Campervan Trip To Waitomo And Raglan - Britz

Six nights and 830 kilometres in a loop from Auckland in a campervan, south to Waitomo and Raglan and then east to the Coromandel.

Hamilton comes first, then Waitomo, where a limestone cave system holds glow worms in such numbers that the ceiling of the main grotto reads as a night sky, and the more active option is black water rafting, which means floating an underground river on an inner tube in a wetsuit.

Raglan follows on the west coast, which has one of the longest left-hand point breaks in the world and a town that has organised itself entirely around it, with Bridal Veil Falls nearby dropping fifty-five metres off a basalt lip. Hobbiton comes next, the preserved film set on a working farm, then the Karangahake gorge, where an old rail tunnel and tramway run above the river, and Hot Water Beach, Cathedral Cove, Coromandel Town and Whitianga close the loop.

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. Seven days for 830 kilometres is a comfortable pace. Waitomo’s caves and Hobbiton both run guided tours that sell out in summer, and black water rafting has age and fitness requirements worth reading first. The Coromandel leg at the end repeats ground covered by the operator’s shorter peninsula itineraries, so anyone who has already done one of those might prefer to spend the extra nights at Raglan instead, where the surf schools take complete beginners.