New Zealand Driving Guide and Travel Distances - Experience New Zealand Travel Ltd

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Experience NZ Travel Ltd
travel@experiencenz.com
Level 8, AMP Chambers
187 Featherston St
Wellington 6001
New Zealand

PO Box 25434
Panama Street
Wellington 6146

Tel. +64 (4) 473 4470*
Fax. +64 (4) 473 4471

*Office hours are 9:00a.m. to 5:30p.m. NZ time is currently: 4:15PM (Thursday)

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New Zealand Driving Guide

North Island Travel Distances | South Island Travel Distances

DRIVING IN NEW ZEALAND

Driving in a foreign country is always different in at least some ways to driving in your own country. Here are some general points regarding driving in New Zealand.

»	Vehicles drive on the left-hand side of the road as they do in Britain, Australia, and Japan.
»	Visitors wishing to drive in New Zealand do not require an international driver's licence but are required to carry their local driver's licence whenever driving.
»	Speed limits are in kilometres per hour (kph), not miles per hour (mph).
	Speed conversion to imperial: 1 kph equals 0.621 mph. Speed conversion to metric: 1 mph equals 1.61 kph.
»	The speed limit in towns and cities is usually 50 kph (31 mph).
»	The speed limit on the open road is 100 kph (62 mph).
»	New Zealand has strict drink driving laws. Only low blood/alcohol levels permitted.
»	Seat belts must be worn at all times whilst driving in New Zealand. This stands for the driver and passengers. It is also the driver’s responsibility to make sure all passengers under the age of 15 are correctly restrained.
»	In general, New Zealand road rules follow international standards but please note that in New Zealand vehicles turning left must give way to traffic turning right as in the illustration below. Car A must give way (yield) to Car B
»	There are very few multi-lane highways in New Zealand and as such travelling times per distance travelled are often longer than in other countries.
»	Petrol (gasoline) costs approximately NZ$1.70 per litre and is available in at least two grades (96 octane and 91 octane). All newer cars take 91 octane petrol.
	Fuel conversion to imperial: 1 litre equals 0.26 US gallons or 0.22 UK gallons. Fuel conversion to metric: 1 US gallon equals 3.79 litres and 1 UK gallon equals 4.55 litres.

More Information: New Zealand car hire
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NORTH ISLAND TRAVEL DISTANCES

All distances are shown in kilometres.

	Auckland	Gisborne	Hamilton	Rotorua	Taupo	Tauranga	Wellington	Whangarei
Auckland		509	126	235	279	210	647	171
Gisborne	509		400	291	334	299	534	680
Hamilton	126	400		109	153	108	521	297
Rotorua	235	291	109		82	83	460	406
Taupo	279	334	153	82		165	378	450
Tauranga	210	299	108	83	165		543	381
Wellington	647	534	521	460	378	543		818
Whangarei	171	680	297	406	450	381	818

SOUTH ISLAND TRAVEL DISTANCES

All distances are shown in kilometres.

	Christchurch	Dunedin	Milford	Mt Cook	Nelson	Queenstown	Te Anau	Wanaka	Westport
Christchurch		361	771	330	417	487	650	428	336
Dunedin	361		410	319	799	281	289	276	670
Milford	771	410		578	1145	307	121	366	954
Mt Cook	330	319	578		747	271	426	212	629
Nelson	417	799	1145	747		850	1024	779	230
Queenstown	487	281	307	271	850		166	71	659
Te Anau	650	289	121	426	1024	166		245	823
Wanaka	428	276	366	212	779	71	245		588
Westport	336	670	954	629	230	659	823	588

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