Our New Zealand road trip has been in the planning for a long time; in fact, it was one of the first trips we discussed when we decided to become full-time travelers. It’s still surreal to me that we did it! New Zealand is absolutely incredible in every way. It didn’t take long for our family to rate our New Zealand Road Trip the highlight of our travels thus far!

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Our home on the road for 28 days!

Our New Zealand Road Trip Route

Below is a map showing the route we took on our New Zealand road trip. You should know that I marked all the main stops, but we stopped almost a million times to enjoy the scenery and take pictures. You’ll notice on the map that although there are some areas we missed, we covered a lot of ground on both the North and South Islands. We flew into Auckland (located on the North Island) and rented a one-way RV rental for a month from Kiwi Campers, dropping off in Christchurch (on the South Island).

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1. Auckland
2. Cathedral Cove
3. Hot Water Beach
4. Hobbiton Movie Set
5. Rotorua Top Ten Holiday Park
6. Waiotapu Geothermal Area
7. Huka Falls
8. Flat Hills Cafe & Campground
9. Castlepoint Lighthouse & Park
10. The Weta Cave
11. North Island Harbor
12. South Island Harbor
13. Bethany Park Campground
14. Riverview Holiday Park
15. Buller Gorge Swing Bridge

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16. Cape Foulwind
17. Pancake Rocks
18. Fox Glacier Top Ten Holiday Park
19. Roaring Billy Waterfall Hike
20. Thunder Creek Falls
21. Wanaka Kiwi Holiday Park
22. Arrowtown
23. Queenstown
24. Balclutha Motor Camp
25. Nugget Point Lighthouse
26. Tunnel Beach
27. Dunedin Train Station
28. Larnach’s Castle
29. Moeraki Boulders Holiday Park
30. Christchurch Top Ten Holiday Park

Breaking Down our New Zealand Road Trip

I’ll share some experiences, tips, and/or general information about each stop. Obviously, I have a lot to cover, so I’ll keep this short and sweet…

1. Auckland
Cute college town! We stayed in a great Airbnb rental with a fabulous view of the wharf.

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Our view on this special day in Auckland!

2. Cathedral Cove
Before I go straight into Cathedral Cove, let me tell you about the drive there! The road we took past Thames was incredible!!! The sun was setting and we stopped several times just to soak it in (and take pictures). Here’s one of my favorite pictures I captured…

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A sunset view on our way to Cathedra Cove! Breathtaking!

Now, Cathedral Cove…an absolute MUST-SEE! Promise me right now that you will not visit the North Island of New Zealand without going to Cathedral Cove!! When you get there, you take a little hike down to the beach and then you’re surrounded by breathtaking views. After our entire New Zealand road trip, this is still my numero uno!

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Cathedral Cove

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Family Picture at Cathedral Cove

3. Hot Water Beach
Really fascinating, but also really crowded. Without the crowd, however, we wouldn’t have known where to find the hot water. It’s literally right down the road from Cathedral Cove, so it’s worth at least a quick stop.

4. Hobbiton Movie Set
Super cool! Even if you’re not a big Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit fan, you’ll still love this adorable village made for small Hobbits! The staff was incredible and they even serve you Ginger Beer at The Green Dragon Pub!

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I loved everything about this Hobbiton movie set!

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A Hobbit Hole! So dang cute!!

5. Rotorua Top Ten Holiday Park
We didn’t do too much in Rotorua, but we adopted a cute rabbit at the campground. We named him ‘Max’ and he’d stay under our camper until we’d come out and then we’d hand-feed him some bread and chopped carrots!