So you have booked a car using Transfercar and managed to find one with three days to get from Wellington to Auckland, Yay! If you want to just drive and get there as soon as possible then that’s about 7 to 8 hours if you go straight up State Highway 1. But with three days, why rush? You can take some time to explore. The obvious first choice is to stop in Taupo and explore Tongariro National Park.
Option 1 – State Highway 1
But if you want to be a little more adventurous, you could go via Wanganui with its famous River and Art Community including the magnificent Sarjeant Art Gallery. After that up through the rugged limestone hills north of Wanganui that form the steep and curvy Parapara highway straight to Mount Ruapehu which has absolutely amazing views of a large part of the North Island. Alternatively you could head out to take a look at Mount Taranaki via the towns on the way like Patea, Hawera and Stratford. From New Plymouth the drive is easy up the west coast all the way to the glow worms at Waitomo Caves and then on to Hamilton.
Option 2 – through Taranaki
The sexy alternative is to go East. From Wellington, drive through Upper Hutt and all those towns ending in ‘ton’ Featherston, Carterton, Masterton, then up through Hastings to Napier. After the earthquake in February 1931 a lot of the new buildings in Napier were built in the art deco style and the town is often referred to as the ‘Art Deco Capital of the world’. From Napier, the drive around the much vaunted Hawkes Bay could provide the opportunity for a bit of sun, fun and relaxing on the beach and the wines are very good too!
Option 3 – East Coast
From there, on to Gisborne and some of the magnificent coastal scenery of the Pacific Coast Highway. Tolaga Bay is where Captain Cook stayed six days repairing the ‘Endeavour’ and taking on water and supplies and Tolaga Bay Wharf at 660 metres in length is the longest in New Zealand.
Wow so much to do, can we fit it all into the three days we have or will it take longer? From Whakatane it looks an easy drive through to Rotorua and the endless wonders of bubbling mud pools, Maori culture and a long soak in a natural hot spa – now that sounds nice! Or should you take the coastal highway around the Bay of Plenty through Te Puke and Papamoa Beach to Tauranga and the holiday spot Mount Maunganui ? From there it’s just a short trip to Thames and then on to Auckland.
I would like to return a campervan from Wellington to Auckland on Tuesday 27th Octusing the three day option. How do I do that
Hi Tom
If you find a suitable relocation and haven’t already registered, register as a driver and then log in with your username and password to confirm who you are. Then select the relocation that suits, choose the pick up time, and enter your credit card details (they will not be passed on to the rental operator, we only need them as a security in case you cancel without notifying us). A request is then sent to the rental operator that listed the vehicle, and you receive a response within 24 hours. When accepted, you will receive the details on how and where to pick up the vehicle.
Sometimes insurance, petrol and other expenses are included and this will be stated in the listing comments section. If insurance is included, you will still be liable for the excess and will be required to give your credit card details to the rental operator in case you have an accident or for a bond.
Why don’t you increase your chances of getting a car by making multiple requests? You can request up to three vehicles using the same pickup date, however bear in mind that once you are accepted for one relocation, all other requests will automatically be cancelled, and the vehicle you are accepted for is the one you will be required to take.
Tip: Get notified of new listings!
To be notified of new vehicles added to our database you can subscribe to our email notifications. All you have to do is register as a driver and then log in and go to your ‘settings’ and then ‘notifications’. Here you can specify which routes to be notified about.