New Zealand: The Ultimate Road Trip
New Zealand to me was always this far off, distant fantasy land. The land of Lord of the Rings where the impossible and impractical views of the fantastical become reality. Visions of great green expanses, misty and foreboding mountains, with a possible sighting of bigfoot roaming the hills are what flooded my thoughts. Oh, and sheep. I heard there were lots of sheep.
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To say that my thoughts and visions of New Zealand were spot on would only be half way right. Yes, there were sheep. Way more sheep than people. Yes, there were mountains and miles of green rolling hills.
But I was still wrong in a sense.
It was way better.
Way bigger.
Way more beautiful than I ever could have imagined it.
THE ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP
Many of you have likely taken a road trip at some point in your life, either by yourself or with friends or family, and it’s probably a trip you still talk about. If that’s the case, or even if you’ve never road tripped before, then you MUST consider New Zealand for an epic 2,500 mile adventure!
Over the course of 10 days, I drove the length of New Zealand, starting out in Auckland on the north end of the North Island, crossed to South Island and finished up in Queenstown. The journey involved glowworm caves, movie locations, sunrise hikes, ferry rides, evil birds trying to steal my camera, a black sand beach, dark sky reserves, nighttime hikes to see the Milky Way, and a visit to Milford Sound. To say it was memorable, or epic, or adventurous would be a massive understatement.
I’ve compiled all of my favorite parts of the trip below, with tips, tricks, routes, and how to be prepared! Check it out and start planning the greatest road trip you’ll ever take.
The very first thing you’ll want to consider is where to start your road trip. There are two options most people take, either start in Auckland and go south to Queenstown, or start in Queenstown and go north to Auckland. Each route has pros and cons depending on what exactly you’re looking for.
North to South
If you fly into Auckland one of the best parts of the trip is that the scenery and experience will continue to get better and better your entire journey. The mountains will get bigger, the landscapes grander, and obviously, more sheep. There are fewer and fewer cities as you make your way south, which always makes for a display of stars that will challenge any view of the cosmos that you’ve witnessed prior.
The only real downside is the car rental. Now, if you rent a tiny car that simply gets you from hostel to hostel (or hotel to hotel for you luxury travelers), then you’ll get a great rate regardless. I paid around $220 for a 10 day rental from Wisecars. Incredible right?!
BUT. If you’re looking to maximize your experience and rent a camper van as many road trippers do in New Zealand, then you’ll have to pay for it. These can get pricey, although it does make the experience incredible.
South to North
Okay so here is the trick. Most people go north to south, which means nearly all of the camper vans end up in Queenstown. These companies will routinely send their employees to drive the vans back to Auckland for the next customer. The trick is that if you call one of the many camper van rental companies just a few days before you arrive, you can ask if they need any vans moved north. You can offer to do that for them, if they waive the rental fee! I personally know two people who have done this and it worked for them! The company will often give you 4-5 days to get the van to a certain destination. From there you can ask that location if they need the same thing, or you can just rent a van. This cuts down on a good amount of money, while still giving you an incredible experience!
The one downside is that your time is limited. You could spend two weeks on each island exploring everything, but you might only get 4-5 days given the rental company’s timeline. If you plan ahead for that, however, it could be a big time win.
I personally didn’t know about this trick ahead of time, so I flew into Auckland, picked up my tiny rental and headed south!
With views like this, how can you NOT want to go to Mt. Cook National Park?
NORTH ISLAND
Okay, so in all honesty, I didn’t do anything in Auckland. I was staying with a family in Hamilton for a few days prior to making my way south, so as soon as I landed in Auckland I headed there. HOWEVER. I definitely did my research on Auckland prior to arriving and even had more tips from other travelers!
For starters, the peninsula just north of Auckland is B-E-A-UTIFUL. It’s like a combination of New England, Maine, and Hawaii. With only one city on the peninsula north of Auckland, you’ll have uncrowded areas almost anywhere you go. It’s super easy to head to Cape Reinga at the very tip of the peninsula to catch either sunrise or sunset over the pacific.
Cathedral Cove is on the Coromandel Peninsula to the east of Auckland, about a two and a half hour drive from the city. This was the one place on my list that I was dying to get to but simply didn’t have the time. Any simple Google search will reveal incredible pictures of these beaches and unique rock formations! Be sure to spend a sunrise or sunset there if you have time.
Just south of the Coromandel Peninsula is one of the most famous movie sets in the world, Hobbiton! While the set was only used for a few short moments in Lord of the Rings, it is a can’t miss opportunity to see a bit of movie history! Admittedly, I haven’t actually seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies so I chose to forego this adventure until I can appreciate it more after seeing the movies.
One place that may be of interest to you is White Island. As I write this, there is an active volcano on the island so big that it’s disrupting air travel, so you may want to avoid it for the moment. But, the island is beautiful. It will be a bit of a luxury excursion to get there, but for those with the means it will be worth it!
Moving south from the Auckland area, my first real stop was in Waitomo for the Glowworm Caves. I had read a bit about them and even seen them featured on the Discovery Channel… I know, I’m a geek. When you arrive you’ll decide between a few different options for tours. The cheapest option is a boat tour that takes you through the caves with the glowworms being a bit brighter and more visible. The downside is that no cameras are allowed. The next jump up is a walking tour where cameras ARE allowed, but the glowworms aren’t as bright and there aren’t quite as many of them. In addition, as I found out, it’s really tough to photograph glowworms in the super dark environment without a tripod to keep the camera still for a long exposure shot. You won’t be able to take a backpack or tripod with you on any tour (they don’t want you hitting the glowworms on accident because it will kill them).
Overall, I’d rate this as a very average experience honestly. I know some people who rave about it and others who wouldn’t do it again. I think you have to know what to expect going into it. If I had been in it for the experience rather than the pictures and done the cheapest option, I genuinely think I would have enjoyed it more.
Moments after being pelted by wind and hail 20 minutes into a hike.
The next stop I made was at the iconic Lord of the Rings location Mt. Doom, otherwise known in real life as Mt. Tongariro. This is located in the central part of the North Island and is made up of two volcanic mountains side by side. The day I went there to hike, a storm had moved in and started pelting me with hail about 20 minutes in. Seeing as I had no serious equipment with me and reading a sign that said multiple people are rescued by helicopters every week after getting stuck in storms, I decided to forgo the hike.
It was actually so cloudy that I couldn’t even see the volcano! BUT. From what I could see, the surrounding area looked incredible. The colors are a bit eerie, as though entering the wild landscape of another planet. I feel like if Mars had vegetation, it’d look a lot like Mt. Tongariro.
There’s a 20km hike that you can do that takes you between the two peaks. It’s a one way hike that leads you to the other side of the mountains and from there you’ll catch a bus back to where you parked. This is definitely a tough, long, all day hike with a lot of elevation gain. So be prepared. Fortunately there’s a well-marked path so getting lost shouldn’t be an issue.
Golden hour under Mt. Taranaki.
This is easily my favorite hike I did in New Zealand and it will be easy to see why. I decided to hike it for sunrise, so I left my hostel and started the hike at 4am. I had a headlamp, tons of layers, and plenty of water, and it’s a good thing I did! The hike is pretty straightforward. The entire path to the top has wooden walkways and stairs, so you won’t need to traverse through the mud. About two hours in, you’ll reach a house where hikers can rest for the night. Keep going past that house until you reach an open area with some rocks. The path stops for about 30-40 meters and then picks up again, so just head across the open area and you’ll find it. A few minutes later, you’ll pass a tiny little pond. This is where the magic can happen. I say “can” because it doesn’t always happen (unfortunately this was the case for me).
At a certain point in the morning, if you get there early enough, as the sun is rising the winds will die down to the point of pure stillness. When this happens, the water will become like glass and from the far side of the pond, you’ll get a perfect reflection of Mt. Taranaki in the background. Unfortunately the morning I was there was SUPER foggy, so you couldn’t even see the mountain from the pond. Instead, I hiked another 45 minutes on the trail, up several ladders, to the top of a smaller mountain where there was a lookout point. It was here that I was able to witness a morning golden hour as the sun began to illuminate the conical volcano.
After hiking Mt. Taranaki, I headed south all the way to Wellington. This is where you need to cross from the North Island to the South Island on a ferry. I was able to book a ticket for myself and my rental car the day before on the Interislander and make the three hour journey across the Cook Strait. It’s a massive ferry, complete with a viewing deck, reclining chairs, eating area, and coffee shop. It’s an adventure all in itself and views that will keep your jaw on the floor the entire journey.
SOUTH ISLAND
Chasing off the giant, green eagle/parrot devil birds.
Immediately after arriving on the South Island I headed to my hostel located just outside of Abel Tasman National Park and Kahurangi National Park. These are two separate parks, with Abel Tasman to the north and Kahurangi to the west. I really only had time to make one hike so I chose to head into Kahurangi before sunset one evening and do the Loadstone hike.
Round trip this was about a 2.5 hour hike. But it was pretty grueling. I’ve definitely done tougher hikes, but I was racing against daylight since I wasn’t sure how much battery my headlamp had. After arriving at the parking area, there was a sign pointing into the trees where the hike started. Once you enter the forest, there are orange arrows on the trees directing you where to go. There’s no path to speak of, aside from a few places with obvious foot traffic so you’ll really need to keep your eyes up looking for those arrows.
The top of the hike can get a bit sketchy, but I made it with no real issues. It was super windy and very cold, but the view. Oh the view! It was spectacular. A full 360 degree view of mountains and layers of shadows as far as the eye could see!
Beware of the giant, green eagle/parrot bird monster things. They’ll try to steal your backpack when you put your camera on a tripod and take pics of yourself and you’ll have to run at them screaming like a Yeti. Trust me. I know from experience.
The Black Sand Beach all to myself!
The Pancake Rocks are a natural phenomenon that occur over thousands of years. While it’s definitely interesting to stop at, you won’t need to spend too much time here. The positives are that it’s on your way south, it’s just off the side of the road, and it’s free.
The beach is circled here, just a few miles north of the Pancake Rocks.
The part I enjoyed most is the black sand/pebble beach I found, just a few miles north of the Pancake Rocks. I have no idea what the name of the beach is, but here is a look at it on a map. It’s just behind the Te Nikau Retreat in the town of Bullers. Again, super cool to check out but you wouldn’t need a ton of time here. Time to head further south…
Mt. Cook from the end of the Hooker Valley Track!
Okay here is where arguably your biggest decision comes in. If you look on a map, Franz Josef Glacier and Mt. Cook National Park look to be about 20 miles apart. Super easy right? HA. Wrong. That 20 miles is a mountain range with no road going through it. So in order to get from one to the other, it’s a six hour drive alllllllll the way around the mountain range.
I made this mistake. I stayed near the glacier assuming I’d wake up the next day and immediately hike in Mt. Cook National Park which is one of the top things on my New Zealand Bucket List.
You can definitely do both locations. But just make sure you plan accordingly. If you’re strapped for time, I can’t stress enough how amazing Mt. Cook National Park is. It’s within a dark sky reserve so you can even hike at night and see the Milky Way! It’s truly incredible. I did the Hooker Valley Trail both during the day and at night in the same day. The views are some of the best I’ve ever seen, and the hike is super easy. I saw families pushing kids in strollers (there are a few stairs but little kids made this hike with no problem).
The iconic red barn in Glenorchy.
The next major town to the south after departing Mt. Cook National Park is Queenstown. It’s truly a beautiful town, set right on the long, winding Lake Wakatipu. There are hikes and tons of outdoor activities to look into. I had my sights set on my next destination so the only thing I did in Queenstown was head to Glenorchy, a tiny town about 45 minutes to the west.
The drive to Glenorchy is worth it by itself. Right along the water, with views of mountains as far as you can see. When you arrive in Glenorchy, one of the major attractions is the old, red barn that was used as a stop off point for incoming boats years ago. Glenorchy is known for its outdoor activities as well as being a location in The Two Towers, one of the Lord of the Ring movies.
If you’re looking for a nice lake to chill at, maybe take some shots of the night sky, be sure to look at Moke Lake, just a 30 minute drive from Queenstown!
Just for perspective… The waterfall on the left hand side of the picture is about 500 feet high. Woah.
And finally we have arrived at the pinnacle location in New Zealand. The place I had dreamt of for years. Milford Sound.
Once again, on a map, it’s not that far away from Queenstown. But due to a mountain range, you’ll have to drive all the way around Lake Wakatipu. I picked up another traveler I had met and we headed out around 4am to make the 3.5 hour drive. We had booked a morning tour to be sure we got some great lighting and moody vibes, plus it’d be less crowded.
Words won’t be able to describe this place. It’s just somewhere you have to visit for yourself. Massive mountains. Dozens and dozens of waterfalls. Some nearly 500 feet tall. Calm waters. Absolutely mind-blowing.
On your way back, you should check out Lake Marian. It is a three-hour round trip hike to a beautiful lake in the mountains! Bring clothing to swim in the cold, refreshing water!
My favorite single view in the world happened on this adventure. About 30 minutes before you get to Milford Sound, you’ll enter a long tunnel that goes through a mountain. When you come out on the other side, the road will bend to the left as it begins to snake down through the mountains. Stop at the first place you can. Get out. Take it in. I ended up doing this on my way back and we stopped for about 20 minutes to simply look at what was before us. Surrounded by mountains exploding into the heavens, full of mist, covered in waterfalls. It was a glorious work of our Creator that I will not soon forget.