14 Day North Island Itinerary: Auckland Round Trip via Wellington for the Faultline Ultra Marathon - Britz

Thirteen nights and 1,820 kilometres in a loop from Auckland in a campervan, timed to the Faultline Ultra Marathon at Wellington.

Piha comes first on Auckland’s west coast, a black sand surf beach under a volcanic headland, then Waihi Beach and Hahei on the Coromandel, and Rotorua in the geothermal belt.

Taupo and Napier follow, the latter rebuilt in art deco after the 1931 earthquake, then Palmerston North and Wellington for the race, which is run on the hill trails above the harbour and takes its name from the fault line running through the city. Whanganui and New Plymouth come next up the Taranaki coast, with the mountain standing over it, then Waitomo and its glow worm caves before Auckland.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Fourteen days allows for the race with a week either side of it, which is the right way to use an event like this. Wellington accommodation is expensive and tight, so a camper is a practical answer. The Taranaki leg on the way home is the quiet half of the route and the better driving of the two, with Surf Highway 45 running round the base of the mountain and almost no traffic on it. Fourteen nights is also enough to absorb a wet few days in the middle without losing the shape of the trip.