Camper Packing List for Families: New Zealand with Kids

What the camper already comes with

Before you start packing: the camper isn't a tent. All our vehicles come with a full set of cooking equipment, bedding, and a basic first-aid kit. That cuts down what families need to pack considerably, no sleeping bags, no camping dishes, no tent.

What's actually on board depends on the model. Check the list quickly before you set off and confirm it with the depot, nothing is more frustrating than a missing pot lid on your first evening.

Must-pack items for kids

There are no shortcuts here. Some things are genuinely essential for a New Zealand trip with kids, and some of them are hard to find locally, expensive, or simply not available in the quality you want.

The child seat is the most important item, best brought from Germany. In New Zealand, seats are only available in limited numbers and are often expensive or in poor condition through third-party rental. Ask at airport check-in about checking it in for free, many airlines allow this. Bringing the seat as carry-on is the safest option.

SPF 50+ sunscreen in large quantities is essential, and we mean really large quantities. UV radiation in New Zealand is noticeably more intense than in Central Europe, even under cloud cover. Apply sunscreen to kids and reapply every two hours, the ozone layer over the South Pacific is thinner.

• Child seat or rear-facing seat: bring from Germany, limited availability in NZ
• Rain gear: jacket and waterproof trousers for everyone
• Sturdy hiking shoes for kids, no sandals for wet ground
• Swimwear and flip-flops for holiday park pools
• Head torch for every child, campsites have no street lighting
• A labelled water bottle for each child
• SPF 50+ sunscreen in large quantities, NZ's UV radiation is significantly more intense than in Europe

Health & safety

Sandflies are the most underestimated issue on a New Zealand trip with kids. These tiny insects (namu in Māori) are everywhere in Fiordland and along the West Coast. Their bites don't hurt at the time, but the reaction comes later: an intense itch that lasts for days. Kids scratch the bites open, which makes infection more likely.

The solution: a DEET-based repellent, long clothing in the evening and early morning, closing the camper windows from sunset onward. Inside the camper itself, sandflies aren't an issue. The worst times are dusk and early morning, the worst places are Milford Sound, Fiordland, and the West Coast.

Motion sickness is a real issue on New Zealand's coastal roads: the road from Christchurch to Kaikōura, the whole West Coast, the road to Milford Sound, all very winding. Get motion sickness tablets or patches in advance.

• Motion sickness tablets or patches: NZ's coastal roads are very winding
• DEET-based sandfly repellent: essential for Fiordland, the West Coast, Franz Josef
• Children's medicine: fever suppositories, pain relief, plasters, wound disinfectant
• Type I plug adapter: NZ sockets (Australian format), no charging without one

Getting set up digitally

New Zealand has large dead zones, and that's not always a bad thing. In national parks, in Fiordland, and on the West Coast there's no 4G, and sometimes no signal at all. That's nice for staying focused on the experience, but inconvenient if you need navigation.

The solution: download offline areas for both islands in Google Maps in advance and turn on offline map mode in the Campermate app, so you can find campsites, toilets, and petrol stations even without signal. An NZ SIM card from Spark or One NZ at the airport is cheaper and more reliable than roaming.

• Download Google Maps offline areas in advance, no signal in national parks
• NZ SIM card: Spark or One NZ at the airport, cheaper than roaming
• Set up the Campermate app for offline use: campsites, toilets, petrol stations without signal
• Tablet or e-reader for long driving days and evenings at the campsite

What you can safely leave at home

A New Zealand camper trip doesn't need full camping gear. Bedding is already in the vehicle, summer nights are mild, and the camper has limited storage space. Packing less means more overview and less stress.

Wheeled suitcases are the most common mistake on camper trips with kids: they don't fit under the beds, they block the walkway, and they're useless on gravel roads. Soft backpacks or foldable bags stack flexibly and disappear under the mattress.

• Sleeping bags: bedding is already in the camper, NZ summer nights are mild
• Wheeled suitcases: impractical in the camper, soft bags or backpacks are better
• Lots of toys: one favourite stuffed animal and a card game are enough for weeks
• Heavy rain jackets: lightweight hardshell jackets protect just as well and weigh almost nothing

Entertainment and activities for long driving days

A 200-kilometre drive looks different with kids than without. New Zealand's long stretches, Christchurch to Queenstown via the Lindis Pass, Wellington to Auckland via Rotorua, or the West Coast from Greymouth to Queenstown, each run 4 to 7 hours straight. That needs a strategy.

Audiobooks for kids work without a screen and keep children of any age occupied. Card games like UNO or Dobble fit in any jacket pocket and need no power. Travel games for the road: guessing words, categories without pen and paper, I-packed-my-suitcase, all with no pieces and no prep needed. Plan your first stop after an hour, then another after 90 minutes. That keeps energy levels up better than driving straight through.

Toddlers benefit from a daily structure that stays consistent even though the location changes every day: the same wake-up, the same breakfast routine in the camper, then driving, then an activity, then a lunch break, then on again. Kids adapt to new routines within a day or two, and afterwards they often remember the driving days as fondly as the highlights.

For the really long stretches: don't feel guilty about planning in a film or a short video episode. It's worth downloading content offline to a tablet or phone beforehand, since there's barely any signal in many parts of New Zealand. A combination of audiobook, games, and a short film at the end works for almost every age group.

What kids really love about a camper holiday

What will they remember later? Often not the most expensive thing, but the most genuine one: cooking on the gas stove in the camper, pancakes in the morning by the lake, the picnic they put together themselves.

The freedom to roam around the campsite, meet other kids from all over the world, be outside in the evening with no time pressure, that's something special for kids of every age. No activity coordinator, no structure imposed from outside, just nature and family. Travellers to New Zealand regularly tell us their kids name the camper weeks as their favourite part of the whole trip. It's often not the big highlights that stick, but dinner at the campsite, the sheep by the road, or making pancakes on the gas stove for the first time.