New Zealand’s Eight Best Road Trip Pit Stops New Zealand’s Eight Best Road Trip Pit Stops

New Zealand has always been a nation of road trippers but now, with international boarders closed, people are hitting the road at every opportunity to visit places they have never been before.

But as Kiwis flock to the nation’s motorways, spending hours in the car can often mean taking a bathroom break in some less than inspiring locations. With that in mind, Budget Car Rentals has pulled together New Zealand’s top eight public toilets worth a stop when your next on the road and busting!

It is not unusual to spend hours in the car en route to your next destination, meaning you’re often left taking bathroom breaks in some less than inspiring locations. New Zealand is, however, home to some of the best pit stops so Budget Car Rentals has pulled together a list of the best road trip bathrooms to make your pit stop worthwhile.

KAWAKAWA
First up is KawaKawa, a small Northland town that has become a tourist attraction thanks to its unusual public toilets. Designed by Austrian artist, Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser, these toilets are the only place in the Southern Hemisphere where you can experience Hundertwasser’s unique art. Made mostly out of recycled materials and built around a living tree with a rooftop garden, this unique bathroom is a free artistic experience and environmentally friendly.

MATAKANA

On your way down the coast? Make sure you stop in at the Matakana Public Toilets, 163 kilometres south near Auckland. After winning a design competition, Auckland student Steffan de Haan’s work was brought to life. The sculpted loo’s took seven years to complete costing $400,000 but are unique enough to encourage tourists to stop off and enjoy the artwork and a bite to eat at the Matakana markets

GORDONTON

Gordonton is a place to stop and smell the roses. Their small public toilet facility is filled with roses and cherry blossoms and even has a visitors’ book for people to sign on their pitstop. One wall is painted bright yellow, making it a joyful experience for travellers passing by. The facilities are also wheelchair friendly.

REDWOODS
The Whakaerwarewa Forest in Rotorua is home to a range of exotic trees and bathrooms out of a fairytale. The design of the cylinder toilets replicates the surrounding California Redwoods and are even more stunning at night where they are lit up to display intricate stencils of local flora and fauna.e

TOKOROA

The toilets in Tokoroa were uniquely designed to represent the Southern Cross constellation, a symbol of the different ethnicities and cultures that have used this navigation tool throughout history. Five individual toilets are placed in the area and are joined by a covered walkway for shelter, they also vary in height to catch the attention of people passing by. The development of these toilets are still under construction, but are set to be completed in March this year.

MANGATAINOKA
Mangatainoka is a small settlement in the Tararua District in the North Island. It’s in this small town at the Tui Brewery that beer kegs have been recycled into seats and urinals. Seems like a fitting feature to have at a Brewery.

WELLINGTON
The Wellington waterfront toilets, otherwise known as “lobster loos” or “crayfish crappers”, opened in 2011 and soon became a big tourist attraction. The toilets came third in the world’s best toilets in 2015, and were designed by Architect Bret Thurston creating bathrooms that were both functional and creative while fitting in with the surrounding heritage buildings.

INVERCARGILL
Invercargill is home to Transport World, which also happens to include a unique men’s bathroom. Fuel station inspired, water is dispersed by Shell oil pumps, door handles are made of fuel pumps, and while you’re taking care of business, you can look out a one-way mirror to the showroom full of vehicles.