Aotearoa New Zealand · North & South Island RV · 2 Nov 2026 – 23 Nov 2026
Auckland → Queenstown
22 days by campervan — Auckland to Queenstown. The North Island leg runs to the Cook Strait ferry, then the trip continues through the South Island to Queenstown.
North Island
Auckland to the Interislander ferry — 9 days.
- Day 1 Auckland → Thames → Hahei Land around 8am and collect the Maui by late morning. Grocery and fuel at Pak'nSave Thames, then over the Kōpū–Hikuai road through Tairua to the beach at Hahei — the smart RV route onto the Coromandel, skipping the slow west-coast road. A deliberate holiday-park start, kind to the jet lag.
- Day 2 Cathedral Cove & Hot Water Beach Morning kayak tour through the Cathedral Cove marine reserve — paddling under the arch beats walking to it. Afternoon at Hot Water Beach (10 minutes away): dig a personal thermal spa in the sand within two hours of low tide. Beers at The Pour House to finish.
- Day 3 Hahei → Hobbiton → Rotorua South via Tairua and Paeroa (obligatory photo at the giant L&P bottle) to Hobbiton for the early-afternoon movie set tour — book well ahead; the Evening Banquet Tour is the splurge. Then an easy run into Rotorua and a soak in the Polynesian Spa's lakefront hot pools, 50 m from the van.
- Day 4 Rotorua Geothermal-and-forest day: Te Puia for the Pōhutu geyser and the Māori carving schools (or Whakarewarewa Living Village for the lived-in version), free bubbling mud at Kuirau Park, then a half-day hike or mountain bikes in Whakarewarewa Forest. After dark, the Redwoods Treewalk Nightlights through the canopy.
- Day 5 Rotorua → Wai-O-Tapu → Taupō At Wai-O-Tapu by 9:45 for the 10:15 Lady Knox geyser, then the Champagne Pool — the most surreal colours on the island. South past Huka Falls and Craters of the Moon into Taupō, then an afternoon kayak to the Ngātoroirangi Mine Bay Māori rock carvings, 10 m high and only reachable by water.
- Day 6 Taupō → Napier → Te Awanga Morning soak in the free Spa Park hot stream where the hot Otumuheke meets the cold Waikato. Then the Thermal Explorer Highway (SH5) over the ranges to Napier for lunch and an Art Deco wander, and out to the coast at Clifton Road Reserve, Te Awanga, with Cape Kidnappers filling the southern horizon.
- Day 7 Hawke's Bay — gannets, wine by bike, surf The everything-at-the-doorstep day. Low tide: Gannet Beach Adventures — a vintage tractor tows you beneath the cliffs to the world's largest mainland gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers, in full courting-and-hatching swing in November. Then bikes from Coastal Wine Cycles for a flat pedal between Elephant Hill, Clearview and Te Awanga Estate — no driving, no designated driver. Surf option right at Te Awanga.
- Day 8 Hawke's Bay → Martinborough The one long day, saved for last so ferry day stays short. SH2 south with stops at the Tui Brewery (Mangatainoka), quirky Stonehenge Aotearoa near Carterton, and boutique Greytown — arguably NZ's best small-town main street. Into Martinborough mid-afternoon for a final cellar-door tasting on foot from the village square.
- Day 9 Martinborough → Wellington → ferry Away by 9:30 over the Remutaka Hill and along the harbour to the ferry terminal for the Cook Strait crossing to Picton — check in an hour before whichever sailing you book (options listed below). Top-deck seats through Tory Channel and the Marlborough Sounds, then off the boat and a short hop south to Grovetown on the quiet edge of Blenheim.
South Island — the continuation
After the Nov 10 ferry to Picton — 13 days to Queenstown.
- Day 10 Grovetown → Punakaiki The trip's longest drive — leave by 8:15am. Stock up at Blenheim New World (last big supermarket until Wanaka), then SH6 west through the Wairau Valley to St Arnaud, lunch in Murchison, down the Buller Gorge to Westport and the Cape Foulwind seals, arriving Punakaiki around 4pm for the Pancake Rocks at high tide.
- Day 11 Punakaiki → Franz Josef A morning limestone-canyon walk up the Pororari River, then south to Hokitika for lunch and greenstone galleries (with an optional detour to turquoise Hokitika Gorge). Arrive Franz Josef around 4:30pm; if it's clear, Lake Matheson at sunset for the mirror reflection of Aoraki.
- Day 12 Franz Josef flex day A deliberate buffer day. Plan A on clear weather: a heli-hike onto the Franz Josef Glacier. Plan B when the choppers are grounded: kayak the rainforest channels of Okarito Lagoon. Either way, finish with a private wood-fired soak at Waiho Hot Tubs in the village.
- Day 13 Franz Josef → Wanaka via Haast Pass Leave by 9am for the wild South Westland coast and Haast Pass: Knights Point lookout, the Ship Creek boardwalks, then over the pass past Thunder Creek and Fantail Falls to the Blue Pools at Makarora. Arrive Wanaka around 4:30pm for a lakefront stroll to That Wanaka Tree.
- Day 14 Wanaka full day A big-view day: hike Diamond Lake & Rocky Mountain (Roys-Peak views for far less effort and fewer crowds) or Roys Peak itself, then kayak or paddleboard on the lakefront and taste above the water at Rippon. Refuel diesel tonight — the cheapest fuel until the end of the trip.
- Day 15 Wanaka → Manapouri Down through Cromwell (a stop at the Jones Family Fruit Stall) and along the Kingston lakeside highway to Manapouri — skip Queenstown today, you'll be back. Arrive by 4pm to confirm the cruise boarding time and long-stay parking at Pearl Harbour.
- Day 16 Doubtful Sound overnight cruise Board mid-morning at Pearl Harbour: boat across Lake Manapouri, coach over Wilmot Pass, then aboard for the night on Doubtful Sound / Patea. Kayaking off the vessel is included — do it. Sleep on the water in the deepest, quietest of the fiords.
- Day 17 Doubtful Sound → Glenorchy Cruise and coach back to Pearl Harbour around midday, then drive via Te Anau (dump station and fuel) and Kingston, through Queenstown and out along the Glenorchy road beside Lake Wakatipu — one of New Zealand's finest drives.
- Day 18 Glenorchy adventure day Morning on the Dart River Wilderness Jet — jet-boating a braided glacial river into Mt Aspiring National Park. Afternoon on the Routeburn Track to Routeburn Flats, or the Glenorchy Lagoon boardwalk at golden hour. Roads beyond Glenorchy are partly gravel — check the campervan's unsealed-road clause.
- Day 19 Glenorchy → White Horse Hill (Aoraki/Mt Cook) Leave by 9am: an optional stop in Arrowtown, then Cromwell, the Lindis Pass and Omarama to Twizel, and up SH80 along Lake Pukaki. Peter's Lookout for the classic Pukaki-to-Aoraki photo and fresh sashimi at Mt Cook Alpine Salmon. Camp at White Horse Hill with an evening Kea Point walk and dark-sky stargazing.
- Day 20 Hooker Valley → Lake Tekapo The Hooker Valley Track at 7am straight from camp — three swing bridges to an iceberg lake beneath Aoraki before the buses arrive. Optional glacier kayaking on Mueller Lake or the Tasman Glacier icebergs, then across to Tekapo for the hot pools, the Church of the Good Shepherd at sunset and a Dark Sky Project stargazing tour.
- Day 21 Tekapo → Queenstown (Frankton) Morning on the Mt John Summit Circuit for a 360° panorama over the Mackenzie Basin and coffee at the Astro Café, then retrace via the Lindis Pass to Cromwell — an optional Gibbston Valley winery stop — arriving Frankton around 4pm. Empty the toilet cassette and grey water tonight ahead of the drop-off.
- Day 22 Drop-off & fly out Fill the diesel tank (returns must be full), then to the campervan depot at Frankton by 10:30–11:00am — returns take 30–45 minutes, with a free shuttle to the terminal for the 2:00pm flight from Queenstown Airport.