New Zealand is a great place to travel with so much to see. You might your family to further away destinations than usual during school holidays.
But wherever you go, there is always this problem…. “ Where can I find TOILET?”
This is especially important problem when you are travelling with children who cannot tell you much in advance that they need to go toilet.
Or you, yourself may be experiencing the need to go toilet frequently these days.
So to ease your heart for the long journey, I put together some ideas about where to make a stop to find TOILET in New Zealand.
Fast Food Restaurant: McDonald’s Toilet
Overall the best toilet you can find during your travel is ones at McDonald and other fast food restaurants.
Their toilets are reasonably clean and hygienic, the place is open from early morning till late at night, and safe because there are staff on site.
Because fast food restaurants are easy to enter for those with small children, too.
They can easily be found all around New Zealand, especially near cities and motorways.
McDonald can be found in both North and South islands, and of course many restaurants are located in cities.
Check their official website for their locations;
https://mcdonalds.co.nz/find-us/restaurants?qstore=
If you also include Wendy’s and Burger King, there are many fast food restaurants in total.
McDonald in shopping malls close with the rest of the shopping mall. But otherwise, many McDonalds are open 24 hours, or from early morning till late at night.
McDonald Toilet: Pros
- Reasonably clean and hygienic.
- Separate toilet for male and female.
- Many locations all around NZ (and there are always other fast food chains too).
- Many locations near motorway.
- Friendly for family with small children to use.
- Open from early morning till late at night, so you can use it anytime.
- The number of toilet is usually small, so can be busy around meal time.
- Toilets are for customers of McDonalds.
I am sure they will not say “no” if you ask about using toilet to McDonald staff. But primarily, these toilets are for customers of McDonald.
It is a good idea during long drive to have a proper stop, grab some drink or light meal to rest. So most people have intension to pickup something from McDonald anyway.
Your children will enjoy a bit of play time at the playground typically located in McDonald. It is beneficial to let them play hard and burn some extra energy, so they will stay quiet for the rest of the drive!
If you want to keep the cost down at McDonald, my recommendation is “snack deals” and Frozen cokes.
You can pickup Frozen Coke of any size for 1 dollar. It is sweet and fizzy and cold – very refreshing. And kids generally like them, too.
Or you could pickup “Snack deals”, like a cheese burger & small chips for 4 dollars, or 3 pieces of chicken nuggets & small chips for 3 dollars. Perfect size and price for light snack.
For more snack menu, checkout their website:
https://mcdonalds.co.nz/menu/more-bang-your-buck
You could also enjoy expresso or cappuccino at McCafe locations.
Toilet in Shopping Malls
If you are going to exploration and shopping in a city, your best toilet is ones in a shopping mall.
Shopping mall toilets are hygienic and clean, there are many toilet per shopping mall. Shopping mall environment is very family friendly for those with small children.
Shopping malls have many shops inside, so there is no need to buy something at a particular shop when you are stopping off for toilet.
Shopping malls tend to be located near the centre of a city. There are Westfield shopping malls in Auckland and Christchurch, but there are many others all around New Zealand.
Many shopping malls have names like “ OOOOO Shopping Mall” or “XXXXX Shopping Centre”. Here are some examples.
- In Rotorua –> Central Mall Rotorua （https://www.rotoruacentralmall.co.nz/）
- In Tauranga –> Bayfair Shopping Centre（https://www.bayfair.co.nz/）
- In Wellington –> Jonhson Ville Shoppign Centre （http://www.johnsonvilleshoppingcentre.co.nz/）
- In Queens Town –> O'conelle shopping centre （http://www.oconnells.net.nz/）
The main problem with the shopping mall toilet is that, there are no shopping malls in small towns, and that shopping malls tend to close early after dark (regular finishing time around 5:30PM).
Pros of shopping mall toilets
- Hygienic and clean.
- There are many toilets.
- Friendly environment for those with small children.
- No need to purchase at a particular shop.
- You can do shopping or eating out in the mall at the same time.
- It may take some time locating toilets within the shopping mall
- You need to get off motor way end enter city centre to find a shopping mall
- You can only use toilet during opening hours of the shopping mall
- Only limited number of cities have shopping malls
Shopping malls have many shops and cafes, and often a food court where you can find a variety of budget meals.
It would be a good idea to include shopping mall as a part of city exploration as a toilet stop and a meal break.
Toilet at Petrol Stations
Travelling between cities, you will be making stops along the way at a petrol station to fuel, and to use their toilets.
Petrol station near motorway can be found by watching out for signs on the street. Alternatively you could check their location before hand, using car navigation or google map.
Manned petrol station usually have a shop with staff, where you can purchase some drinks and snacks.
You can usually find toilet at the petrol station. Toilets are either located inside the shop, or outside next to the shop (but the entry into toilet is separate from the shop entry).
Pros of toilet at a petrol station
- There are petrol stations along the motorway.
- You can stop off for toilet at the same time as topping up fuel for your car.
Cons of petrol station toilet
- There are usually only one or two toilet per petrol station.
- Often only one toilet for both females and males.
- They may not be well maintained at some locations.
Recently there are increasing number of unmanned petrol station where only self-service fuel charger is located (and no toilet).
Public Toilets in Parks and Beaches
There are number of public toilets available near or in nature reserve, parks, or beaches. They are very useful when you are visiting these places.
In New Zealand, there is no need to pay to use public toilet. You can feel free to use them when you find public toilets.
The main concern is that public toilets in remote parks or reserves can be dirty and unhygienic. They are often out of toilet paper as well.
So I would recommend you carry a small pack of tissue paper or toilet paper that can be flushed.
If you are travelling alone, try to use public toilet that are in open area with many people around.
If you are travelling alone at night, public toilet is not recommended for security reasons, as well as some public toilets are locked after dark.
Try to find a nearby shop or McDonald during night time, if you need to find a toilet.
Pros of public toilet in parks
- They are available in handy locations like park, beach, reserve, in town.
- Public toilet in town are reasonably clean.
- Some of them are quite dirty and poorly looked after.
- Not recommended at night time.
- Often toilet papers are out of stock, so carry your own.
Toilet at a Supermarket
Supermarkets like Countdown and Parkn’Save also have toilet in store, that can be used by customers.
Our child often feel the need to go toilet while we are doing regular grocery shopping, and end up using toilet at the supermarket.
Toilet at a supermarket may be located in staff-only locked area. If that is the case, ask a supermarket staff, and they will use swipe card or a key to let you into the toilet.
In some supermarket (like Parkn’Save) they have a regular customer toilet you can use without asking a staff.
Pros of supermarket toilet
- Can be used at the same time as picking up grocery shopping.
- Supermarket is located all around New Zealand. Supermarkets are easy to spot even in unfamiliar areas due to their size.
- Supermarket toilet is reasonably clean and hygienic.
- Supermarket are open from early in the morning till late at night.
- Supermarket toilets are safe to use at night as there are staff members at the supermarket.
- Often requires staff key to access the toilet.
- The number of supermarket toilet is usually small.
- Supermarket is large, so locating toilet within supermarket can take a while.
Conclusion: Finding toilet while travelling New Zealand
So toilets can be found at a various locations. Hope these information will help you when you are travelling around New Zealand.
