New Zealand Surf Coast: Auckland to Queenstown - Mighty

Twelve nights and 3,910 kilometres from Auckland to Queenstown in a campervan, a surf trip the length of both islands.

The Tutukaka Coast comes first in Northland, where the breaks are tucked into small bays and the Poor Knights Islands sit offshore, then Raglan on the west coast, where Manu Bay runs on a long left-hand point that can hold for several hundred metres.

New Plymouth follows, with Surf Highway 45 running round the base of Mount Taranaki past more breaks than cars at most of them, then Gisborne with a stay day, which sees the sunrise before anywhere else in the world and has beach breaks either side of the river mouth. Masterton and Wellington come next, then the ferry and Collingwood in Golden Bay, Kaikoura, Christchurch, Dunedin, and the cold water of Southland before Queenstown.

The camper and the day-by-day plan come from Mighty, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Thirteen days for 3,910 kilometres is a hard schedule with long driving days, which is the price of surfing both islands in a fortnight. A camper is close to the ideal vehicle for this, since the good breaks seldom have accommodation anywhere near them and the dawn session is the one worth catching. Southland and Dunedin want a decent wetsuit at any time of year. This is a one-way hire the length of the country, so a relocation fee is worth confirming at booking.