A 4.5 week roadtrip through New Zealand Aotearoa

We spent four and a half weeks in New Zealand Aotearoa, touring both the South and North Island. We started in Christchurch and finished in Auckland, taking the ferry from Picton to Wellington. We rented a car and stayed at motels, hostels, and holiday parks. We visited in February and March. This NZ summer has been a bad one, but we were very fortunate and only had two days of rain.

It’s an absolute joy for road trip and hiking lovers. As expected, the scenery is insane, and we were blown away by the diversity of it all. On top of that, the people were warm, friendly, and welcoming.

We saw many amazing things, but I would like to mention some highlights that really stood out to us.

- Mount Sunday (photo 1). Our first introduction to the South Island wilderness. Pretty remote, but that was part of the charm. A must for Lord of the Rings fans (Edoras from The Two Towers was filmed here). Make sure you blast the Rohan theme from your speakers on the way there.

- When visiting Lake Tekapo, don’t forget to hike the Mount John Track (photo 2) for great views of the lake. It makes a visit to Tekapo so much more interesting and is a nice escape from the crowds.

- Fox Glacier and Franz Josef. We loved this whole area and its wild, remote feel. The hikes around Fox especially were worth it. A shoutout to the short walks at Minnehaha and Moraine (photo 3 & 4) for amazing jungle vibes. Also, the diner at Alice May in Franz (with great views!) was the best we had during the whole trip.

- Punakaiki and the surrounding coast (5). It felt wild and mystical. The Pancake Rocks are a must, but don’t skip the Pororari River Walk (6 & 7) nearby. It was our favorite hike of all: lush and green, with amazing blue skies and golden hour light at the end of the day.

- On the way from Abel Tasman to Picton, make a stop at Cable Bay (8). A short but steep hike with an incredibly rewarding view.

- We loved the winery tour in Marlborough (9). We based ourselves in Renwick, rented bikes at ‘Wine Tours by Bike,’ and enjoyed the lovely wines, food, scenery, and fun encounters with strangers.

- The Rotorua area was very special. We loved the Orakei Korako Geothermal Park (10) : a beautiful setting with no crowds. The Waikite Valley Hot Pools were also worth visiting for a relaxing afternoon surrounded by nature.

- New Chums Beach (11). There’s no shortage of beautiful (and empty) beaches in Coromandel, but New Chums was the highlight. The scramble on all fours to the viewpoint was fun too.

- Piha Beach (12 & 13). More beautiful coastline. The black sand, the reflections, Lion Rock, and the mist all add up to something beautiful and unique.

Mount Cook (14), Omarama Clay Cliffs (15) and Hobbiton (16) thrown in as an extra.
There was much more we loved, but you get the idea. We used the Roady NZ app to find stops and hikes along the way, totally recommend it.