The Perfect Waitaki Playlist
Top 100 songs to roadtrip through the Waitaki
You’ve waited long enough. The sun has deemed it time. Appease that glowing orb in the sky and call your friends. Throw your togs, a couple bags of chips in the back of your car, maybe a fruit. And set out on that epic road trip across the Waitaki District you’ve always wanted to do.
Revel in the feeling that anything is possible when an open road stretches out before you—
But, the perfect road trip needs the perfect playlist. A playlist you can sing along to. A playlist that swells as the verdant green scenery reaches up to the blue, blue sky, the bright colours and distinct horizon looking so perfect it almost looks fake like a child’s drawing. A playlist that makes you say, “This song!” A playlist that inspires you to stop or turn a corner and have an unexpected adventure. A playlist that keeps your spirits up even when your bum is parked in your seat for a long time.
Luckily for you, we have created that very playlist.
The Perfect Waitaki Summer Playlist playlist was put together with suggestions from the Waitaki public, local businesses, Tourism Waitaki, The Waitaki District Council, and New Zealand musicians to capture the Waitaki’s distinctive spirit.
The playlist consists of 100 songs and is approximately 6 hours long. Starting a road trip from the bottom of the district in Palmerston and stopping off at key points of interest and Geosites that make up The Waitaki Whitestone Aspiring Geopark (Macraes Flat, Shag Point, Moeraki Boulders, Oamaru, Elephant Rocks, Benmore Dam, Takiroa Maori Rock Drawings, Clay Cliffs, Lake Ohau) and ending in Lindis Pass will take around 6 hours.
Stretching out the playlist can be achieved by biking the entirety of the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail, which will take 4-7 days or cyclists can try out day excursions.
The playlist includes suggestions from Kiwi musicians Delaney Davidson, Stan Walker, Anna Coddington, Devilskin, The Beths, Hera, Grayson Gilmour, James Reid, Earthtongue, Mel Parsons and more. Actors Thomasin Mckenzie and Bruce Hopkins had input alongside author Owen Marshall CNZM.
Enjoy the ride and remember to tag us in your road trip snaps: #WaitakiNZ
Thank you to all of the people who contributed to this playlist :
1,2 Many by Luke Combs selected by The Waitaki Community
I’m so depressed by Delaney Davidson selected by Delaney Davidson
Bones by The Killers selected by Tourism Waitaki
Gone Gone Gone by French For Rabbits selected by French For Rabbits
Sundown by Six60 selected by Duntroon Hotel
Bicycle Race by Queen selected by Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail
Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House selected by Owen Marshall CNZM
High & Lonely by Nadia Reed selected by Tourism Waitaki
Bloodletter by Delaney Davidson and Marlon Williams selected by Tourism Waitaki
It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet selected by Wrinkly Rams
In The Air by L.A.B selected by Fat Sallys
Kua Kore He Kupu/Soaked by Benee selected by Waitaki District Council
Seve by Tez Cadey selected by Tourism Waitaki
Bathe In The River by The Mt. Raskil Preservation Society and Hollie Smith selected by Old School Enfield
Beautiful Day by U2 selected by Mariner Suites
Nice Day For An Earthquake selected by Tourism Waitaki
Hey Brother by Avicii selected by The Waitaki Community
Double Whiskey Single Woman by Brand New Zeros selected by Tourism Waitaki
Life Is A Highway by Tom Cochrane selected by The Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony
Driving Man by Mel Parsons selected by Mel Parsons
Coldest Evenings by Hera selected by Hera
Only Time by Enya selected by The Criterion
Ruaimoka by Maisey Rika and Anika Moa selected by Waitaki District Council
Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen selected by Poshtel
The Stars Came Out Once The Lights Went Out by The Veils selected by Tourism Waitaki
Forbidden Treasure by BOKEH selected Thomasin McKenzie
Invisible Tattoo by Sharon Robinson selected by Tourism Waitaki
Vibe With You by Dillastrate selected by Dillastrate
Four To The Floor by Starsailor selected by Whitestone Cheese
My Church by Maren Morris selected by The Waitaki Community
Time Enough For Rocking When We’re Old by The Magnetic Fields selected by Tourism Waitaki
I Wanna Rock by Twisted Sister selected by The Waitaki Whitestone Aspiring Geopark
All Fall Down by Devilskin selected by Devilskin
Full Moon by Marijannah by The Waitaki Community
Slings & Arrows by Fat Freddy’s Drop selected by Waitaki District Council
Don’t Forget Your Roots by Six60 selected by Scott’s Brewery
Shenandoah by Bruce Springsteen selected by Lake Ohau Lodge
Travelling Bones by Jenny Mitchell selected by Jenny Mitchell
Heart Of Stone by Dave Stewart selected by Snapfit
I’m Not Getting Excited by The Beths selected by Tourism Waitaki
Café Art by Bored Housewives Club selected by Bored Housewives Club
Running To You by Tami Neilson and Delaney Davidson selected by Delaney Davidson
Waiting For You by Na Noise selected by Dick Move
Let’s Go To Bed by The Cure selected by Snapfit
Scatterlings Of Africa by Johnny Clegg and Savuka selected by Tourism Waitaki
1993 (No Chill) by Paces and Jess Kent selected by Tourism Waitaki
Let’s Have A Party by Hera selected by Hera
Dizzy Heights by Neil Finn selected by Tourism Waitaki
Point That Thing by The Clean selected by Delaney Davidson
Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd selected by The Waitaki Community
I Am Woman by Helen Reddy selected by The Victorian Wardrobe
Cactus Cat by Look Blue Go Purple selected by The Beths
Strangers by Ha the Unclear selected by Waitaki District Council
The Battle Of Evermore by Led Zeppelin selected by Bruce Hopkins
River Man by Nick Drake selected by Tourism Waitaki
Crow River by The Eastern selected by Riverstone Kitchen
Deep Sea Mystery by Earth Tongue selected by The Waitaki Community
Eyes Red Heavy by Devilskin selected by Devilskin
Higher Lows Lower Highs by Cut Off Your Hands selected by Grayson Gilmour
Chateau by Angus and Julia Stone selected by The Waitaki Community
Other Side Of The Wheel by Nadia Reed selected by The Waitaki Community
Are You With Me by Lost Frequencies selected by Tourism Waitaki
The Traveler by James Reid selected by James Reid
Tennessee Whiskey by Stan Walker and Parson James selected by The Waitaki Community
They Can’t Take That Away From Me by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong selected by The Harbour Street Jazz Festival
River Deep-Mountain High by Ike and Tina Turner selected by Old School Enfield
North By North by The Bats selected by Delaney Davidson
Svanrand by Heilung selected by Studio Realm
Hundred Waters by Grayson Gilmour selected by Tourism Waitaki
Night Class by Anna Coddington selected by French For Rabbits
Eczema by Hans Pucket selected by Earth Tongue
I Don’t Mind by Don McGlashan, Shayne Carter and Sean Donnelly selected by Edward Robinson
The Road To Erewhon by The Eastern selected by Barry Saunders
Fixture Picture by Aldous Harding selected by Waitaki District Council
Tēnā Rā Koe / Thank You by Stan Walker selected by Stan Walker
Rise Up 2.0 by Six60 selected by The Waitaki Community
The Other Side by French For Rabbits selected by French For Rabbits
I Love My Leather Jacket by The Chills selected by Waitaki Museum & Archive
Need A Little Time Away by The Mentalist Collective selected by Waitaki District Council
I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man by Muddy Waters selected by The Harbour Street Jazz Festival
I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li selected by Tourism Waitaki
Water Of Love by Dire Straits selected by Tourism Waitaki
Who’s Gonna Save My Soul by Gnarls Barkley selected by Delaney Davidson
Help Is On Its Way by Little River Band selected by Old School Enfield
Word Gets Around by Delaney Davidson and Barry Saunders selected by Delaney Davidson
Gold by Chet Faker selected by Tourism Waitaki
Alberta Sun by Mel Parsons selected by Mel Parsons
State Houses By The River by The Eastern selected by Waitaki District Council
Blue Smoke by Pixie Williams selected The Janet Frame House
Take Two Stones (Or Love Is Not Geology) by Isaac Gill selected by The Waitaki Whitestone Aspiring Geopark
Bounce by Katchafire selected by Dillastrate
How Bizarre by OMC selected by Dunback Inn
Cool It by Hera selected by Hera
Bad Habit by The Kooks selected by Tourism Waitaki
No Security Blues by Ben Salter selected by Grainstore Gallery
Beams by Anna Coddington and Louis Baker selected by Anna Coddington
Aotearoa I Love You by John McCabe selected by John McCabe
Kia Mau Ki Tō Ūkaipō / Don’t Forget Your Roots by Six60 selected by Steampunk HQ
Throw Your Arms Around Me by Eddie Vedder and Neil Finn selected by Waitaki Mushrooms
The Ballad of The Waitaki by The Plainsmen selected by Valley View Glamping