New Zealand Trips

Off the beaten trail

4 to 6 weeks

From the
New Zealand travel guide

It’s hard to find paths-less-travelled in NZ these days, but this epic 5400km route from the NZ’s northernmost fingernail to detached southern toe takes in plenty of vacant landscapes. If your timing’s good, you may feel like you’ve carved off a slice of heaven all for yourself.

Journey to the ends of NZ and experience places far removed from manmade clash and humdrum.

Beat a hasty retreat from hypertensive Auckland to tiny Tutukaka and a visit to the fish-rich waters and underwater labyrinths of the Poor Knights Islands. Beyond the Bay of Islands is rugged Aupouri Peninsula, the tip of which is Cape Reinga, shrouded in solitude and Maori lore.

Venture back south through Rotorua to the lush leaf-scapes of Te Urewera National Park and the craggy ranges of East Cape. Follow SH2 south into the sheepy Wairarapa before soaring over the otherworldly, cloud-wrapped Rimutaka Range and along wiggly Akatarawa Rd to the deserted beaches of the Kapiti Coast. If you have time, float offshore to mystical Kapiti Island. Chug across Cook Strait to Picton then lose your way in the waterways of the Marlborough Sounds.

Detour west past artsy Nelson to ecofriendly, chilled-out Golden Bay (more paintbrushes than people) and enormous Kahurangi National Park. Travel southwest, where a memorable road north of Westport trundles up to the caverns of Oparara Basin. Southbound, divert to the inland extremities of Arthur’s Pass National Park, and don’t miss a voyage on desolate Doubtful Sound. Ferry yourself to end-of-the-world Stewart Island, then kick back in the overgrown Catlins for a couple of days.

Detour north on SH8 through Central Otago, passing goldrush-era towns en route to mountain-biking Alexandra and hang-glider-hung Omarama. Trek back to the east coast via the Waitaki Valley on SH83, then hop south to mellow Oamaru before a big-city reality check back in Christchurch.

by Charles Rawlings-Way, Lonely Planet author