NZ Road Trip: By the Numbers

NZ Road Trip!

From mid-April to mid-July, Mac & I drove around the country for an NZ Road Trip in our little boat-sized 1997 Toyota Camry. We hiked, we camped, we saw & we adventured. And it was amazing. New Zealand is such a beautiful country and I’m so incredibly happy that we had almost 3 full months to explore almost every nook & cranny.

We saw glaciers & mountains, and waterfalls & pristine lakes. We admired beaches & vast oceans, and endless sunsets & night skies. And though the weather may not have been our best friend at times, we tried to make the best of it and just roll with the punches. We listened to A LOT of basketball podcasts, and even more static radio stations. And through it all we made memories that will last a lifetime. Here’s some fun facts & figures from our NZ Road trip.

Numbers Breakdown

Number of Days: 87

Number of Kilometres Driven: 7780km

Number of Hostels: 24 (8 in private rooms, 16 in dorms – though with it being winter, a few of the dorms we stayed in didn’t have any other guests).

Biggest Dorm: 28 beds (it actually wasn’t as bad as you’d think!)

Number of Nights Camping: 22

Number of Rainy Days: A sufficient number considering we were travelling in winter, but still an annoying amount no matter how hard I tried to stay positive!!

Number of Hikes (over 1 hour): 14 (Kepler Track, Tiki Track, Diamond Lake Track, Franz Josef Glacier Track, Point Elizabeth, Farewell Spit Circuit, Abel Tasman Coast Track, Lake Rotoiti Loop, Mt Stokes Summit, Queen Charlotte Track + Eatwells Lookout, Lake Tarawera Trail, Rainbow Mountain Summit, Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Mt Maunganui)

Number of Kilometres Hiked: 298km

Number of Car Parts Replaced: 2 (tire, battery. Both in the same day).

Number of 1kg Jars of Peanut Butter Consumed: WAYYY too many to count. Definitely over 10. (Don’t judge! PB is GREAT for hiking & camping!!… and for eating with a spoon when the mood strikes…which is often).

Number of Boats: 4 (2 ferries, 2 water taxis)

Places Visited: Wellington, Te Anau, Milford Sound, Invercargill, Bluff, The Catlins, Dunedin, Oamaru, Mt Cook Villiage, Queenstown, Wanaka, Fox Glacier, Franz Josef Glacier, Greymouth, Nelson, Abel Tasman, Golden Bay, Nelson Lakes National Park (St. Arnaud), Blenheim, Picton, Tongariro National Park, Taupo, Napier, Gisborne, East Cape, Rotorua, Tauranga, Coromandel Peninsula (Whitarangi, Coromandel Town), Waiuku, & Auckland

Our Route: (ignore the letter labels – the My Maps feature in Google Drive had its limitations)

South Island

North Island

Height of Plane Before I Jumped Out of It: 15,000ft (4572m)

Number of Blog Posts during our NZ Road Trip: 27

Amount Spent on Petrol: $1235.08 (gas in NZ is expensive! The lowest we paid on our road trip was $1.59L (45km from Taupo) and the highest was $2.07/L (Wanaka). Typically it was between $1.80-$1.98/L. NZD and CAD were about par when we were travelling.

Average Spent on Accommodation per Night: $31.80 (this doesn’t take into account the fact that we had free lodging for two weeks in Greymouth at Noah’s Ark, five nights in Auckland at our old flat prior to flying home, and a few other nights spent on the floor/in spare bedrooms at friends’ homes. Excluding these nights, our average accommodation cost was $50.41)

Average Spent on Campsites: $14.55 (this is a bit of an inaccurate representation because it includes ‘Great Walk’ campsites which are FAR more expensive than most typical DOC campsites – $14-$18pp/night vs $0-$10pp/night).

Cost Breakdown

Mac & I kept track of every dollar (and cent!) we spent on our NZ Road Trip. Here’s how the numbers break down:

Lodging: $2386.80

Eating Out: $960.69

Groceries: $1052.78

Activities: $1674.34

Transportation: $1893.47

Miscellaneous: $401.70

TOTAL: $8369.78 NZD This works out to $48.10pp/day.

*This doesn’t include the cost of the car. But the difference between the purchase price and sale price was $400.

Highlights

New Zealand is an insanely beautiful country and it’s incredibly hard (almost impossible!) to pick a favourite place. That being said, here are a few highlights that instantly come to mind.

The Catlins

This area was virtually untouched by tourism and its remoteness made the whole region a beautiful & unique place to explore. Waterfalls, huge bays, lighthouses & more were what I especially loved about the Catlins.

Abel Tasman

Following what was almost 3 weeks of straight rain, the skies cleared for our 4 day hike in Abel Tasman National Park. This Great Walk follows the coastline which is chalk full of crazy-beautiful beaches & bays. Separation Point was also fantastic – seeing seals up close was quite the experience!

Golden Bay

Just wow. That’s all I can think of to describe this place. More beautiful beaches coupled with charming small towns and stunning cliffs made Golden Bay a true highlight.

Nelson Lakes

Granted, we only spent 2 days/1 night here, but with the number of tracks in Nelson Lakes National Park, it would be easy to spend several days here! It’s hard to beat lake shores with snow-capped mountains & lush forests in the background!

Queen Charlotte Sound

Coming into Picton via the ferry it’s easy to see that all of the Marlborough Sounds area is quite picturesque. We were further convinced after having spent almost a full week on the Queen Charlotte Sound. By driving the (incredibly twisty & winding) roads into the sound we were able to experience the area a bit more. Hiking to the summit of Mt Stokes was evidence of this. The views from the summit were unlike any other we had seen during our trip. The Queen Charlotte Track was also truly amazing to hike. I’m super glad we ventured up to Eatwell’s Lookout as it came close to rivalling the views of Mt. Stokes.

Tongariro Crossing

I am SO extremely happy that we got to do this hike. Inclement winter weather had made us abandon our plans once before, but the clouds parted and the rain held off and we knew we had to take advantage. This was a tough hike, but SO worth it! The views of the (THREE!) volcanoes were stunning, and the whole area was just breathtaking.

Skydiving

Nuff said.

Conclusion

Our 3-month NZ Road Trip was a totally perfect way to cap off our time in New Zealand. We spent almost 6 months in Auckland and only 3 months travelling which seems a bit backwards, but 3 months was enough for us. While in Auckland we had a few weekends that allowed us to see several parts of the North Island. Our Easter Weekend Northland Road Trip and various trips to Piha were notable.

Travelling the country in winter has its pros and cons. Weather being the obvious one: winter in NZ = rain! One big advantage though is the lack of tourists. Popular destinations are swarmed with people in the summer months, but become almost barren in the winter. Because of this, we hiked many trails without seeing another person! Additionally, some hostels offer ‘off-season’ rates making travel much more affordable.

After cruising the Coromandel Peninsula, we headed back to Auckland for a few days before flying out. While there, we were able to look back and reflect on the past 3 months. Both Mac & I were really happy with everything we did & saw. Though the rain may have dampened (I’ll never get sick of using that pun!) our experience in some places (Mt. Cook – I’m looking at you!… or not, because of all the rain!), we both felt that we had no regrets. And hey, all of those bad weather moments just mean that I’ll have to come back someday… in the summer!!

—————–

I’ll be doing another post soon about some tips & tricks for your own NZ Road Trip. Shoot me any questions you might have about doing an NZ Road Trip yourself in the comments!

What were your thoughts on our ‘Numbers & Cost Breakdowns’? Was anything higher/lower than what you expected?