Thread: Hunting Permits

Originally Posted by Nick-UK

Hello Longshot, that makes sense, I will be ticking lots of boxes. I haven't yet finalised my plan of travel but I'm thinking the Arthurs Pass area first, then out to WestCoast, then maybe up to Kahurangi or down to Fiordland, too much to see really.

Depending how you are travelling, one option to consider for getting up to Arthurs pass is the Trans Alpine train, if you start from Christchurch, you can hop off at Arthurs pass or Otira and you are almost as close as you would get with a car(disclaimer I haven't actually hunted around these parts so someone may be along shortly to correct me). After you have hunted around the area, you could get the next train to West Coast and pick up a rental car from the railway station in Greymouth.

Another option to consider for travelling is this website:

https://www.transfercar.co.nz/

It is all the rental cars that need to do an empty run to get back to their home depot. More than half our tourists drive south instead of north in rental cars, so there is always a pool of free trips going north, sometimes going the other way too. If you are flexible about day and type of car and happy to bridge the gaps with public transport it can work really well, I use it a lot myself and really rate it as an option.
It won't cover your whole trip, but it could save you some dollars if that is one of your priorities and you can make it work.

I have a funny feeling that rental vehicles aren't insured for the Rainbow Road, but driving through there is a couple of days well spent if you get the chance (it is 4WD only), there are several DOC huts along the road that are vehicle accessible and deer in there too and you could tack on the Molesworth as well after a soak at Hanmer if you start the Rainbow from St Arnaud.

The South Island is a great place to travel, I spent a few days in Snowdonia in Wales a few years back and it reminded me very much of our South Island High Country.

Also getting on to deer with a bow in the Sth Island will be a challenge, I wouldn't depend on it for meat but you will still have an awesome time as long as you pack some freeze dry nose bags for if you don't any venison. Ask around here and someone will point you toward some goats though, they are easy to find, sneak up on and plentiful enough in certain places that not many people are precious about their goat hunting spot.

Originally Posted by longshot

I have a funny feeling that rental vehicles aren't insured for the Rainbow Road, but driving through there is a couple of days well spent if you get the chance (it is 4WD only), there are several DOC huts along the road that are vehicle accessible and deer in there too and you could tack on the Molesworth as well after a soak at Hanmer if you start the Rainbow from St Arnaud.

The South Island is a great place to travel, I spent a few days in Snowdonia in Wales a few years back and it reminded me very much of our South Island High Country.

Basically no rental car agency will let you take them off road, I know someone who hired a Hilux a couple of years ago and even that had a no gravel disclaimer in the policy, didn't stop him but it was in there.

You will definitely need to obtain a Molesworth permit and not all blocks are available year round. Molesworth

Some good info there, Longshot and HappyJack, many thanks. I have contacted 4wd rental companies and yes they do say their vehicles are not allowed off road, which is a bit pointless really. I haven't as yet looked into trains, that would be a good idea, otherwise I'd being paying out hire fees for a car parked up for a week or so. I wonder if they would mind me getting on board a train with a dead goat strapped to my rucksack, it's probably the norm in New Zealand.

There aren't many areas you can get to by train but Arthurs pass as mentioned is one. If you wrapped the goat in a blanket and bound the blanket with cord, it wouldn't cause any drama as long as it isn't over ripe.

Renting a 4x4 for 5 weeks will probably set you back in the order of around 4.5k. A lot of people that travel NZ buy a vehicle on arrival and either dump it or on sell when they leave. Obviously there are pros and cons with both options.
At any rate, when you have a rough plan in place, you may do well to post it up for logistical critique. You will soon find out which parts of it are realistic and not.

Forget public transport!

I picked a car up at Hokitika airport and dropped it at Christchurch airport no worries 8 days $750 not crazy expensive!