With borders closed, Kiwis are taking the opportunity to explore Aotearoa this summer.

Here’s how to do a North Island roadie:

Tootle down SH1 and, two and a bit hours later, you’ll be enjoying the sun and sand of the Coromandel Peninsula. Take your time because there’s lots to enjoy – around 400km of coastline, laid-back locals and highly Instagrammable wonders such as Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.

Join a sea cave tour to explore hidden gems such as Cooks Blowhole and Shakespeare Cliff. Pack your togs because this is ground zero for swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving where you’ll eyeball all manner of marine life.

Speaking of which, afterwards drive to nearby Hahei where you can sample some of the region’s best fish and chips at the Hungri Hunter Gourmet Food Cottage.

On the way to Hamilton, stop at the giant L&P bottle. It’s as cheesy as a fondue, but you can’t leave without getting the obligatory selfie.

Thanks to a couple of blockbuster film franchises, Matamata is where you need to go to immerse yourself in the hobbit experience. Point the car in the direction of Hobbiton, tucked into the rolling green hills of the Waikato where scenes from the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies were filmed.

Sign up for a guided tour of the set, check out the 44 hobbit holes and marvel at how those crazy kids at Weta Digital turned this into a magical wonderland.

If you’re in need of some natural wonders, head to Wairere Falls, a three or our hour trek though native bush where you’ll eventually reach the North Island’s highest waterfall (a drop of around 153m).

Halfway between Hamilton and Te Awamutu is Ōhaupo and its famous Tree Church. No prizes for guessing this is a church constructed from living breathing trees. It started in 2011 when Barry Cox thought he’d plant a few trees across the iron frame of a church to see what would happen. The result is this tree church, thought to be the first in the world. The labyrinth gardens are also worth a look.

You’ll know you’re nearing Rotorua long before you get there: one of the world’s most exciting geothermal regions also has a distinct aroma. But you’ll soon acclimatise as you enjoy the boiling mud pools, erupting geysers and steamy wonders.

You can’t leave Rotorua without a twirl around the 700-metre suspended boardwalk that runs through the Whakarewarewa Forest. Last year the New York Times named the Redwoods Tree Walk and its 28 suspension bridges one of the top 50 places to see in the world, and who are we to argue? Go at night if you can when the forest is lit up and it’s magical.

Tummy rumbling? Rotorua could well be New Zealand’s pie HQ so bite into a hangi pie, which contains chicken, beef, kumera and cabbage cooked in a pit. Or head to the Gold Star Bakery for one of Patrick Lam’s award-winning mince and cheese pies.

That should fuel you sufficiently for Taupō’s attractions, including Lake Taupō, the largest freshwater lake in Australasia, as well as Huka Falls, New Zealand’s most visited natural attraction where 220,000 litres of water a second flows into the Waikato River.

Water also looms large at another Taupō gem - Huka Prawn Park. Catch your own prawns and the park’s chefs will turn them into lunch. New Zealand’s only prawn park also features a boating lake with pedal boats and stand-up paddle-boarding.

Hawke’s Bay is the next destination on your roadie, a sun-splashed region of great food and wine and Art Deco delights. Take a walking tour of the stunning Art Deco structures that were built following the 1931 earthquake, then hike or drive to the top of Bluff Hill for highly Instragrammable views.

The perfect end to the perfect day is to visit a winery. Hawke’s Bay is, in fact, New Zealand’s oldest wine region and with more than 98 wineries, there’s no shortage of places to enjoy a drop or two. That includes Mission Estate Winery, New Zealand’s oldest winery, which is set high on a hill among rows of neat vines. Or the Urban Winery in Ahuriri, the only winery to exclusively produce Chardonnay.

It’s a two-and-a-half hour meander down SH2 to the Wairarapa where wine is again the star of the show. The Wairarapa might be one of Aotearoa’s smallest wine regions but a whopping 107 or so wineries now call this postcode home. Call into Ata Rangi or the smaller, boutique winery, On Giants Shoulders, to try the region’s best pinot noir and chardonnay.

Head to the Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre, an unfenced sanctuary for native wildlife near Masterton where kōkako and kākā roam freely across 942ha. Sign up for a two hour cultural tour that finishes with kawakawa tea and fried bread, then enjoy more greenery at Queen Elizabeth Park, which sprawls across 20ha of land on Masterton’s fringes and contains more than 200 species of trees.

Turn the car back the way you came, and eventually you’ll reach Carterton, the smallest of the Wairarapa’s pretty towns and home to Stonehenge Aotearoa, a full-scale working adaptation of the UK original, a giant astrological clock constructed from circles of stones, just as its 4000-year-old ancestor in England is.

And then it’s time to cross over the Remutakas into Wellington. Once you’ve visited the Weta Cave at Miramar, ditch the car because the attractions in New Zealand’s compact capital are within walking distance, from Te Papa on the waterfront (giant squid, anyone?) to the Beehive and Cuba Street (it’s almost against the law not to take a photo in front of the iconic bucket fountain).

Give your legs a workout with a walk to the top of Mt Victoria, where the city is spread beneath you. Then replace those calories at one of Wellington’s many eateries - figures show there are more than 880 places to eat here, one for every 236 people, beating out New York City which has one eatery per 460 people.

Then eat, drink and be Welly until it’s time to retrace your steps home.