Packing list for New Zealand
Auckland, Queenstown and the day tracks in any season: layers for a day that starts at 41°F (5°C) and ends at 77°F (25°C), a rain jacket that is actually waterproof, SPF 50 for strong UV, sandfly repellent for Fiordland, shoes with grip, clean boots at the border and a swimsuit for the hot pools.
On a phone with Waystop installed, the button adds the list to your trip as a bag you can tick off. Otherwise copy it and paste it into Waystop’s Chat with “add this to my packing list”.
Checked October 10, 2026.
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0 of 19 packed
Layers for four seasons in a day
0/5Sun, sandflies and glare
0/5On the track
0/5Border, plugs and paying
0/4What the weather is like
Auckland is 75°F (24°C) by day and 61°F (16°C) at night in January and February, and 59°F (15°C) by day and 46°F (8°C) at night in July and August, with 1,100 mm of rain over about 130 days a year spread across every month. Queenstown is 72°F (22°C) by day and 50°F (10°C) at night in January, with 33°F (0.3°C) recorded in the same month, and 46°F (8°C) by day and 30°F (-1°C) at night in July, when it snows on the Remarkables and sometimes in town; the town gets 720 mm a year while Fiordland, two hours west, gets close to 7 meters. The UV index reaches extreme on clear days from December to February.
- An umbrellaThe wind in Queenstown breaks it in a day, and a hooded waterproof jacket is the rain plan.
- Food, honey, seeds and anything wooden or with soil on itAll of it must be declared and most of it is confiscated. An undeclared item is a NZ$400 instant fine at the airport.
- A wad of cashCards and phones pay for the bus, the cafe and the hut ticket, and a few coins for the Orbus is all the cash a week needs.
- Merino layersIcebreaker, Mons Royale and the outdoor shops in Queenstown and Auckland sell them, and the outlet racks cost less again.
- Trail food from a supermarketMuesli bars and nuts for the day walks cost less than at the trailhead cafe, and fresh fruit cannot come through the border anyway.
- A Bee Card for Queenstown's buses, or an AT HOP for AucklandThe Orbus to the airport and Arrowtown costs a few dollars with a Bee Card from the driver or the i-SITE. In Auckland a tapped bank card does the same job on every bus, train and ferry.
Worth knowing
- Check the forecast for the place you are going, not the town you are in: MetService and the DOC visitor center give the mountain and track forecasts, and a fine morning in Queenstown is often sleet on the Routeburn saddle by lunch.
- Buy any merino in New Zealand, where outdoor shops in Queenstown and Auckland sell it in more sizes than most countries. Pack the sunscreen and repellent from home so the first day is not spent shopping.
- Make the big walk the middle day and keep a wet-weather day in the plan: the hot pools, the Rotorua geothermal parks and Auckland's museums. Ask Waystop's Chat for a rain plan, a second version of the day you can switch to, and know that the Milford boat is better in rain, when the waterfalls run.
Trips to pack this for
Never leave the charger in the hotel again.
Waystop keeps a list for each bag and each person. On the morning you change hotels it walks you through a quick pack-up check, and Chat can suggest items to add when you ask what to bring.