New Zealand in 21 Days - our Campervan Itinerary

Back in January of 2017, Eliot and I took a trip to New Zealand, and I finally have time now to write about what our itinerary was over the course of those 21 days!

Right off the bat, some things to keep in mind:

• We traveled and slept in a campervan, and it was just the two of us. We love driving and being in a car, so although this itinerary has a LOT of driving, that was okay for us! We booked our van in September for a January trip, which was somewhat limiting in what we could get on a budget. If you have more time to book in advance, since January is the high season, do so! 

• We flew into Auckland, drove south down to Queenstown, and then flew back to Auckland to fly back to the States. There is a surcharge for driving your rental one-way, but it's a great way to make the best use of your time!

• Our campervan was equipped for Freedom Camping. I definitely recommend going this route for ultimate flexibility, even though we only freedom camped...once? And even then, there was a clean public restroom available for our use.

• Buy a local cell phone. Again, this will help you maintain flexibility. We never booked a any campsites more than a few hours ahead!

• Drive times: just double whatever google maps tells you. You'll want to be able to take your time, and the roads are curvey and crazy as soon as you leave the city! 

• Groceries: items I'd be sure to buy for the trip include but are not limited to pasta fixings (so easy to make in camp!), eggs, quality bread, some NZ aged cheddar, apples, coffee, a 6-pack of beer, and a bottle of wine. Tim Tams are optional! This a nice starting point. We always always always made our coffee before leaving camp in the morning, often with a small breakfast, and then usually ate out for lunch and often dinner as well.

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And now without any further ado, here's how our trip broke down.

Day 1: Auckland to Clark's Beach
We arrived in Auckland in the early AM and spent the day getting situated for travel. We got our cell phone and first flat white at the airport, picked up the campervan and some groceries, found another flat white at a downtown coffee shop, and figured out where to sleep! The first night was perhaps the toughest in terms of finding an open campground, since we were close to the city. We opted to immediately leave the city since that wasn't what we were in New Zealand for anyway!

Clark's Beach, North Island

We drove about an hour to explore, sleep, and eat in the Clark's Beach area.

Day 2: Clark's Beach to Hot Water Beach
This was a drive and activity day after a quiet morning in one Clark's Beach's coffee shops. We hit the rode to Hahei Beach, where we parked and made the hike to Cathedral Cove. We should have brought more water!

Cathedral Cove, North Island

After enjoying the beach for a while, we rode the bus back to our parked van and drove to the Hot Water Beach area. We watched the sunset from Hot Water Beach and ate and slept in that area, too!

Day 3: Hot Water Beach to Hobbiton

Playing the tourist card in FungamaTA

This was one of my very favorite days. First thing we did in the morning was book our tour of Hobbiton for late in ther afternoon, giving ourselves time to explore a bit on our way to Matamata. We made a stop in Whangamata for stretching our legs and coffee, a lovely town to do so in.

After some more driving, we stopped in Waihi for lunch and another flat white in Paeroa.
The tour of the Hobbiton movie set is a must-see. It takes about 2 hours total but can be challenging to get a ticket for day-of. We lucked out.

The Shire

We ate dinner in Tirau and slept on Lake Karapiro, our first freedom camping experience.

Little Lizzie at Hora Hora Domain

Day 4: Whangarei to Rotorua
We started off with a drive towards Lake Taupo to check out Orakei Karako, a cool geothermal area. Arriving at 10a meant that it was free of crowds!

Orakei Korako

We ventured into the town of Lake Taupo for lunch and gave ourselves time to explore town on foot some, and then made a trip to see Huka Falls. After that we explored the Spa Thermal Park, a favorite find. I don't remember how we stumbled across this thermal spring but I sure am glad we did!

Spa Thermal Park on the Waikato River

We then headed to Rotorua for dinner near "Eat Street" (highly recommend The Thai Restaurant) and an overnight stay at the Holiday Park. Rotorua is very tourist heavy, so we definitely didn't get our first choice of campsites on so little notice!

Day 5: Rotorua to Waitomo
After a lazy morning in Rotorua we decided to make our way over to Waitomo to check out the glowworm caves.
On the way we stopped for some fine fish and chips in Otorohanga, which I selected as our lunch stop because I wanted to check out Origin, the "serious about coffee" roastery. We bought some freshly roasted beans and enjoyed a flat white.
We then continued our journey, and did the 2-hour tour of Ruakuri Cave and Glowworm Cave. Very impressive and peaceful. We spent the night and ate dinner nearby. At Roselands, where we enjoyed the all-you-can-eat stew, the propriater helped us plan our next day since we weren't sure exactly which route we should take to head south...

Day 6: Waitomo to Waverly Beach

...His suggestion was to check out Mount Damper Falls and the Forgotten World Highway. The drive between Waitomo and Mount Damper Falls is NOT for the faint of heart! It was extremely twisty and turny, and we couldn't believe it was a two way street! Thankfully we didn't run into any other humans (or cars) on this leg of the journey. We did get stuck behind a flock of sheep right before we hit the path to the falls...

Traffic Jam on Okau Road

Mount Damper Falls, about a 25-minute walk from the Parking & Pit Toilet

We continued our drive, meeting up with the Forgotten World Highway to enjoy lunch in Whangamomena.

Whangemomena

Lunch stop - don't forget to have your Passport stamped!

After the truly exhausting (and AWESOME) drive on the Forgotten World Highway, we took a rest stop to stretch our legs in Stratford and then enjoyed some coffee and cat company at the Shakee Pear, just south of town. We finally ended our day of driving at the Waverly Beach Campsite, a great value just 2 minutes away from the beachside cliffs (on foot!). We stocked up on some supplies in town here and ate dinner at the campsite.

Waverly Beach

Gorgeous ocean, gorgeous black sand

Day 7: Wellington
Time to drive down to Windy Welly! As we drove south, we stopped for lunch in Sansom.
Upon our arrival in the city, after booking ferry passage for the next morning, we did some sight-seeing in town, including Weta Cave, the Wellington Cable Car and walk through the Botanical Gardens. It was WINDY.

Sunset View from Petone

We ate a cheap dinner of fish 'n chips tonight since our ferry tickets weren't cheap, and stayed overnight in the convenience of a Holiday Park.

I felt very melancholy about departing the North Island the next day. Next time I go back, I will definitely spend more time on the North Island, knowing there are so many places I missed! And I think I could just park in the Coromandel Peninsula for a while longer than I got to...

But we were raring to get to the South Island and start exploring there.






Day 8: Ferry to the South Island

Interislander between the North and South Islands

We started off bright and early on the Interislander Ferry between Wellington and Picton. The ferry transported us as well as our campervan and took about 3.5 hours.

The views from the ferry ride aren't too shabby!

After arriving in Picton, we enjoyed lunch and a stroll around town.

We didn't feel a need to venture too far that day, having crossed the Cook Strait already, so we slept at a campsite on nearby Cowshed Bay, which entailed a beautiful drive along the bays and sounds of the area.

The drive on Kenepuru Road is gorgeous and a bit harrowing

We ate dinner at our campsite that night.Word to the wise: beware the wekas! They are not shy and will hop right up into your car to explore for food or other goodies! This is also when we realized sandflies are a THING on the South Island.

Cowshed Bay

Day 9: Nelson and Murcheson
It's important to note that due to recent earthquake activity, the eastern route down the Island was closed. If we wanted to head south, we needed to take the less-popular westerly route. When I come back to the South Island, I'll spend some time in Kaikoura, as well as the Golden Bay area and Nelson Park, since we missed out on those this time.

On our drive west, we stopped in Nelson for coffee, lunch, and a stroll through the farmer's market. We found some amazing snacks, lavendar products, and sandfly spray here.

We also made a stop at a winery for a brief wine tasting, at Waimea Estates in Richmond.

That evening we made it to Murcheson, where we ate dinner in town and slept near the Buller River. Sandflies were nasty, and I definitely got the sense that this area is not used to the amount of traffic it was getting due to the highway closures.

Day 10: Murcheson to Rapahoe
We made a brief detour this morning to check out Maruia Falls, and continued to the West Coast. We also very much enjoyed a stop at Berlins Cafe for coffee.

Maruia Falls near Murcheson

I started reading more and more about being able to see seals, sea lions, and penguins on the South Island, so I was very happy to make a pit stop at the Tauranga Seal Colony. The viewing platform is kept a safe distance from the NZ fur seals that colonize this area. It is well sign-posted and a great intro to the seals from an unobtrusive distance.

Making use of the zoom on my camera at the Tauranga Seal Colony

After this excitement, we had a delicious lunch at PR's Cafe in Westport. I was interested in checking out the Pancake Rocks in Punkaiki, so this was our next stop.

And finally, we hunkered down for the night (and found some dinner) in the seaside town of Rapahoe.

Day 11: West Coast
While the seals at Tauranga were exciting, this morning we had a much more up-close-and-personal encounter with seals, practically stumbling over them on our morning beach walk towards Point Elizabeth lookout. It was about a 40-minute walk at low tide from our campsite, well worth it!

Point Elizabeth Seal Colony

Seals near Rapahoe

Turns out frigid ocean water is a great salve for itchy sandfly bites on your ankles.

We next stopped at Hokitira Gorge, and ate lunch in the nearby town of the same name.

Hokitira Gorge

Next up was Arthur's Pass, so we decided to rest up before making that drive, overnighting on the western side of highway 73.

Day 12: Arthur's Pass and Christchurch
The drive through Arthur's Pass towards Christchurch was a nice one. We stopped to stretch our legs in Springfield (and to say hello to some nice birds) but pretty much just drove straight through. On the way east I called to make a reservation for a Dolphin Tour for the next day in Akaroa...

An outgoing Kea

What started off as a rainy day turned out to be sunny and warm as we hit the east side of the island, so we spent the day outdoors, exploring Christchurch's Cathedral Square area, rode the tram, went to Quake City, and relaxed in Victoria Square with some ice cream.

"High Season" on Brighton Beach

Next we hit up Brighton Beach, which is also where we ate dinner.

We slept at a motor park nearby.



Day 13: Akaroa to Waihi Gorge
Terrible weather today. First thing in the morning we had a fun time on a harbour cruise with Akaroa Dolphins, one of our larger expenditures and well worth it! Honestly, this is ended up being "free" for us due to a Travel Reimbursement reward from Venture One by Capital One.

a Hectors Dolphin in Akaroa Harbour

Afterwards we warmed up with lunch in Akaroa and then, with still-gloomy weather, started driving south towards Lake Tekapo, camping for the night at a DOC site on the way.

Day 14: Tekapo
Today was all about Lake Tekapo. We ate both lunch and dinner at restaurants in town, slept at the Holiday Park, and enjoyed the warmth of the Tekapo Springs while it hailed.

A view of Lake Tekapo

Day 15: Twizel and Oamaru
Our zig-zag south continued today, with stops to take in the scenery on Lake Pukaki, and for coffee in Twizel. We then ventured over east to Oamaru for the rest of our day.

Lake Pukaki and Mount Cook

Oamaru is a can't-miss in my mind. It has a unique Victorain precinct, complete with a steampunk museum. There are fun food, wine, and shopping opportunities in town, but most importantly, to me, the area is home to a Blue Penguin colony.

Pro tip: don't bother paying to watch them come ashore in the evening from a viewing platform, because they will come ashore at night and then you can just find them wandering the streets of this strange town, or perhaps nesting under your campervan!

Nearby at Bushy Beach, you can also watch the Yellow-Eyed Penguins come ashore, but from a much greater distance, since they are a much shyer species.

A very distant Yellow-Eyed Penguin at Bushy Beach

Oamaru Harbour

We spent the night at Harbour Tourist Park, due to it's proximity to the Harbour, and were not disappointed!

The coffee shop and playground adjacent to this site are also both great.



Day 16: Oamaru to Otago Peninsula

Shag Point

Moeraki Boulders, sadly not at low tide

The drive south continued on Day 16, with stops at Shag Point for seal-viewing and at the Moeraki Boulders. Both are highly reccommended stopping points.



We wanted to check out the town of Dunedin, so we stopped there to wander around town a bit, and found lunch and coffee as we did.

We determined we should spend the night here as well, but we still had several daylight hours left so we opted to do a drive of the Otago Peninsula.

There are many potential stops along this drive, and I can reccommend a walk down the dunes at Sandfly Bay, a hike along Allan's Beach (where you can see both seals as well as sea lions at rest) and finally a stop at the Royal Albatross Center, which has some pretty cool visuals in their free section as well as obvious albatross flying overhead in the parking lot!

Sandfly Bay on the Otago Peninsula

So, for those keeping track, in the course of 24 hours in Oamaru south to the Otago Peninsula, we saw Yellow-Eyed Penguins, Little Blue Penguins, New Zealand fur seals, sea lions, and albatross!

Dinner and sleep were back in Dunedin.

Day 17: Southern Scenic Route to Invercargill
After breakfast in Dunedin, we drove the Southern Scenic Route to Invercargill, inspired by this blog post. We did NOT have a clear day for the drive, making picking and choosing our stopping points a bit easier, I think.

We stopped at Roaring Bay, near Nugget Point, before finding lunch in Owaka. Our next stop was at Porpoise Bay, where we happened upon another Yellow-Eyed Penguin! As we got out of the car to observe him, we saw dolphins playing in the waves, a pretty cool sight as well.
We made a drive past the southernmost point on the Island, where we helped another camper pull his van out of the mud it was stuck in, and finally made a stop at Waipapa Point as well.

We overnighted in Invercargill, which is also where we found the best Indian food, one of our favorite meals in New Zealand!

Day 18: Bluff and Te Anau


No trip to Invercargill would be complete without a stop down in Sterling Point, in Bluff, for the photo opportunity "where the highway begins."





After checking it out we drove to Te Anau for the rest of the day and night. Food choices abound, and we very much enjoyed our dinner at Paradiso! We also had a great time at the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary, a short walk from our campsite for the night. It seems lame not to have gone to Milford or Doubtful Sounds from here, but time and money were of the essence. Next time...

Day 19: Queenstown and Glenorchy
After a morning coffee in Te Anau, we made the drive to Queenstown for lunch. It was extremely crowded and touristy, so after lunch and booking the next morning's activity, we immediately hit the road for a scenic drive to Glenorchy and back.

We made camp that night at the Moke Lake DOC site, one of my favorites for sure. It's only about 15 km from Quunestown, but feels like another world entirely. We made and ate dinner at camp.

Little Lizzie at Moke Lake Campground

Day 20: Queenstown and Wanaka

Me on Mr. White

We started off the day joining Moonlight Stables for a horse trek on a beautiful farmland near Queenstown, which was about 2 hours long. We are both beginners when it comes to riding, and this was great!




In Wanaka we found lunch and our next (and final) overnight in our campervan. Definitely bittersweet. After doing some packing for our flight back to Auckland, we hit up the town once more to find dinner.

Lake Outlet Holiday Park in Wanaka

Day 21: ZQN to AKL flight
We returned our campervan to the good people of The Pod Campervans in Queenstown and hitched a taxi to the airport. The flight from Queenstown to Auckland was a smooth one, and, having booked transportation and a hotel room in downtown Auckland for the night, we then hopped onto the SkyBus and spent the rest of the day exploring Queen Street and Victoria Street.

Day 22: Thus Endeth the Adventure
We enjoyed a warm and sunny day in downtown Auckland, exploring the waterfront area, shopping, and of course grabbing a bite.
Then it was time to hop back on the SkyBus to Auckland Airport, and home we went.

For more trip pictures from our adventure, feel free to hit up my Flickr album, here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rebl1231/albums/72157678982885350
I just ask that you not steal any of my photos, either there or from this blog post!

I didn't list every single place we ate and slept because I thought that would get a bit annoying after a while. Sadly, a lot of the restaurants we LOVED seem to have closed since our trip, so I can't even point you to their TripAdvisor pages. But we certainly made really good use of Google Maps on this trip, and I would highly recommend downloading maps of the area to your phone, so that even if you don't have service in NZ, you can still use it as a GPS device. All of my campsite reviews are up on Rankers, and many are also on TripAdvisor and Google Maps as well.

Thanks for reading, and have a great trip!