Green Celery
North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Auckland ▷
0.5/5
We had a truly great holiday in a Maui River with two young children for 2 months.
Vehicle was the perfect size for a family of 4, and it's great to travel round NZ by campervan.
However, Maui markets themselves as a premium operator, but the pre-departure vehicle checks they do are anything but premium, hence the poor rating. I get the impression from reading other reviews on the Maui website that you can be lucky or very unlucky with the campervan condition.
We were initially given a brand new vehicle which was in great condition but the engine broke down. Not Maui's fault: just unlucky. But the replacement vehicle, delivered to us in a campground, was in shocking condition. It took us a full day at the mechanic to get it into a functioning condition, with usable table and working cabin door, and we had multiple further mechanic visits. The rear window was not watertight. One tyre was so worn it was not in legal condition and was seriously underinflated. One side light was not screwed in and was hanging down on a wire. The vehicle registration had expired. Etc etc etc. In other words, Maui supplied a campervan which was not watertight, not in roadworthy condition, not properly licensed and with multiple serious defects with the cabin equipment.
On the positive side, THL's on road team were excellent, but no renter should have to spend excessive amounts of time at mechanics just because the vehicle wasn't checked out prior to rental.
Vehicle pickup in Auckland was very fast and efficient, despite the branch being very busy. But much of the information we were given by the staff was simply wrong, and several pieces of equipment we had paid for were missing (e.g. GPS). We were also given a child seat which was missing a part. I would recommend to future renters that you read beforehand exactly what is and is not included as part of the rental, and make sure that it is in the van. Check the function of every single thing.
North Island ▷ Rotorua Region ▷ Reporoa ▷
5.0/5
Just a car park, but arguably the car park with the best view in New Zealand.
The view over the lake to the terraces is stunning, and we sat back and watched a geyser erupt every half an hour. And we were the only people there.
Directly next to the car park, hot water flows from the ground into the lake: we swam there, though in places the bottom is so hot it's uncomfortable. I would recommend you arrive before closing time and ask them where you should swim.