options, baby must definitely be in a baby seat.

Check the few pages before this. I recall there are many who posted their road trip itinerary here. The routes are quite standard.

Last I went into Auckland was in September and there are still lots of girls (and guys) selling travel sim card at the duty free area before exiting. One cannot miss them.

Just do Auckland. You don't have much time to cover South Island as 4-5 days not enough to move from one place to another in South Island. And you don't wanna miss any flights either.

A few of us have given some comments on traveling with campervan not too long ago. Just scroll back a few pages.

depends on how many ppl you are traveling with. Money wise, I don't think you save that much. Time looking for accommodation - imo, everything booked online, doesn't require much time. You save much more money by cooking your own meals, so make sure you book accommodation with kitchen facilities, plenty of those around.

not sure if caravan has proper place to put baby chair. Suggest just go with car and stay at motels.

Plenty of itineraries if you just look thru the thread. Do a bit of research on your own first.

Flights you can get AirAsia tickets. On promo prolly around rm1k return Auckland excluding add ons. AirAsia transits at Gold Coast for about an hour, hence doesn't extend the travel time a lot.
MAS return Auckland normally around rm3-4k, on promo can get rm3k but lately their promo can get rm2k+. My last trip was rm2.2k. 10-11 hours direct flight.
You can also look into jetstar tickets, transit Singapore and Melbourne (I think) before arriving Auckland. Not sure how much the price is lately.

Most flights arrives at Auckland. Most tourist go to South Island, you need to take a domestic flight from Auckland to Christchurch or Queenstown. Then rent a car or find your own transport around South Island.

Rm1.3k return is quite cheap already. If you can get below that it's very very cheap. Like I said, usually rm2-3k.

You can skydive anywhere in New Zealand. There's skydiving in lake taupo and Auckland as well.

Please go thru this thread.

I was in South Island late April to early May before. It can get quite chilly at night but day time is okay. You can google for the weather forecast and history.

Spark was good. Buy from airport.

There is a whole thread on nz working holiday visa. Please direct your question there.

True. It ain't cheap. The shit handling part not that bad cause it's all "chemically" just take the whole thing and dispose in the correct place or something like that.

We avoid using the bathroom in the camper van since public toilets are like everywhere too.

Can be cold. Bring enough warm clothing to keep you warm at night. I travelled around north island in march and it can get quite chilly at night too. Can't imagine sleeping in the campervan during winter though. South Island autumn night already damn cold for me and heater was a must for me lol. And that was in motels some more.

We usually prebook. What's your budget like? Accommodation ain't cheap in nz, especially with our currency like this now.

You'll be fine. It's not that cold in March.

Even in May also just a tshirt and jacket is enough, only gets more chilly in the night.

Don't just clock mileage when you travel NZ. It'll be really tiring. Won't see much and mainly just on the road.

Card can be used almost everywhere. As long as your card is PIN enabled. I think you should be fine with carrying not much cash.

AirAsia around rm1-1.5k is the cheapest so far.
MAS is getting cheaper these days with about rm1.9k.

All Auckland return.

Yes meals minimum NZD15 and above.
Petrol is around NZD2 now.

Auckland Public Transport: https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/journey-planner/
Public bus is alright, sometimes delay, sometimes early, sometimes doesn't come. Remember to flag the bus driver so they'll stop for you. They won't stop even if you are standing at the bus stop unless you flag them.

Well it's definitely more convenient with an ATHOP card but you're only going to be using it for a day. Depends where you'll be going I guess. Might come to less than $18 also.

Buy from airport.

These two are the more easily available and pretty much best coverage around NZ.
https://www.spark.co.nz/shop/mobile/travel-pack.html
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/travel-sim/

2degrees is generally cheaper but I personally find them to have worse coverage than the above 2 telco. Then again, I've not use it recently. I'm not sure if you can get 2degrees at the airport. Spark definitely got.
https://www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/mobile/prepay/

2 weeks to cover north and south.

Yea you can, touch and go. You'll be driving on the road most of the time. The driver will be quite tired. Depending on the driving conditions, as well as the weather. If anything happen, lagi worse, got no time allowance and all the planning will be spoiled.

2 weeks to cover south only, do-able. Quite ideal.
2 weeks including flight from KL-NZ. A bit tight but still quite alright. Allow for transit time between international and domestic flights. You most likely have to stay a night in Auckland when you arrive or on your way back. Most people only visit Taupo/Rotorua other than Auckland as they do not have enough time. South Island has much better scenc lake views compared to Taupo & Rotorua.

Unless you have at least 3-4 weeks, I would suggest you just do south island.

Add: The caravan I rented before was for 6 pax. One of the big ones. Not easy to drive. Not sure if baby seats are allowed or not. It's best you guys get a 10-seater van (book early) or 2 sedan cars.

This post has been edited by munkeyflo: Mar 8 2017, 04:44 PM

I've not taken the train there before so don't think I can help much
Love the drive thru Arthur's pass though.

Just change your driving license. It has been on for some time already anyways.

New driving license is in dual language - both BM and English.

Otherwise, go to JPJ and get a translation of your old driving license. You'll need the English translation to rent the car.

There are plenty of motels. Don't think you have much to worry about. Pretty much everyone who goes to NZ does "road trip type" of travel around the country.

Queen street has quite a number of money changers, and banks. Compare the rates there.

Airport is the most expensive place to change money.

I would say just go to South Island since you do not have much time. Unless you plan to come back again in the future for a purely South Island trip.

You can go up north to Paihia and travel along Ninety Mile Beach then all the way down to Wellington. Auckland, Hamilton and Rotorua is like hardly 1/3 of North Island. Just take a look at the map.
http://www.newzealand.com/int/travel-guide/

Do drive safe and pay attention to the road signs and regulations. The locals here are getting more attentive and efficient at sending videos and photos of lousy drivers (especially visitors/obvious rental cars) and reporting it to the authorities. The police will come to you and fine you when they receive any reports from others.

It's generally safe but do be aware of your surroundings as well. My house was broken in last year (never had any burglaries in KL but came to Auckland to get burglared). There are quite a few snatch thieves going on these days too. Many mini market also have been robbed. Drunkards on the roads in broad day light. I've met this Malaysian guy when I was traveling in Fiji last year, he and his friends were in Christchurch and stopped for lunch before heading to the airport to fly off. Their car, locked, had visible luggages, was broken in to. Lots of valuables were stolen. I would say nz is still safe but as with everything else, it's better to be safe than sorry. You don't want anything to ruin your holidays.

I wouldn't really recommend driving at night on the roads here. It is safe but it can get really dark. The highways here aren't like the highways back in Malaysia. So if you do, make sure you're alert and do drive safe.

I assume you are arriving Auckland with Airasia around 4pm?
I'm afraid you might wanna reschedule the flight to Wellington at 6pm, reasons being:
1. AirAsia might delay
2. Baggage might delay
3. Customs check here is sibeh long
4. International terminal and domestic terminal is not the same terminal, although it's a short walk away and with free shuttles in between.

Other things to note, August is still winter season. Daylight not very long especially in south island. Please also drive carefully while on the road, there may be snow and snow storms even in August. Better check on the weather forecast before you head out everyday. Campervan is gonna be cooooold, very cold. Probably the campervan I took few years back wasn't very well insulated but it was still chilly in the nights, I was at Northland in autumn then (April), not even winter and not south island, so yea, be prepared for the cold.

Maybe you can spare a day out of your itinerary to go snow boarding or skiing since you are already there during winter. There are still plenty of places to add in to your itinerary. Depending on what you like to see.

Well then, I really hope that you can catch that flight to Wellington then. Don't bring food, it'll delay the customs check if they decide to open your bags. Immigration can be quite a queue as well. Walk fast, it's a long walk from the air plane to immigration. The fastest I've gotten out was around 50 minutes after arrival.

It's quite standard where to go in NZ, just check their website - http://www.newzealand.com/int/

I would definitely go for rental car and motels. But if you wanna experience the campervan lifestyle, go for it. This is one of the countries that is quite campervan friendly for tourists. What kind of campervans are you looking at though?
Skiing isn't my thing also, snow just isn't hahaha.