New Zealand Road Trip with Wilderness Motorhomes
New Zealand
Road Trip with Wilderness Motorhomes
For three weeks, my family and I cruised in the beautiful Wilderness Compact Plus adventuring across New Zealand’s South Island. Here I review the motorhome and share our trip!
Our south island adventure with wilderness motorhomes
In May, we had the opportunity to take out Wilderness Motorhome’s latest addition to the fleet, the Compact Plus (linked). We spent a glorious three weeks cruising in this luxurious beauty of a motorhome.
If you are travelling in a pair or with a little one, this motorhome is perfect for you. It has every feature you need to fully unwind and be self-sufficient from paid holiday parks (although we do love a good campground for our little one). In this write-up I’m going to include our favourite features and the ones we used the most while traveling in the cold autumn/winter months of New Zealand.
I’m more than happy to answer any questions regarding the company, which is phenomenal, about the motorhome and our trip.
Feel free to reach out to me via email or in the comment section below.
Pick-up experience
On a cloudy May day, we landed at Christchurch Airport, excited to start our journey with Wilderness Motorhomes. We called them to let them know we arrived and a few minutes later, one of their lovely staff members picked us up, complete with a carseat for Lia.
*note they have all types of car seats on-site so you don’t have to lug yours around the airports.
We arrived at the gorgeous CC office and we were greeted with warm smiles. While Lia coloured, we talked to the staff about our trip, vehicle and coverage. Next, we were taken through an extensive tour of our Compact Plus showing us each feature, how to use the electricity, plugging in info, how to use the gas, the heating (YES THIS VEHICLE HAS HEATING!!! I was very happy), plus all the compartments and driving instructions.
After a thorough chat, we felt comfortable taking our new home on wheels away knowing that if we had any questions, the team was only a quick call away.
Honestly, after all the car rental and campervan rental companies we’ve dealt with in the past, this was next level. I still can’t get over how lovely the staff were and how much I enjoyed chatting with them.
Traveling in the Wilderness Compact Plus
As a family of three, the Compact Plus was the perfect size for us. Not too big to the point where it was more challenging to drive and park, and not too small where we each had space to move around, sleep and plenty of storage for all our clothes, gadgets and toys.
The Compact Plus features a king-sized bed and oh boy, did we enjoy it! Lia loved snuggling up with us each night and even with three of us in the bed, we each had more than enough room. We were also able to put Lia down, close the curtain and hang out in the front area while she went to bed earlier than us.
Having a toilet on board is something I’ll never go without again. It was especially great for our potty-training toddler and this prego Mama who needed it at night.
The kitchen was a dream for Ryan, the family head chef. With three gas burners, a sink, plus all the tools needed to cook up a feast including a toaster, roasting pans, a kettle and more. Every night we sat around the table and ate delicious home-cooked meals.
We loved the windows with flyscreens scattered throughout the motorhome and the driver and passenger seats were both overly comfortable and full of spaces for drinks, snacks and more. They even added a safe place for your phone to use GPS during the drive. The TV was a bonus as well although we barely needed it with all the time we spent hiking and enjoying New Zealand’s great outdoors.
Running on diesel meant cheap fill-ups, plus Wilderness vehicles are only a few years old, each having great mileage for a bigger vehicle.
Rent the Wilderness Compact Plus Motorhome for your next New Zealand road trip!
features you never knew you needed
Wilderness has truly thought of everything when it comes to designing their motorhomes. Features I didn’t even know could exist were added and it’s safe to say I never want to go back to a basic campervan. These were a few of our favourite add-ons that we loved!
Onboard Oven - Three gas burner hobs are a luxury for cooking big meals like we love to do, but this vehicle also has an oven! We were able to roast up veggies during the trip and even enjoy some frozen pizza. Win win!
Gas heating - Oh dear gas heating, I love you so. From someone who is almost always freezing (and has to pee multiple times a night, hello second pregnancy), I was thrilled for gas heating. Without plugging into power each night, we were able to stay toasty in our Compact Plus in the middle of the mountains on -5C nights.
Flyscreen - If you know New Zealand, you know sandflies are everywhere and the last friends you want hanging out in your home on wheels. Wilderness has added an insect screen to main door so you can enjoy the outdoors without letting in the outdoors. Ideal for those nasty biting pests.
Suitcase storage - An amenity we were thrilled to have! Actual storage and a massive one at that to put all our luggage, smelly hiking boots, hiking poles, basically anything we didn’t use on a daily basis, tucked away in the back storage of the motorhome. It made the organisational side of things so much better.
Bathroom shelves - I’m usually terrible at sticking to my nighttime routines especially on the road, but thanks to the spacious bathroom and multiple shelves, I could organise all my skincare products, makeup, bathroom products on the shelves and have easy access to them at any point of the day. Loved loved this feature.
BBQ camp-set up - Another great add-on Wilderness provides is a BBQ with an outdoor table and chairs. We loved having the opportunity to cook outside and enjoy the fresh air with a mountain view.
On-board wifi - A bonus for anyone working on the go like us! Having WiFi meant we didn’t need to drain our personal data use nor connect to wifi throughout the trip. It works on cell service, which is non-existent in many places on the South Island, but all for the better to unplug and truly enjoy the Wilderness experience.
Thank you Wilderness motorhomes!
I just want to reiterate how wonderful our experience with Wilderness was. From the pick-up to the drop-off, the staff were wonderful, the vehicle was beyond what I expected and I cannot recommend them enough. And as a New Zealand family business, you feel good supporting them, and if that isn’t enough to make you consider them for your next campervan holiday, check out The Wilderness Difference.
Thanks again Wilderness, we will never forget this wonderful family trip.
As I stated before, please feel free to message me with any questions!
Happy traveling,
Viktoria
ad / promo work: We worked with Wilderness on this trip to create content for their brand