Navigation in New Zealand
 

Is a smartphone sufficient for navigation in New Zealand or should I also take along my Garmin Zumo?

If the latter, is there anywhere I can download a map of NZ? Garmin want £149 for the Oz/NZ combo

I would, and do take both when I go out on a trip.
I use the phone mainly in the towns and cities for more detail on POI's and hotels etc.
If the Zumo will take an SD card then put OSM mapping on it and use that. I have used it in the Balkans, Western Europe, Laos and I still use it in Thailand. There are threads on here which will help you do that.
I also carry a paper map too as they never run out of power.

Wayne

Eh - you know that you can download most maps into your Garmin? No need to pay Garmins very inflated prices….

A GPS is great and have more features than a phone GPS but I have been good with phone with the good maps most places in the world.

[QUOTE=Mugsey;643766]Is a smartphone sufficient for navigation in New Zealand or should I also take along my Garmin Zumo?

I have used Garnin Zumo in NZ on the two occasions I have ridden my Motorcycle in NZ.
As I live in Australia I have the Aust/NZ maps loaded.

Can I suggest you contact Alex at AustNavTech as he can supply download maps for both countries.
Maps for Garmin Aus/NZ - https://www.ausnavtech.com .
I have been using these (and update every couple of years) for Aus and NZ. Last update cost me about $30 Aus.

Just finished my 2 month/10,000km tour of NZ…..carried both phone & Garmin Sat nav…..did 95% of my navigation by phone & to be honest if I hadn’t had the sat nav I would have been fine - just make sure to download your maps as cell phone coverage can get patchy in the back country

I live in NZ, and I find my phone is all I need. Like someone said, there's plenty of holes in the coverage, but by downloading the maps for off line use, you'll be fine.

Cheers

Nigel

Hi Nigel,
Hope you are keeping well in NZ. Mal

Mal! Nice to hear from you. When are you back?

We've just returned to the UK from New Zealand after a 6 month motorcycle trip on my Tiger 800XC. I used a Zumo 595 for navigation. I prefer a GPS with a small laptop so that I can plan my routes and transfer them to the GPS. This means I go the way I want to go. The 595 is also great at keeping track of our travels which I then import into Basecamp for future reference. It takes some effort to master the 595/Basecamp, but once mastered I much prefer this setup to a phone.

I download open source maps from here https://alternativaslibres.org/en/downloads.php#Oceania

Back in the UK until early October when the shipping agent will send my bike to Australia where we will meet it, most probably in Melbourne, in time to go to the MotoGP at Phillip Island :-)