It’s summer, the peak of hitchhiking season in the land of the long white cloud and New Zealand is indeed long, sparsely populated by airports and largely devoid of motorways or any kind of meaningful rail network. 

Being rugged, relatively empty and malnourished in terms of transport infrastructure, getting around is often one of the great challenges. 

One of NZ’s more redeeming features is that apart from a few nut-jobs who mainly reside in our Northern island, people are friendly, safe and keen to show off their backyard. Another of our celebrated characteristics is that despite being often potholed, our roads offer a great glimpse of the real NZ, not to mention some of the best 
views on the planet. 

Safe and scenic NZ is the hitchhiking capital of the world, where thumbing a ride is a cheap and entertaining means of transport heavily patronised by Kiwis for decades and equally as popular with our international visitors. 
It’s how many people get to and from Queenstown. 

Hitchhiking isn’t without its challenges. For a start there’s the country’s unique ability to produce four seasons of weather in one day, low traffic volumes making rides few and far between and lastly a lack of understanding of our unwritten code of practice for picking up hitchhikers. 

When hitchhiking you’re really selling yourself like a product to the passing motorist - things like where you stand, who you are standing with, when you stand there and your appearance will influence the decision of your potential lift. The market has never been more competitive with German trampers, Scandinavian backpackers, Kiwi commuters and the odd vagrant all vying for rides. 

When assessing the merits of picking up an extra passenger or two from the side of the road I adhere strictly to the NZ Hitchhiker Code. 

It states males should generally only pick up attractive females or ideally groups of females, preferably not in tramping gear which would indicate a lack of showering. 

If you’re a scruffy-looking group of male youths with pants round your bum, you’re not getting picked up this side of Christmas. Sort your act out – pull your damn low-riding pants up. There are no points for looking like a street rat and very few rides.  

Guys – a box of Speight’s for the driver (to drink later of course), a humorous sign and inoffensive dress can help overcome your gender disadvantage. If you see a car load of females, get the David Hasselhoff amongst you to whip his top off and smile. 

If you’re a couple backpacking you need to be smart - hide your gear and the male in the bushes or behind a nearby building and use the fairer sex as a hitchhiking decoy. 

Overall, be smart and safe on the road this summer – don’t take the ride if you don’t like the vibe of the driver, market yourself well, follow the code and you should be cruising from A to B in no time. 

Mark Wilson is a Queenstown-based marketing consultant and adidas scuffs fan