New Zealand in a Jucy Campervan Week 1 with The Flip Flop Travelling Family
Channel: The Flip Flop Family
Date: 21/11/2018

We planned a 4 week road trip around North & South Island and booked a Jucy Condo Camper van to carry us around. See our Condo review here:

https://theflipflopfamily.net/new-zealand-in-a-jucy-campervan/

When we touched down in NZ, Benjamin was probably the most excited out of all of us. NZ, had always been one of those places that we'd hope to visit someday. With a 30hour flight from the UK it's not one that we had contemplated with 2 young kids. But only 5hours from French Polynesia, the flight was a walk in the park.

Once we arrived at Auckland airport, we totally felt like we were in an English speaking western country. It actually felt a lot like home. You could instantly see how multi cultural Auckland was and recognised all the western brands that were presented exactly like they would be at home. Hertz car rental to the obligatory airport McDonalds. They were all there and the familiarity of it all felt good. 

We contacted Jucy to get our camper van and made our way to the exit. That's when NZ felt all too like England. It was grey and windy and pouring down with rain! But we weren't going to let that ruin our high. 

Off we went to the Jucy base and were greeted by lovely staff, we signed the contract and headed to our van to get the run down. Our excitement soon turned to apprehension as we saw how small the Condo van was. There was no real storage pace and with 2 large back packs and other bits and pieces we started to wonder if we have made a mistake! Should we have hired a motorhome instead we both thought? 

Anyway, what was done was done and we were about to have a memorable month no matter what!

We bundled everything into the van and headed straight to Pak'n'Save for groceries.

The rain was not stopping and the thought of looking for a campsite in this soggy weather was not appealing at all. Thankfully we had a saving grace.. Aunty Pushpa! We had never met her and her family before but she was friends with Mum so she opened her home up to us and even cooked us nice Indian meals which we had been craving for all too long.

We planned to start our road trio the next day but the weather had other plans. It rained all night and day which meant we couldn't really do anything or begin to sort and set up our van. So we headed to Kmart for the essentials.

Picnic mat
Head torches
Extra warm socks and clothing 
More groceries from Countdown.

We had a tour around Auckland and checked out Mission Bay, Downtown and Mount Eden.

After a staggered start at aunties place, we had fresh laundry, a stocked up fridge and warmer clothing. We were finally ready to hit the road.

We had just under 4 weeks to travel North and South island and set off North first. Here is a list of all the camp sites we stayed at with reviews.

https://theflipflopfamily.net/new-zealand-in-a-jucy-campervan-2/


We tried to freedom camp every other night to keep costs down but when Ben needed a good Wi-Fi connection to watch footy or boxing  we accommodated that by staying at a Holiday Park.

Our 1st week in the North took us to these places:
- Auckland
- Gulf Harbour
- Waipu
- Ruakaka
- Paihia
- Waitangi
- Kerikeri
- Cape Reinga
- 90 mile beach
Back to Auckland

Part 2 is on the way!

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We are The Flip Flop Family, a travelling family from the UK. We ditched our routines, sold our belongings and set off to explore the World with our 2 children. Check out our other videos to find out all about us! Thanks for your support x

Check out our website for up to date info on where we have been and where we are going next at:


                                     www.theflipflopfamily.net


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