New Zealand roads (repost for time zone)

"gettingoldercarguy" (gettingoldercarguy)
07/31/2020 at 20:29 • Filed to: None

I know we have a few kiwis on here and I’m curious about road quality along with the differences between the North and the South island. Wh ich ones are better for driving? How easy is it to get across to either island.

DISCUSSION (12)

BaconSandwich is tasty. > gettingoldercarguy
07/31/2020 at 12:27

I’m not from New Zealand, so I can’t help much with the conversation. But that photo totally makes me want to visit there even more.

feather-throttle-not-hair > BaconSandwich is tasty.
07/31/2020 at 12:43

I’d have plenty of zeal about being a new visitor to that land!

gettingoldercarguy > BaconSandwich is tasty.
07/31/2020 at 13:30

zipfuel > gettingoldercarguy
07/31/2020 at 19:23

So for our honeymoon we drove the length of NZ from Auckland to Queenstown over 3 weeks a nd definitely had more fun driving on the south Island. It’s basically a big F-Off spine of mountains in the middle with a bit of flat by the coast on either side. We may have shortchanged the North Island a bit by bombing through it in less days but it wasn’t twisty 2 lane roads through mountains all.the.time. the same way the South Island was.

Car selection helped too. North Island we had a numb ass Corolla with an awkward dash mounted stick shift. South Island they were about to give us the same but sedan and automatic. I complained as I wanted engine braking for the mountains, declined the “upgrade” and got a little Hyundai i30 hatch with a stick on the floor that felt way more like my go-karty focus back home. Down shifted that little car through a thousand mountain curves on the way down.

I should do a post on it some time

pip bip - choose Corrour > gettingoldercarguy
07/31/2020 at 20:27

South island for driving roads.

gettingoldercarguy > pip bip - choose Corrour
07/31/2020 at 20:35

This seems to be the consensus.

SiennaMan > gettingoldercarguy
07/31/2020 at 20:45

Some day when my country isn't a plague spot, I hope to visit both New Zealand and Australia. (though some of the tv I've seen makes me a little nervous about the fauna in Aus..)

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > feather-throttle-not-hair
07/31/2020 at 20:46

Hey, I’m having Vuja De...

someassemblyrequired > gettingoldercarguy
07/31/2020 at 21:20

HubNut did a huge driving tour of most of New Zealand, which might be helpful:

MaxiQ > gettingoldercarguy
07/31/2020 at 22:42

I drove NZ in 1999, so my info is dated. I was happy to take the automatic Corolla upgrade, as it wa s my first time driving on the left. I loved it, roundabouts a nd one-way bridges and all. South Island had some sketchy gravel roads that may have violated my rental agreement, but I made it through without incident. Well, except for the morn ing I started the day in the middle of nowhere and started driving on the wrong side! Fun times!

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > gettingoldercarguy
07/31/2020 at 22:44

Horses for courses. If you want fast sweeping roads like what’s in the photo, with the odd alpine pass thrown in: South Island for sure. If you want tight 2nd and 3rd gear stuff through the hills, and the option of gravel roads, there’s a lot more of that in the North Island. There’s a reason why WRC Rally NZ is always held in the North Island, and it’s not just airport access. However the South has the benefit of much more s pectacular scenery, and that a lot of the good roads are on the way to somewhere worth visiting, which is not generally true in the North Island - major roads tend to be meh.

Road quality is generally good - we don’t have harsh winters that kill roads - but there are very few 4 lane roads so be prepared for slow stretches till you can pass. South Island roads are generally in better condition and much less heavily trafficked, but they’re also much more heavily policed. Traffic on the main arterial roads in the north (esp. SH1 north of Taupo or south of Levin) can be heavy, and once you get north of Auckland, road quality ( and driving quality, which is never great in NZ to start with) deteriorate badly.

Getting between islands is easy enough - it’s a 3 hour ferry ride and there’s about 6 sailings a day. It’s worth the trip just for the scenery. But it’s pretty expensive to take a car - if you’re using a rental you’d probably be better to do a loop out of Auckland, fly south, and do another loop out of Christchurch or Queenstown.

gettingoldercarguy > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
07/31/2020 at 23:18

Thanks! I want to have a general idea of what we’re looking at when we go to visit and I’m getting a better picture of it. If you have any information on schools, industry, etc. I’d love to read it.

Thanks again