Picture
this... Dazed American driver, with worn out family, piling a month's
worth of stuff and five passengers into cozy quarters. Seating for three
in the front. Two in the back sitting at a table. Too often
things slid off of the table into the shower! The seat belts kept
the kids from ending up in the shower.
The campervan was the size of a U-Haul $29/day rental truck, powered by a 2.2L diesel engine. The engine is under the seat. Cute little thing; built on a Mitsubishi truck frame. In fifth gear, floored, downhill, with a tail wind, it still took at least 3 minutes to get from 80km/h to 100km/h (about 60mph). 100km/h is the legal top speed on the major highways. You can tell which the major highways since they are the ones usually with a shoulder (useful when playing chicken with a semi).
We rented the biggest model campervan they offered, a 6-berth. There were two tables that would collapse into double beds. The girls claimed the cab over bunk. There was a shower (never used), a gas stove (also never used), a refrigerator (well used), and microwave oven mounted over the sink. The surprise/bummer was that it only had an electric furnace, so our only option was to stay in established campgrounds.
Driving on the left... I had everyone trained to yell at me loudly and directly whenever I was making a booboo. My regular booboos were... 1) driving on the wrong side of the road, and 2) driving too far to the left. Generally, the only time I had a problem driving on the wrong (right) side was when I didn't have any other cars around to give me a visual cue, such as pulling onto a empty road with no lane markings. There were a few times I drifted too far to the left also. I took out a orange traffic cone, slapped a few tree branches, and spooked myself by getting too close the gutter a couple times. No cars, no people, no buildings... altogether, I'd say I did damn good! I may be the only one to say that though... I kept hearing complaints of whiplash!
Oddities of driving on the left... It was really strange shifting a manual 5-on-the-floor tranny with my left hand. First gear is was in the same position as in the states: to the far left. This is away from the driver, as compared to closer to the driver as in the US. Every once in a while I'd have a hell of a time finding first gear at an intersection. Reverse is seldom a good choice! Whiplash! The other trippy thing was that the turn signal lever is on the right-hand side of the column. I wonder if people had clue that I was turning when my windshield wipers were on...?? After getting back home, it took me a month to retrain myself on where to find the turn signals. I'm sure glad they didn't change the order of the clutch, brake and gas peddles!
The campervan parks we stayed at ranged from acceptable
to very nice... play grounds, game rooms, showers, laundry.
Some had heated pools!
I thought about doing a photo essay on stainless steel urinals.
There were
Local lingo... A campervan is a motorhome (it has an engine),
while a caravan is a just a trailer.
Maui Rentals
New Zealand - It's Magic with Maui