Plus we look pretty respectable. We often get rides from people who don't normally pick up hitchhikers. We've had days on end without more than a 15 minute wait, but we've also waited 45 minutes and only seen a single car go by. It didn't stop.
Our luck hitchhiking has been steadily declining since the top of the North Island. We spent about 5hrs waiting for our rides to and from the trail in Abel Tasman that day. The area is known as a more sustainable-minded area when it comes to farming and attracts its share of hippies, but that didn't seem to help us out. NZ has its rednecks too, highlighted by a number of obscene gestures directed at Amy during her thumbing shifts.
And despite the poor luck, it's also where we've seen the most other hitchhikers, although we've only had to wait in line once so far.
The usual strategies apply. Low-speed, uncongested areas are better. Better for traffic to be coming uphill as it's easier to stop. Room to pull over. Long highways without lots of junction are good too, so it's obvious where you are headed. Short rides are usually ok, but you still have to be strategic.
On the North Island, we only had the one ride with foreigners (backpacker van), but lately, in this more touristy area, it's been the tourists picking us up. We don't really have a preference. Locals can be pretty colorful. We've ridden in the back of trucks:
We've ridden with Maori, nurses, teachers, engineers, politicians, farmers, loggers, young people, old people (82 ain't bad!), couples, people with kids people who really didn't have room for us, but who are we to turn down a ride, Americans who hiked the whole Pacific Crest Trail in a summer (2600 miles!), Czechs, Austrians, a Polish girl. We've gotten invites to stay the night, go swimming, come to a birthday party, etc. Still, the majority of our rides come from guys in their 30s and 40s, driving alone, who used to hitch when they were young. People are generally pretty chatty and more sociable than people back home, but maybe we just seem more exotic (Grizzly Bears and Winter!). Generally speaking, we seem invisible to old people and Asians. Only had one weird ride so far. The guy was probably pretty braindead to begin with, but he was super stoned. More weird than sketchy, but the ride did involve a pretty funny detour to see some older lady in a housecoat that seemed straight out of a movie.
People keep telling us to rent a car, but where's the fun in that? We're meeting the people, keeping costs down and making up for the fact that I've owned a car since I was 16. Besides, the only answers we'd get to our questions if we were driving ourselves would be coming from the Lonely Planet. People often mention the West Coast as a destination, an area where we'll defintiely spend a few weeks farming and tramping. But what are the usual destinations? The two roadside glaciers and the rocks that look like pancakes. So the local opinion is worth seeking out. Alas, a grain of salt still helps, as locals aren't always the experts.
It does get a bit old seeing people driving by with tons of room who don't even look in our direction. I tend to stare them down and I can often evoke blushing.
Slow roads are ok though. Gives us a chance to read....
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