Big Little Campers review — New Zealand’s best small campervan?

Jul 7

Compact and perfectly designed, The Little One is easily one of New Zealand’s best campervan rentals

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For all the comforts of a campervan decked out with comfortable bedding in tasteful colours, and a kitchen cabinet complete with real cups and glasses, there’s no avoiding the grit of van life. Sand will make its way between the sheets, showers are on a weekly rather than daily schedule, ‘van clean’ becomes its own kind of standard for doing the dishes. But all of that is easily outweighed by the joy of waking up next to a beach at dawn, or beneath the shadow of high mountains.

Renting a campervan in New Zealand gets you closer to the wild places that make this country so special. A campervan will help you save on accommodation and food costs, but the main reason to choose one is for the sense of adventure that comes with having a little home on wheels; of being able to lounge in a sheet-clad bed by the beach, and make a cup of coffee to the sound of waves.

If you’re a braver driver than I am, you can rent a motorhome and have all the luxuries of a studio apartment, complete with a shower. I, however, am not a brave or particularly good driver, so the largest campervan I’m willing to drive is roughly the size of Big Little Campers’ Little One.

I recently took The Little One out for a road trip around Northland. In short, I loved it. It’s a near perfect campervan. I imagine their larger models are even better. If you want the longer version, here is my Big Little Campers review, after one week on the road.

The Little One at a glance

Big Little Campers van parked by the beach

A converted Nissan NV350 that is easy and comfortable to drive
Certified self contained (for easier freedom camping)
A 30L fridge that slots under the bed/living area
Camping tables and chairs included in the hire
A pull out kitchenette

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Introducing Big Little Campers

Big Little Campers is an independent campervan rental company which although they seem to be growing in size, still keeps things intimate. The walls at the Auckland branch are decorated with polaroids of employees and travellers alike, sharing their favourite campsites and moments from van trips. After arriving, the first thing Nicole (the customer experience manager) did – even before showing me to the van – was to sit down with a map and talk about where to go. It’s clear that a love for free-spirited van travel underpins the whole operation.

As the name suggests, this company leans more towards smaller vans rather than giant motorhomes, which suits me. I’m not sure I’ll ever be brave enough to pilot anything bigger than what these guys rent out.

If, like me, you’re a bit nervous about driving a campervan around New Zealand, I recommend checking out their campers. The main thing The Little One lacks is a shower, which doesn’t faze me. Between hot showers at paid campgrounds, and the many swimming opportunities on road trips, I don’t miss having a shower – at least, not enough to go for a significantly larger vehicle.

The campervan set up

*Everything you need to make a decent coffee*

*The ‘kitchen’ slides out from under the bed*

I chose The Little One, which is spacious enough to sit inside comfortably when raining, but still small enough that a nervous driver like me could maneuver into angle parks.

The overall aesthetic of the Little One campervan is pretty (the same can’t be said of the garishly purple and green JUCY vans, colours which loudly announce you as a tourist anywhere you go). The bedding is a mustard yellow, the exterior a tasteful tan with the branding discreet enough that people were surprised to find out that it’s a rental (I had several comments from passersby noting how nice the set up looked).

Big Little Campers have thought of everything, including the clothesline and pegs in the glovebox and the winter weight blanket and hot water bottle that came with my late June rental. They even layer rubber matting in between plates and bowls to minimise clinking while driving. Unlike some campervan companies, which charge extra for the little things, this campervan rental came equipped with a camping table and chairs.

A solar panel charges the house battery (which for the most part keeps the very convenient fridge running), which worked perfectly without needing to go to a powered site to recharge (they recommended a powered site every three days, but between driving and getting enough sunshine, the battery stayed charged).

The kitchen came with a can opener, chopping board, cups and glasses, frying pan, even coffee plunger, with everything in good condition. Instead of a tap, there’s a hose attached to the side of the sink, which was just as useful for rinsing off sandy feet as it was for doing dishes.

There are touch lights on the ceiling, and black out blinds on the windows thick enough to block out the street lights illuminating some of the freedom carparks I slept in. In the whole campervan, the only things that seemed a little older and more worn were the sheets and towels, but they were perfectly clean.

There was also plenty of storage space, which is always at a premium in a small van. Although the living space is technically convertible, once I set the bed up I left it set up – there’s no way I’m going to fuss around with setting up a table when I can just lounge on the bed. That also created convenient storage space beneath the bed, large enough for my backpack. There are a couple of shelves under the kitchen space for groceries, plus the fridge which is big enough for around three days worth of food. I’m a chronic overpacker, and the campervan never felt cluttered. With two people, space would be a little tighter, but there’s still enough room for two backpacks under the bed.

Although this campervan isn’t a high top model (i.e., it’s not tall enough to stand in) it is very comfortable to sit in. On rainy days, I made my lunch inside, sitting on the bed. I also used the cooker on the kitchen bench while holed up on a rainy evening, to make a cup of tea. It was easily spacious enough preparing food and drinks inside.

I also appreciated the dustpan and brush tucked away in the kitchen, which came in very handy for my little daily clean.

The things I didn’t love

The only things about the set up which I found a little strange was that the kitchen pantry can only be accessed from the outside (which was only annoying when I was in bed in the evening and wanted to reach for some chocolate – it might not have been the worst thing in the world that I had to climb outside and walk around to get to it).

And, the toilet is right next to the bed. It is covered by a tidy wooden box (the lid lifts up to get to the toilet) and the top of the box acts as a handy shelf, which I would set my phone or my book on. But, every now and then it did strike me that I was putting my cup of tea on the toilet, or sleeping with my head right next to it.

It’s hard to avoid this in a small campervan, but if you think it might bother you, it might be worth looking at either a larger vehicle or a different configuration.

I didn’t use the toilet, and see it mostly as a last ditch option — I only plan on staying at campsites (including freedom camping spots) that have a toilet, so I won’t need to use the one in the campervan. That’s mostly so I don’t need to deal with emptying the cassette.