State Highway 1: Top to Bottom — Driving the Length of New Zealand

State Highway 1 is the longest and most significant highway in New Zealand — it runs the length of the country from Cape Reinga in the north to Bluff in the south. You can drive the whole way, though you’ll have to put your car on the ferry to cross the Cook Strait between islands.

New Zealand is a long and narrow country — you’re never more than 128 kilometers from the coast — so the road is longer than you’d expect! It runs for 2,047 kilometers with 1,106 in the North Island and 941 in the South Island, connecting all of the major cities. When you’re in one of those cities, Highway 1 doesn’t feel that different from any other highway. But then you get out of the city and reality sets in.

NZ is very rural. Of the 5.3 million people who live here, about one-third live in Auckland. That doesn’t leave a lot of people in the rest of the country! The highways have a lot of ground to cover so they are very practical — for most of its length State Highway 1 is a two lane single carriageway. It looks kind of like a secondary road in the US except better maintained and with more passing bays.

Highway 1 wasn’t fully sealed until 2010 — we were laughing when we drove to Cape Reinga to discover that the MAIN highway in New Zealand goes down to a single lane at times when crossing bridges. It twists and turns throughout most of its length — you’ll find very few straight sections of road so getting anywhere takes longer than you’d expect. But you don’t mind, because it is beautiful. There are passing bays pretty regularly when you’re going through mountains and hills, which is almost always.

One thing I really appreciate is that the roads aren’t narrow like they are in much of Europe. The lanes are reasonably wide, parking spots are good sized, and the turns are pretty forgiving. A lot of that is because Kiwis and tourists love their caravans — road trips are part of life here and the roads are built with that in mind.

State Highway 1 begins in Bluff at the southern tip of the South Island. If you go to the beginning of the highway you’ll see the famous signpost with yellow signs pointing to different places and listing the distance. Invercargill (27 km north of Bluff) has the southernmost Starbucks in the world — worth a stop if you’re there even if just to claim you’ve been at the southernmost Starbucks in the world! Invercargill also has the southernmost Pizza Hut, Subway, McDonald’s, and Burger King in the world.

Most tourists I know visit Auckland and then head south — to Hobbiton, the Glow Worm Caves, and then down to the South Island. But if you have time, there is a lot to explore north of Auckland — The Winterless North: Northland, New Zealand.

The highway ends at Cape Reinga in the north, about a six hour drive from Auckland. The road ends in a carpark with good toilet facilities and a nice overlook. A walkway takes you down to a lighthouse and another signpost with yellow signs pointing the way to the rest of the world. From the walkway you can see where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet — a roiling clash of currents that is genuinely cool to watch.

Reinga means underworld. It was named this because of a Māori belief that the cape is the point where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld and begin their journey back to the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki. It’s a sacred place and it feels like one.

There’s a lot more New Zealand where this came from. The full series covers two years of living there — the weird, the beautiful, and the occasionally baffling. And if you’re planning a trip to New Zealand and want ideas on where to go, check out my map of posts.