Hey JUCY Lovers……….here are my tips for travelling around in our JUCY Cruiza campa! I am sure that you will find these useful and it will help you get the most out of your campa and JUCY Experience!

I have put together some tips for all our campervans so you can get the most out of your time in your JUCY Ride. I do hope that these are things you may not have thought of and help you to enhance your JUCY and campervan experience! So here are the first lot for the JUCY Crib.

If you are not a fan of carrying backpacks on and off buses, getting stuck in a seat next a man that has fallen asleep and is snoring loudly, wishing you had the freedom to stop and explore the town that the bus just drove through (face it you really liked the look of that funky looking pub), restricted to the bus routes and sleeping in 10 people dorms in hostels! If you agree with us then we recommend a campervan roadtrip for you!

A roadtrip in a campervan promises the freedom of the open road and the chance to follow your dreams and explore these amazing countries which are a perfect canvas for your trip – you just need to get going! A campervan means that you will see parts of New Zealand and Australia that people stuck to specific routes will only dream of visiting as they pass through.

There is nothing better than heading off the main roads to explore and find your own little slice of heaven. It is off the beaten track where you will enjoy the remoteness of the country. There is something both romantic and exciting about finding isolated spots which you will have all to yourself. In a campervan you decide your route, and you decide your detours! You can still visit all the tourist spots and go off to explore.

What is it like – living in a room on wheels?…….Im not going to lie, it is going to be cosy, so make sure that you get along with your travel buddy’s…………really well! I also suggest taking your clothes out of your backpacks and storing them in the storage space/cupboards in the vehicle – this is going to save you space! Its so handy having everything there. There is a sense of adventure and excitement and when it is all over a sense of acheivment, stories and memories that will last forever.

You will be cooking, sleeping, travelling and playing together for the entire time – but don’t think you wont meet other people, because you will! Don’t think about it as an anti-social option. Campsites in NZ and OZ have a great backpacker network for people travelling in campervans where a lot of socialising goes on. You will meet up with other fellow “road trippers” and you never know, you may just put together a convoy (lets face it – everyone loves a convoy).

If you are travelling on a budget, then a campervan holiday is a no brainer. You can split the travel costs with your travel buddy’s – split the cost of fuel, food (which I recommend you buy at the big supermarkets to save you money), and your travelling with your bed so sleeping costs are automatically cut. Free camping is allowed in NZ and OZ but there are rules and guidelines to follow. We always recommend that you check with the local visitor centre to see if it is allowed in the area.

Here at JUCY we like to say “You can sing as long and as loud in our campas. Try doing that on a bus and see how many friends you make!” This statement is so true! In a campervan you have the independence to do what you want when you want and if that is singing as loud as you can while driving down some windy local road then so be it!

Love
Lucy xx

Due to a number of recent fleet revisions, we decided we were well overdue to professionally photograph our fleet of JUCY vehicles. After speaking with 6 different photographers around New Zealand, it was a no brainer that Bret Lucas at www.fstopstudios.co.nz was one of the best and most recommended photographers in the industry.

What sets Bret aside from the other photographers we spoke to was his incredible attention to detail when it comes to setting up and lighting the vehicles accurately for photography. You only need to look at some of the sample photos they show on their website to get an idea of the sort of breathtaking photography that comes out of their custom built studios.

Unlike other photographers we spoke to, Fstop strongly believe the detail is all in the lighting and preparation. We visited the studio during the photo shoot and were completely blown away at how much difference it can make to the photos having our vehicles correctly prepared and lit. Previously we had taken the vehicle photos ourselves on consumer grade digital cameras, and the comparison between those photos and what we saw Bret taking is just amazing.

When asked about our 2 day photo shoot Bret says “We used the profoto lighting system to shoot the exterior images and additionally used the SB-800 for shooting interiors. Lighting is critical when shooting cars to make sure the speculars are positioned exactly. We have powerful modeling lights that allow us to see where the speculars will be prior to shooting the final images.”

Fstop Studios are one of the only companies in New Zealand with a purpose built 12m x 12m x 4m cyclorama that cars and motorbikes can be directly driven into (see photo below). This gives Bret and his team full control of every environmental aspect and allows absolutely stunning lighting configurations to be setup and photographed.

You can read more about Fstop studios on their website www.fstopstudios.co.nz and keep an eye out on our website www.jucy.co.nz for our new and updated fleet photos coming soon.

The JUCY Swift – The cutest JUCY yet!

We love our JUCY Product and the service we provide so it is great to hear feedback from travellers and lovers of JUCY! If you have any stories, photos or would like to share some JUCY Love please email me on lucy@jucy.co.nz

We asked our fans on Facebook why they love JUCY Rentals and this is what they had to say!! So much JUCY Love!

Enjoy the comments – I know we did! xx

Hannah “The way jucy is about as far from a large corporate as you can get”

Sarah “Its going to give me a free campa!!!!!”

Its still summer in NZ and the sun is shining but before you know it the ski season will be upon us and it will be time to put on those winter woolies and head for the slopes. Its always great to start thinking about your trip in advance to give you time to plan and get the best deals!!!

Here are some tips & things for you to think about when starting to look at your winter escape.

Book accommodation in advance! Places such as Queenstown and Wanaka in the South Island are very popular ski destinations and get extremely busy over the winter months. By booking in advance you not only get a great price but then you don’t have to have the stress of finding somewhere to stay last minute!

Check out the deals & think about transport! By booking in advance you will be able to get some great early bird prices on flights (and even accommodation). Also think about transport – do you want to rent a car, a campervan, take a bus etc?! Lots of people offer deals & discounts so keep an eye out! We here at JUCY will have our SKI 4 FREE promotion in conjunction with Treble Cone back for the fourth year in a row – so don’t forget to check it out before making a decision – its pretty JUCY!

Where do you want to go? Check out all the different ski fields that New Zealand has to offer! A great place to start is via snow.co.nz This website also has weather reports and up to date mountain information during the ski season.

Get some mates together! A holiday is always fun – especially with your mates! There is not only the aspect of fun – you will also be able to share costs on things such as rental cars, fuel and accommodation if you plan on sharing!

Equipment – if you are going to be skiing/snowboarding for a week and you don’t have your own equipment then rent it out for a week! Better to stand in a line once at the beginning of your holiday than every morning at the mountain!

Insurance – make sure you have the correct insurance to cover you on the mountain. We don’t like to talk about things like this, but “worst case scenario” and you need to be airlifted from the mountain you will want insurance cover! Better safe than sorry!

Mixing Skiing with Sights! Not only does New Zealand have stunning slopes but we have a lot of other amazing stuff to see! Why not think about combining your Ski Holiday with a bit of sightseeing as well! Things such as the Milford Sound, Franz Josef Glaciers, bungy jumping – the list just goes on! If you are planning on doing both research what there is to do around the ski field of your choice so you can make sure you have enough time!

Hope this helps in your planning for your NZ Snow adventure!

Love
Lucy xx

Some lovely feedback from one of our happy JUCY Travellers! We love to hear all about your time in your JUCY Campa and see photos – thanks Taylor, Alex & Dianne, we are glad you had a blast!!! xx If anyone else has any travel stories or pics please email them through to me at lucy@jucy.co.nz or you can post them on our facebook fan page! xx

Hi, My name is Taylor and here are some pics (below) from the two week long Jucy road trip I went on with my two friends Alex and Dianne. We started on January 28th and went down the Princes Highway to Melbourne, then on to the Great Ocean Road, getting back on the 10th of February.
The first one was taken in Wollongong NSW (our home town) on the day we started out.
The second is in Apollo Bay in VIC just before we started on the Ocean Road. We went into the information centre and when we came out another Jucy was parked right next to us. We saw heaps of other Jucy’s along the way and we would always honk the horn and wave and they would wave back.
The third is Dianne and Alex having dinner at the beautiful and secluded Blanket Bay camping ground in Victoria. We stayed there two nights. You can see our Jucy camper in the background.
The fourth is Alex next to Jucy at the start of the Great Ocean Road (but on the way back).

Cheers!
Taylor

JUCY LUCY got us to do an environmental audit to see what we can do better to become greener.

One of the things we found that wasn’t very environmentally friendly was the JUCY LUCY cups. These plastic drink cups were given out to all our travellers when they collected their JUCY Rides and they were filled with special offers to use around New Zealand.

While we loved the idea of giving our travellers all these discounts and offers but we needed to look at a different way of packaging them. The cups were plastic coated, couldn’t be disposed of easily, were not re-usable or recyclable. So they were going to be in a land fill for many years. This is not what we want.

So……………………………….we came up with a new & better idea!

Don’t worry we have kept the special offers, only now you get them in a big purple JUCY envelope to keep your offers safe while you travel around. Then at the end of your travels they can go into the paper recycling and be re-used!

These are the JUCY Cups that are no longer……….

and these are the new recyclable JUCY envelopes!

To see what else JUCY is doing to keep green check out the links below!

What are we doing to keep green?
Ideas for you to reduce your impact
Information on what you can do when driving in NZ to reduce your impact
Good Deeds Growing Trees
The Dirty Getaway
cityhop – New Zealand’s first car share company

Watch this space as we grow our list and do our bit to make this world a greener cleaner place!

Love
Lucy xx

New Zealand is gearing up for a massive ski season with Air New Zealand bumping up its number of flights direct from Australia to Queenstown. This is so our Aussie friends can enjoy what the NZ slopes have to offer!

Just like last year JUCY Rentals has teamed up with Treble Cone and are going to be offering SKI 4 FREE again in 2010! So watch this space for more information on our website as we get closer to the ski season!

SKI 4 FREE is a fantastic way for our customers to enjoy NZ and be able to ski the fantastic Treble Cone ski field. We are very excited to have this deal again for you 2010 and have already started our advertising campaign! For those of you lucky enough to attend the Wellington Sevens this year check out the big screens for our most recent advertising campaign!

Travellers with JUCY have enjoyed this for many years – enjoy the pictures of happy JUCY clients in their JUCY Rides up at Treble Cone! Let this inspire you and get excited about winter this year!

Love
Lucy xx

In perfect conditions on Saturday 16th, New Zealand’s own Gina Crawford showed determination and resilience to not only win the 2010 Challenge Wanaka long distance triathlon but to make it her third win in a row at the event! She managed to finish in 9:28:57, only 29 seconds outside her own race record set in 2009.

Leading from the start, JUCY Sponsored professional athlete Gina Crawford, ran a superb race to finish just in front of Australian Rebekah Keat who followed in second place in 9:30:41, while Lizbeth Kristensen, of Denmark rounded off the podium in 10:03:09.

“The swim was cold and it took a while to warm up on the bike, but from Cromwell it felt really good,” said Crawford. “It is hard to lead a race from start to finish, especially with someone like Rebekah chasing.”

She also acknowledged her sponsors support, saying “JUCY has gotten right behind this event, being a sponsor of the race and also of myself. It was great to catch up with the team from JUCY before the event and to have them supporting me on race day”.

Wanaka is the most beautiful part of the world to have a triathlon and competitors come from all over the world to compete. There was a full day of racing with the full ‘ironman distance’ race that Gina competed in as well as a half distance event. Competitors were able to complete the events as individuals or as part of a team. All in all over 1000 athletes took part this year and the event was a huge success.

The day started off at 7am with the 3.8km lake swim. It was a magical brisk morning without a ripple on the water, and the mountains looking spectacular surrounding the lake. Gina swam really well and came out first female with a lead of over 3 minutes on her competitors. Heading out on her 180km bike ride, Gina says it took her a while to warm up and hit her rhythm. In fact it took until Cromwell, at 90kms, until she began to come right. Gina’s lead at this point had dwindled to under 2 minutes but from the halfway mark she put her head down and managed to extend that to around 5 minutes by the end of the bike leg. The bike course is stunning with a scenic tour taking in three lakes; Wanaka, Dunstan and Hawea.

Heading out onto the marathon Gina says she felt really good. As she describes it:

“The run course in Wanaka is my favourite run course I have done in any race. We run along a gravel path for around 12km which meanders along side Lake Wanaka and then the Clutha River before running up a very steep hill and then around the township of Wanaka”.

The day had heated up to around 28 degrees by the time most competitors began the run, but the first part of the run has quite a lot of shade and there are aid stations every 3km. Gina was running well and by the end of the first lap still had a 5 minute lead over Rebekah Keat, who is one of the best runners in the sport.

However things got closer when Gina struck a few problems and needed to stop at each aid station in the first half of the second lap to use the toilet. She explains “I was wasting nearly a minute at each stop and Rebekah was closing the gap. By 32km I had just a 2 minute lead, so I had to dig in and get myself to that finish line, I certainly didn’t want to lead all day only to be run down in the closing stages”.

It was a great finish and Gina made it home after nearly 9 1/2 hours to complete her 3rd consecutive victory at the event.
The whole event was run really well, had a great atmosphere, and was great to be a part of. We used the Airstream promotional trailer to display and promote JUCY and Cruize Milford throughout the event, and our signage and flying banners looked fantastic in their ‘jucy green’!

Gina says: “Thanks to JUCY for all your support in enabling me to compete at the Challenge Wanaka event. I am now looking forward to competing in Ironman New Zealand in Taupo in March where I intend to defend my title as the Ironman New Zealand Champion”.

JUCY will also be attending Ironman NZ (as official rental vehicle sponsor), and we encourage all JUCY lovers that are keen to support Gina to head to Taupo for the first weekend in March.

Watch out for the JUCY CREW as they may have some FREE STUFF for you…!