Skip to Content

PETRINA DARRAH

New Zealand Travel Guide

Road Trips & Itineraries

FREE ITINERARY DOWNLOAD

PETRINA DARRAH

New Zealand Travel Guide

Road Trips & Itineraries

FREE ITINERARY DOWNLOAD

New Zealand Travel Guide

Road Trips & Itineraries

FREE ITINERARY DOWNLOAD

NEW ZEALAND TRAVEL BLOG

Plan your trip to New Zealand, with help from a local

A spectacular 1 week South Island road trip itinerary

Petrina Darrah 2/22/26 Petrina Darrah 2/22/26

A spectacular 1 week South Island road trip itinerary

Read More

Search the whole site

JOIN MY NEWSLETTER

Sign up to get stories and recommendations from the road. No spam, one click unsubscribe.

Built with ConvertKit

follow me on instagram @PETRINADARRAH

My favourite parts of New Zealand will almost always be the ones that are the hardest to get to; ones like the very northern tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, where you have to drive for hours on a gravel road that narrows to one way and skirts right

2025, the year I travelled New Zealand from north to south and then south to north (once again). The year I went to Rotorua for a work thing and ended up moving there after a spontaneous date changed everything.

A year of still figuring things out,

An overnight hike to an old railway hut, an incongruous building painted in the palest pastel green. It’s out in big sky country in a lonely corner of the South Island (which looks so much like Montana Jane Campion used these golden hills as a

The Paparoa Track was so many things I did not expect.

I didn’t expect good weather, and we had three days of sunshine, two beautiful sunsets.

I didn’t expect to be so blown away by the feat of the track; purpose built, it only opened

If you like what I do, you can support me by buying me a ‘virtual’ coffee here — this website is truly fuelled by caffeine.

DESTINATION GUIDES

south island

north island
auckland
queenstown

MY TRAVEL ADVICE

new zealand travel guide
new zealand road trips
itinerary consultations

PRACTICAL INFO

about
portfolio
contact
editorial policy

horses on a beach in new zealand

a ship on doubtful sound in new zealand

a rocky coastline in new zealand

a road leading to snowy mountains in new zealand

south island mountains at sunset

PETRINA DARRAH

Petrina Darrah is a freelance travel writer specialising in outdoor adventure travel in New Zealand.

© PETRINA DARRAH 2026

BACK TO TOP ↑