Hitch hiking in NZ

We knew we wanted to focus on tramping in New Zealand, so our usual holiday of cycling was not an option. We were also told the roads were narrow and winding and that the Kiwi drivers were a little less than cautious. Marcin has talked about doing a hitch hiking holiday since our first time hitching in the UK. We hitched a few times successfully in Wales and unsuccessfully in Scotland.

There is no better place than New Zealand to hitch hike. It is safe, people are kind and generous, and, surprisingly, there are a lot of hitch hikers. So on January 16, we packed up everything we needed for the next month and a half in our backpack and started to "thumb it" to the next destination. 

A lot of the drivers that picked us up were Kiwi. Our first couple drivers were farmers . Dairy is New Zealand`s number one business besides tourism. As a result of hitch hiking, we learned a lot about the local economy, the process of dairy farming, local politics, and so much more. The locals gave us advice of what hikes to do and led us to a good place to pick up the next ride. We experienced disappointment from drivers when we said we weren't going too far. Many drivers wanted company on their long and radio-less drives. 

If you or anyone you know are planning on hitching through NZ a word of advice: be prepared to wait few hours on the West Coast. Be patient, it is worth it.  The West Coast holds our record for wait time of two hours. But our average  pick-up time was about 45 minutes. The difference with the West Coast is that the local population is sparse and traffic is mostly tourists. 

But as it turned out, it paid to wait. Dennis picked us up by Haas Pass on the West Coast. He was from England and was traveling alone. He picked us up and was happy to have some company on the road. We accompanied him for the next two days, all the way to our destination of Nelson Lakes National Park! It was a long wait, but worth it to not hitch for the next two days. 

New Zealand has been a great hitch hiking experience for us. Although, I probably wouldn't hitch hike in any other country and am currently happy to have two wheels instead of none, it was a fantastic experience. We were able to meet people from all over the world and learn far more about the country than if we had bicycled. Overall we took one bus out of Christchurch and for the rest of the time we hitched. Again, we waited an average of 45 minutes, but we were usually picked up within 20 minutes.