OUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME
04 JULY 2022
View out the back of the camper at Lake Tekapo
This Was Way More Than What We Expected
When we picked up our camper, we did not expect to find what we found. Even though we had driven past these campers a million times before, they were so much more spacious and packed with more features than we ever thought possible.
On arrival we were given a quick briefing which was very educational and covered off all the camper (do's and don'ts). This didn't take too long at all and then we were free to hit the road.
The girls couldn't help but notice the big spacious bed above the drivers cabin and went up to explore. Although a little dark towards the end (our girls don't like the dark very much) it was a fun experience for them see a bed all the way up there! The ladder can be easily moved and stored away up the top and there is a net that attaches to stopped us from falling out while we are sleeping.
The girls had a window seat right next to each other which was perfect. Sienna being young still needed a car seat, so we hired one from Britz and it went it super easy and it was comfortable.
The same seats where the girls were sitting was one of the main table areas for eating relaxing. In this camper there are two tables which was really cool. One of which was where the girls were and it made it easy to put pens and paper for drawing to keep the girls entertained along the way. The other is right at the back of the camper which had a swing table which you can easily remove. Both of these areas fold down to make beds.
We slept at the back of the camper (of course next to the fridge and food lol) and this also folded into a bed by lowering the table. Somedays during the trip, we just left our bed made up making it super easy to stop and just hop into bed.
On arrival we were given a quick briefing which was very educational and covered off all the camper (do's and don'ts). This didn't take too long at all and then we were free to hit the road.
The girls couldn't help but notice the big spacious bed above the drivers cabin and went up to explore. Although a little dark towards the end (our girls don't like the dark very much) it was a fun experience for them see a bed all the way up there! The ladder can be easily moved and stored away up the top and there is a net that attaches to stopped us from falling out while we are sleeping.
The girls had a window seat right next to each other which was perfect. Sienna being young still needed a car seat, so we hired one from Britz and it went it super easy and it was comfortable.
The same seats where the girls were sitting was one of the main table areas for eating relaxing. In this camper there are two tables which was really cool. One of which was where the girls were and it made it easy to put pens and paper for drawing to keep the girls entertained along the way. The other is right at the back of the camper which had a swing table which you can easily remove. Both of these areas fold down to make beds.
We slept at the back of the camper (of course next to the fridge and food lol) and this also folded into a bed by lowering the table. Somedays during the trip, we just left our bed made up making it super easy to stop and just hop into bed.
The space above was huge!
Well, that's one way to sleep!
Our Very First Night Sleeping In The Camper Was... Ummmm.... Oh Dear
What can I say....... Our very first night, we wanted to experience camper living at its finest. No fancy campgrounds with a pool, no 'rock up, pay a few dollars and plug into power' none of that. It was raw and real freedom camping. We found a great little spot called Mackenzie Waitaki RV Camping (click here for the map).
We had seen pictures and thought what an amazing little spot. So when we left Britz Campervan Hire, it took us just under 3 hours to get there, which isn't too bad and the drive down was amazing.
One thing we were hesitant about was driving the campervan. Lets face it, they are HUGE. We weren't too sure that we knew how to handle it.. To our amazement it actually felt like driving a normal sized car, believe it or not. It handled really well and it didn't feel like we were driving a bus so yeeeeha.
When we got to the Mackenzie Waitaki RV Camping spot, it was so nice. It's tucked off the main Fairlie-Tekapo Road and although not fully private from the main road itself but there were some spots that were more private than others and it wasn't too noisy. There is a toilet block as well, so you didn't have to use the toilet in the camper if you didn't want to. When we got arrived there was only one other vehicle there, but later on we discovered it started to fill up with a couple more campers.
Sooooo... as the sun started to drop and the temperature certainly started to drop. It was time for some good old fashioned heating. Who doesn't want heat in the South Island where it snows right? So over to the switches board to start looking at firing up the good old auxiliary battery. The volt meter which measures how much power we have in the batteries... well.. was showing signs that.... maybe.... there was none?
We did receive instructions on how to reset things when it comes to this, so we tried everything! no luck... we had no power. The only way was to start the engine and run it, otherwise no power. We made phone calls to the company to see if we could arrange a backup battery but at that time of the night it was too hard to do anything. So our first night, was a little chilly and less comfortable then we thought and it got COLD. Thankfully, we were heading towards Tekapo and there was a business there that could help us replace the battery.
So while we are here in the cold, now is probably a great time to talk about some of the aspects of the camper.
We had seen pictures and thought what an amazing little spot. So when we left Britz Campervan Hire, it took us just under 3 hours to get there, which isn't too bad and the drive down was amazing.
One thing we were hesitant about was driving the campervan. Lets face it, they are HUGE. We weren't too sure that we knew how to handle it.. To our amazement it actually felt like driving a normal sized car, believe it or not. It handled really well and it didn't feel like we were driving a bus so yeeeeha.
When we got to the Mackenzie Waitaki RV Camping spot, it was so nice. It's tucked off the main Fairlie-Tekapo Road and although not fully private from the main road itself but there were some spots that were more private than others and it wasn't too noisy. There is a toilet block as well, so you didn't have to use the toilet in the camper if you didn't want to. When we got arrived there was only one other vehicle there, but later on we discovered it started to fill up with a couple more campers.
Sooooo... as the sun started to drop and the temperature certainly started to drop. It was time for some good old fashioned heating. Who doesn't want heat in the South Island where it snows right? So over to the switches board to start looking at firing up the good old auxiliary battery. The volt meter which measures how much power we have in the batteries... well.. was showing signs that.... maybe.... there was none?
We did receive instructions on how to reset things when it comes to this, so we tried everything! no luck... we had no power. The only way was to start the engine and run it, otherwise no power. We made phone calls to the company to see if we could arrange a backup battery but at that time of the night it was too hard to do anything. So our first night, was a little chilly and less comfortable then we thought and it got COLD. Thankfully, we were heading towards Tekapo and there was a business there that could help us replace the battery.
So while we are here in the cold, now is probably a great time to talk about some of the aspects of the camper.
- The drivers cockpit area ( is that what you call it? ) The seats spin around from facing forward to facing back. pretty cool aye?
- The air-conditioning unit is the front is so strong and powerful that you can use it as a hair dryer - Tash did after the Tekapo Hot Springs!
- The camper comes with a full bottle of LPG for cooking which is hooked up to a really nice stove. Easy to cook on.
- The sink is small, but you have hot and cold water and the hot gets really hot too!
- The fridge is small and comes with a very small compartment as a freezer. We found for us there was enough room to store food for what we needed.
- There is diesel heating on board as well as a plug in heater
- The shower pressure in our camper was excellent, wayyyyy better than we were expecting.
- The toilet was on a pump flush ( button flush ) which means bye bye to the good old foot pump where you have to stomp stomp stomp to get the water to flush your waste away.
- The list goes on ! These campers are incredible.
The view from our freedom camping spot
Pasta and views
Brrr it was oooone chilly morning!
We Survived The Night
Surprisingly we survived the night! We got up nice and early and made our way to Lake Tekapo which is where we did our first empty of the toilet cassette (the little wee box under the toilet where all the poos and wees go).
It's a weird thing to be talking about, but why not give our experience right? When you pick up your camper, you will be briefed on how to empty it and there are really good how to videos as well. We added a blue chemical block before we used it and we want to be the first to tell you that there was no smell! Everything just glided right out of there without a hitch. Tekapo has a nice clean dump station. I would highly recommend you grab a few different size hose connectors. You can't guarantee there will be one still attached when you get to the dump station and you'll need to fill up with clean water and also watch out your cassette and the dump station area.
One of the things about his camper was the windows. Being able to pull up next to the lake and have the window right there at the table was so nice. Hot cuppa in one hand and a view right there. We all loved Lake Tekapo so much and we were basically the only ones there which is a once in a blue moon kinda thang! The camper does have some opening windows as well to let in a nice breeze if you feel like it, however with warm wooly hats on, we'll just keep those closed for now.
It's a weird thing to be talking about, but why not give our experience right? When you pick up your camper, you will be briefed on how to empty it and there are really good how to videos as well. We added a blue chemical block before we used it and we want to be the first to tell you that there was no smell! Everything just glided right out of there without a hitch. Tekapo has a nice clean dump station. I would highly recommend you grab a few different size hose connectors. You can't guarantee there will be one still attached when you get to the dump station and you'll need to fill up with clean water and also watch out your cassette and the dump station area.
One of the things about his camper was the windows. Being able to pull up next to the lake and have the window right there at the table was so nice. Hot cuppa in one hand and a view right there. We all loved Lake Tekapo so much and we were basically the only ones there which is a once in a blue moon kinda thang! The camper does have some opening windows as well to let in a nice breeze if you feel like it, however with warm wooly hats on, we'll just keep those closed for now.
View out the back of the camper at Lake Tekapo
Warm camper and fantastic views
Glentanner, Here We Come
We arrived at this wonderful place called Glentanner Park. We grabbed a powered site for the night and you could actually choose your own site which was really cool. You simply drive around to all the powered site areas and pick one! We chose a spot that was semiprivate, but also had a mountain view.
With our camper we added on table and chairs to our package which store really nicely in the underneath storage compartment. These were super handy and we only used them a couple of times really, but it was nice in Glentanner to sit outside and have breakfast as the sun came up.
The stove was really easy to use. You do need to jump outside of the camper, open up the storage area under the camper where the LPG bottle is stored and turn it on. We found this way of cooking easy. There was a window right there as well so we could open that up and that lets all the nice smelling aromas just drift on out to the neighbouring campers (I'm sure their mouth would have been watering with some of the meals we were cooking up!)
With our camper we added on table and chairs to our package which store really nicely in the underneath storage compartment. These were super handy and we only used them a couple of times really, but it was nice in Glentanner to sit outside and have breakfast as the sun came up.
The stove was really easy to use. You do need to jump outside of the camper, open up the storage area under the camper where the LPG bottle is stored and turn it on. We found this way of cooking easy. There was a window right there as well so we could open that up and that lets all the nice smelling aromas just drift on out to the neighbouring campers (I'm sure their mouth would have been watering with some of the meals we were cooking up!)
Our home for the week
Sienna enjoying her brekkie
Happy girls, ready to hit the road
Finding Places To Stay Was A Breeze
Even though this particular blog is around the camper itself. We just wanted to write about how easy it was to find places to stay in the South Island. We'd done the freedom camping experience which was amazing and we'd done the paid campgrounds as well.
One particular app that REALLY helped us a lot was Campermate. If you search Campermate on your app store you can download it and use it to find campsites to stay in, freedom camping spots, places to empty your toilet cassette and even provide reviews from people around certain areas. It's 100% worth downloading and we'd highly recommend it.
One particular app that REALLY helped us a lot was Campermate. If you search Campermate on your app store you can download it and use it to find campsites to stay in, freedom camping spots, places to empty your toilet cassette and even provide reviews from people around certain areas. It's 100% worth downloading and we'd highly recommend it.
Nice spot to camp at River Haven
Yum, yum, pig's bum!
We Are All About Comfort
If you have never experienced a camper before (like us) we had so many questions about them and also being as best prepared as we can. One of the things which was important to us was the comfort of the beds. The beds in the Britz camper were surprisingly really comfortable and easy to make up. We chose a 6 berth as well, so we had extra bedding as well which was nice.
The very top bed above the driver's cabin is the most spacious, but we wanted to be down the bottom and close to the kids on the lower floor. The bed on the lower floor was nice but not as big as the top bed. Still plenty of room.
The camper was really well thought out with cupboards everywhere in all kids of places. We took quite a few clothes so there was plenty of space to store them. Same with the food we carried on board, plenty of cupboard space.
The camper came with everything you need. No need to worry about bringing cups, plates, cook utensils, even towels... they have you covered.
The very top bed above the driver's cabin is the most spacious, but we wanted to be down the bottom and close to the kids on the lower floor. The bed on the lower floor was nice but not as big as the top bed. Still plenty of room.
The camper was really well thought out with cupboards everywhere in all kids of places. We took quite a few clothes so there was plenty of space to store them. Same with the food we carried on board, plenty of cupboard space.
The camper came with everything you need. No need to worry about bringing cups, plates, cook utensils, even towels... they have you covered.
The playground at the Amber Kiwi Holiday Park
There's nothing better than autumn leaves crunching under your shoes
Mappy McMap Face
Conclusion
Britz campers come with our highest recommendation. From awesome service upfront, great communication when we had our first little mishap with the battery, all the way to the handover at the end. Just brilliant. We cannot wait to do this all over again!
Gallery of Britz Camping Experience
Check out the rest of the awesomeness that didn't make it to the main blog but deserves to be shown.
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