Hi, I'm Meg

March 18, 2026

I recently travelled around in this van for 10 days covering nearly 2000km so I became quite familiar Van Dora! I had the absolute best experience from the moment I booked until the very end of my trip. Craig picked me up from the Airport and gave me a very detailed run through of the van and then sent me on my way! It's a very well thought out design and has a very cozy, private and homely feel to it, and you can tell that Meg has put a lot of work into making it perfect. It was very simple to change from seats and table to a bed. The bed was very comfortable and she added linen and blankets for free. She included all the pots, pans and cutlery you need to cook a good meal and coffee etc, and the gas cooker works very effectively. She also added a brochure to read which had detailed info about the van and how to use everything, and a lot of suggestions about spots to visit. The driving experience of Van Dora took a little while to get used to. If you are used to driving a modern car or even a lot of modern vans, it is completely different to that. I would say it drives more like a small truck. It was no frills- no AC, no cruise control, crank windows, 5 speed manual. The heater worked great though. Personally I loved the simplicity of her but if you want all the creature comforts of a modern vehicle this is probably not the van for you. She also tackled the many NZ hills with absolute ease. I was genuinely so surprised! She will easily get up to 100km/h and maintain that, but I found the most comfortable cruising speed to be around 80km/h as I was in no rush to get anywhere. Something thing worth mentioning is she starts rough first thing in the morning, but never actually failed to start. Once she started, I just kept the revs up a little at idle until I went on my way. She was a turbo diesel, but I was amazed at how fuel efficient she was. I would recommend this van for that fact alone as most other vans you see on camplify are petrol and would most likely use nearly double the fuel that this did. Another big reason to hire this van is the ability to drive unlimited kilometres. Most other vans only allow 200km a day before including a surcharge. And I covered more than that on a lot of days. I also unfortunately caused some damage to the van but Meg and Craig could not have been more understanding about it. Van Dora got me everywhere I wanted to go with no hiccups at all. I am absolutely planning to hire her again in the future! Meg and Craig are absolutely legends, and I would recommend anyone to give this van a try!

February 25, 2026

Lovely holiday, the Van was reliable and brought us wherever we needed it to go :-D And it even protected us from some of the weather with its canopy! Meg is also super friendly and available for any questions!

January 3, 2026

We had the loveliest week in Van Dora exploring the North Island! She is thoughtfully designed and equipped with everything you would need for a comfortable trip. She has such a homely feel, lots of character and we had great nights sleep as well. Meg and Craig communicated really well from our first enquiry to drop off and patiently answered all our questions. We couldnt be more grateful to Craig for picking us up and allowing us to leave our bags at their house to save space in the van. Amazing experience overall and we would happily rent Van Dora again! Thank you both :)

November 30, 2025

My holiday up the east coast/coromandel was amazing! Does is such a cute cozy little van, would so hire again! Had a some issues with starting and did have to jump start it a couple times but no issues other than this. Easy solve. Definitely recommended!

August 30, 2025

Awesome couple of nights exploring the. Van pick up and drop off was easy, the bed comfy and easy to put up and take down and the kitchen / fridge was perfect size for us! Meg left some simple pantry items in the van and great coffee! Would definitely rent Van Dora again, it worked out heaps cheaper than getting an air bnb as we just used Campermate to find places to free camp.