Travelling in New Zealand in a 7

[Austin in the Shed]

It is a hope of mine to visit New Zealand before I get too old,spending a couple of months driving top to bottom,or whatever.
For those of you who know NZ,would it still be practical to do it in an Austin Seven ?

[squeak]

Definately Yes Dave
We did it a couple of years ago in the Ruby, the locals very welcoming.  Our car was a bit slow for the busy narrow roads and we would have taken quieter lanes  but the GPS maps refused to download/co-operate.  The scenery is of course iconic.

[rubyman]

Yes it is possible, my daughter lives in N Z  north island and on one of my visits I drove from the light house at the top down to Wellington at the bottom, stayed in some great pubs,hotels & b&b but some of the roads are only shingle track and no phone signal, if you decide to go I would advice when you arrive there go to a AA office they are very help full and will help plan your trip.

[Ian Williams]

Yes of course it is, I am more than happy to assist you if I can Dave, there are Vintage Austin Register people the length of the country and I can help put you in contact.
Are you intending on bringing a car over with you? There are a couple of big tours taking place celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 12/4 which is around the North island and then another celebrating the Seven around the south island.

[Bill Sheehan]

Wish you hadn't brought the subject up!  (Green with envy).  Although I've been to NZ a couple of times for table tennis since , I was recently thinking I'd like to repeat my Chummy drive around both Islands - but that was in 1972!.  I have an ex-Kiwi (A7) mate who lives in Perth W.A. doing the South Island at the moment.  Good Luck and go do it - guaranteed a great experience.   Cheers,  Bill

[Bob Culver]

Unlike UK there is not a huge choice of alternative routes; sometimes none. I have driven Auckland to near Wellington several times a year for 50 years, mostly in seriously old cars (although not slow). For a surprising proportion of the time traffic away from cities is very light; but motorists are not very tolerant of obstructing slow vehicles. 40 /50 ton truck outfits have 90 kph speed limit and cruise at 95-100 on the typical car speedo, so main road travel in a slow vehicle can be daunting. Even when traffic is light, at 30 kph and more lower than the flow vehicles catch up repeatedly. There is now often room to allow traffic past but bouncing along the berm in a Seven with overtaking vehicles close to the door handles is not relaxing.
I have explored all alternative routes, including some with grass in the middle,  and strongly recommend many. Traffic is much less and more tolerant. On main roads tend to develop a push on mentality And the main routes have been rendered very bland. The berms are mowed! With slower vehicles the time penalty is much less. Detours to beach settlements etc make for more interest. 
Satnav is fine for complex junctions but motorists seldom appreciate just where they are relative to the countryside. There are not the myriad nearby signposted villages as in UK so off the main route location can be puzzling. The  AA provide a set of maps with country road names and these are very helpful  for figuring where you are.
Unsealed roads are not now common. (just as likely in Devon!) If corrugated by heavy holiday traffic or recently  heavily remetalled are a severe trial in a Seven but often fine.
With a crack free crank and rear axles feel more confident far from home in an old car than an electronic riddled/ computer controlled modern.
But unless your car is of established reliability, a cheap rental very practicable and far less tiring. And don’t have to worry about persons fiddling  with etc.