Driving on the Left in New Zealand: Tips for Your First Days

How quickly left-hand driving starts to feel normal

Most travellers need one to three days to get used to driving on the left. That sounds like a short time, but it's realistic: your brain adapts fast when you force it to consistently. After the first day on country roads, most people drive as relaxed as they do at home.

The hardest moments aren't on the open road, they're when you're distracted or stressed: turning after a stop, leaving an exit, reversing into a park. These are the moments when muscle memory briefly takes over. A note on a Post-it on the steering wheel genuinely helps: 'Drive left, stay left.'

Our tip for the first hour: spend the first twenty minutes after picking up your campervan on quiet side streets. Don't head straight for the highway. A few laps through a residential or industrial area will give you a feel for it without any risk.

What's actually tricky

Turning left is the biggest risk. The instinctive reaction when turning left is to swing onto the right side of the road. In New Zealand you need to turn into the left lane and stay there. A memory trick: 'Always turn toward the centre of the road, never away from it.'

Roundabouts run clockwise, the opposite of Germany. When entering, the rule is: give way to vehicles coming from the right. It's confusing at first, but it clicks after the first day.

One-lane bridges are a distinctly New Zealand thing. A sign with an arrow shows who has right of way. Whoever has right of way drives through. Whoever doesn't, stops before the bridge. These bridges are everywhere: on tourist roads, in national parks, even on main routes.

Gravel roads are more common in New Zealand than you'd expect. They're narrower, slippier when wet, and require more concentration. Some rental agreements exclude certain gravel roads. Check the Chilli Rentals terms before you set off to see which roads you're allowed to drive with your vehicle.

Getting distances and travel times right

The speed limit outside towns is 100 km/h, and 50 km/h within them. Your effective travel speed is often well below that though: winding roads, one-lane bridges, tourist traffic, livestock crossing the road. An average of 60 to 80 km/h on country roads is realistic, sometimes less.

Never judge New Zealand distances by kilometres, judge them by time. The route from Auckland to Queenstown on the South Island looks like eight hours on the map, but with stops and winding roads it easily takes twelve to fourteen hours.

Petrol stations are well spread out along the main tourist routes, but in remote areas like the West Coast or Fiordland the gaps can be large. Strategy: always keep the tank above three-quarters full. Small villages sometimes have no petrol station at all.

Roads that need extra attention

The Milford Road (SH94 from Te Anau) is one of New Zealand's most beautiful and most demanding roads: narrow, no shortcuts, a single way in and out. The drive there takes around two hours. In summer there are queues before the Homer Tunnel. Set off early.

Crown Range between Wānaka and Queenstown is New Zealand's highest sealed road. Snow and ice are possible in winter, check nzta.govt.nz. In summer it's a highlight, with panoramic views.

• First hours: quiet side streets instead of heading straight for the highway
• Roundabouts: clockwise, give way to the right
• One-lane bridges: read the sign to see who has right of way
• Turning left: turn toward the centre of the road, never away from it
• Indicator on the left, wipers on the right: almost everyone mixes these up in the first few days
• Offline maps: download for both islands before you set off
• Fuel: never let it drop below a quarter tank, especially on the West Coast