By Sharon Loh

When we decided to rent a campervan for our New Zealand vacation in early May, we did not figure on it being close to the start of winter.

Everyone said it was a great way to see the country. My husband, who had fond memories of road trips in his childhood in a Winnebago, agreed.

Our nine- and 10-year-old girls were thrilled at the prospect of sleeping and eating in "the car" (so not allowed in our Toyota Picnic).

I, for my part, had some reservations. My idea of an en-suite bathroom did not include having to empty it myself. But I agreed to try it for a week.

Besides, the idea of combining accommodation with transport, and perhaps saving some money, appealed to me. As it turned out, we probably did not save that much. The motorhome cost us about NZ$130 (S$105) a day during the off-peak shoulder season, with an additional charge per day for campsites, averaging about $40.

A two-bedroom motel suite generally costs upwards of $120 per day and a cheap rental for a seven-seat van about $60 a day.

View of a lake at Christchurch

The chill of oncoming winter was also less than ideal, though Kiwi motels were not much warmer. We had one tiny heater close to the floor which we stood in front of to warm our legs. Nobody went to bed without a hat on.

But we all look back on the experience affectionately, even I, who insisted on using the on-board loo as little as possible and never for "number two", and would make cold treks in the middle of the night to a campsite toilet.

Our week-long loop took us from Christchurch to the west coast via Arthur's Pass and the Southern Alps, then north-east through Greymouth, Murchison, St Arnaud and Nelson before turning south back to Christchurch through Kaikoura (see map below).

The biggest campervan and motorhome operator in New Zealand is Tourism Holdings, which owns the rental companies Maui (premium), Britz (mid-range) and Backpacker (budget).

We rented a Maui Spirit 4 motorhome for NZ$905 for a week, which came with kitchen equipment (stove, microwave oven) and utensils, bed linen and bath towels.

It also carried 95 litres of fresh water, though to be honest, that did not last much beyond preparation and washing up for one meal, let alone four showers.

Our home on wheels (6.1m x 2.25m x 2.95m) seemed spacious enough to me but my husband swore he remembered the Winnebago as being much bigger.

I put the disparity down to his childhood memory upsizing reality, but he was right. Do not expect Kiwi recreational vehicles to be as spacious as American ones. They are far more compact, so be prepared to be cosy.

To sleep in the motorhome, the passenger and dining area in the back has to be folded down every night to make a bed, with the seat cushions doubling as the mattress.

Above the driver's cabin is another bed for two. It is accessed by a ladder and probably not recommended for the claustrophobic.

New Zealand is remarkably wellkitted out for campervan travel and camping, with many holiday parks in scenic areas where you can hook up your van for the night to a power outlet, use the bathroom facilities and empty or fill your water tank. The fees start from about $12 a night per adult.

You can get maps and directories easily at rental companies. Some holiday parks, especially those run by private companies such as Top 10, even have kitchens, Internet access, TV rooms and playgrounds.

Expect to pay a premium starting from $40 for two persons per night overall for these more plush holiday parks.

Many campgrounds are run by the country's Department of Conservation, often in the most stunning locations.

My fondest memory is of the DOC Kerr bay campsite on the shores of Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park. Arriving in the dark after a long drive from Arthur's Pass, we could hear the lake but could not see it.

Somehow, we found our way to the campervan site, hooked up and went to sleep in the cold darkness.

In the morning, I ventured out of our vehicle and was greeted by a stunning view of the lake with mist rising from it and snow-capped alps across the water.

Town of Christchurch

We cooked our breakfast of bacon and eggs with that view through our window while the children fed ducks and broke the ice crusts on puddles outside.

For a week, we experienced the wonderful liberation of a campervan road trip.

Of course, it is also limiting - parking one's outsized vehicle in an urban area can be a tad unsettling.

There were also one or two nuisances to deal with, such as poor drainage resulting in a flooded shower.

But it is also a great enabler of adventure. There was serendipity in stopping wherever we wanted and exploring without the deadlines of bookings or meals.

This, we discovered on our second morning, on our way to Arthur's Pass, when we drove past wonderful limestone outcrops in an area called Castle Hill.

Stopping the van by the road, we made some sandwiches and went for an unscheduled walk, ending with an impromptu picnic atop one of the rocks.

I figured we had done something right on our first night, in a damp, dark campervan site - a large field marked out with parking spaces - near a town called Springfield.

Our first meal in the campervan could hardly be simpler - spaghetti in a freshly made sauce of tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and herbs.

As we cranked up the heater, drew the curtains and sat down to eat, our knees touching under the small table, the children declared it the best spaghetti they had ever had.

I like to think that being together, safe in our motorhome while the rain fell softly outside, had something to do with it.

Rent a motorhome Maui Tel: +800-2008-0801 (international toll-free) Website: www.maui.co.nz Price: NZ$200 (S$162) per day and upwards for Maui Spirit 4 (above), NZ$230 per day and upwards for Maui Spirit 6 ♠ Price includes standard insurance with excess ♠ Limited availability during current peak season ♠ Minimum 10-day hire during December peak period Britz Tel: +800-2008-0801 (international toll-free) Website: www.britz.co.nz Price: NZ$230 per day for Explorer 4-berth, NZ$259 per day for Frontier 6-berth (limited availability during peak season) ♠ Price includes standard insurance with excess ♠ Minimum 10-day hire during December peak period How to get there Singapore Airlines, Qantas, British Airways and Emirates fly to a number of destinations in New Zealand, with some code-sharing with Air New Zealand. The main gateways to the North and South islands are Auckland and Christchurch. See www.zuji.com.sg for competitive prices.

sharonl@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Dec 16, 2008.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.