A two-month family odyssey across the world is an ambitious dream by any measure. For Floor and Arjan Velthuis, travelling with their two toddlers was a new frontier – and a chance to ditch the screens and spend quality time together as a family.
When they boarded their plane for New Zealand, Floor felt excited but also a little uncertain.
“Children find comfort in predictability,” she said. “We wondered, how will they experience it all?”
The family knew that moving from hotel room to hotel room for months on end wasn’t going to work. But once they picked up their Wilderness motorhome, they realised their worries about stressed and tired children wouldn’t become a reality.
“Their home and beds remained the same throughout the journey, with only the surroundings changing,” she said. “In the end, that balance turned out to be just right. It was a choice we never once regretted.”
A day in the life of a travelling family
A typical day for the Velthuis family starts with the words, “Mama? Papa? Can you pull us in?”
Every morning, the two boys climb out of their sleeping space at the back of the motorhome. They scramble up into their parents' drop-down bed for a cuddle session.
Once everyone is up, the bed folds back to the ceiling, and the day begins. One parent prepares oatmeal while the boys settle onto the fixed bed with picture books. If the weather allows, breakfast is served outside in the early-morning sun.
After that, the boys are essentially gone. Sticks, stones, sand, water – whatever the surroundings have to offer is enough to keep them occupied for an hour or more. Floor and Arjan use the time to sip their tea and talk through the day ahead.
Driving is kept simple and unhurried. The boys buckle into their seats, put on their headsets, and listen to recorded stories while their parents talk in the front. Screens aren’t needed – the passing landscape is entertainment enough.
"To keep driving pleasant for everyone, we limit ourselves to one or two hours at a time, followed by a long break at a playground, a coffee spot, or an interesting place along the way,” Floor says.
“After that, we continue for another hour before reaching our destination.”
By the time they arrive, often near a lake or stretch of beach, the boys have vanished into nature before the motorhome engine has even cooled. Dinner gets prepared, sometimes on the BBQ, while the children play.
Bedtime comes around seven, leaving Floor and Arjan with a quiet evening to themselves. They have a game of dice, read a book, or sort through the day's photos.
Outside, the New Zealand night sky slowly brings the day to a close.
An itinerary that follows the weather
The family travelled the length of New Zealand, starting from Auckland and ending up in Christchurch.
They timed their spring journey to make the most of the weather, but rather than locking in a fixed route, Floor and Arjan made a deliberate decision before leaving home: let the forecast decide.
"Rain on the West Coast? Fine – we would head east instead, or the other way around," says Floor.
"That is the beauty of travelling by motorhome, and it led us to unexpected and truly wonderful places.”
That flexibility led them off the beaten track more often than not – along the Coromandel Peninsula, down the east coast of the North Island, and into remote DOC campgrounds where wide sandy beaches were sometimes theirs alone.
“For both the kids and us, good weather was a priority; spending long hours or even days cooped up inside because of heavy rain would not have been fun for anyone.”
Want to plan your own trip across New Zealand? Check out our Auckland to Christchurch itinerary.
The campsites worth waking up for
The family’s first night gave them a taste of the kind of flexibility the trip would need.
Driving in pitch black, they struck out at their first campsite – closed. Taking a gamble, they drove on to the next site on CamperMate, which turned out to be a deserted spot near Tapu. The reception was unmanned, but an honesty pot invited them to pay in cash and find a spot.
“When we wake up, it turns out we’re parked by a beautiful little river, so before departure, there’s some wonderful messing around with sticks and stones,” Floor says.
“The campsite owner is super friendly when it turns out we don’t have any cash on us yet. We can bank transfer whenever it suits us. Everything is based on 100% trust.”
On the South Island, the best surprise happened at Driftaway campsite in Frankton. Clouds obscured the view upon arrival, but in the morning, the mist finally lifted.
“It turned out there was a reason we paid extra for a 'lake view' camping spot,” Floor wrote.
“Upon arrival, there was nothing to see, so the lake seemed nice enough in the evening but not particularly special. Now, we could see that an entire mountain range lay behind the mist and clouds. Gorgeous!”
Collecting the memorable moments
Some of Floor's favourite memories from the trip have no single location attached to them.
Throwing stones into a crystal-clear river, fashioning a fishing line from a stick, rope, and a pine cone, baking pancakes together. Watching the sun go down, then waking up to unexpected heavy snowfall at Mount Cook.
Taken individually, none of it sounds extraordinary. Together, it adds up to something she finds hard to put into words.
“Sharing such an incredible time together outdoors, free from distractions, was simply amazing.”
Much of what made the trip so rich came down to the family's willingness to change course.
“When rain was forecast at Mount Taranaki, we decided to take a detour to Napier, which led us to one of our favorite campgrounds of the trip, with beautiful sunny weather, a gorgeous lunch at one of the wineries, and a stunning visit to a gannet hotspot,” Floor recalls.
“Similarly, when heavy rain was predicted for several days along the West Coast of the South Island, we headed east instead. The Lewis Pass was breathtaking, Hanmer Springs was a sun-drenched, cozy little gem, we discovered another favorite campsite near Akaroa, and when a storm raged across the south, we were enjoying the little blue penguins in the harbor of Oamaru.
“None of it was planned, yet every moment was thoroughly enjoyed.”
If you want more stories of road-tripping families, have a look at Mark and Jodie’s South Island trip.
Life on the road from the kitchen window
As it turns out, having a large fridge and freezer in your motorhome makes a huge difference for a family trying to stay flexible.
The Wilderness motorhome could stock enough food for a week at a time. The Velthuis family did a weekly grocery shop, and then hit the road without worrying about where the next big supermarket would be.
For Floor, the best meal of the trip was pancakes at White Horse Hill Campsite, in the shadow of Mount Cook.
“I was cooking while taking in the sun-kissed, snow-covered mountains and clear blue skies,” she recalls.
"Up front, our kids were playing with the neighbors' children of the same age, all wearing colorful rain boots, as a bit of leftover snow still covered the ground. It was a beautiful moment.”
Check out our motorhome-ready recipe book for some cooking ideas.
Returning to a city that’s still rebuilding
When the family returned to Christchurch, the place felt familiar to Floor – yet at the same time, profoundly changed.
Looking at old photos from her first visit there many years ago, she found the references difficult to place.
“I search for the spot where we took our first photos, but none of the buildings in the background are still standing,” she says.
“The only landmark is the collapsed cathedral, which lies there looking almost exactly as the images on TV showed at the time.”
The family visited Quake City, the museum built in the wake of the devastating 2011 earthquake. The news footage was recognisable. The personal stories were harrowing. For Floor, it carried a particular weight – she and her friend had left Christchurch on a whim the day before the earthquake struck.
“The middle of the city feels a bit like a center without a center,” Floor writes.
“Fortunately, the old-fashioned trams – over 100 years old – are still running, and that adds color to a city now forced into new construction.”
The two boys were particularly delighted to take a ride on the tram. The interior was beautiful, and the woodwork was intricate. The cheerful tram drivers regaled them with stories about the various places they passed.
What two months on the road will teach you
What should you tell yourself on day one of a road trip? Floor’s advice is to let go of any FOMO.
Everywhere in New Zealand is beautiful, and you wouldn’t be able to see the whole country in a year, let alone in a month or two.
“Don’t try to cram everything into an overly tight schedule,” she says. “You will definitely miss things, and that’s perfectly fine. Letting go of that makes it possible to enjoy unexpected detours or linger longer in a place than originally planned.”
If you find a campsite you love, stay there a little longer. The Velthuis family would usually stay at their campsites for 2 – 4 days before moving on. That’s one of the things that allowed their kids to have an easy, stress-free journey.
Finally, the hardest one in our modern world – put the screens away. While their Double for 4 motorhome came with a smart TV, the family chose to tuck it away into a cupboard.
“We raise our kids screen-free for as long as possible, and even during this 24/7 time together, we haven’t missed screens for a single moment,” Floor says. “When it’s not there, it’s not there – and you’ll see how their creativity will really flourish outdoors.”
Floor’s lasting impression of the trip is how well it all worked, and how she’d do it again without hesitation.
“Traveling with kids has been much easier than we expected,” she said.
“There’s something so special about discovering a new world through your children’s eyes. They will learn so much, but be prepared – you will, too. For future trips, I feel much more confident now that everything will turn out just fine.”
Ready to start planning your own family road trip? Check out our guide to the top 10 New Zealand motorhome holiday themes.
