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Two campervan tales: flood displacement in NZ and a Toyota Hiace breakdown

14.07.2026 10:52 1 min 2 sources
RNZ ENG + 1 more
Two campervan tales: flood displacement in NZ and a Toyota Hiace breakdown
© RNZ / Nate McKinnon

In Brief

A Canterbury couple lives in a campervan after a flood, while US tourists take legal action over a broken Toyota Hiace.

Two separate campervan-related stories have emerged in New Zealand. Trisha Hewlett and her partner, who bought a home in Little River, Canterbury last year, have been living in Hewlett's mother's campervan after a devastating flood in February. The house is being raised half a metre to prevent future flooding, but repairs will take several more months. Hewlett lost her job and savings, and insurance did not cover the house-raising.

In another case, US tourists Marcus Laurin and Jane Alex bought a used Toyota Hiace for $17,000 for a working holiday in New Zealand, but the vehicle broke down after three weeks. The Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal partially granted their claim, awarding compensation for the cost of a used engine to restore the campervan's functionality.

Aggregated by OpenVan.camp from the public sources listed below, with AI-assisted translation and summary. We always link to the original source. Machine translation may differ from the original -- check the source for important details. Images and content remain the property of their respective owners. Copyright information

Story sources

Flood-hit couple living in campervan months after forever home was swamped

14.07.2026 RNZ ENG Original source

Campervan breakdown leads to tribunal ruling in New Zealand

15.05.2026 NZ Herald ENG Original source

🇳🇿 New Zealand — fuel prices

Updated: 18.07.2026

Regular 91

$1.70 /l

NZD2.93 · €1.49/l

16 of 17

pricier than 88% of countries

Premium 95

$1.79 /l

NZD3.11 · €1.58/l

104 of 141

pricier than 73% of countries

Premium 98

$1.86 /l

NZD3.22 · €1.63/l

63 of 94

pricier than 66% of countries

100

$1.88 /l

NZD3.26 · €1.65/l

16 of 24

pricier than 63% of countries

Diesel

$1.40 /l

NZD2.42 · €1.23/l

64 of 142

cheaper than 56% of countries

LPG

$1.12 /l

NZD1.93 · €0.98/l

41 of 52

pricier than 77% of countries

Popular route

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VanSky - weather index · New Zealand

Best regions in the coming days

Bay of Plenty Region +13°·66 km/h
69
Auckland Region +13°·65 km/h
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64
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62
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54
Otago Region +11°·63 km/h
54

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