10 Essential Tips for a Smooth New Zealand Road Trip
For tourists, New Zealand is one of the best countries on the planet to enjoy a road trip. Not only is it blessed with landscapes that have changed little over millions of years, but it is also proud to be the adventure capital of the world. Throw in some of the best wineries you’ll find anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, a rich sporting identity, fascinating Māori culture and a terrific food scene, and you have all the ingredients for a once-in-lifetime adventure.
However, there is more involved in a road trip than just jumping in a car and driving off wherever the mood takes you. An adventure like this should involve meticulous planning and arrangement before you even think about setting off, to ensure you make the most of your time in Aotearoa.
While this might sound daunting, don’t worry, we are here to help. Here are 10 essential tips for a smooth New Zealand road trip you will remember for the rest of your lives.
1. Establish how long you will go for
The first thing you need to do is establish your parameters. In other words, how long you plan to go on your New Zealand road trip.
The length of your adventure will be contingent upon various factors including how much time you have available, your budget, work commitments and how you plan to get around.
This is an important starting point to determine because the rest of your planning will be framed around it.
If, for instance, you have 6 months at your disposal, you’ll naturally be able to see a lot more of the country than if you only had 5 days. So, once you have worked out how much time you can devote to your adventure, you’ll be able to draft up an itinerary.
2. Work out what mode of transport you want
As a tourist, especially if you have come from overseas, you probably won’t have access to a vehicle. Therefore, if you want to go on a road trip, you will need to hire one.
Whether that takes the form of a car, campervan or motorbike is up to you. However, if you plan to hire something from a company that offers one way rentals in New Zealand, this is an excellent way to see a lot more of the country than you otherwise would be able to.
In terms of actual vehicles, if you plan to hire a car, New Zealand’s main roads are excellent. So, a standard hatchback or sedan should be a perfectly suitable option.
That said, if you want to visit more remote places that are located off dirt roads, want to go off-roading or drive in the winter, you might consider reserving an SUV.
3. Check your driver’s licence is valid
It is vital to check if your driving licence will still be valid when you plan to do your New Zealand road trip. If it is not, you should renew it immediately, as you will not be able to hire a vehicle without one.
Should your driving licence be in English, it will be unlikely that you will experience any issues assuming it is in date.
However, if you hold a driving licence from another country with a different language on it, you will have to get either a version of it that is translated into English or procure for yourself an international driving licence under New Zealand law.
It is worth noting that if you intend driving for more than 12 months, you will need to get a New Zealand driving licence.
4. Draw up an itinerary
Now comes the fun part!
While enjoying your adventure on the fly is the romantic way to travel. For a country like New Zealand, with all its incredible highlights, it is best to have a route planned – even if you are embarking on an extended road trip.
New Zealand, of course, is split into two islands, the North and South. In the North, you have some major highlights including Auckland, the Bay of Plenty, Cape Reinga, the Coromandel, Napier, Rotorua, Taupo and the nation’s capital of Wellington.
Over in the South Island there is Christchurch, Fiordland, Lake Tekapo, Milford Sound, Mount Cook National Park (aka Aoraki), Mount Hutt, Queenstown, Takaka Hill and Wanaka.
Depending on how much time you have available you will need to work out how many of these places (and many more not mentioned), you could reasonably fit into an itinerary for the time you have available.
You’ll need to consider factors such as distances between each destination, the cost and availability of accommodation and food options, and how many days you can spare at each place to do it justice.
When planning the itinerary, to maximise the time you have available, it is best if you can go in one constant direction i.e. clockwise or anti-clockwise rather than doubling back on yourself regularly.
5. Buy Travel Insurance
You will need travel insurance if you plan to visit New Zealand. Additionally, you should also get insurance if you plan to hire a car and it is also a good idea to insure yourself for extreme adventure sports like bungee jumping and skydiving - if you plan to do those activities.
Various companies provide differing levels of coverage. So, it is best to shop around to find out what best fits your needs.
Also, make sure you don’t double up on insurance. Through your travel insurance, for instance, you might already be covered for hiring a vehicle. Hence if that is the case you won’t need to take it out with the car rental company.
6. Pre-book Accommodation
It is always good to pre-book your accommodation as much as possible as the last thing you will want to be doing is driving round an area in fading light looking for a place to sleep for the night.
New Zealand has plenty of hotels, guest houses, hostels and Airbnb-style accommodations in every city and town in the country. Therefore, it is worth taking the opportunity to pre-book as much accommodation as you can.
If you would rather camp, you can use apps like Rankers NZ and CamperMate to find available spots. Those who don’t want to completely ‘rough it’ should consider staying at any of the Top Ten Holiday Parks or Kiwi Holiday Park chains, as they provide facilities like hot showers, a kitchen and a barbecue station.
When pre-booking accommodation, try to find places that offer free cancellation. That way you can always have somewhere to stay lined up for the night during your New Zealand road trip, but maintain the flexibility of being able to stay somewhere else on a whim, if you wanted to.
7. Familiarise yourself with the routes and road rules
Once you know where you want to go, it is worth planning your routes out beforehand. Doing this will help you establish how long it will take between destinations and how long you can reasonably spend at each one.
To help you determine this, there are websites that offer 'travel time and distance calculators'. It is worth using them because, in a country like New Zealand, roads can be winding and narrow. So, even though they might only be a short distance in terms of kilometres, they could take much longer than you would expect to traverse.
While you should use apps like NZ Road Info to help you navigate your way around, it is also worth downloading a copy of the routes you intend to take on your phone as a backup in case you are driving somewhere out of range.
At this same time, it is worth brushing up on the New Zealand road rules. For instance, be mindful that the national speed limit is 100 km/h on most main rural highways.
8. Pack Appropriately
New Zealand is a country where the weather can be very interchangeable. For this reason, you should make sure you pack appropriately for all eventualities.
Try to pack clothes that you can wear in layers and comfortable footwear should you intend to do a bit of walking. It is also worth bringing a first aid kit, your devices, camera and items like a torch and water bottle, which you will want to carry around with you all the time.
9. Buy a local SIM card
It is a very good idea to buy a local SIM card as soon as you land in New Zealand as this will not only provide you with the ability to make calls but also internet access, which could be useful for everything from finding accommodation and a place to eat to finding out more about the place you have driven into or checking out real-time traffic information.
When it comes to SIM cards, there are four major players in New Zealand – Vodafone, 2Degrees, Skinny and Spark – each of which offers different features and benefits.
If you would prefer to have your SIM card sorted before you arrive in the land of the long white cloud, you should consider signing up for Airalo. This is an app which allows you to download an individual e-SIM card for any one of over 200 countries and pre-load a data package on your phone to access WI-FI wherever you go in them.
Just be aware that Airalo e-SIM cards do not currently offer the ability to make phone calls.
10. Download relevant apps on your phone
Before embarking on your New Zealand road trip, it is a good idea to download a few apps to your phone, which you may need to access while you are travelling around.
One of the most recommended is a weather app like MetService NZ Weather, which can provide you with real time alerts about things like storms, snow or hail. These alerts can give you a good heads up if you are currently driving or about to set off on the next stage of your trip.
It is also worthwhile downloading the petrol app, Gaspy and the public conveniences app Toilet Finder, in case you want to fill up or empty your tank as it were!
And lastly....
It is not a tip per se but just a reminder that your New Zealand road trip is not a race. Therefore, you should take your time to enjoy every single moment of this wonderful country by focusing on quality and not quantity.
It is a delicate balance to hit, but try to visit as many places as possible without driving all hours of the night and day.
It is better to focus on a handful of your ‘must see’ destinations and make sure you really enjoy and immerse yourself in them, rather than just go from place to place to just take a photo to say at a later date, ‘I’ve been there!’.