My New Zealand Road Trip Didn’t Go To Plan, but It Reminded Me of the Joy of Slowing Down

When it comes to travel, I’ve never been much of a planner. You won’t find me with a detailed spreadsheet or a meticulously pinned Google Map. Most of my trips are booked on impulse. The extent of my itinerary is often a return flight and one or two must-see attractions. Everything else is figured out on the fly. 

It’s an approach that’s worked for me across multiple countries, continents and languages. That is, until my recent campervan trip through Aotearoa New Zealand’s South Island. 

My best friend, Nikita, and I added a one-week road trip onto a destination wedding in Lake Hāwea. Together, we earmarked a possible itinerary filled with well-known hikes and jaw-dropping scenery: a day trip to Piopiotahi Milford Sound, an overnight hike to Aoraki Mount Cook’s Mueller Hut, a sunrise hike to Roy’s Peak. 

The trip would be simple and flexible: hike by day, move around by van, camp by night. 

But what I hadn’t realised before landing in Queenstown is the sheer scale of the South Island. Distances that looked short on a map required lengthy detours around entire mountain ranges, often with a single route in and out. Suddenly, the reality of a one-week holiday felt less suited to playing-by-ear and more like something that required actual planning.  

We decided to cut Milford Sound. It’s one of the island’s highlights, but we’d already slipped into the slower across-the-ditch pace and agreed removing it would help us feel less rushed. I was happy to shrink the mental list of potential destinations, and it felt freeing to eliminate anywhere that required an extra mode of transport – a boat in this case. With one decision made, we parked the rest of the planning until after the wedding. 

Unfortunately, after a raucous couple of days celebrating, and our first night sleeping in near-freezing temperatures, the trip shifted in a way we hadn’t anticipated. Nikita came down with the flu. She wasn’t sick enough to completely rule out hiking, but the more challenging ones we’d earmarked now seemed unlikely.

As the trip went on, steep ascents became gentle walks, shared hikes turned into solo side quests. Our hiking-first itinerary gave way to something gentler, slower. 

When we reached Lake Tekapo, we walked Mount John Summit Circuit Track: a nine-kilometre mostly flat hike with 360-degree views of the Mackenzie Basin, Lake Tekapo and the Southern Alps. It wasn’t on our original shortlist, but it ended up being one of my favourite walks. Moving slowly, with nowhere to rush off to, and perfect weather for seeing the turquoise water in all its beauty, was an unexpected pleasure. 

In Wānaka, we traded trails for town. We stumbled upon Verve, a small bar focused on local winemakers and brewers, and enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine before trying our luck at Kika. Despite the acclaimed restaurant being fully booked online, we secured a walk-in dinner and were assigned a spacious four-seater table, which felt like a win.

But my favourite unexpected moment was an afternoon spent at Mt Difficulty Wines. Perched high above the vineyards in Bannockburn, we enjoyed a leisurely tasting of the winemaker’s celebrated pinot noirs (Central Otago is renowned for its pinot noir, broadly), before settling into a lunch that stretched well into the afternoon.

Back in Sydney, sharing long, indulgent meals is one of our favourite rituals. At Mt Difficulty, we slipped into a familiar rhythm. 

Though our trip hadn’t turned out the way I’d imagined, embracing flexibility and letting go of the original plan meant we’d come back to the present. We didn’t tick off the big hikes, and the highlights weren’t summits, but we moved without hurry, guided by a pace that honoured how our bodies felt. 

If I were to plan another trip to New Zealand, I’d take the time to properly map out driving distances and sketch a realistic overland route. One day, I’d love to visit Milford Sound. But not as a potential stop in a laundry list of possibilities, but rather a place that deserves its own plan. With time to truly enjoy it.

This story is part of Broadsheet’s special Travel Issue, presented by Commonwealth Bank and Travel Booking via the CommBank app.