road trip

Driving in New Zealand is like I imagine driving in the U.S. might have been like 60 years ago.
There is no Interstate counterpart here. Even State Highway 1, a large red line on the map, turns into a winding two-lane road spooling out and into the main street of all the towns between your starting point and destination.
In the states, a lengthy road trip means a departure point, an arrival point, and a nearly uninterrupted flow of road in between, a track for the car to follow.
In New Zealand, a lengthy road trip isn't, comparatively, lengthy. Travel is done at a more leisurely pace, especially since the country is serious about its maximum 100 kilometer an hour (60 mph) speed limit.
You drive through the towns, rather than past them, and see at least a little of what is there. You pull out at scenic lookouts, and make spur-of-the-moment decisions about pulling in at that roadside business, or taking that little hike, or seeing where that road goes.
The country doesn't exactly have all the qualities the photos, songs and movies would have you believe were there in the Route 66 days. It does have some fun diversions, of the kind I've never come across in the States unless I was taking a trip solely to see the diversions.
I love the Interstate system. I've utilized it to go to every corner of the country, to drive 1,000-mile days. I wouldn't want to take many cross-country trips back home on roads like they have here in New Zealand.
But you also miss out on something when you're driving 1,000, or 800, or 500 miles in a day. I'm sure some people take the time to find that something, to drive the back roads. But it's a lot easier to see here in New Zealand.