PACKAGE

What better way to test the Hyundai Santa Fe's SUV-ness than hand delivering TopGear magazine to each and every subscriber in... New Zealand?

- OLLIE MARRIAGE

On the first day I’m five metres off the deck picking Trevor Kalkhoven’s ripening avocados. On the last I’m shaking hands with Steve Muilwyk at Stirling Point looking out towards Antarctica. In between I’ve covered 3,099 miles around New Zealand in one of the lengthiest, most varied and strenuous road trips in TopGear history. Its aim? To deliver magazines to the 21 New Zealanders who subscribe to the British magazine. Oh, and test the new Hyundai Santa Fe to the limit.

Welcome then to the TopGear postal service, motto: "going postal since 2024." Even by the standards of our dear own Royal Mail, the TG Post isn’t an efficient service, given we have just one vehicle, one driver and 21 packages to deliver around an area considerably larger than the British Isles. But on the plus side Fujitsu has been nowhere near the planning of this.

The Santa Fe’s colossal 628-litre boot is untroubled by a box containing special issue magazines, Stig keyrings, pens, bags, T-shirts and other bits that our worldwide subscribers don’t normally have access to. First stop is the main NZ Post depot on the outskirts of Auckland to learn how to convince people to sign for suspicious packages. Not really, I’m here to see its hydrogen truck.

As we’ll find across New Zealand, the sustainability pressure is on. Everyone from the national postal service to adventure firms running bungee jumps is being told to decarbonise its vehicle. For NZ Post that means trialling a Hyundai Xcient fuel cell truck. It’s been a big hit, covering over 60,000 miles in two years and as the infrastructure has improved the refuelling time to put 3lkg of hydrogen on board has dropped from seven hours to 10 minutes. I go for a ride and discover it’s smooth, quiet and, unladen, has a surprisingly punchy turn of pace. No problem with parcel delivery here.