One unique feature about New Zealand that nobody ever tells you about is the One Lane Bridge.
While yes, you may see the occasional one lane road in other parts of the world, in New Zealand they are simply everywhere. You’ll know you’re approaching one when you see the words “ONE” “LANE” “BRIDGE” painted on the road, and when you see this sign:
FYI – The bigger arrow indicates which direction has the right of way on the next bridge.
On one hand it makes sense, as the country is full of winding mountain passes, valleys, gorges, and rivers. However, the amount of these bridges throughout the whole country starts to seem excessive after a while.
We were also hard-pressed to see any rhyme or reason to what drives the decision to go with a one or two lane bridge – sometimes a wide river valley would have two lanes, then a small culvert would go down to one!
Anyway, if you’ve never seen one of these before enjoy this compilation of some of the (very) many one-laners we drove across during our campervan adventure. At the end, there is a bonus “one-lane cliff” for good measure.
Also – this is a vertical video as all of these were filmed by Kaitlin just whipping out her phone while Clint drove, and we’ve added a single music track to make it flow better. Otherwise, this is what the bridges were like!
