Thermal Explorer Highway Itinerary - Britz

Seven nights and 391 kilometres from Auckland to Napier in a campervan, down the Thermal Explorer Highway through the geothermal belt.

Hamilton and the Waitomo caves come first, where the glow worms on the ceiling of the main grotto read as a night sky, then Cambridge, a thoroughbred town with English-style hedges, and Matamata for Hobbiton.

Rotorua follows, with Te Puia, where the Pohutu geyser plays several times a day and the carving and weaving schools train the next generation, and Orakei Korako, a silica terrace system on a lake edge reached by boat and among the best of its kind left in the country after the Tarawera eruption destroyed the rest. Taupo and the Huka Falls come next, then the route drops to Hawke’s Bay and Napier, rebuilt in art deco after the 1931 earthquake, with Te Mata Peak and the gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers nearby.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, 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. Eight days for 391 kilometres is generous, which suits a route where most of the stops take half a day. Hobbiton, Waitomo and the Te Puia evening programme all need booking in summer. This is a one-way hire, so a relocation fee is worth checking, and Napier is a pleasant place to finish rather than a transit point. Hawke’s Bay is also one of the warmest and driest corners of the country, which makes the last two days of the trip the most reliable weather on it.