Route

Overview We travelled both main islands, start and end points were Christchurch (because we have friends there). Of the 32 days in the campervan we stayed 13 on the north- and 19 on the south-island. Of Course you can start the roundtrip from Auckland just aswell. That way the flights should be cheaper.
You may also consider to save one ferry crossing by doing a one-way tour. That should not only save the cost of the crossing but also time. Most of the Campervan-Companies do not charge you extra. But the necessary “fork flight” may be more expensive.
If you want to do this, we recommand to leave out the leg Christchurch Picton and, on the north island, leave Mt. Egmont/Taranaki (after visiting) to your left while cutting north-east towards Lake Taupo.
 
Day trips As you are not allowed to go faster then a 100 km/h in New Zealand and as many roads are narrow and quite winding (and of course as you want to see the a bit of the scenary) you can hardely go further than 400 km in a day — and that's really pushing it. In our experience you should calculate with 200 km per day, if you want to call it “holidays” afterwards.
Furthermore there are still some unsealed roads, where you shouldn't go faster then about 40 km/h if you don't want to risk a punctured tire...
 
Maps If you are in a automobile association of some sort, you should stop at an AA Centre (you find them in every larger town) and check out whether you can get a temporary membership (which should be free). Then you can get a load of their excellent maps for free!
 
Statistics · Total distance driven: 6593 km
· Mean distance driven (per day): 206 km (pro Tag).
· Standard deviation from mean: 95 km.
· Shortest trip: 22 km.
· Longest trip: 447 km.
 
The Big Map Map in high resolution (753 kb)map with public dump-stations (730 kb)

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Day 1 Christchurch — Kaikoura — Kekerengu, 276 km
 
Day 2 Kekerengu — Picton — Wellington — Pekapeka, 177 km
 
Day 3 Pekapeka — Wanganui — Hawera, 268 km
 
Day 4 Hawera — Dawson Falls — New Plymouth — Bell Block, 175 km
 
Day 5 Bell Block — Mokau — Te Kuiti — Hamilton, 259 km
 
Day 6 Hamilton — Auckland — Whangarei — Paihia, 386 km
 
Day 7 Paihia — Cape Reinga — Kaitaia — Mangamuka, 365 km
 
Day 8 Mangamuka — Rawene — Dargaville — Auckland — Totara, 447 km
 
Day 9 Totara — Topu — Hahei — Waihi — Mt. Manganui, 245 km
 
Day 10 Mt. Maunganui — Tauranga — Te Puke — Maketu, 32 km
 
Day 11 Maketu — Tikitere — Rotorua — Waiotapu — Wairakei, 180 km
 
Day 12 Wairakei — Taupo — Rangipo — Whakapapa, 189 km
 
Day 13 Whakapapa — Waiouru — Palmerston North — Hamua, 257 km
 
Day 14 Hamua — Masterton — Lower Hutt — Wellington, 170 km
 
Day 15 Wellington — Picton — Oruapuputa, 22 km
 
Day 16 Oruapuputa — Nelson — Motueka — Takaka, 199 km
 
Day 17 Takaka — Tapawera — Owen River, 222 km
 
Day 18 Owen River — Ihangahua — Westport — Punakaiki, 207 km
 
Day 19 Punakaiki — Greymouth — Franz Josef — Lake Matheson, 256 km
 
Day 20 Lake Matheson — Fox Glacier — Paringa — Haast, 128 km
 
Day 21 Haast — Lake Wanaka — Arrowtown — Queenstown, 241 km
 
Day 22 Queenstown — Fernhill — Glenochy, 55 km
 
Day 23 Glenochy — Queenstown — Garston — Manapouri, 252 km
 
Day 24 Manapouri — Te Anau — Mirror Lakes, 80 km
 
Day 25 Mirror Lakes — Milford Sound — Hollyford Valley — Mt. York, 228 km
 
Day 26 Mt. York — Invercargill — Bluff — Waimatua, 247 km
 
Day 27 Waimatua — Waikawa — Houipapa — Jack's Bay, 172 km
 
Day 28 Jack's Bay — Owaka — Balclutha — Milton — Berwick, 150 km
 
Day 29 Berwick — Waldronville — Dunedin, 83 km
 
Day 30 Dunedin — Port Chalmers — Omaru — Lake Ohau, 260 km
 
Day 31 Lake Ohau — Twizel — Lake Tekapo — Geraldine — Woodbury, 207 km
 
Day 32 Woodbury — Ashburton — Christchurch, 147 km