Two adults, a four-year-old and a baby · 6.7 m motorhome
5-week New Zealand campervan itinerary
34 nights · relaxed pace with two small children
3,200 kmtotal distance (est.)
20 / 13drive days / rest days
160 kmaverage drive (est.)
This one isn't a demo. It's a trip we actually planned and drove: five weeks from Auckland to Christchurch in a 6.7 m motorhome, with a four-year-old and a baby on board. Down the North Island to Wellington, across on the ferry, then the length of the South Island — Marlborough, Kaikōura, the glaciers, Milford, Queenstown and back up to Christchurch. Days are numbered rather than dated so you can drop it onto your own calendar. The pace is the point: short driving days, a rest day wherever it made sense, and one thing worth doing per stop instead of a packed schedule.
The route
Tap a marker to jump to that stop.
Ferry crossing
Day by day
Dates run arrival → departure. Every campsite links straight to its OpenStreetMap entry, so you can check it exists before you drive there.
Getting there: 75 km from the Apollo depot · ~1 h 15 in the van
Day 1 · land + arrive
13:25our flight lands in Auckland
~14:45Immigration + biosecurity with two kids — declare all food, NZ is strict and the fines are real
~15:15Apollo pickup — depot's expecting our ~3pm arrival off the flight; free airport shuttle to the branch
~16:15Big grocery shop near the depot
~17:15Drive south, about 1 h
~18:30Check in, set up camp, simple dinner
~19:30Quick soak in the hot mineral pool — jet-lag medicine
Day 2 · no driving
~09:30Jumping pillow, mini golf, giant chess
~11:00Pūkorokoro Shorebird Centre — flat pram-friendly boardwalks over the Firth of Thames; internationally famous for wild godwits & wrybills (baby nap in carrier)
Check-in2pm-8pm · Call when arriving after 7pm · no check-in after 10pm, gate locked
Check-outby 10am
Getting there: 100 km · winding Coromandel roads, take it slow · ~2 h in the van
Day 3 · arrive
~12:00Park at Hahei Beach, lunch at the van
~13:30Water taxi to Cathedral Cove from Hahei Beach (2-3 h) — every 30 min from 9am, no booking, pay onboard; /adult + /child each way, family fare Grange Rd carpark & main walking track closed — the boat is the practical access; weather-cancellable, status line
~16:45Drive to RiverGlen in Coroglen (~15 min), check in
~17:30Waiwawa River swimming hole right at camp — shallow rocky spots for the kids, playground & trampolines; waterfall 10 min walk from the gate
Day 4 · beach day, evening hop
~09:30Pack up & check out — RiverGlen checkout is 10:00, then 15 min to Hot Water Beach
~10:15Dig your own hot pool — low tide 11:20 (Tairua/east coast); diggable window ~9:20-13:20, sweet spot 10:30-12:00. Be on the sand by 10:00-10:30; bring/rent a spade; weather-dependent
Getting there: 320 km direct from Tongariro · ~4 h 30 in the van · lunch + playground stop at Foxton Beach en route (5 min off SH1)
Day 11 · arrive
~12:00Foxton Beach break — lunch at the van, beach playground, 5 min off SH1
~15:00Check in at Hutt Park
~16:30Waterfront playground, early night
Day 12 · no driving
~09:30Te Papa — the national museum, free, superb with kids (2-3 h)
~13:30Zealandia — fenced eco-sanctuary of regenerating forest; free-roaming wild native birds (kākā, tīeke), tuatara and more, all wild in their habitat, not caged
~17:00Laundry & restock at Hutt Park — last big shop before the South Island
Day 13 · depart
~09:30Slow pack-up, playground round — no rush, the boat's not till 13:30
~11:30Leave for the Bluebridge terminal (~20 min) — vehicle check-in closes 12:30, sailing 13:30
⛴ Crossing: ⛴ Bluebridge, ~3.75 h across Cook Strait
Day 13 · arrive
12:30Ferry check-in closes at the Bluebridge terminal (Wellington)
13:30Bluebridge sails (Super Sail, ~) — the run through the Marlborough Sounds is a highlight in itself; watch for dolphins from the deck
17:15Dock in Picton, check in at Waikawa Bay, dinner in town
Day 14 · depart
opt.Optional dolphin cruise: E-Ko “Dolphin View” 9am (~2 h, for us — 2 adults + both kids at the under-5 rate). Calm water, no-seasick guarantee, wild Hector's/dusky dolphins + seals + blue penguins. But it's our 4th marine outing after Milford — decide when next season's dates open; refundable, book only if dolphins still feel worth it
alt.Or a relaxed Picton morning — foreshore, the aquarium, easy start — then an unhurried drive to Kaikōura
Getting there: 160 km · coastal highway · ~2 h 30 in the van
Day 14 · arrive
~15:30Arrive from Picton, check in
~16:30Point Kean seal colony — wild fur seals & pups on the rocks, up close, free, no age limit (great in low evening light)
Day 15 · no driving
~10:00Whale Watch boat — one parent + our four-year-old (she's over the hard 3-yr minimum; book a calmer morning sailing, ~2.5 h). The other parent + Leif do the seals & shore below
~10:00Meanwhile: Point Kean seals + Peninsula Walkway (clifftop seals, albatross & seabirds; flat sections, carrier-friendly) with the baby
Getting there: 260 km over Lewis Pass · ~4 h in the van · Maruia Falls stop + lunch in Reefton (right on SH7)
Day 18 · arrive
~11:00Maruia Falls stop
~12:30Lunch in Reefton — historic main street, first town in NZ with electric streetlights
~15:00Arrive Punakaiki — beach time, watch for cheeky wild weka around the camp
~16:30Truman Track to a hidden beach (~30 min return)
Day 19 · no driving
tide!Pancake Rocks & blowholes — paved, pram-friendly; time it near high tide for the blowholes. A full day here doubles the odds of good tide timing
~14:00Hidden-beach time & rockpools
duskWestland petrels — Punakaiki is the only place on earth they breed; they stream in to their forest colony at dusk (Mar-Nov main season, but the coast is theirs)
~14:30West Coast Wildlife Centre — a DoC + Ngāi Tahu kiwi hatchery, not a zoo: it has raised & released 353 rowi and 141 Haast tokoeka back into the wild (chick survival jumps from 5% to 85%). See live rowi in the nocturnal walk-through; the reliable all-ages way to meet a kiwi
Day 22 · no driving
08:00Lake Matheson mirror loop — go early for the reflections + native forest birds (~1.5 h)
~13:00Glacier valley walk — scan the sky for wild kea, the cheeky alpine parrot
eveningWild kiwi option: Ōkārito Kiwi Tours (15 min away) find the rare wild rowi, ~98% success — but it's a late night in dark bush, not suited to young kids. If it matters to you, one parent goes solo one evening while the other has the kids. Book ahead; guide speaks German
~11:00⭐ Monro Beach walk (Lake Moeraki, en route) — flat ~40-min rainforest trail to a wild beach; the mainland's best shot at Fiordland crested penguins (tawaki). Late-Jan odds are lower (moult season) but the walk is gorgeous regardless — keep dogs away, stay back, quiet
~13:00Ship Creek boardwalks — dune lake + swamp forest, wading birds
~14:30Arrive Haast, lunch, fuel up: diesel + AdBlue before the pass
pmSlow afternoon — buffer night. Watch for wild weka wandering the campsite
Check-inafter 3pm — 12pm early check-in bookable; plan arrives ~12:30, confirm early check-in is on
Check-outby 11am (1pm late checkout bookable)
Getting there: 120 km · ~2 h nonstop in the van — allow 3 h with photo stops
Day 29 · arrive
~09:30Mirror Lakes
~10:30Eglinton Valley photo stops
~11:30Homer Tunnel — low gear, lights on. Wild kea (alpine parrots) often loiter at the tunnel mouth — don't feed them, and watch they don't nibble the van
~12:30Check in at the Lodge, lunch
~15:00The Chasm walk
~19:30Foreshore at golden hour — the day-trip buses are long gone
Day 30 · no driving
~07:30Wake, feed the kids, sandfly repellent on everyone
08:20Short drive to the terminal (~3 min), park in the main car park (~), 10-min walk
09:00Check in at the Pure Milford desk — boarding closes 10 min before departure
09:30⭐ Pure Milford cruise (res ) — modern 3-deck catamaran, ~1h45, café onboard, ahead of the coach crowds. Wild fur seals, dolphins, and a late-Jan chance of Fiordland crested penguins (tawaki) in the outer sound
~11:30Back at the Lodge — relaxed rest of the day
~13:00Lodge riverside trail
Day 31 · depart
08:30Early start — longest driving day of the trip
Getting there: 195 km via Lindis Pass & Twizel · ~2 h 45 in the van
Day 32 · arrive
~12:00Lunch in Twizel
~13:30Check in at Glentanner — Aoraki fills the windscreen
~15:30Kea Point walk — named for the wild alpine kea sometimes seen here + Lake Pukaki viewpoints
Day 33 · no driving
08:30⭐ Hooker Valley Track — flat, three swing bridges, glacier lake at the end. Start before 9 to beat the crowds; ~3 h return at kid pace, baby in carrier
09:00Hand back at Apollo — the 14:20 flight makes the morning firm, no lazy start
~10:005-min transfer to the terminal (ask Apollo for the shuttle when booking)
~11:20Check-in opens 3 h before — bags in, bassinet confirmed, stroller to the gate
14:20our flight home departs — trip over, 3,200 km on the clock
Want this trip, but yours?
Different dates. A different start. Shorter driving days, or no toddler in the back. Change the shape of it and re-plan any stop — you get your own copy, and one link to share with everyone in the van.